St. Jacobs Farmers Market
During the summer, the market is both outside and inside. Outside, theres fresh fruits and vegetables, some random clothing, and knick knacks. We picked up some potatoes, blueberries, beets, and a fresh loaf of olive bread. Inside the main building there's meats, breads, cooked foods. One of the must try places, and the place that I think had the longest lineup is for the apple fritters at The Fritter Co. I've mentioned them before, my parents had brought some back for me years back. This time I got to try them fresh. I love how they use whole slices of apples in their fritter instead of the standard apple donut fritter which uses tiny pieces of apple. We bought a half dozen, but when we opened the box there were 8 fritters in there. Made me kind of confused, but I didn't complain, more for me to eat!
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| Apple Fritters - The Fritter Co. |
https://fritterco.ca
While waiting in the long line for fritters, I made the hubby go and buy some freshly made chips to snack on. Ray Woodey's Craft Chippery is located right across the Fritter Co. We bought a small bag ($3), which is a bit pricier than a normal bag of chips from the supermarket, but I guess you pay the price for freshly made. We got the salt and pepper flavour. Yup, tasted like salt and pepper. The chips were crispy (kind of like Lays), but not greasy at all.
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| Salt & Pepper Chips - The Chippery |
http://www.craftchippery.com
The building across from the main market had more random food, like a Chinese fast food place, a greek place, and a garlic spread place, but nothing of interest to us. Also in that building was older random items, think flea market like. So we didn't end up buying anything from there.
Metro Restaurant
With the lack of tempting lunch options at the St Jacobs Market, we decided to drive to Kitchener to grab some schnitzel for lunch. With all the Octoberfest activities that happen in the Kitchener Waterloo area in October, I just assumed that the area must house quite a few good German/Austrian restaurants. But after doing some Yelping, the reviews weren't that great. I essentially narrowed it down to two options, and we went with Metro Restaurant. I have to say that I don't know much about German food. I just know that it involves ham hocks, potatoes, sausages and schnitzel. The only time I've had German food, was when I was in Hamburg last year. All the food there was great! And I've been hoping to satisfy the craving again. After walking in through the door of Metro Restaurant, I expected to get a table pretty quick, because the restaurant seemed pretty empty, it being 1:30pm, after normal lunch hours in my opinion. But we stood there for what seemed like eternity before the lone waiter walked by. In the eternity that we spent waiting, I took a look at their menu (the takeout version). After we were finally seated, I looked at the dining room menu, and noticed the prices were quite a bit higher than what I saw on their takeout menu. A difference of approximately $7 per plate. Turns out the takeout menu I was looking at was pricing for lunch. And lunch is only offered Monday to Friday. So, people don't eat lunch on weekends? We were forced to pay for dinner prices while we were actually eating lunch on a weekend. We ordered the Metro Platter For Two. This came with two soups (that day was cream of mushroom) or Caesar salads with garlic bread, two choices of potatoes (home fries, french fries or mashed), two choices of vegetables (red cabbage, coleslaw, sauerkraut, carrots or applesauce), two Vienna schnitzels, four perogies, and two cabbage rolls. Sounds like a lot of food right? It was. The hubby and I only ate half and brought the other half home. The cream of mushroom soup at least didn't taste like it came from a can. The garlic bread did not look homemade. With all the food being deep fried, nothing seemed greasy, which is good. I found the food was ok, nothing really that special or great that stood out. I would come back here if I was ever in the area and had a massive craving for schnitzel, but I doubt that would happen very often.
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| Cream of Mushroom & Garlic Bread |
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| Caesar Salad & Garlic Bread |
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| Vienna Schnitzel, Home Fries, French Fries, Perogies, Cabbage Rolls |
http://kmetro.ca
Settlement Co.
Every food day must include a stop at a coffee shop, and no i'm not talking about Tim Hortons or Starbucks. Waterloo must have tons of places that offer caffeinated drinks with all the students around. Settlement Co. is located in the heart of downtown Waterloo, perfect since I wanted to check out Waterloo's Buskerfest. I was expecting the same grandeur and atmosphere of Toronto's Buskerfest. Boy was I disappointed, there were 2 buskers in a parking lot, with some midway rides for kids and a few food trucks. I walked through there in less than 5 mins. At least there's coffee right? Settlement Co. offers your typical caffeinated drinks, along with teas, and alcohol. So whatever you're feeling like, there's something for you to drink! The hubby ordered the flight board (espresso, macchiato, and pour over), and I ordered a latte. I think this is the first place where I've ordered a single latte, and I didn't get the lecture of how it won't taste as good, or we don't do it like that because a standard latte is a double. The barista was super nice about it, and even mentioned, that she would never judge how someone else wants their coffee. She didn't make me feel like crap for deviating from the norm. The hubby found his espresso a bit sour. He enjoyed the macchiato much more, even though i'm assuming it's the same espresso bean. The pour over he found a bit weak for his liking. I took a sip and I liked it, smooth, but light. I probably liked it because I don't drink strong coffee anymore. My single latte was great. Yes it is weaker than most would probably like, but what made it delicious was the milk. The milk had a rich creamy taste, like the organic milk that I drink at home. Yes, the bean makes the latte, but so does the milk.
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| Flight Board & Single Latte |
https://settlementco.ca
