Where to Eat in Kingston

[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 October 18, 2007 by Mallet (log)

[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.

[Mallet]

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.

←

I think one of the main reasons that Luke's gets attention is that it's one of the most creative restaurants in Kingston, for us residents it means we actually get to try something different every once in a while . I've definitely had some of my best meals in Kingston there, but the flipside is that sometimes you get flavour combinations that aren't particularly pleasant (once I had a particularly bad dessert which was a combination of parsnips, smoked banana ice cream, and smoked paprika with a mushy chocolate crepe on top). I don't know in what context you had the asparagus purée, but when we had it it was in combination with a rhubarb purée and lamb "popscicles". In that context I thought it made sense since you would dip the lamb in the various purées (or in combinations), which were also arranged on the plate for visual impact. The pairing of asparagus and rhubarb was also new to me, and both my partner and I enjoyed it thoroughly. To be sure, I wouldn't eat asparagus that way every day but at the same time I certainly don't want to pay for something I can easily make at home (the fact that it was cold is unfortunate, however). I haven't had the shrimp gnocchi, but it doesn't seem to be on the menu now: perhaps it was a failed experiment?

On another note, we went to Aqua Terra for a meal about 2 weeks ago. While not earth shattering by any stretch, their prix-fixe menu is probably one of the best deals in the city and the wine list alone is worth the trip.

[rgruby]

Can I bump this thread up again?

It's been a year since it was last "updated".

Is there anything new and worthy in Kingston?

I'll be there end of next week and we apparently have a babysitter for one night. So, one nice meal out for dinner, a couple or three lunches and another dinner with a 4 year old in tow.

I will go back an have a look at this thread before I comment further.

Thanks,

geoff

[Mallet]

I haven't eaten out much lately, but I think a lot of the old recommendations on this thread still stand. If you like Cambodian/Thai food then Cambodiana or Cambodian Village are both good places worth checking out for lunch. Pan Chancho is another good place for lunch, as is the smoked cod fish 'n' chips at the Pilot House.

You mught want to check out Luke's for dinner since you missed out last time. Luke was recently featured in Toronto Life (link). Aqua Terra should still be a good bet.

As for new places, I don't think there are that many in the downtown core (Olivea is on the market square, right next to Casa Domenico, and Luigina has been reincarnated as Sotto Sopra). Chien Noir is moving more towards named ingredients. There's also a new sushi place downtown (Sima on Princess at King St), I went when it had just opened and found it much better than TaKe.

Edited September 23, 2009 by Mallet (log)

[rgruby]

Alright.

We're back.

Had dinner at Curry Original. Ok, but I thought our two mains (lamb korma and chicken dansahk) were too sweet.

Had fish 'n chips at the Pilot for lunch. Good.

Had dinner at Chez Piggy. Some above felt it seemed to be coasting on its reputation. I hadn't eaten there before - but I'm not gonna disagree.

We happened to be in town for Chilifest. So, chili it was. I liked the bison and the one from the folks beside them. The firemen's wasn't bad either.

Also had some poutine at Bubba's before we caught the train home and the "homemade" (er, Chapmans) ice cream at the place beside Woodenheads.

And, one other observation. I believe Kingston, Ontario, Canada to have the most Thai restaurants per capita of an city outside Thailand.

Cheers,

Geoff