Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Empress of India - Excellent!

I absolutely love dining out with friends, especially when trying out a new restaurant. Foodie friend, Gary, took me to Empress of India last night, and I had one of the best East Indian meals I've ever had (and I've had quite a few). We did what we like to do best - ordered several dishes and settled in to try them all. All were excellent. I found my Samosa a little on the greasy side; however, Gary's was not. Our server, although very pleasant, could have been a little more attentive.

Gary has dined at Empress many times and tells me that all but one experience have been superb. The restaurant is small, but can easily accommodate a group function, something else that Gary tells me they do very well.

I recommend you drop by and give Empress a try.  Bon Appetit!

Click here to go to Empress of India's website

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Yukikos Comtemporary Comfort Food - a grand blend of old and new

I was delighted to receive the promised phone call from Jody, my favourite server at Yukikos, letting me know that Yukikos is open again for business. Judy and Tom closed Yukikos at the end of August 2009 to have their baby boy (a strapping and happy baby I was glad to meet) and renovate the restaurant.  They re-opened last week, and Yukikos is now called Yukikos Contemporary Comfort Food.

I eagerly purused the lunch menu looking for old favourites and most were there with a few welcome new additions. One of my favourites, the Warm Chickpea Salad ($10) still graces the menu, although I found it somewhat blander than the earlier version - perhaps more garlic?  The sauce remains a delicious blend of EVOO, white wine, and fresh herbs. Grilled foccacia wedges are provided for dipping in the sauce while sundried tomatoes, chunks of feta, hot pepper rings and a couple of olives are sprinkled on top.  A healthy dose of fresh spinach completes the salad. This definitely remains one of my favourite comfort foods.

My young friend chose the Classic Grilled Cheese ($8) from the KISS (Keep it Simple) Sandwiches section of the menu. It is made with cheddar, of course, and comes with choice of soup or salad. She chose the Tomato Soup to accompany it and pronounced it a wonderful blend of spices. She was somewhat taken aback by the chunky texture (it's definitely not Campbell's), but we both thought it was the best tomato soup we'd "ever".

Tom and Judy have completely renovated the restaurant to mixed reviews.  Some prefer the "old home" atmosphere we'd all come to love; however, I was quite excited to see the contremporary furnitue complete with wooden tables and booths upholstered in a textured tan material. The walnut flooring makes the perfect compliment to the red and white accents, and they assured me that there is more to come before the grand opening.

The dessert cabinet, although smaller, still holds a prominent spot at the front counter, and more old favourites covered the shelves.  There is now a dessert menu offering a selection of staples that will make your decision even more difficult.

Great news is that they're opening for Sunday brunch starting in April - hooray!

For those who missed the review I wrote for Real Women magazine in 2008, here is it:

Yukiko's Cafe Bistro
Address : 30 William Street West, Waterloo, ON N2L 1J4
Telephone : 519-576-9424

Hours of Operation:
Monday to Thursday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 11:30 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 11:30 pm

When our publisher, Shelly, asked me to write about comfort food for our winter issue, Yukiko’s Café Bistro topped the list.

Located in uptown Waterloo in a funky, burnt-orange converted house, Yukiko’s has a bistro ambiance with colourful plastered stucco walls and art displays that change every month or two. On recent visits, stills and landscapes by artist Salomé Pérez added to our enjoyment.

Everything about Yukiko’s spells comfort for me. Over the years, I’ve tried almost every item on the menu, and it’s all been consistently well cooked and beautifully presented.

The Caesar salad (sm $5.50, lg $8.50) offers wonderfully crisp romaine lettuce, freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, homemade croutons and real bacon bits. It comes lightly dressed with a creamy dressing that could use a little more garlic for my taste, but it’s a dish I thoroughly enjoy on almost every visit.


If I had to name a number one favourite, it would be the Warm Salad of Chickpeas, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Feta, Garlic & Spinach ($10), all tossed in a pan with extra-virgin olive oil, with a splash of white wine, fresh herbs and a few hot pepper rings for added zip. The baby spinach is very fresh and gives a nice balance to the warmth of the chickpea mixture. This delightful concoction is served with warmed focaccia bread to soak up the sauce. That’s comfort food at its best!


My favourite weekend lunch treat is the omelette feature ($11), and they offer a different variety every week. On this visit, I had an excellent Three Cheese omelette with Brie, orange and white cheddar, choice of soup or salad (I had the Caesar, of course ), and a slice of their fresh daily homemade bread that left me feeling pleasantly stuffed.


If you’re feeling adventurous, try Yukiko’s Tasty Trio ($10). It’s a great way to sample their unique daily salad creation served with a mixed greens salad and your choice of soup. For the sandwich lover, Yukikos offers eight combo platters including long-time favourite the Mediterraneo ($10.50), a warm sandwich stuffed with grilled eggplant, goat cheese, red peppers, sweet onions, and black olive tapanade on herbed focaccia. Their Famous Old-fashioned Burger ($6.50) is thoroughly satisfying and one of the best in town.


Four of us dropped by for dinner, and, as one of my friends said, “A good meal was had by all.” The Grilled New York Striploin Steak with Bourbon-braised Onions ($24) was simply delicious. I tried the Panko-crusted Salmon Fillet ($21), and as the menu says, it is indeed an addictive gorgeous fillet of premium salmon with a crispy crumb crust. The scoop of guacamole added a tasty touch. Our friends enjoyed the Grilled Chicken with a Pineapple Sweet & Sour Sauce ($16) that was just the right blend of tartness and sweetness.


A choice of potato of the day or rice pilaf and vegetables accompanies each entrée. On this visit, the roasted potatoes were the perfect compliment to the steak, and we thoroughly enjoyed the rice blended with sun-dried tomato, zucchini and sautéed onion. If the vegetables, although flavourful and tender crisp, had been hot when served, we each would have declared the perfect meal.


Yukiko’s is renowned for their pastries. Chef Sheena Kobe outdid herself on this visit with an Orange Chocolate Cake ($6.95) with layers of orange cream mousse—simply decadent! The Triple Chocolate Cheesecake ($6.95) blended white, milk and dark chocolate in a classic cheesecake base. There was not one crumb left of either dessert. For those who want something lighter, the dessert counter also offers pies and squares.

Expect to pay around $100 for two with shared appetizer and dessert (if you can bear to share :)) and a ½ Litre of the house wine. If you see me at my favourite table, do drop by and say hi. ENJOY!

Arlene

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Bauer Kitchen Restaurant - Three Strikes

"Why are they trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" was a sentiment I heard as my husband and I settled in for an anniversary dinner at The Bauer Kitchen restaurant.  We arrived a few minutes early for our 5:30 pm reservation and the hostess showed us to our table without delay.

Our server arrived at the table with our food menus before we were seated and asked if we wanted water.  We both answered in the affirmative and asked for lemon; however, I was not surprised when both lemon and lime slices arrived.  It seems that in the time it takes  most servers to travel from the table to the water jug and back again, they either forget which we'd asked for or forget the garnishes all together.  But, as Meg would say, that's a rant for another time.

Our server, for the sake of this blog let's call him Joe, brought our menus along with a small bowl of butter and asked if we'd like to order.  I asked to see the wine menu, and before I had time to do more than open the front cover, he asked again what we'd like to order.  We weren't there ten minutes, and we were already getting the feeling that we'd outstayed our welcome.  I asked him to give us a minute.

We took a couple of minutes making our wine choice, then I set the menu on the table.  Joe hovered nearby looking at us; but strangely for someone who had rushed us before, he did not approach the table.  Another five minutes went by as we exchanged glances before I motioned him over and placed the order.  When he returned with the wine, he asked if we would like to order or hear the features.  Duh - I'm sure it was a big surprise that we wanted to hear the features.  After a decent rendition of the daily offerings, he must have realized he hadn't brought our bread and scuttled off to get it.  Definitely strike one.  At this point, we were only mildly annoyed, although Joe and the sports bar like ambiance provided us with plenty to discuss.

We wondered why a restaurant of the calibre and reputation of The Bauer Kitchen would have walls of boxes stacked beside the bar and along the back wall; it did not add to the decor. Of course, the basketball games on several large screen TVs contributed to the feeling. Like many restaurants, I found the noise level deafening.



Joe returned with the bread and asked again for our order.  Neither of us have large appetites, so we often share. On a positive note, the kitchen did a great job of splitting our shared salad and entree.  The food was decent, but nothing to write home about.  I rarely eat fried food, but fresh cut fries are a weakness, so we opted for the steak with fresh cut fries.  The fries were greasy and mushy, and not even the cute container they were served in was enough to resurrect them.

We had barely put down our cutlery when Joe whisked away our plates.  This was repeated several times, and we began to wonder if The Bauer Kitchen slogan was get 'em in, get 'em fed and get 'em out.  Not once did he ask if we were finished.  My husband was biting into his bread when Joe removed his bread and butter plate and knife along with the remaining bread and butter.  I felt compelled to point out that my husband was still eating.  This resulted in a return of the bread basket without benefit of plate, knife or butter, leaving us to ponder on whether this was just the sheer incompetence of one server of if the Charcoal Group has lowered their service standard.  Strike two.

Dinner for two with a shared salad, entree and half litre of wine came in around the $60 mark; enough to pay to be treated so poorly.

As we left the restaurant, the hostess asked, "How was it?"

"So, so," I replied.

"Excellent," she said as she beamed a 100 watt smile in my general direction.

How sad is that?  Strike three!

Arlene

Saturday, March 20, 2010

And then there was dessert.......!

I got ranting so much I forgot my other food peeve. Why mess with with perfection? I just don't get it.
Creme Brulee is the best dessert on the planet. (Arlene would say cheesecake but I'M writing this.) It is both cool and warm and silky and luscious creamy soft - I digress. Why mess perfection. Why add stuff to the cream that creates a dissonance in the flavors. I guess this really belongs with yesterday's too many flavors rant so I'll end now. I need to go and grind the meat for my Tacos for family dinner tomorrow. All will be there except my son and his family but that story is for another day and my other blog.
TTFN
Meg

Friday, March 19, 2010

Today I discovered that I don't like Olive Bread.

What is with chefs today???????
No one ever seems to just make delicious plain food. I can't remember the last time I wanted to lick the plate of something that just screamed "Give Me More!"
My companions and I went out for lunch today to a newish place with(not that this EVER concerns me)a georgeous decor. The special sandwich was a (so called) Philly cheese steak on olive bread with oldish orange cheddar. I don't know if the designer of this sandwich was ever in Philly and had ever had a cheese steak sandwich. I have and quite a few of them. Is it silly of me to expect some resemblance from today's to the original??????? I hope not. In Philly you order "WIT" or "WITHOUT." The "WIT" is the cheese. A cheese sauce that is made of/with Cheese Whiz. The cheese on todays sandwich blocked out the flavors of the meat & veggies. Who ever said this was a gourmet sandwich has clearly never had one. The delishness doesn't end with the cheese, there are still the onions and peppers. Todays sad sack had 3 small pieces of onion and of peppers. It was sadly naked. You want a sandwich where you take a bite and have onion & pepper hanging out of your mouth like spaghetti. This is a working man's sandwich and maybe there needs to be a road trip to Philedelphia to try the real thing!
Meg

The Best Comfort Food

The Menu: Roast Chicken with lemon sauce, baked potatoes and sugar peas

Sunday dinner is the only meal I cook since my husband retired, so I try to make it a good one. A trip to the local farmers market on Saturday to pick up a small corn-fed free range chicken and a cruise through Delia Smith's online collection of recipes, and I was all set.

Of course, I made a few modifications to Delia's recipe for Fast-Roast Chicken with Lemon and Tarragon.  I committed one of the most serious cook's errors - gasp - I didn't check the recipe to ensure I had all of the ingredients.  I also needed to reduce the fat called for in Delia's recipe; Delia would have us smear the chicken with butter. She seems to have an ongoing love affair with fat, and I can feel my arteries harden every tine I read her recipes.

Uncertain of whether I'd like the flavour of lemon rind infused into my poultry, I chose to insert two halved cloves of jumbo garlic instead.  I lovingly massaged the skin with a little best-quality olive oil and dusted it with freshly ground pepper.

I was intrigued and more than a little skeptical of the fast-roast method and certain that the wee bird would burn to a crisp at 475 degrees F.  The secret to this method, according to Delia, is to stop yourself from opening the oven door before the required 45 minutes of cooking if it's a 3 lb. bird.  Mine was 4 pounds, so I chose to leave it in for one hour.  I threw a couple of foil-wrapped potatoes alongside the roaster and hoped for the best.

My hands itched to open the door on several occasions to assure myself that the bird was indeed not charcoal, but I managed to refrain.  However, I gazed through the oven window many times to assure myself all was well and was delighted to see the bird's own fat sizzling under the gently browning skin.

As soon as the cooking time hit the sixty minute mark, I took the chicken out of the oven and promptly took the temperature to ensure that the meat was cooked through, and it was.  I put the bird on a platter to let the juices settle.  We prefer crisp skin on our baked potatoes, so I brushed the skin with olive oil and freshly-ground sea salt before returning to the oven.  At this point, I put the peas in the steamer and set the timer for 15 minutes.

It was time to make the sauce.  I decided to use onion instead of fresh tarragon; mainly because I didn't have any tarragon :).  Since red wine is my drink of choice, I didn't want to open a bottle of white just for this sauce; so I decided to use chicken stock instead.  After skimming the fat from the drippings, I added the stock, diced onion and garlic from the bird's cavity and left it boiling briskly until it reduced by half.


The meal was fabulous, and I've added this to my list of "must have" comfort food dinners.  What is your favourite comfort food?

You can check out Delia's recipe at http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/french/fast-roast-chicken-with-lemon-and-tarragon.html

Bon appetit!
Arlene