Hamilton Cuisine - Page 10

rousseau · #**181** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 4:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbarbera

This city is seriously lacking in African restaurants. I really miss the Ethiopian and Moroccan places available in Toronto. There doesn't seem to be anything like that here.

Still?!?! That's just sad...the whole time we were in Hamilton we lamented the lack of Ethiopian restaurants, but since leaving four years ago we figured one or two of them would have sprouted up somewhere.

Hamilton is seriously behind the curve here. Even Kitchener-Waterloo and London have a couple of Ethiopian places, for goodness sakes.

Actually, K-W and London, our new "big city" stomping grounds now that we live in Stratford, have a lot of seriously cool amenities that Hamilton doesn't. Which is a shame for Hamilton.

raisethehammer · #**182** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 12:47 PM**

I wouldn't get carried away and call Hamilton 'behind the curve' because we aren't aware of an Ethiopian resto in town. Lol.

Contact the Afro-Canadian Cultural Centre on King East and ask them...they'll know every little African place in town.

markbarbera · #**183** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 1:09 PM**

Rousseau, I don't think it's so much about Hamilton being 'behind the curve' as it is simply due to a relatively tiny Ethiopian presence in the city. Ethnic restaurants require that ethnic culture's presence.

And lets all try not to sink this discussion into a contest of comparing Hamilton to the other towns in the area. I am sure there are lots of nice things to do exclusively in the Kitchener and London areas, just as they are a plethora of intersting sites and experiences in Hamilton that are not to be found elsewhere. That is what makes the Golden Horseshoe such a lovely place to live.

RTH, I forgot about Dalina's. This place is fantastic for mediterranean cuisine, and they do have a great tagine on the menu.

rousseau · #**184** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 3:06 PM**

"Every little African place?" That makes it sound as if Hamilton is abound in African restaurants. Can you name even one? I know I can't think of a single, solitary Ethiopian restaurant, never mind those falling under the umbrella of Africa as a whole, and Google is no help, either.

I think it is a sad state of affairs when a major metropolitan area of some 500,000+ in North America does not have a single Ethiopian restaurant in the 21st century.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisehammer

I wouldn't get carried away and call Hamilton 'behind the curve' because we aren't aware of an Ethiopian resto in town. Lol.

Actually, I could go into great detail about the many other reasons that Hamilton punches under its weight in comparison with certain other larger cities in Ontario, and I think it would be enlightening to people with an open mind, but I also think it would be too depressing, so I won't go into any further comparisons.

markbarbera · #**185** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 3:25 PM**

... so says Rousseau as he slips into full-throttle 'troll mode'.

geoff's two cents · #**186** Posted **Sep 28, 2008, 11:13 PM**

Rousseau, really. . . As a fairly recent newcomer, I'll acknowledge that there are certainly areas where Hamilton punches under its weight (air quality, a lack of clothing shopping downtown, 5-lane one-way streets, etc.) - Food isn't one of them, though I'll admit it depends on your preferences.

On my first visit to Kitchener, centre of a metro including well over 500,000 (if you include Guelph), and formerly called Berlin, I couldn't find a single German restaurant downtown; Hamilton has two downtown, plus a large, predominantly German deli (Denninger's). The Portuguese selection on James N. is also admirable, as is the Hamilton pub selection. The Indian selection here isn't too bad.

The presence of an Ethiopian restaurant strikes me as an arbitrary criterion by which to judge a city. Being a Vancouverite, I might be inclined to judge a city by the quality of its sushi - In which case Toronto, especially considering its size, is definitely sub-par. I haven't had vegetarian food in Ontario yet that compares to Vancouver either. Conversely, Vancouver isn't a great place to eat Italian; you'd do much better Italian-wise in Toronto, or even Hamilton.

Depends on what you're looking for. If you like a particular type of food, you'd best go where the people who make that type of food live. . .

rousseau · #**187** Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 12:39 AM**

I accept your criticisms of my posts in this thread, though I'm of two minds about being a detractor. On the one hand, many of the cons of the place are put into sharp relief by the objectivity of distance, and it becomes obvious that hometown boosters are in a state of terminal denial about them. On the other hand, maybe you have to turn a blind eye if you want any semblance of peace of mind, and bringing shortcomings up sounds like harping.

To be honest, Hamilton falls short of the mark in a number of areas for me, Ethiopian restaurants being just one of them. Maybe it's just a crazy coincidence that my eccentric tastes and interests are better served in Kitchener-Waterloo and London. And maybe my posts in this thread do simply constitute trolling, and are of no help to anyone. After all, what can you do about the lack of injera in Hamilton short of starting up a restaurant yourself or investing in one? So I admit I'm not offering constructive criticisms per se.

Is not having an Ethiopian restaurant a shortcoming? Short answer: yes. The long answer involves a discussion of the various metrics by which major metropolitan areas in North America are judged in terms of the various amenities that people come to expect for said areas. One indicator that a city has reached a certain level of cosmopolitanism is the presence of Ethiopian restaurants.

Off-topic: In K-W people eat German food in the German clubs. But you're right, it is quite peculiar that there isn't a big, well-known German restaurant somewhere downtown. I ate sushi and seafood for six years in Taiwan, and do not find Toronto to be lacking in available and good sushi (such as it is, being so far from either coast), but no doubt the concentration in Vancouver must be far greater. Still, unless you absolutely need to have one on every block, Toronto is very well served for Japanese restaurants.

P.S.: Hamilton does have good things, too, and it still pulls at my heartstrings, hence my participation in this forum.

adam · #**188** Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 3:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

P.S.: Hamilton does have good things, too, and it still pulls at my heartstrings, hence my participation in this forum.

Really? But without a plethora of ethiopian restaurants what good is a city?

DC83 · #**189** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 4:14 PM**

a new Boston Pizza is opening at the old McDonald's lot @ Queenston & Nash area.

FairHamilton · #**190** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 4:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC83

a new Boston Pizza is opening at the old McDonald's lot @ Queenston & Nash area.

I'll never be eating there........

raisethehammer · #**191** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 5:00 PM**

good news of a different variety on the dining front.
I have one less gross, greasy smell wafting across my neighbourhood now that the Harveys at King/Dundurn closed down! now, if we could rid of the Taco Bell, KFC and Mcdonalds we'd be in business.

highwater · #**192** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 5:04 PM**

I can't believe that Taco Bell's still there. What a dump.

raisethehammer · #**193** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 5:09 PM**

I know...such a garbage entrance to town. I'd love to see both of those intersections rebuilt as multi-story apartments with street level shops....oh, please LRT...hurry up!!

DC83 · #**194** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 5:29 PM**

I can't believe there are no NO, ZERO Harvey's downtown

There used to be 3 when I first moved down here (Jackson Sq, York/Bay, and Dundurn) now they're all gone. Harvey's in the best fast food chain in this country, and I have to go to Fennel & Wentworth now (altho that one's LEED).

I will never eat at that Boston Pizza either. I've been to one once, and it was probably the worst chain resto I have ever been to.

raisethehammer · #**195** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 5:54 PM**

dude...if you want a good burger (one that blows harveys out of the water) go the corktown, fishers pier 4, harvest burger, acclamation, pepperjack cafe etc....

gotta love a LEED drive-thru. haha.

DC83 · #**196** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 7:58 PM**

^^ ahahaha LEED drive-thru is kinda contradictory, but I LOVE how they have green bins (well, they're more ultra-mini silohs).

I have to admit something, and I'm kinda ashamed. I have lived in Corktown for YEARS and have yet to even step into The Corktown Pub :s I'm still turned off by it's infamous reputation. I know it's owned by the same ppl as Slainte's, but still... Is it even any better now???

FairHamilton · #**197** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 8:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

good news of a different variety on the dining front.
I have one less gross, greasy smell wafting across my neighbourhood now that the Harveys at King/Dundurn closed down! now, if we could rid of the Taco Bell, KFC and Mcdonalds we'd be in business.

Kinda almost looks like they are renovating at the Harveys building. At least there's a dumpster out front.

FairHamilton · #**198** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC83

I have to admit something, and I'm kinda ashamed. I have lived in Corktown for YEARS and have yet to even step into The Corktown Pub :s I'm still turned off by it's infamous reputation. I know it's owned by the same ppl as Slainte's, but still... Is it even any better now???

Have yet to get to the Corktown, but Paul Reardon told me he would see Lincoln Alexander there on Wednesday night Jazz nights.

With a guy as classy as Linc in attendance it can't be that bad.

DC83 · #**199** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 8:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

Kinda almost looks like they are renovating at the Harveys building. At least there's a dumpster out front.

That's exactly what I had originally thought when I 1st saw it... but then I realized they left the sign up, just blacked it out. So I'm assuming they're leaving. I would LOVE if they built a new one like the Fennel/Upp Wentworth location!

Jon Dalton · #**200** Posted **Oct 2, 2008, 9:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC83

^^ ahahaha LEED drive-thru is kinda contradictory, but I LOVE how they have green bins (well, they're more ultra-mini silohs).

I have to admit something, and I'm kinda ashamed. I have lived in Corktown for YEARS and have yet to even step into The Corktown Pub :s I'm still turned off by it's infamous reputation. I know it's owned by the same ppl as Slainte's, but still... Is it even any better now???

Better or worse depends on your point of view but you will definitely have an opinion.