PRINCESS CAFE IMPRESSES WITH FLAVOUR,
Not long after supper at the Princess Café in uptown Waterloo — it is hard to call it dinner when it’s this informal — my wife, Roberta, said: “This is the real deal. It’s not pretentious, and when they say they do comfort food that is exactly what they deliver, along with interesting new beers I’ve never seen anywhere else.”
Huge windows flood the tight main café space with light. Bold, large artwork and a community notice-board draw the eye down from ugly exposed ductwork. The clientele is diverse, ranging from students sprawled with their laptops and books to greybeards catching a bite before a film at the neighbouring cinema. Patrons occupy a variety of seating options requiring circuitous navigation between the ordering station and one’s table, surely the bane of any server’s existence. An airy annex room across the cinema lobby allows for more serene overflow seating.
One orders and pays at the counter and dishes are delivered to your table. The queue grew behind me and I felt the pressure as I dithered, trying to assimilate the choices presented on a series of chalkboards. Prices include tax, a nice touch for those counting pennies.
Though tempted by the vegetarian sandwich of the month, I opted for the Bee’s Cheese Sandwich ($9), a harmonious meld of Woolwich goat cheese, havarti, toasted walnuts, honey and rosemary butter. A sliver of pickle served as a garnish to the well toasted sandwich. I accompanied it with the combo-priced Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup of the day ($4): A large standalone soup would have been double that. Simply topped with a sprinkle of arugula leaves, I found it too coarsely blended to my taste, but the flavour was fine.
My wife, who often lunches at the Princess Café, ordered her usual, a Turkey Club ($9) featuring smoked turkey, extra lean prosciutto, tomato and arugula, with roasted garlic mayo and havarti. Her Beet Salad combo ($5) included pickled red onion, goat cheese and maple vinaigrette mixed with the beets. Both elements were enjoyable.
Mismatched cloth napkins, real cutlery, vintage mugs — available for purchase — and self-serve water from an urn, successfully tread the line between shabby and chic. The menu has consciously been kept simple: offer few items but use quality ingredients and prepare them well seems to be the guiding philosophy honed over a dozen years of operation. Good breads and some sweets are sourced from Grain Harvest Bakery, while cookies, brownies and tarts are from Bitter sweet tart, operated by a former employee’s mother.
Notable is the constantly rotating beer selection, curated by owner Marc Lecompte, who scours the province, bringing in unique offerings, sometimes sourcing as few as a dozen bottles at a time. My wife certainly enjoyed the Fairweather Silk Oat Porter ($11.75) with her meal.
Our bargain-priced dessert selections, a handmade classic Butter Tart ($2.50) and a slice of Blueberry Tart ($3), accompanied by a squirt of canned whipped cream, had arrived at the table shortly after we sat down. The tart, encrusted with sugar, tasted very fresh with bright fruit flavour, but the whipped cream was sagging by the time we got to that part of the meal.
The service was friendly throughout, and when I had enquired about whether I had been billed correctly, the staff cheerfully printed an itemized bill and
went through it responding to my query. The mixup was at my end: I had not realized I had ordered combo-priced sides and was surprised at the smaller, yet adequate, portion sizes that accompanied our sandwiches.
Overall our experience was very good. This is clearly not fine dining, but when compared with similar establishments in the region, Princess Café stacks up better than most. Intelligent use of quality ingredients and use of local suppliers, an inclusive and
welcoming atmosphere and cheerful staff, and the curated beer selection will see us periodically returning for a quick bite, or a leisurely lunch.
Assessing food, atmosphere, service and prices. Dining Out restaurant reviews are based on anonymous visits to the establishments. Restaurants do not pay for any portion of the reviewer’s meal. Alex Bielak can be reached at www.twitter.com/alexbielak.