Kitchener-Waterloo Restaurants : Le Sole

If you’re a man (or woman) with a corporate expense account and want to have a lunch with a local client or if you’re a student who wants to eat out with the family (trying to impress the parents that you know something about food), then you may be interested in Le Sole. It’s close to campus as well as uptown Waterloo and there’s parking at the back.

I’ve eaten there several times (not on my own dime yet, thankfully) and I can’t say that I’ve been too impressed. They’re clearly trying to make an attempt at more upscale food and service but they just fall short. The last time I ate there, the waitress (lovely and friendly lady in all other respects) had no idea when to serve what courses (resulting in some people eating whilst others sat awkwardly with no food in front of them, etc.) and took our bottled wines away at the end of the meal even though they still had wine in them. When she brought them back, she neglected to also bring back a cork — and told us that she had taken them to the bar, where all their corks were kept (red flag: are they re-corking their bottles!?).  Their wine cellar has a nice selection though a bit boring.

The menu isn’t very diverse and there really isn’t anything “Mediterranean” about the place, despite the slogan on their website. The food itself isn’t terrible but also isn’t great.  There’s usually at least one thing wrong when it’s brought to me (i.e. wild boar was tough, tasteless, and getting cold when it was brought to me). Though there isn’t a burger on the menu (oh thank god) there are terribly boring pizzas (um, white flag, anyone?)

Ambiance: homey feeling with lots of background buzz, friendly

Service: nice staff overall, some woefully inexperienced if you’re picky

Food: No one will be terribly offended

Overall: 6.5/10 (faint praise)

 

Kitchener-Waterloo Restaurants : Chinese : Crystal Palace

Name: Crystal Palace Chinese Restaurant

Delivery: YES

Delivery Fee: $5 (a recent change)

Website: Link

Phone Number: 519-888-6828

Location: Downtown Waterloo (get there with iXpress)

Review: I admit that I kind of like this place. I wouldn’t touch most of the menu because they tend to use too much bad and old oil in everything (especially in their noodles). However, there is one exceptional redeeming quality about this restaurant: they serve really good Dim Sum. Dim Sum is the Cantonese term for an array of appetizers that are customarily eaten with morning/afternoon tea. You may have tried dim sum before in the form of shrimp dumplings (ha gao) or phoenix paws (a funny English translation that secretly means chicken feet).

I personally enjoy dim sum very much and, in Toronto, there are no shortages of dim sum restaurants.In K-W, you have to hunt a bit more but I have found 2 locations: Crystal Palace and Cameron. I may write about Cameron in the future but my short review of that restaurant is: they use really bad quality oil that’s probably been re-used for months (much worse than Crystal Palace), their dim sum is more expensive than Crystal Palace, and they have shorter hours.  While I would recommend Crystal Palace for food (if you know what you want and its not on the menu, you can even get them to make it for you… but expect to pay a premium) I would not recommend Cameron.

Be aware, if you’re ordering from Crystal Palace, they stop making dim sum around 9PM.

The Bottom Line: Easy to get to, student discounts (10%), and a pick-up discount (15% over $30). Nice place to go if you’re looking for some nice dim sum.

3.8/5.0

 

Public Service Announcement: Snow!

Has anyone ventured outside tonight? I was forced to head to campus for an exam at 7:30PM tonight and I returned home at 10:00PM. As many of you probably know, I live at Resurrection College – exactly close enough to walk (by that I mean that you have no excuse for driving) but still located further than the other college residences; it’s located across the street on Westmount. Unfortunately, this meant that I trudged my way to campus (to write a brutal exam, because that’s what I do on Saturday nights) and I was nearly eaten by snow.

It’s deceptively shallow! You might think that it’s only going to swallow your foot — and then you step into it and it eats your entire right leg. Or at least, it ate mine the first time I underestimated it… but then again, I’m a short Asian woman. So it might just eat your ankles or something.

Anywho – I just wanted people to know that under all that fluffy powdery wonderfully not-soft snow is ice. Be careful when you’re walking because if the snow finds out you’re too tall to be eaten whole, the ice will drag you down (probably a hill, like it did to me) and attempt to bring your head closer to the ground.

That being said, it was all a lot of fun! I chose to slide down the small hill near Westmount (and into oncoming traffic…) and laughed the whole time.

Hope everyone’s exams are going well!!

 

Kitchener-Waterloo Restaurants : Taiwanese : “Taste of Taiwan Home Garden”

I’ve had the opportunity to eat at a number of locations across the K-W area in what started as a quest for good Chinese food. I started my adventure by (what else?) searching for restaurant recommendations on Google. Although that provided me with a good starting point, I felt that many of the resources were incomplete or outdated. Therefore, I’ve decided to start my own review list of good eats with an emphasis on good taste, bang for your buck, and home delivery availability.

This list will not only focus on Chinese food and it will be updated as time permits.

The first place I would like to recommend is:

Name: Taste of Taiwan Home Garden

Delivery: YES (orders over $25)

Delivery Fee: $0

Website: http://www.tasteoftaiwan.ca

Phone Number: 519-886-3999

Location: UWaterloo University Plaza (close to the TCBY)

Review: You get great value for the amount that you’re paying. Not only are they a lot cheaper than most of the other Chinese restaurants in K-W, in this case, cheap prices doesn’t translate to cheap quality. Most Chinese restaurants in the city (except for a handful of exceptions) serve “Canadian Chinese” food; this restaurant does not. The first time I ate at Taste of Taiwan, I was shocked at (a) how much I was served (b) how cheap it was (c) how good and authentic it tasted. (For those curious, I ordered the Taiwanese Style Stewed Beef combo for $7.49 and I still highly recommend it!). Warning: I’ve sampled more of their menu (approx. 20% of it) and not everything on the menu is good. For example, I really wouldn’t recommend their braised beef noodle soup.

Not only is the food good, the service is also pretty good. Everyone on staff is very friendly and I’ve never seen anything but a smile on their face. Currently, the restaurant is still gearing up and is in the process of expanding their menu.

Menu prices range: $4.29 to $8.49 at the date of this editing (Dec. 13, 2008).

The Bottom Line: Good food, good prices, and they deliver! If you’re in the mood for pretty authentic Chinese/Taiwanese food, try this place sometime.

3.5/5

 

Feds’ Pulse…

Believe it or not, it’s still beating.

January 21st, this Monday, was the last day to submit nomination forms for some of the most important positions in student government.
Every year, our campus is painted a rainbow of colours: red, blue, and the recent favourite yellow. Listening to class talks, being accosted by grinning strangers in hallways, and even seeing, as one candidate famously threatened, goats on campus, is a mayhem that serves as a wonderful contrast to the drab brick walls as we march inexorably towards midterms, midterms, and more midterms.

This year’s election had promised to be incredibly entertaining.

I remember sitting with some current FedS hopefuls in Tim Hortons last year discussing strategy, offering enthusiastic encouragement, and listening to heated arguments regarding their candidacy this Winter 2008.

Unfortunately, like big money movie Stealth, the outcome has fallen far, far short of the anticipation.

Okay, I admit, I was looking forward to watching a hard fight for the President’s office.

Now, I’d like to make it clear that I have nothing against Justin Williams. Indeed, I’d consider us friends – he was willing to support me when I was in need and I was completely prepared to work hard on his behalf to get him elected.

However, brought so high by hours of preparations, organization, and psyching myself for the fight ahead – this denouement leaves me feeling lukewarm and distinctly unsatisfied.

 

WordPress

My obligatory “Hello World” post!  I am astonished by the ease with which I can manage this blog! The GUI is very friendly and I feel like I can do everything with simple clicks and drag ‘n drops.