63 replies to this topic

[Mallet]

The menu is pretty big, and it's mostly a mix of Korean and Japanese food. I had gyoza (deep fried dumplings) for an appetizer and the sushi dinner for a main. I am by no means a sushi expert, having only had it two or three times before in Halifax, but I was not impressed. One of the fish (butterfish?) was still partially frozen when I got it and the others tasted distinctly of fish (it is raw fish after all , but the sushi I had before was much firmer and sweeter; any fish taste was pleasantly in the background). The people I was with had no problem finishing off my plate though, so it was probably just me. All the other dishes (I can remember exactly what everyone was having) looked good.

lexy, have you decide on a place for your birthday yet?

[lexy]

The menu is pretty big, and it's mostly a mix of Korean and Japanese food. I had gyoza (deep fried dumplings) for an appetizer and the sushi dinner for a main. I am by no means a sushi expert, having only had it two or three times before in Halifax, but I was not impressed. One of the fish (butterfish?) was still partially frozen when I got it and the others tasted distinctly of fish (it is raw fish after all  , but the sushi I had before was much firmer and sweeter; any fish taste was pleasantly in the background). The people I was with had no problem finishing off my plate though, so it was probably just me. All the other dishes (I can remember exactly what everyone was having) looked good.

lexy, have you decide on a place for your birthday yet?

Don't remind me - I can't make up my mind! Basically, I can't decide whether I want Curry Village (pros: family favourite, we always get lots of dishes and share, we know what we like, it's pretty relaxed and good for a small group; cons: we've probably had everything on the menu before) or somewhere a little fancier. I'd like to go out to somewhere a little nicer that I haven't been to before, but I keep coming back to Curry Village (or Original) because it's a low risk option. Where I'd really like to go is Clark's on King, but that's clearly impossible, since it closed about four years ago.

[Mallet]

There is organic free-range pork lard at the Farmer's market (yes, it is still open!) on Saturdays. It's about $10 a kilo. Also available smoked. Also, organic free range boiler hens are available at about $3 a pound.

Both are excellent products. Now I just need a recipe that combines both !


I also had lunch at Luke's last week and want to add to the praise already heaped upon it. I had a smoked meat sandwich (smoked on the premises) and my girfriend had the belly-buster lunch. Both were excellent, I can't wait to go back!

[lexy]

Well, I'm sure you have all been tossing and turning at night waiting to find out where I did end up going to dinner for my birthday …
The disappointing answer is that we didn't we go out - due to some family-related complications, my parents and brother were out of town, and only got back the same day I did, and nobody felt much like going out, so we had a home-cooked birthday dinner at home (however, I can recommend my mum's pizza as the best in Kingston!)

Anyway, to keep this thread slightly on track, last week we ordered takeout from the Thai place on Princess next to Curry Village (sorry, can't remember the name - I think it was mentioned upthread) The takeout wasn't that great; I don't know how their takeout compares to the sitdown experience, maybe it's a bit better in the actual restaurant. I had an eggplant-coconut milk curry, which was nice enough, but was mostly coconut sauce with a handful of vegetables floating around. The noodles the rest of family ordered (if I can find the menu, I'll give specific dish names) were pretty good, so I would probably go with those if we ordered from there again. They do give a 10% student discount though, so I suspect I may be returning there …

[Mallet]

We recently went out to Luigina's for a friend's birthday. Everyone had a truly excellent meal, highly recommended!

[Mallet]

I've eaten out a few more times (we've been slacking off at home ...) and made it out a few more places. I definitely thought Atomica and Chien Noir were way overpriced (except on Mondays, when Atomica has half price pizzas and cheap drinks!). The food was ok at both places, but not spectacular. Cambodiana is really good and extremely cheap. Dixie Lee makes a poutine with deep fried chicken in it, but you have to ask nicely because it's not on the menu.

Has any been to Aqua Terra recently? I don't know where we will go next, and it's between that and going back to Luigina's because my girlfriend hasn't been yet.

[lexy]

Cambodiana is really good and extremely cheap.

Agreed, I love Cambodiana.

A few recent notes: I went to Ta-Ke (Ta•Ke? not sure) Sushi after christmas. I didn't have any sushi, because when I noticed their Korean section of the menu I decided to opt for bibimbap (I had my first - and really good - bibimbap in New York about a year ago, and now I'm always searching for more ). Anyway, the bibimbap was fine - not bad, but not mind-blowing or anything. I loved the pickles that came with it (I ate mine, and most of everyone else's as well), and the miso starter was nice as well. Vegetable tempura was, again, fine but not outstanding. I'll probably visit again, but if there were better Japanese/Korean options in Kingston, I probably wouldn't go back.
And ate at Curry Original last weekend. I feel like this place used to be a lot better - I'm not sure if it's nostalgia, if it's because I'm living in the UK (much better Indian in general), or if it actually has gone downhill a little, but I just wasn't that impressed. Also, I hate how everytime I eat at Curry Original, they seem to have overbooked the place - we had a 6 o'clock reservation, and there was already a queue of people having to wait as much as half an hour for their tables - this was Kingston on a Monday night, they ought to be able to handle things a little better I think.

Edited by lexy, 24 March 2006 - 07:03 AM.

[adrian1]

We ate at Aqua last Monday and were very pleasantly surprised.

Very nice decor. With lots of olive green, yellows, browns and orange it had somewhat of a modern Southern European feel. The food was well presented and tasty, though the veggies were a bit plain and boring. It also has a great view overlooking the Rideau river.

I save the best for last...the volume of Canadian VQA wines on the list. It's impressive, and I think they have done themselves proud. They even still have some of Peninsula Ridge's stunning 2003 Sauvingon Blanc. This wine plays "second fiddle" to none!

[mkjr]

....I save the best for last...the volume of Canadian VQA wines on the list. It's impressive, and I think they have done themselves proud. They even still have some of  Peninsula Ridge's stunning 2003 Sauvingon Blanc. This wine plays "second fiddle" to none!

Do you mean Ontario VQA wines? I thought there is still BC and Ont. VQA? Have they come up with a national standard yet? In any event, I like the wines in Ontario, although there is lots out there that is much less than some of the prices I have seen. Nationalism is not at any price.

[Mallet]

Check out this article on Lukes! I've only been there for lunch and I've never seen food like this on the menu:

In all, this shy teenage protege in this family run restaurant has created at least 14 of the 20 items on the dinner menu. Consider this, from a recent listing:
- Duck confit with black beluga lentils and herbed vegetables ($15.95);
- Grilled beef tenderloin marinated in herbs and garlic, served with grilled potatoes, salsa verde, and spinach sauteed with house-smoked bacon and cipollini ($19.95);
- Hickory roasted chicken, spiced smoked pork loin, beef tenderloin and grilled homemade sausage with grilled potatoes, balsamic-roasted red onions, carrots and salsa verde ($21.95).
My personal favourite is Luke's Charcuterie Board, which consists of duck confit; hickory roasted chicken; grilled fresh sausage; spicy pork loin; beef tenderloin; house pate; smoked Swiss cheese; fresh homemade bread; confits of onion, garlic, tomato; salsa verde and homemade Chianti mustard ($29.95 and worth every penny).

Luke is only 15 ! Looks like my dinner plans are set tonight..

[Bueno]

The Bistro Stefan (in the Best Western) is the best restaurant in Kingston for a fine dining experience, in my humble opinion. Especially during summer/early fall.

[Mallet]

Lukes! definitely takes on a whole different feel at night. The Charcuterie board was really nice, probably the best duck confit I've had in town (the pork loin, beef tenderloin, and pâté were also great). I was a bit underwhelmed with the sausages and the chicken: although the flavours were interesting, the texture of the sausages was way off (dry and crumbly) and the chicken similarly suffered from lack of moisture. Overall though, everyone was pleased with their food : definitely a fun place to eat dinner (al long as you're not in a rush ).

[rgruby]

Spent about 24 hours in Kingston last week with the missus, kid and dog.

For dinner, sat on the patio of Casa domenica with the whole brood. Kid was being fussy/unhappy, dog the same. So we just ordered a couple apps and one main and asked that they all come at once. Had a pistachio crusted goat cheese salad, the charcuterie app (they called it carne e molto carne) and the main was tuna three ways. Everything was at least very good - the sausage on the meat plate was a bit dry. Tuna plate had carpaccio on a bed of arugula, simply dressed with EVO, sesame crusted tuna with potato chips, and peppercorn crusted on a bed of braised fennel with a slice of foie gras (I think I have that roughly correct). All very nicely done, nice presentations. Would like to return under more relaxed circumstances and have a full meal, although we were all pleasantly sated with what we had. And, Canadian celebrity citing with Kingston connections. Rob Baker, a guitar player with a rock band known very well to Canadians of a certain age, walked in with his family as we were exiting.

Then we went for ice cream at one of the two nearly identical looking places around the corner.

For lunch the next day we did takeout from Luke's. The missus had the smoked salmon sandwich - which was very good in her estimation. I had a chicken salad sandwhich and a soup - carrot puree with a blasamic glaze, dill and ricotta maybe (some sort of cheese). The soup was nice, but I didn't think my sandwich was anything special really. Not bad, but not amazing either. Nice bread on the sandwhiches though - I think made in house. But, it hit the spot, and then we were off to Ottawa. The dinner menu at Lukes does look interesting - lots of charcuterie and interpretations of old (ie middle ages back to Roman times) dishes. Again, would like to return for dinner.

Cheers,
Geoff Ruby

[Lonnie]

This thread doesn't have a lot of recent postings, so I'll ask the simple question in hopes of getting up-to-date information. Hubby and I will be in Kingston July 25-27 and would love to eat well, once as a splurge and the rest on somewhat of a budget. We love food from around the world, but mostly enjoy quality no matter what country it comes from. Is there anything particular to Kingston that we simply shouldn't miss? Also, where is the best best best coffee in Kingston?

Thanks!!

Lonnie
Syracuse, NY (where, believe it or not, we have great coffee)

[rgruby]

This thread doesn't have a lot of recent postings, so I'll ask the simple question in hopes of getting up-to-date information.  Hubby and I will be in Kingston July 25-27 and would love to eat well, once as a splurge and the rest on somewhat of a budget. We love food from around the world, but mostly enjoy quality no matter what country it comes from. Is there anything particular to Kingston that we simply shouldn't miss?  Also, where is the best best best coffee in Kingston?

Thanks!!

Lonnie
Syracuse, NY (where, believe it or not, we have great coffee)

Lonnie,

The downtown core is fairly compact - a couple of hours of leisurely wandering should give you a good idea of where you might want to check out.

That being said, it doesn't appear that too much has changed in Kingston over the length of this thread (mind you, I've spent all of about 20 hours in Kingston, so my knowledge is somewhat limited). Luke's has a very interesting dinner menu, we had a good meal at Casa Domenico, and some others mentioned on this thread looked appealing if we'd had more time.

There are three Cambodian places that I saw in my short time there. that might be something that you see a lot of elsewhere and would definitely be on the budget end of things.

Cheers,
Geoff Ruby

[Wine_Dad]

Just had dinner at Le Chien Noir on Wednesday of last week. As a huge fan of the french bistro concept, I found the restaurant to be very good considering that it must not get as much traffic as a major market bistro of equivalent size. The service was very good and the food above average.

[Mallet]

For a splurge meal, I'd say Luigina's if probably your best bet in the downtown area (I haven't yet been out to bistro stefan, as Bueno suggested upthread). I would also consider Aqua Terra (their 3-course prix fixe menu is about $30 and always good, leaving you more money for their extensive wine list ). I find eating at Lukes very fun, as the food is pretty different and the chef isn't afraid to take some chances, if you go there plan on a long meal (service can be slow). For the rest of your meals I'd consider

-Cambodiana (corner of Brock and Montreal) $7-10 per person. Number 4 is extremely popular, but everything is good

-Curry Original (corner of Ontario and Princess) $15-20 per person (depending on extras like naan and chutneys). Best Indian food in town.

-Pilot House (corner of King and Johnson) $10-15 per person. Best Fish and Chips (try the smoked cod!)

-Lunch at Pan Chancho (corner of Princess and King) ~$15 per person. Solid Meal with good service.

-Golden Viet Thai (between of Queen and Wellington). $7-10 per person. It's a real toss-up with Cambodiana for my favourite Thai/Viet/Cambodian food (sorry to blend all 3 into 1, but everyplace in kingston has at least 2 in their name ). The specials are always good.


Let us know how your trip goes!
Martin

[Lonnie]

Let us know how your trip goes!
Martin

What a fabulous list! Now I wish we were spending more time in Kingston. So many restaurants, too few days. Maybe we can convince the folks that eating at the camp (last two days of trip) is silly when all this good food is just half an hour away. :-)

Lonnie

[Mallet]

So, how was your trip?

[flamenco]

So, how was your trip?

Hi Martin,
Lonnie's my wife, and we had a great time eating in Kingston. We only were there for a couple days, so we gobbled rapidly and often.

When we got to town, we went to the tourist booth at the nice waterfront area. We asked where we could get a homey breakfast. The young lady didn't answer readily; she probably didn't eat breakfast, but she suggested we go to "pann-chann-chose". My wife looked mystified, so I smiled and chimed in, [in Spanish] "Pan Chancho", and then she got it. That was a nice bread shop, btw, and we had a good snack there.

Our first night we quickly found good Vietnamese at Golden Viet Thai (was that the name?) - nearly always the best food for the money anywhere. We also had a killer dessert at the Best Western - we got the sampler and split it - best creme brulee we've had (perfect texure, and a touch of Grand Marnier didn't hurt), also homemade ice cream with roasted nuts (lovely), yummy flourless chocolate cake, and maybe one other great thing that I've forgotten.

Later we walked by Luke's, and sure enough, the backstory of the 16-year-old wunderkind chef proved irresistible (especially with our son at the CIA), and we decided to eat dinner there (we had almost opted for Le Chien Noir). The meal we had was highly impressive.

Some highlights - the appetizers included a rabbit rillette, a delicious rillette variant that I had not had before. I had the mixed grill, and I loved the variety of sausages (including pork belly - oh YEAH), and the sweet pea flan was a very cool touch. They are raising their own pigs now, and we also had homemade prosciutto made from one of these noble porkers. Wow, just buttery rich flavor. Lonnie had the Rainbow Trout, which caused her to make rapturous expressions, and she was amazed at the cauliflower veloute, another first. Lots of pleasant surprises.

We enjoyed talking with Luke's mother, who was very welcoming and friendly. Apparently Luke is on a historical kick, doing his take on recipes that he's found in his research of the way they ate many years ago in France. I don't know much more old-school you can get than Tete et Pied du Cochon!
They just put up their new website: Luke's!

Interesting that they name the courses in Italian (Primi Piatti and so on), but the menu, to me at least, seems very French. Of course, with his curious mind, I wouldn't put it past him to suddenly come up with a completely Spanish menu or something else. And with the press that Luke's starting to get, I wonder how the other chefs in town (many of them excellent) are taking it. Possibly not well.

All in all, a great visit!

Cheers, Dave

[Mallet]

Thanks for the link to the new website. I'm really want to get in on of the Sunday tasting menus *fingers crossed*...

[Khadija]

Mallet, have you attempted to get a reservation for a Sunday, yet? I'm contemplating an attempt, but I'm not positive.

I've only eaten at Luke's once (last winter). I went for a weekday lunch. I was excited. I ordered the charcuterie plate. I was disappointed with the food. The plate did not contain all of the items listed on the menu. What was there was not awful, but certainly not great, either. When I inquired about the inconsistency, the server shrugged, and claimed not to know exactly what the components of the plate were. She was nice enough, but she was very inattentive and lacked knowledge (she also seemed very young).

I haven't gone back since, but I do want to give the place another shot because I've heard such good things. And I hear would expect dinner to be different from lunch. Of course, the Sunday should be another story altogether.

[Michaeltheonion]

Chef Gurkan Soyic has just opened Arome on ONtario street. He was most recently the chef at Gusto on princess. I had a pretty bomb meal there a month or so ago. The main attraction was a grilled quail with a watermellon and fetta salad. I would recomend it to people looking for something more progressive in K-town.

[Mallet]

Mallet, have you attempted to get a reservation for a Sunday, yet?  I'm contemplating an attempt, but I'm not positive.

I've only eaten at Luke's once (last winter).  I went for a weekday lunch.  I was excited.  I ordered the charcuterie plate.  I was disappointed with the food.  The plate did not contain all of the items listed on the menu.  What was there was not awful, but certainly not great, either.  When I inquired about the inconsistency, the server shrugged, and claimed not to know exactly what the components of the plate were.  She was nice enough, but she was very inattentive and lacked knowledge (she also seemed very young).

I haven't gone back since, but I do want to give the place another shot because I've heard such good things.  And I hear would expect dinner to be different from lunch.  Of course, the Sunday should be another story altogether.

Sunday dinners are booked solid until January, and the cost for 8 courses plus pairings is about $150. I think this is roughly average for tasting menus? As I recall, Luke's at lunch and at dinner are two totally different experiences, with lunch being much more casual. I seem recall a not-so-impressive smoked meat sandwhich (the big headline was that it was cured for 21 days, what wasn't mentionned was that the meat was impossibly lean)

I really think you should give it a try for dinner though: the food there is generally very solid, although as you've picked up there's a slight tendency for hits/misses as well. I find I'm more willing to indulge the 'quirkier' aspects of Luke's because of the creativity of the food though: it remains one of my favourite restaurants in Kingston.

Michaeltheonion, thanks for the recommendation. My girlfriend had a disapointing meal there a couple months ago, so I hadn't taken the effort to check it out for myself. There's also a new vegetarian restaurant on Sydenham St (Lotus Heart Blossoms), which I've been meaning to check out. Then again, they sell "neatloaf"

[Mallet]

We back to Luke's last night for my girlfriend's birthday and had an incredible meal. The menu, presentation, and execution were definitely kicked up a notch since the last time we've eaten there, highly recommended! Easily one of the best meals I've had in Kingston so far, and I have the sneaky suspicion that future additions to the best meals list will be future dinners at Luke's... next time I'm taking pictures!

We also managed to get on the Sunday dinners for the first Sunday of March. If anybody else reserves on that night, let me know!

Edited by Mallet, 18 October 2007 - 09:59 AM.

[brendan mc aleer]

movng to kingston and want to know has anything recently opened worth checking out or since this topic was started.

[Mallet]

I don't think a whole lot has recently opened, by and large the recommendations on this thread still stand IMHO. Two new places that spring to mind are Aroma Restro/Winebar (in front of the Lonestar) and Ly's Place on Wellington (in front of Golden Viet Thai). Ly's place is alright but doesn't stack up to the other Asian places in Kingston. I haven't yet been to Aroma.

On another note, I managed to get a Sunday dinner at Luke's! Three of us will be heading out there on March 2nd for my first real tasting menu (other than the ones I cook at home ). I am definitely bringing my camera.

[poutine]

Had a great dinner at Aqua Terra in October. It was actually dinner for a large group (they closed the restaurant) with 3 choices for aps & mains. Had a nice crunchy/salty sweet'n'sour salad course followed by a perfectly prepared & sauced filet mignon. Veg on the side were al dente & simply prepped. Dessert was over the top --- chocolate creme brule, layer cake with ice cream & something else on the long rectangular plate that I'm forgetting. Everyone in our group (+60) were very impressed & we did have some well-versed foodies.

[Mallet]

Just a heads-up that the dinner menu at Luke's! has been updated (menu here, pictures here). While still based in some of the flavour combinations from previous menus, the preparation and techniques are much more modern (some definite MG influences). I recently has dinner there and found everything superb (I had the rabbit: warning, it's huge!, and my girlfriend had the lamb). Highly recommended!

[Michaeltheonion]

It seems alot of people have been talking about Lukes here. I went there with my family for a meal about two months ago, very mixed reviews. I was excited to eat Lukes classic approach to food, INstead what I got was a very hap hazzard use of modern techniques. I cant remember exactly what I ordered because I think what I got was not what the menu said. I know that I had Shrimp "Gnocchi," Which was made with a protein glue. There was also an asparagus puree which was cold and thickened with another gum. The waitress told me that the Asparagus were grown on Luke's Farm. Why would you take something as perfect as fresh asparagus which almost needs nothing done to it, and puree it into overly gummy baby food? I don't want to rant to much about these techniques but I think that often times chefs are ( forgive the pun) forcing them down our throats. SI hope Luke either abandons this style or comes to understand it better, and then perhaps Ill return there.