Trio Restaurant — Restaurant in Waterloo

I saved for half a year to do the tasting menu at Trio, and I was not disappointed. This was by far the most expensive meal I have ever paid for. Dinner for 2 with drinks and tip came to $450. Do I regret spending it? Not at all.

The first thing they brought us was fresh made focaccia with shallot butter and white pepper. The outside was so crisp and inside was pillow soft. I was absolutely the best bread I have ever tasted in my life. It was a real wake up call for all my senses and got me ready for what was to come next.

The first course was a play on devilled eggs, but the filling was a smoked salmon mousse topped with fish row and dill. It was cute and flavourful and the smokiness really mellowed the dish after the initial first bite of fishiness and made the whole bite come together.

The second course was roasted squash with harissa (one of my favorite spice blends!) and yoghurt mousse, sesame, and pickled onions. The squash was lucious and roasted wonderfully and paired so well with the harissa and sesame. I only wish there was a bit more of the squash as it got a little lost under the powerful flavours of all that accompanied it.

My least favorite dish was the mackerel course. I find mackerel too strong in general, but here it was paired with kimchi and fresh cucumber which were bright and flavourful.

The second fish course was arctic char with roast endive, béchamel sauce, roast cauliflower and a potato fried somewhere between a hashbrown and coquette. I had never had arctic char before and loved it's milder flavour. The roast endive was a real revelation for me. It was so sweet and delicious and paired really well. The potato was very decadent and comforting.

The main course was 21 day aged duck breast with roast beets, pickled fig, puffed quinoa and hazel nuts in a port sauce. It was absolutely incredible. The skin of the duck was perfectly crisp, and the meat perfectly cooked. I have always hated beets, having had a bad experience with them as a youth, but these beets changed my mind. They were just the right amount of earthy and paired well with the goats cheese and port sauce. The puffed quinoa and hazelnuts added playful texture. The fig was pickled in apple vinegar and cardamon and reminded me of really good apple butter. It was the highlight of a dish where every element was absolute excellent.

The first dessert was a play on creamsicle with blood orange sorbet, coconut milk icecream with coconut tuile and micro basil leaves. Each element was tasty, but when they all came together it was playful and surprising hitting all the awesome childhood memories of creamsicle in a very adult and thoughtful dish.

Second dessert was gingerbread soaked in molasses, covered by a substantial chocolate mousse, a tempered dark chocolate disk, maple icecream and pickled apple. It was another fun dessert to explore and see how the different elements played together.

Throughout the meal the service was excellent and the atmosphere was the perfect balance of fancy and relaxed. I enjoyed myself immensely. This is a restaurant I will likely not be able to afford again any time soon, but will be thinking about and dreaming of...

Stopped in for an impromptu Friday night dinner on the recommendation of a local friend, and we’re so glad we did.

We were warmly welcomed by staff and seated right away despite not having a reservation which was a great start to the evening. The menu is on the smaller side, but it’s well-curated, with unique dishes that feel intentional and refined. They recently swapped out their Wagyu steak for striploin due to the ongoing trade-related sourcing concerns. Disappointing as this may be it was refreshing to see a restaurant make thoughtful, transparent choices like that.

Service throughout the night was excellent. Our server, Natalie, was friendly, knowledgeable, and had great recommendations.

To start, we shared the Roasted Pork Belly with chimichurri, radish, and apple. It had a nice balance of sweet and savoury, though I would have loved a touch more sweetness to offset the richness, maybe an apple compote would’ve done the trick. Still, a solid 4/5.

My wife had the Chilean Sea Bass with peas, asparagus, and fennel in a beurre blanc sauce. The fish was wild, not farmed (a major plus), and very fresh. Beautiful textures and flavours, though it leaned a bit salty for our taste. Not enough to ruin the dish, but enough to notice. A well deserved 4.5/5.

I went with the Iberico Pork (Chop), paired with red pepper jam, Brussel sprouts, and sauce vierge. Cooked to perfection and bursting with flavour. The sprouts even had a hint of sweetness, which paired nicely. Only small issue was the amount of oil left on the plate. It worked out for me since I used the remaining focaccia to soak it up, but worth noting. 4.5/5.

Speaking of focaccia, WOW! Probably the best I’ve had. Fresh, warm, crunchy crust, and incredibly flavourful. Served with a side of cream cheese with a touch of honey, and black pepper. It was just a fantastic sweet/savoury combo but not even needed since the focaccia was amazing by take! Easy 6/5. Worth going back for this alone.

We ended with the Chocolate Crémeux with pistachio crumble, feuilletine, and pistachio ice cream. The cremeux was almost too rich on its own, but perfectly balanced once you get everything in one bite. Creamy, crunchy, not overly sweet. It was an ideal way to finish the meal. 5/5.

They were kind enough to bring a palette cleanser after we had finished everything. Ours was a hazelnut biscotti. It was a nice, crunchy way to end our evening while waiting for the cheque.

Overall, this place lives up to the hype. Their current 4.7-star rating is spot on. Great food, warm atmosphere, and genuinely thoughtful service. We’ll...

We came to KST for a birthday dinner and opted for the 6 course tasting menu, with no wine pairings. It was absolutely incredible! Our favourite courses were the cod, which was served with asperagus in a creamy broth and the panna cotta dessert with a basil sorbet.

The food was absolutely perfect, as was the service. Jordan was our server and she was extremely attentive without being too much. She made thoughtful cocktail suggestions based on our preferences, noticed when water glasses needed to be refilled, folded our cloth napkins when we stepped away from the table etc. Just very attentive, friendly and professional.

We were seated near the back of the restaurant so we could see the kitchen. There are mirrors above the kitchen pass area so you can see your mains being plated. The kitchen was very clean, organized and seemed to operate efficiently.

As an aside there were a few other things I really appreciated about the restaurant: The washrooms were extremely clean. Cloth towels to dry your hands, hand lotion and actual tissues... I appreciate those extras. A special menu had been printed out for me that said "Happy Birthday" at the top. Fresh cutlery after each course. The servers all seem to keep an eye on each other's tables. If our water needed topped up and another server walked by and saw, they would stop and fill up our glass. It was the same for clearing plates, drink glasses etc.

It was definitely a pricier meal but we enjoyed everything immensely, so it was worth it as a treat. The 6 course tasting menu was $145pp. We didn't add wine pairings (we're not wine people), which would have been an additional $40pp. We could also have added an extra steak course for another $40pp but we opted not to. 6 courses was definitely enough food! We got 4 cocktails total and a cup of coffee. The total bill for 2 people, including tip, was around $500. Again, it was a special birthday dinner and the food quality and service were exceptional. They do have "Tasting Tuesdays) once a month from now until November. Those are 4 courses at $95pp, wine pairings added for another $40pp. All this to say, you can definitely come here and not spend $500.

Overall, it's definitely worth a visit and we...