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.