Village Squire, 1978-10, Page 33SQUIRE'S TABLE
Listowel's Jade Garden a little special
Listowel has been undergoing something
of a restaurant boom in recent months with
the opening of two new establishments.
One of these is the Golden Barrel which we
reviewed a couple of months back and
found an excellent addition to the local
fare. The other nes': entry is Jade Garden
on Wallace Ave. North which adds Chinese
food to the variety available in Listowel.
Like the Golden Barrel it proved to be a
good addition to the Listowel culinary
scene when we visited it recently. It is run
by Sui On Wong. a native of Hong Kong
who, though he is only 34 years of age has
already been running restaurants for 15
years since he emmigrated first to
England. He moved to Canada late last
year and opened Jade Garden in June.
saying he and his family felt safer in a
smaller town.
Mr. Wong himself was serving
customers the night we arrived. Service
throughout the evening was efficient and
done with a good deal of grace.
First off, if you're looking for cheap
Chinese food Jade Garden is not the place
to look. If you're looking for something
more than a sheer filling of the stomach
then Jade Garden just might be your
place. Of the Chinese restaurants we've
visited in the area, Jade Garden seems to
have the most pleasant decor with deep
carpet. dark wood wainscotting and
red -orange burlap fabric on the walls.
Little Chinese touches are there such as
chandeliers with dragons and Chinese
paintings and Tamp -like iighting fixtures.
Tables are covered with white cloths,
something all too rare these days when
plastic table tops and paper placemats
seem to be sneaking into more and more
restaurants.
The menu offers a wide variety of dishes,
both Canadian and Chinese and a
considerable wine list as well. The whole
family was present for this outing. The
children decided that the ever popular
hamburger was what they wanted. Mother
asked for child -sized portions and if the
resulting platefuls were child size, one
would hate to see what an adult order was.
The plates were full with a mass of French
fries and a large, very delicious looking
hamburger.
Their parents chose a dinner for two
which began with egg drop chicken and
sweet corn soup which was served piping
hot. so hot one had to be careful not to burn
one's tongue. It was a hearty thick soup
that should really hit the spot on the cold
winter days coming up. We found it a little
flat for our taste but a little seasoning made
it a rich tasty treat.
With this finished, the rest of the meal
arrived consisting of egg rolls, sweet and
sour chicken balls, fried beef with mixed
vegetables and barbecued pork fried rice.
Where the soup had seemed a little flat,
this part of the meal seemed a little
stronger in seasoning than the food we'd
experienced in other Chinese restaurants,
particularly the egg rolls. The rice was both
pleasant to taste and pleasant to look at
with peas interspersed throughout adding
bright colour to the browns of the rice and
the meat. The vegetables seemed fresh
and tender in the fried beef and mixed
vegetable dish.
Servings were again plenty large. We
managed to polish off the sweet and sour
chicken balls with little trouble but found
the two meat and vegetable combination
dishes a little too much to handle. As a
result we had to pass up the dessert menu.
The children however, despite their big
helpings wanted dessert and chose fruit
cocktail which appeared to be simply the
canned version but attractively served in
interesting dishes.
The price of the dinner for two was
$11.50 and the addition of a glass of wine
for the adults (Colli Albani Italian wine at
S1.00 per glass) and the children's meals
ran the total bill to just under $20 before
the tip.
The restaurant has two diningrooms, a
lower diningroom at the front and an upper
room at the rear. Unlike many restaurants
the front room seems to be as attractive as
the back one. The two rooms however can
cause problems on a slow night when the
staff is small. The one lapse in service
on our visit was when a friendly
group of locals came in and sat in the rear
room while we were in the front room
meaning Mr. Wong was running back and
forth between rooms. We had to wait a
considerable amount of time before we
received our bill. ❑
DINING INFORMATION
The listings provided are a service to our
readers. They are not paid advertisements.
BAYFIELD
THE LITTLE INN, Bayfield offers full course
meals. It is open daily from May 13 to the
Canadian Thanksgiving for lunch from 12 to 2
p.m. and dinner from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Reservation
are accepted at 565-2611. They have a liquor
licence and accept Chargex and Master Charge.
THE BAVARIAN TAVERN, Highway 21 south,
Bayfield specializes in German food. It's open
from 12 noon until 10 p.m. It's fully licenced and
accepts reservations at 565-2843. Credit cards
accepted: American Express and Master
Charge.
THE RED PUMP RESTAURANT, Bayfleld
specializes in country gourmet dining. Open
daily to 1 a.m. serving lunch from 1-3. Dinner
6-10. Fully licensed. Meals range from $5.95 to
$12.50. Phone 565-2576 for reservations.
THE ALBION HOTEL, Main St., Bayfield
specializes in ribs, steaks and seafood. The noon
luncheon special from Monday to Friday is
$2.65. Prices range from $5.00 to 56.00 per
person for dinner. Lunch is served from 12-2 and
dinner 5-7:30. They are licenced and accept
Chargex-Visa, and Master Charge. Reservations
are not necessary.
BLYTH
THE VILLAGE RESTAURANT Main St , Blyth
offers a Tiffany Dining Room where you have
your own individual lamp over every table to
give you privacy and a cosy atmosphere. Prices
start with a breakfast coffee at 25 cents to a full
course meal at 56.00 for roast beef. Open
Monday to Thursday 6-10; Friday 6-11:30;
Saturday 7:30-12 p.m. Reservations are
accepted at 523-9566.
GRAND VIEW LUNCH, Highway 4 and County
Road 25, Blyth specializes in chicken and rib
dinners. They also have home cooked meals with
home baked pies. Take out orders are also
available at 523-4471. Open weekdays 7:30 to
10:30 and Sundays 10 to 10:30.
TRIPLE K RESTAURANT, County Road 25 east,
Blyth specializes in home cooked meals with
home baked pies. Take out orders are available.
Open weekdays, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays 6
a.m. to 12:30 a.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12:30
a.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
CLINTON
ELM HAVEN MOTOR HOTEL, Highway 8,
Clinton offers daily specials and a complete
menu. Prices range from $2.50 to $6.00. Open
daily except Sunday from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and 5 to 9 p.m. Licenced. Accept Chargex and
Master Charge.
BARTLIFF'S RESTAURANT, 46 Albert St.,
Clinton serves breakfast. lunch and dinner from
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 12 noon
to 7:30 p.m. on Sundays. No reservations
required. Not licenced. No credit cards
accepted.
CLINTON HOTEL, 33 Victoria SI., Clinton is
VILLAGE SQUIRE/OCTOBER 1978. PG.31.