Review – La Piazza, Hamilton, Ontario

An old stand-by favourite of mine, when I feel like having good Italian food. I came back from the US, for the Christmas holidays, and met up with Bob at one of the bars on George Street downtown Hamilton, and we had a couple of beers before we headed to La Piazza. Because I am doing this from memory, I can’t remember the name of the bar!! It may have been on Augusta, not sure.
Anyways, we headed to La Piazza, and we started out with a couple of good Grey Goose martinis, and I started with a nice warm spinach salad, with walnuts and grilled onions. Tasty. For the appetizer, I have a hard time veering away from the Portobello mushroom, stuffed with crab, cheese, with a sweet red pepper coulis on the bottom. Nothing like taking the Italian bread they give you and sop up the coulis after eating a healthy sized Portobello. On to the main course, I decided to take it easy, and had the pasta alfredo with chicken, and I wasn’t disappointed. I have found at most Italian restaurants, the alfredo sauce is a bit too thick for my liking. Maybe I am a wuss, but I prefer my alfredo sauce a little more runny than typically presented on pasta. It was still good, though. For dessert, I had the crème brule, which is always good, as a nice round out to the meal. Finishing up with a good cup of coffee, and you can’t beat the meal at all. Of course, nothing like a nice Drambuie to wash the coffee down. It was a reasonable night on Bob’s wallet, with the tab coming in at about $140 for 2. Not bad…I will be back there again, for some sort of an occasion.

Review – Fallsview Grand Buffet, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Being down in the US for a year, I have had a chance to come back a couple of times a month, and January’s choice for our monthly dinner was pretty easy. Bob had wanted tickets to the show Solid Gold at the casino, so I had booked these for him in advance. Since I was in town for this, we decided to keep it simple, and hit the casino buffet yet again…we had to give it another chance.
The buffet is getting tiresome, to say the least. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to go to the casino a few times, to at least take advantage of the comps that were made available to me over the last half of 2007. They still haven’t brought back the crab legs, contrary to what Bob thinks (No, they didn’t declare them “endangered” after I ate them…). You would think that after a few years, they would change up some of the menu items. Not sure if its because I have been there too often, or if its turning me off, but it doesn’t appeal to me as it used to. If you really have to hit a casino buffet at the Falls, make your way to the old casino, Casino Niagara, and enjoy their buffet. For the same price, the food seems fresher. Even if you feel like a steak, add one for $6.95 to the buffet price, and you won’t be disappointed. You just won’t be able to have crab legs with it.

Review - Rumaks, Hamilton, Ontario

During a trip back from the US, Bob and I just had time to meet up quickly one night, before I had to get back to the US. He suggested Rumaks, which is located on Upper Wellington, for some Polish home cooking. Because we went on the new Family Day stat holiday, it turns out that the kitchen was closed for the day, and only finger food (read wings) was available. The beer was good…Okocim from Poland. The fries were the best part of the finger foods, and the nachos would have been nice with some ground beef added. We will have to try this place again for its home-cooked Polish food. Stay tuned.

Review – Montfort Restaurant, Burlington, Ontario

After reviewing the last few years worth of our monthly dinners, Bob and I had a chat and decided we should get back to the ethnic restaurants, since there are so many more restaurants around to try that we haven’t considered yet.

He had mentioned Montfort Restaurant, in Burlington. I had dinner at one of the original Montfort’s, in Oakville, about 15+ years ago, so I was interested to see what they were like, after so many years.

We started off at Hess Village again, at KOI, where the beer is cold. I had a Rickard’s White, which seems to be my “usual” these days, when we go to Hess. After a couple of cold beers, we headed to Burlington.

The restaurant is a bit small compared to what we have been in the past, and the waitress seemed to be friendly. We started with a Stella, and then ordered the Appetizer Maza for 2. It included tomatoes with feta cheese, falafel, chicken shawarma, and hummous with meat. A nice appetizer, but when I asked for tahini sauce for my falafel, they said they don’t carry it. A Middle Eastern restaurant that doesn’t have tahini sauce?? They said it was a typo…go figure. One thing I don’t like is being lied to. As I write this, I had read a few other reviews on the place, and others weren’t too impressed with the service. I have to agree. Service is number one in a restaurant, and even if the food isn’t quite up to par, at least the service will offset some of the experience.

For the main course, we ordered the mixed grill for 2, which included souvlaki, Montfort chicken, kafta, and chicken shawarma. We added lamb kebobs as a taster, to see how their lamb was prepared. The food was good, but we could have used bigger portions. It seems that they are trying to save a few bucks, and cut back on a few essentials, such as providing the tahini sauce. Total bill for dinner was $150...a little on the pricey side for what we got.

After dinner, we headed back to Hess and KOI lounge, and finished the night off with special coffees, and admired the scenery.

Overall, it was pretty good. I don’t know if I would go back, as others have said, there are better places to get middle eastern food, at a better price. If you are looking for a better experience, it’s worth trying La Luna out in Hamilton for a better meal.

Review - KOI Lounge in Hess & Sirloin Cellar, Hamilton, Ontario

One of the great things around here in Hamilton, is the abundance of patios to sit and enjoy a nice cold beer on a hot night. Last Tuesday was one of those nights, when Bob and I got together for the monthly dinner. We met up at Hess Village, at KOI Lounge. After a cold Rickards White, we were a bit hungry, so we checked out the KOI menu for an appetizer. We settled on the combo #3, which included lamb chops, spring rolls, beef dumplings, and mango salad. The only complaint I have about it, was that it's advertised as a combo for 2, but it only came with 3 lamb chops...so, they need to fix that up. Same with the spring rolls. We ended up with a bill of $50 for KOI, and then headed down to Sirloin Cellar for dinner.

Bob was set on having a nice steak, which Sirloin Cellar is known. However, Robin, our waitress, suggested that he dive into the rack of lamb. Bob wasn't going to have an appetizer, but he couldn't resist the Oysters Rockafeller. I had the mussels, in a white wine sauce, which were very tasty. For the main course, I had the special - Teriyaki sirloin, and Bob had the rack of lamb. They were delicious. Sirloin was cooked to perfection, and the rack of lamb was 8 ribs...biggest I've seen served at a restaurant!

We ordered a half litre of the Australian house red, and finished off with special coffees and Drambuie. The total bill was $165, and we included a $35 tip, since Robin did a great job. The Drambuie was well worth it, since it was more than a double shot. That's the kind of service you expect at a place like Sirloin Cellar.

After dinner, we headed back to KOI, to enjoy the hot summer night, and to take in the scenery. A couple of special coffees for Bob, and a couple of Grand Marniers on the rocks for me, made for a nice close to the evening, with the final tab at KOI being another $50. Another great night out for dinner and drinks!