Canton

I was a little hesitant to go to this restaurant, mainly because of its location in the front section of the Rainbow Center. Not that the location was poor or anything like that, it is just that I often see undesirable types hanging around outside of this restaurant. Mind you, it might just be all in my imagination since I have never witnessed a problem here.

It was on our list regardless and so we ended up at this restaurant.

Our choice was easy - "dinner for four" and after a little hesitation at the order counter (they usually only provide this dinner for take-out) they said to sit down and they would bring it to our table.

We ordered our drinks (canned pop) and sat at the table. Within seconds the order began to arrive. I thought that it wasn't too bad but not so much variety as pork ribs, bar-b-qued chicken wings, fried rice and a broccoli and mistery meat dish was brought to our table.

I started on the meal, and then to my surprise the rest of it showed up - namely Chicken Balls, egg rolls (4) and of course - the ever present fortune cookies.

The staff was very friendly and accomodating.

The food was typical chinese but a little better than the usual. I thouroughly enjoyed the meal and at $42.75 it was about half the price of eating at most other chinese restaurants.

Oh yeah - there was lots so we took the rest home to enjoy at our leisure.

Recommended

Caruso Club's Ristorante Enrico

A meal at the Caruso Club's Ristorante Enrico has always been a favourite of mine.

My father, before his passing, often asked me to stop by here to pick up pasta and meatalls for a Sunday dinner. It has been a family tradition for years.

At first, I thought I had made a mistake in choosing this place since the sign outside the door said "Ristorante Enrico" and we were still in the "C" section of the yellow pages. Thankfully, the bill read "Caruso Club's Ristorante Enrico" so I was happy.

It was a buffet supper so we could choose our meal and portion size. The buffet was limited in choices but the food was prepared so very well it is hard to explain.

The chicken is always superb here, as is the pasta and the meatballs.

All we could eat for $52.00 for 4 people (no alcohol).

Our waitress was polite and attentive, even though it was buffet style.

We all came home feeling very full.

Cranky Joe's Roadhouse

On a Wednesday evening just after Canada Day 2008 we arrived at Cranky Joe's Roadhouse on Notre Dame Avenue.

Customers were sparse at this hour (5:15 pm) but more arrived shortly after we were seated at a table by a window.

The chairs were small and hard but comfortable enough for a meal.

Our cheerful waitress was at our table soon enough and with a big smile welcomed us to the establishment.

We had fun with the menus which were quite stiff and difficult to open at first. We were all suprised at one point or other in finding more choices on a previously undiscovered page.

I decided right away what I wanted having seen the sign "2 4 1" Chicken Wings on Wednesday night.

My wings were very meaty being the largest I have ever had in Sudbury. The chicken was not at all tough which surprised me for the size of the wings. So much meat in each bite!

The girls were happy with their choices of meals and found the portions to be quite generous. We all shared, yet had enough left over to take home.

Our waitress was very friendly and came to our table often enough to look after us properly.

The bill was a huge surprise being about half what we would normally pay. The total of $49.17 before tax for 3 adults and 1 child was very reasonable.

Highly recommended

Casey's Restaurant

The temperature was a cool 17°C as we headed to Casey's Restaurant on a windless Wednesday. The clouds had hung low and close all day, threatening rain off and on but with no wind the air felt much warmer than the mercury indicated.

This evening we were graced with the presence of my grandson who is turning four in three weeks. He was accompanied by his father as we took our place in the large restaurant.

It was cavernous and the noise from the diners reflected off the high ceiling carrying to all corners. I have difficulty hearing in noisy environments and this certainly was one.

The decor was sports-bar average with the ubiquitous tv sets on the walls set to an ongoing baseball game.

Our waitress was extremely pleasant and attentive, returning to our table often to see how we were doing. Even though well behaved, two children obviously need a little extra attention now and then.

There was a good assortment of choices on the menu and we had no difficulty in deciding on our meals.

After little discussion we placed our order. The meals arrived quite quickly and were all that we had expected.

Personally I ordered the Cashew Chicken stir fry which was excellent and quite large.

Except for the youngest guy, we downed most of our food indicating satisfaction with our choices.

Our meals were followed by delicious deserts ordered by two of our members and sampled by all.

The total bill was a surprising $141.78 before tip for 4 adults and two children. As I ordered I noted that the meals were reasonably priced and I had to peruse the bill later to discern where the higher costs were incurred.

After some study it seemed that the cost of the little extras added up quickly. For example, the coffee cost $2.29 and a glass of chocolate milk was $3.19. A glass of diet coke for $2.59 and a shot of bailey's a whopping $5.19 but the water was free - ha ha.

All in all a great meal with excellent service. Watch the little extras and you will have a nice time.

Burger King

We came to Burger King on a beautiful Tuesday late afternoon with the sun shining and warm weather.

Our anticipation was a little high having been to many other restaurants lately. We had trouble deciding which Burger King to attend but finally chose the one on Notre Dame because it had a play room for our youngest diner - woops - bad choice - but more on that later.

Our server was very polite but obviously quite new to the job. Seemingly a young student who had trouble taking our order and, once taken, filling that order.

I had to go through the order item by item in order to get our drink cups but we finally got it all correct. To be fair, the girl, while flustered, was very polite through the whole ordeal.

We got our food almost as ordered with only one error - one fry instead of rings, but after the previous hassle we let it ride.

Our youngest diner who recently turned 11, was quite excited at the Indiana Jones toy she got - an invisible pen. She had a lot of fun with it, showing us endless drawings and playing around with the (blacklight?) pen.

Having finished her meal she proceeded to the play room which was her ultimate goal from the beginning. She was quite disappointed since the room had been blocked off in several areas rendering the total play area to less than half its original (already small) size. Within a minute she was out of there.

Next she wanted to use the washroom but the ladies' room was "out of order". I went into the men's and, having found it empty, called her to go in there while I stood guard outside to ward off any unexpected visitors.

She came out and could not get over the fact that the men's room was so much smaller than the girls.

Our votes reflect the poor service and lack of play room facilities.

All in all, we got pretty well what we expected at a reasonable $27.60 for 3 adults and one child.

After the Burger King, we headed to the Dairy Queen for desert. this time we went to the one on Lorne Street. It is smaller than the Kingsway location and no outside seating.

Not a great night for our dining but all things considered (including an earthquake in China, Typhoon in Burma, the high gasoline prices and food prices rising everywhere else) we have a pretty nice life here in Sudbury.