This page is not suitable as a guide to the latest and greatest. I don't tend to rush out to try places that just opened in K-W until I've heard some reasons to do so. There have been too many disappointments in the past. If I've missed something, drop me a line.
Food in Kitchener-Waterloo is slowly but steadily improving, fuelled by a great local economy and high levels of immigration, bringing new cuisines to town for the first time and sustaining those that manage to find an audience. It's still pretty grim, but not bad for a town this size so close to a major metropolis (Toronto). Recommended: Korean BBQ, Cameron (for dim sum only), Ellison's Bistro, Casa Rugantino (for pizza only), Taka, Donair and Kebab House, Viet-Thai Ben Thanh (pad thai).
Mostly, I eat out in Kitchener-Waterloo when I haven't got the time or energy to cook. More than half the times I think I haven't got the energy to cook, N suggests we eat out, I run over the possibilities in my mind, and then I get up and cook a meal. You, too, can make a better meal out of a few ingredients bought locally than you can get in the average or even above-average K-W restaurant. For the amount of money you pay for the simplest meal of sludge, you can buy a great cookbook and teach yourself to cook.
There is a newsgroup devoted to food in K-W, kw.eats, which has some devoted regulars who manage to extract what little good news they can out of the local scene. You can read back postings on Google Groups; many of them are mine. Below is a brief summary of some possibilities. Any opinions you might have will be welcomed. I'm not going to list locations; since you're reading this, you know how to use the Web.
If you're planning on opening your own restaurant, we really could use a decent falafel stand, real Mexican (or even proper Tex-Mex), Jamaican, proper tapas, Korean barbecue, real Thai, or a northwest-style microbrewery.
I tend to save my high-end dining for trips out of town to places with better restaurants. Sometimes I have occasion to take a visitor to one of these places for work-related purposes. I have not been to Janet Lynn's in years, and was not thrilled with my last couple of meals there. It used to get a star in Where To Eat In Canada, but it has lost it, though it retains its listing; it is not a ripoff, but offers more in the way of safe, comforting dining for people with money (or people on expense accounts). Peter Martin's 20 King Street is another such place, though it has done well enough to move to a larger location (hence the odd name).
My experiences with Bhima's Warung have followed a parabolic arc. I had some early negative experiences with this restaurant, but a few years later I tried them again and was inclined to be more charitable. However, my last two visits have been disappointing, to the point where my adventurous family refuses to go back. Bhima's concept is pan-Asian fusion, which requires restraint, encyclopaedic knowledge, and a keen sense of what hybrids will work on the plate. They're not quite up to it, and results are mixed, which is too bad considering how expensive the place is. It's a decent space, and those used to more conventional fare but open-minded will be pleased; there is more innovation here than probably anywhere else in town. However, those who have had similar food in bigger cities will know what they are missing here. On recent visits, the food has seemed phoned in, bearing little resemblance to the menu descriptions, and service has degenerated to the point where not only we cannot be sure of getting the right utensils, we'd rather not ask. "Where To Eat In Canada" gives this place two stars.
After a long time avoiding Sole because I had not heard anything that would convince me to eat there, I had two meals there in close succession, one a working lunch, and one a dinner with my family. Fortunately, I didn't have to pay for either one. Rather than bore you with the details, let me just say that the setting is nice, and the executive chef clearly has ambitions, but the execution is dismal. Just about every dish at both meals had something wrong with it, something I would know how to fix if I were cooking it at home, but not if I were running a restaurant at this scale. (My family agrees with this judgement.) I don't have to run a restaurant like this, but I don't have to eat at it, either.
There are other upscale places in town, but I have not heard any reports that would convince me to spend my own money at them. If someone takes me to one, I'll let you know. They include Artbar and Verses. There are also a few midscale places I haven't tried, such as Salute. A recent visit to Charbries (not on my dime) demonstrated ambition which the kitchen couldn't quite live up to, but the positive attitude of the owner and staff and the focus on local and organic foodstuffs went a long way to redressing the balance. They've evolved from their initial fairly conservative stance, and are worth keeping an eye on.
The Grill is in the University Plaza and has a casual roadhouse atmosphere, clearly aiming at students. What sets it apart is the friendliness of the staff and the corn-fed drug-free beef used in their burgers. They're trying to distinguish themselves from the slop dished out at most of the other Plaza restaurants, and succeeding so far. There's attention paid to vegetarians and halal eaters, and an eclectic selection of ice cream and milkshakes.
Aroma Cafe has a nice atmosphere considering it's in a small development in the parking lot of the doomed Waterloo Town Square. Coffee is roasted on the premises (the first place this was done commercially in KW, to my knowledge). This is the kind of place I'd hang out at if I were a student and it were anywhere near the University. It has changed hands a few of times since the original owner sold due to health problems, and on my last visit there, the coffee was unremarkable. (I hate to recommend Starbucks, the McDonalds of fine coffee, but it really is the best bet locally. I never drink coffee outside my house for just that reason. For beans, you might try Timothy's in Conestoga Mall. A new in-town roaster offers beans and brewed coffee at the new Kitchener Market, and Waterloo Coffee has a roast-to-order service.)
Yukiko's Cafe started out as a cafe focussing on desserts, which were great. They still are, but there have been no innovations there in recent years (I think the baker is focussed on her young family). They added good soup and sandwiches, then dinner entrees (which are only so-so), then wines on a chalkboard -- guess they figured out where the bucks are. Still, it's not a bad place to hang out with someone: vaguely Bohemian atmosphere, but too clean-cut -- wood, ceramic hangings, mellow jazz Muzak. Their coffee is bad.
Not tried recently: Raintree Cafe.
Amazing. A dim sum place with better quality than anything you'll find near Spadina and Dundas in Toronto. Not as good as what you can find in Richmond Hill, but a heck of a lot closer and cheaper, too. The local Chinese community seems to be patronizing the place, always a good sign. Dinner is a mixed bag and rather disappointing (others disagree). But go for weekend lunch (also available on weekdays, but it tastes better on weekends when volume is up). Go this weekend.
Do not eat at any other Chinese restaurant in town. They are not worth your time. Places I have tried to form this opinion include China Legend, Home Garden, Sunshine, Dragon Court, King Tin, China Garden. Chinese cuisine is rich in innovation and taste, but you won't discover that here. If you absolutely must have Chinese food, give Home Garden in the University Plaza a try; at least their service is friendly and fast, and their menu consists mostly of unusual Taiwanese dishes.
Periodically, though thankfully not recently, I find myself part of a large party at one of the local corporate restaurants. These are places like East Side Mario's, Philthy McNasty's, and so on. They have plasticized menus with lots of colour and adjectives featuring a selection of basic variations on basic dishes that cost a couple of dollars more than they should. You will not go away hungry, but you may go away unsatisfied.
This is particularly true in the case of the faux-Mediterranean places, such as La Costa (mercifully gone from downtown Kitchener now), or faux-ethnic, such as Rude Native Bistro. These are chains whose marketing concepts and portion sizes are determined at head office. If you eat at them, you get what you deserve.
Even in Greece, at an outside table by a little seaside taverna, it takes all my powers of concentration on the tang of the salt air and the sunshine not to notice the flaws in the cuisine. The fish is nearly always overcooked (though it is usually quite fresh); the wine is mediocre and the beer is brewed by big European conglomerates; starches are nondescript; everything is too salty; "veal" is really beef, "lamb" is really mutton, and the best parts of the meal are the little finger foods and dips imported during the period of Ottoman occupation. The occasional high-end restaurant in North America takes these basic elements and does them up properly, with spectacular results. You will not do as well on a soggy winter's day in Waterloo.
Greek Garden in Guelph and its shopping-mall spinoff Mediterraneo in northeast Waterloo do a decent if unexceptional job of covering the basics. Three Kretans, in Kitchener, don't do as well, so they attempt to distract you with an overdecorated restaurant and shouts of "Opa!" when they light the saganaki. If you want the full monty, they have theme nights as well, which appeal mostly to those who wish to go to one of the Greek "party" islands but can't afford it.
I see little reason to eat Italian food in K-W. You will get either mushy domestic pasta or, for more money, "fresh" machine-extruded noodles, both of which are inferior in texture and taste to the imported dried pasta you can buy at supermarkets. Sauces don't offer much innovation, either; the best that can be said of them is that they save you fifteen to thirty minutes of prep work at home. You won't get interesting regional dishes; you'll see the same basic Neapolitan or Sicilian dishes on every menu. At best you might find osso bucco. I ate once at each location of Ennio's Pasta House and can remember nothing of my meal.
Casa Rugantino at least has the virtue of friendly proprietors and the best sit-down pizza in town (do not order any pasta except the lasagna here). City Cafe Bakery does an okay job on pizza as well (though it is not really an Italian restaurant). Some claim that a takeout place called Pizza Prosciutto in south Kitchener is good, but to me the whole concept of takeout pizza is flawed. Eat it while it's hot and crisp.
With rare exceptions, I don't like Indian restaurants in North America: I grew up on homemade Indian food, and find the bought stuff too oily, the portions too small, and the selection too narrow, concentrating on meat dishes in heavy Mughal sauces. You can do better at home with supplies bought locally and just about anything calling itself an Indian cookbook.
Masala Bay, on Erb near Regina, has a decent $10 lunch buffet, served in a pleasant atmosphere. The food is not overly salty or greasy, it doesn't all taste the same, and the desserts are not overly sweet. It is not, however, as vibrant as it could be. At dinner, they serve tandoori items on hot iron plates, which dries the food out even as it spatters all over your clothing. That aside, the quality is respectable, and this is probably the best Indian choice in town, though there is room for improvement.
Classic Indian Restaurant is located in a strip mall off Wissler near Northfield near box store hell in northeast Waterloo. It's fairly amateur, and set in what looks like a former donut-and-soup place, but it has some good dishes (in particular some hard-to-find south Indian specialities), and doesn't try to present an extensive menu. I'm not crazy about their dosas or their buffets, and I haven't figured out on what nights the buffet can be avoided.
Restaurants I tried (some many times) and dismissed include Maharaja Palace, Kohinoor (which has changed hands since I tried it), Kismet (the former Kohinoor people), Vijay's and their satellite location Curry in a Hurry (I do sometimes buy their packaged stuff for a quick lunch at work, available in the Math building at the University of Waterloo, Vincenzo's, and probably many other locations).
Modern India, on the grounds of a motel on old Highway 8, offers an all-you-can-eat buffet. The food was unremarkable and the hygiene questionable on the night we went.
Rainbow is a cafeteria-style place in a generic sort of mall in downtown Kitchener. There's a large menu posted, but in reality, there are a half-dozen daily selections. Very good rice and peas, decent jerk pork. They do a thriving takeout business, but there are a few tables, with halfhearted service. Since this food reheats well, it would be a good choice for eating at home.
Just as many Italian restaurants and pizzerias were run by Greeks once upon a time, so now we have Koreans running Japanese restaurants and beating their former imperial oppressors at their own game. But Koreans are coming out of the closet; their fiery cuisine offers many delights.
The best of the current lot is Korean BBQ, in the multilevel plaza a block towards downtown from the Kitchener Farmer's Market. This is run by the former proprietors of Miju (mentioned below). Their stone bowl bi bim bap (beef, mixed vegetables, rice, and add-it-yourself hot sauce in a hot bowl) is the best in the region, and their other dishes are good, as well. Ichiban, on Philip at Albert, is a tiny family-run hole in the wall (about three tables, otherwise go for takeout). Their Korean food is homey and their sushi decent, but prices are high given the portion size. Taka, down at Bleams and Strasbourg Road, has friendly proprietors, and their sushi can be good; their Korean food is uneven. A small place called Miju, in a plaza on King Street across from WLU, was terrific, but was sold to new owners who are squandering their purchase with substandard fare; the same thing is true of Mr. Sushi Sushi, whose founding owner, Charlie's Lunch Box in the University Plaza was decent, if low-end, while Charlie was around, but he has either sold the place or turned the day-to-day management over to others, and quality has slipped drastically.
Seoul Soul, in the same plaza, started out well but went downhill some time ago, and their mandatory gratuity policy isn't winning any friends (even though too many people stiff servers for the wrong reasons, like problems with the food or just plain cheapness). Mirage, in the plaza across the street (the same one housing Mr. Sushi Sushi), has nice decor, but the food is just mediocre, and the service pretty weak. Sora in Kitchener has bizarre food and should be avoided; Sakura Island is overpriced and listless, though enough people have objected to this characterization that I should give them another try. Anyone willing to treat me?
I have not tried Ye's Sushi, with two locations (downtown Kitchener, King at Northfield in Waterloo). I tend to avoid all-you-can-eat locations, as I am subsidizing someone else's gluttony. I'd rather have a small portion of high-quality food.
Almadina offers Egyptian food, though they don't make a point of advertising it. It's superficially exotic, but bland to the point of being uninteresting, and not cheap, either. They also sell their food at the Waterloo Farmer's Market.
There are various "pita" places around town which are basically an update on what burger places used to be before fast food killed them. Some even serve falafel, but it is almost surely frozen, not freshly-ground and formed. Thanks to the Ottoman Empire, you can also get some Middle Eastern dishes at the Greek restaurants listed below. Almadina has recently opened a pita place with the mystifying name of "Just 'n Pita", right next to their main restaurant.
It's probably stretching to put Iran into this category, but here goes. Shandiz Persian Cuisine is in the University Plaza. It has kebabs and stews served with rice. You order cafeteria-style and take your tray to a table. The food lacks some spark, but is decent and filling, and considering the nearby options, this is not a bad choice. Best bet: lamb shank or fesenjan. On a recent visit, we had really grumpy service, and this has put me off the place.
It's also stretching to put Turkey into this category. The unimaginatively-named Donair and Kebab House, next to Taka down on Bleams Road, does a credible job with the eponymous dishes, as well as with filled pides (a little like calzones open at either end). The atmosphere is pleasant and service friendly, though too many of the dishes arrive with the same garnishes. I hope that they gain enough of a clientele to offer us more of the terrific dishes from this underappreciated cuisine.
Beyond that, we have a host of places which have seemingly identical pho menus with a few Thai dishes on them; most are mediocre. The best of the lot is Pho Dau Bo, just across from the Kitchener Farmer's Market. The menu is nearly all pho and vermicelli bowls, but they are better than Viet-Thai (see below) at these standards, with a good selection of vegetables and herbs. Upstairs from Pho Dau Bo you will find the Givral Deli, with one of the great secrets of Vietnamese cuisine: banh mi, or Vietnamese sandwiches made on mini-baguettes, with cilantro, pickled carrots and cucumber. Our favourite is the chicken satay, but the barbecued pork is also good. It's a one-woman show, so go early at lunch, because the place is sometimes packed out with Cameron High students (who are not stupid: great food for $2-3).
Viet-Thai (Ben Thanh), has spacious and clean new digs, efficient service, and good prices, but the food (which borrows liberally from Vietnam and China; it's more pan-Asian than Pho Dau Bo) still needs work, and can be appalling (e.g. mango salad). Their pad thai is pretty decent, though, and is one of my meals of choice when I'm too tired to cook. Their newest location is on Northfield near Davenport, and there's a somewhat older location in Cambridge off Highway 24; they had to move from their original downtown Kitchener location because of the Kitchener Market renovation. The portions are smaller on Northfield, but better than the Cambridge location, and the decor is more upscale.
Other places we've tried and can't recommend are Pho 95, Golden Mango, Vietnam La Cuisine, and Vinh Tin. Haven't been to Viet Sun in uptown Waterloo yet.
Lotus Tea House is not quite as successful; their decor is also pleasant, but their muzak and the pretentions of too-nearby diners can be irritating. Their food also doesn't have as much flavour. But they are a nonprofit offshoot of a Buddhist organization, and they offer student discounts.
Muses Cafe, on Duke Street, belongs to that tradition stemming from the '60's, in which food doesn't have to taste good, be presented properly, or be served in attractive surrounds, if it is virtuous (or the proprietors are virtuous, or something). It's as if some elementary school kids went vegetarian and instead of setting up a lemonade stand, set this up. Be warned: the only tables that seat more than two are in the basement, which is musty and has a low ceiling, meaning you crouch in order to make your way to the castoff furniture.
Not tried: Jane Bond.