This restaurant truly is a bright spot for Kitchener lunch. There is widespread recognition of that amongst people at the ol’ office, especially those who like “good” food.

Big Smiles

The first thing that I want to note is Elvis Ellison’s, the owner and chefs, welcoming and cheerful demeanor. This restaurant is one of the few places where you can talk to the chef about what you’re eating, how things are, and feel that you’re doing something appreciated by dining there.

Big smiles abound, especially amongst the guys coming in for the famous lunch-time take-out special. The lunch menu seems like a great value in general, but the take-out specials are worth exploring if you’re just passing by and only have a $5 bill.

From the lunch menu, I had the jerk chicken with some rose-hip tea. The chicken was a great bang-for-buck, but I sincerely regretted not starting with the pumpkin soup. Jeff let me try some of his; yeah, order it, it’s fantastic.

Jerk Chicken, No Soup for Me :(

Get Busier

The only thing I would like to see happen is for Ellison’s to get .. busier.  More people need to eat here, as the food is delicious and the restaurateur vibe is real.

Part of the solution is for the community to show up to eat at place like this.  But this restaurant needs to meet people half way.  I have a question about the take-out special: Why bother?  Every time I’ve gone in there to get the take-out special, the restaurant is quiet.  Let me just eat there, at that price.  I promise I’ll buy more (a drink, an appetizer, dessert etc.) if I sit down.  Hopefully sometime soon, when I’m looking for the best Caribbean food this side of Toronto.

The casualty of this down-home goodness is, alas, the presentation and general dining experience.   Finding a Carribean place that you would willingly take a new girlfriend to for Saturday lunch is … often challenging.  Rest assured, Rainbow Caribbean Cuisine suffers from all of these conditions, especially the dripping rich, homey food part.   We went for lunch this week, and lost one on the way because the place looks like an expensive cafeteria.  Once we finally ordered the “small lunch” for $9, seriously enjoyed the soup on a cold winter day, and barely finished our meals we knew we did the right thing.

Soup Goat Love

I’ve been complaining a lot about the poor restaurant feel in Kitchener lately. The lunchtime vibe downtown is pretty weak unless you’re willing to shell out $20 every time you leave the office (ie. go to Bolero). And seriously, Rainbow is one of the worst offenders. It feels like a high school cafeteria, especially since there’s a crowd of people lined up at lunch getting styrofoam to-go orders.

Yet the reality is that there is a line-up. Every lunch, a crowd of young people come in for the most filling, non-deep-friend lunch special on King St (just north of Frederick St.). For $9+ you get a soup or salad (get the soup), plantain, and your choice of meat.  The choices are standard Caribbean fare like curried goat and jerk chicken. My friends got the chicken, I got the goat, and either way you can’t go wrong. It’s coupled with rice, noodles, and tastes very home-made.

Small Lunch aka lies.

What else is there to say?  The “small lunch” describes this feast poorly.  Get some Irish Moss if you like Mexican horchata (or milky seaweed products).  This is my third time here for lunch and I’ll be going back whenever I have a cold and feel the need for comfort food.  The soup alone constitutes a small meal.

Downtown Kitchener is actually blessed with two top-notch Caribbean joints, Rainbow and Ellison’s Bistro.  Ellison’s I’m a fan of (as are many people), and will write about a little later.  In the mean time, feel free to stop by Rainbow and congratulate them on how little their decor changed given that their storefront was torn down and replaced a few months ago.  And enjoy.