During a recent trip to Waterloo, Ontario, I had the opportunity to have dinner at the Loloan Lobby Bar.
A little about the Waterloo-Kitchener twin city region. This area, about 100 km west of Toronto, hosts one of the largest Oktoberfests outside of Germany.
Evolving Gastronomy Scene in Waterloo-Kitchener
But there is also something new: Over the decades, Waterloo has become the home to many tech companies and some of them are unicorns. With that development, this area is becoming an interesting spot for chowhounds.
It is now known for quality butchers shops to cafes to restaurants.
A few months back, during the winter time I went to a western restaurant with an acquaintance and for the first time in my life I had dinner in a semi-open area that had an overhead heater to keep us warm from the very cold weather. I had seen videos of such restaurants in Scandinavia and always wanted to enjoy a dinner, or perhaps a quick bite, in one of those.
So, I was more than happy to take up an invitation for dinner at the Loloan Lobby Bar. The restaurant-bar has been designed the give the vibes of a French bar of the 1920s in south east Asia. The south east Asian theme stems from the chef who had worked in the region for many years.
The restaurant specializes in South East Asian cuisine. As my group got in a little early we ended up in the bar.
Unusually for a restaurant specializing in South East Asian dishes, this bar has a much more lively vibe with cool décor and a wide range of cocktails to go with.
The restaurant itself isn’t very big – it can host perhaps about 20 people and then there is a private dining area for group get togethers.
It offers both a la carte and pris fixe options and we went for the latter with wine to pair.
The Pris Fixe Dinner
I don’t remember what exactly was served in the five-course dinner but here are the photos.
Final Thoughts on Loloan Lobby Bar
It has a cool vibe and the food was excellent (though I have to concede I felt the amount of meat in the fourth course was perhaps a tinge too much). The service was great as well.
But all in all, an excellent experience.
I hope to be able to visit Loloan’s sister restaurant, also in the area, soon.