Ellison's Bistro has atmosphere that you won't find at any other Caribbean restaurant in Kitchener.It has an upscale décor with intimacy that you can feel from the minute you walk in the door.
About three months ago, my wife and I happened upon Ellison's Bistro completely by chance. At the time it was somewhat late for dining and neither of us was particularly hungry, in large part because we had eaten a light dinner only two or three hours earlier. Initially we had wandered in solely for a glass of wine, some quiet conversation, and perhaps an appetizer. But then we smelled the food!!!
I must first state that I am not prone to excessive eating, no matter how engaging the cuisine. Having said this, before we left we had shared and sampled, the pepper pot stew, a bountiful jumbalaya, an order of jerk chicken, and although we swore we wouldn't, we also shared a dessert, ...a pudding prepared from sweet yams and lightly drizzled in a brown sugar sauce. Everything was exquisite. The food was prepared fresh to order, and the flavours were intense. The atomosphere was warm and unpretensious, and this was underscored by the sincere friendliness of the service. The chef of Ellison's Bistro, Elvis, does not hide away in the kitchen, and takes the time and concern to serve some dishes personally, and he frequents the dining area when possible to ensure that his patron's needs and pleasure's are being met. My wife and I have two young children, so unfortunately we don't visit as often as we would like to. But we have recently taken our kids as well, and in every circumstance we have been made to feel that we are not so much as at a restaurant, but rather that we are at a friend's for dinner, where our friend aslo happens to be an amazing chef. In truth, I have eaten in fine restaurants (and some not so fine) around the world and I can count on the fingers of one hand, those that made dining an experience that ressonates at a deeper and more memorable level. Ellison's Bistro, for me, is among this list of very few exceptionalities. The fact that we found it in our back yard, and only because of random chance, is one of those happy accidents for which I am very grateful.
Love, love love this restaurant. I have been a customer for the past 4 years. Elvis is a gem. Not too many chefs personally come out of the kitchen and check on their customers to see that everything is ok. The portions are fairly large (the dinner size jerk chicken could easily be two meals).
This is truly a diamond in the rough. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you're inside and eating, you won't be able to believe that you've been missing out on it for so long.
The two of us stopped in for a dinner on a Saturday night and were promptly seated, given menus and told the specials. The restaurant was about half-full, so our service was very prompt, especially considering it was just one woman working the entire front of house.
We ordered drinks and were only just done deciding on entrees when they arrived. We were given buns shortly thereafter, which were some of the best fresh baked buns either of us had ever tasted. We waited maybe 20 minutes for our meals to come out, which isn't bad considering everything is cooked fresh and we had ordered shortly after another couple.
When the food did come, it was absolutely fantastic. I had the Jambalaya Risotto, which was a brilliant blend of shellfish, sausage, rice and vegetables. My boyfriend had the Chicken Paprika, which was so good that I didn't even get the chance to try it. The chef himself came out a couple of times to talk to us and ask how our meals were, which was a nice treat.
We finished off the evening with a dessert of sweet potato pudding, which wasn't at all what we had expected but was fantastic nonetheless. Everything about the dinner was wonderfully relaxing: we didn't feel rushed, the chairs were comfortable (something other restaurants seem to miss on) and the dining area was cozy.
Only complaint would be that while the portions were on the large size of reasonable, my boyfriend's meal wasn't as big as mine so I was quite full while he was just satiated. Just something to note: the Chicken Paprika is a smaller meal while the Jambalaya is a larger one.
We chose Ellison's based on the reviews on this site and we were glad we did. We all had a great meal, and agreed that we will go back again. We will be back again for the warm and friendly service and wonderful food.
We took my brother to Ellison's for his birthday and he and his wife are still raving about it two days later. The food was fantastic - best lamb I ever ate in my life and I have had plenty of lamb. We all ordered something different and then tried each other's dinner. Everything was great. Dave got a piece of birthday cake which was sweet potato dessert. Marvellous!
Thanks to Elvis and Zorina for a great evening. We will be back. Looking forward to Tapas Night!!
