Mambella's (OMG is this place amazing!)

MAMBELLA'S
160 Columbia St. West.
Waterloo
519-885-2244
mambellas@golden.net
What can be said about reliving a past experience that was totally amazing? It's terrific if you can manage it. As most of you know, I grew up in NJ where Italian food is king, queen, prince and princess. We always went to a bar called Conte's for pizza (the best on the planet) and meatball sandwiches. These flavors are part of my very food oriented childhood.


Scootor and I met Arlene at Mambella's for lunch. They have a huge menu of pastas, pizza, fresh salads, grilled paninis, fresh sandwiches (make your own or choose one of their signature paninis), toasted sandwiches, and wraps. They also have a breakfast menu until 11:30am.

So many choices it made my head spin. I opted for the Veal Parm sandwich but they had already run out of them so I chose a Meatball sandwich on a WHITE Kaiser. I normally do brown or multigrain bread but the meatballs were telling me to go WHITE. My sandwich came first and I took a big bite. I know I always say I saw God but instead I saw Conte's. It was so delicious I almost swooned! Scootor had the Pulled Pork and Arlene had the Boss Beef Panini. They also both had salads. Everything was marvelous.

Tina (the owner) doesn't buy "Deli" meats and cooks all the meat herself. It sure makes a difference!

There are Homemade cookies and squares that look scrumptious! I was too full of meatballs to partake.

So here it goes.....If you want a terrific Breakfast or Lunch this is the place to go!

It is right across the street from the RIM complex on Columbia Street. Run don't walk! When we were there they didn't do dinner; however, Tina let us know that they're planning on offering dinner service in the near future. So give her a call to see when she'll be open for dinner and weekend dining. Make a reservation as seating is limited - Note to reader: some days making a reservation is easy and others they are unsure, so you'll need to be a bit persistent.

Bon apetit!

ICEBOX CAKE

This dessert has been my favorite since I was a kid. My Mother wasn't much of a baker or cook if the truth be told. Since this dessert is a total no bake anyone can do it.

This is one of my free form recipes so just relax and have at it.

You will need:
1 Litre/Quart of Whipping Cream
4 boxes of Chocolate Wafer Cookies.
1T of Vanilla
Sugar to taste.

To Begin:
When whipping cream it's faster to put the bowl and beaters in the freezer. Don't freak out, you may omit this step. Start the mixer on LOW to start or you'll have droplets of cream all over the kitchen. As the cream thickens turn the mixer to MEDIUM. Add the Vanilla to the thickening cream and add the Sugar to taste. Try adding the Sugar a Tablespoon at a time. Keep tasting for sweetness. Stop whipping when soft peaks form.

Making the Cake

Start with a large PLATTER. Spread about 1/2 a cup of the cream on it. Pick up a CHOCOLATE WAFER and spread it with 1/2 inch of cream. Top the cream with another Wafer. Put the little cookie sandwichs on the platter. Keep going until you have a cake made. The size and shape is up to you. If you have a lot of cream and wafers left add another layer. Remember you will need to ice the cake with cream. You can always make single servings if you want.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave it set for a few hours. I always do mine in the morning and it's fine by dinner time.

To sum it all up it is a romantic cake almost as good as sex.

Bon appétit!

Jake & Humphreys' Bistro

196 Peel St.

New Hamburg, ON N3A 1E3

519-662-1143

Dine@jakeandhumphreys.com

www.jakeandhumphreys.com

I have been Tweeting this place for months thinking that Jake & Humphrey were 2 guys hence the name. Only to find out that the people who own the place names it after their cats. That alone made it OK by me.

The Restaurant is the bottom floor of one of the nice older homes that you still see in all those small picturesque little towns in the region. The decorating is Arty and the chairs are comfortable.

Our server knew we were coming as I had promised to do for months and months and introduced herself to us. She was just lovely. A really nice server can make a dining out experience a thing of joy.

The menu is on the smaller side which is fine with me. No huge laminated monsters with cutsie names and lurid photos. I do love a simple menu. The best thing is there are also a good number of specials every day.

I ordered the Pistachio Pate and the Prime Rib burger and Scoot, the Seafood Chowder and the Chicken Schnitzel Club. The Pate is lovely but more of a Terrine. It is a delicate but solid, porky, and studded with lovely and tasty green nuts and each piece was wrapped with double smoked bacon. Along with the pate was home made Melba toast and yesterday instead of Chutney there was some GRAPE KETCHUP!

OMG was that ketchup wonderful. A slice of Pate on the Melba toast with the ketchup o top made me swoon.

I got a taste of Scootor's soup and it was lovely and creamy and full of fish. I'd order it again.

So, all who dine with me know I am on the eternal quest for the best Burger. I have read menus promising me the best burger on the planet only to have my dreams of the perfect burger dashed on the rocks of dry and tasteless grey meat. With my first bite and the grin that followed I knew I had found the best burger I'd ever had not counting my own. It comes with a slice of real cheese, double smoked bacon, sauteed onions(sweet and creamy) lettuce and tomato. I opted out of the cheese and bacon as I am smokily challenged. Again I gotta say it was juicy and DAVOON! Scootor's Chicken Schnitzel Club was lovely. Crispy chicken with NO greasiness and was delicious and succulent. The bread was toasted perfectly and the Pesto Mayo was just right.

I could only eat half my burger and Scoot half his sandwich so of course we had to have dessert.

ALL DESSERTS ARE MADE IN-HOUSE. I was very surprised by this since all the Restos locally seem to get all the same cakes brought in from somewhere in T.O. If dessert isn't made in the place I don't even want to try it. I digress. There are 5 dessert selections that come with home-made Ice Cream as well. We ordered the Apple Crisp which came in it's own little gratine dish with a perfect scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on top. OMG. It was the first time I saw God without dessert being Creme Brulee. Perfect size for two perfect scoop, perfect Perfect Perfect.

So as New Hamburg is a scant 20 minutes away you should plan a trip to Jake & Humphreys. Run don't walk and I recommend a reservation be made. It's not a huge place and I can see it filling up fast.

O'Yummy Sushi

646 Erb St. W.

Waterloo, ON N2T 2Z7

519-954-6555

www.oyummysushi.ca

This has been the busiest week-end we have had in a while. We got our Income Tax refund checks and they were burning a hole in our pockets so we decided to do Sushi. We had no idea where to go and there was O'Yummy Sushi just waiting for us as if by magic.

We pulled into the lot and went in. I'm not a decor person and ambiance means very little to me. O'Yummy Sushi is cool and clean and full of all sorts of really nice lighting features especially a small tree with LED lights at the end of each branch. We asked where they got it and the Manager said we could buy theirs. We opted out on that one.

Now to the food. IT WAS DELICIOUS. It was clean and crisp and NOT fishy in any way. We ordered a Spider Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll, California Roll, BBQ Eel Roll(for Scootor not for me I can't get passed the little bones) Salmon Skin Roll and a Shrimp Tempura Roll. They were all wonderful. They were the Dictionary definition of what Sushi should be. The presentation was fish art work and looked like the pictures of Sushi on the place-mats, which was lovely. There were only 2 very small issues for me, the Salmon Skin Roll had a few scales on it and the Pickled Ginger blew the top of my head off.

If you are looking for a new Sushi place I highly recommend O'Yummy Sushi. You won't regret it.

Tax and tip $40.00

Fratburger

247 King St. N. and University

Waterloo

N2J 4V2

519-954-FRAT (3728)

What to do for lunch is always the big question on the days Scootor has off. This past Thursday we decided on Fratburger, home of the best burgers in town because you may get a rare hamburger there. The reason every other place can't serve their burgers rare is because they buy hamburger already ground. This place grinds their own meat every day and thank God they do!

Thursday we arrived around 1:00 pm and the regular crowd was just beginning to thin out. We sat in our friend Jill's section and read the menus. The menu is very easy to read. You get to choose each option and topping.

I ordered the standard burger as rare as possible with fries and mayo. Other condiments are on

each table. Scootor ordered the special of the day the Cowboy. A patty topped with cheese frilled mushrooms and onions. He also ordered fries.

Fratburger's fries are WONDERFUL. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside just how I love them.

My hamburger was perfect and rare and Scoot loved his Cowboy.

There are a few Veggie options which I have heard are delicious. This is not a fine dining place nor should it be, It is a good burger at a good price. The 2 of us ate for around $20.00 and when you think of all the bad burger chains run don't walk to Fratburger.