Janet Lynn’s Bistro

Lovely ambiance, and great food!
I’ve been to Janet Lynn’s a couple of times with clients, and it has always been a positive experience.
The servers are attentive, and well aware of the items on the menu. They accommodated my client’s dietary needs with no hesitation. I’ve tried a pizza, and a pasta dish — so fresh! Their menu is always changing based on what in season.

Service: Fantastic
Atmosphere: Intimate and inviting
Food: Delicious and wonderful
Would return? Yes
My girlfriend and I were feeling like a night out so we did a quick search of bistros in the Kitchener/​Waterloo area and selected this one at random. Boy did we get lucky.
We were immediately greeted by friendly staff at the door who kindly took our jackets and showed us into the dining room. The place was softly lit with a cozy bar, open kitchen (which you could sit at), and an eating area with enough space for everyone to feel comfortable.
We decided to pass on the extensive wine list, but if anyone is curious about what wine would go with their meal just ask; the staff would be happy to help you. I heard and saw this happening at a couple tables.
The menu was incredibly varied, for being so concise, with something for everyone. If you still found yourself with nothing to order the features and specials would no doubt entice you.
We settled on fried calamari to start, which came out in quick order, and it was a great introduction to our meal. The squid had a light flaky batter, just crispy enough, and while it kept a familiar texture it was not as chewy as some places. It was accompanied by a light salad and spicy aioli, which was creamy and added a nice little sizzle to the end of each bite.
After a quick clearing of the table our mains were brought out; mine a half lamb rack with sofrito, potato pave and my girlfriend’s roasted duck breast grouped with celery root purée and seasonal vegetables (one of the features). I had ordered my lamb medium rare and you could have taken a picture of it for a textbook. The meat melted in my mouth when I bit in and a smile came to my face when the flavour washed through. The sofrito and potato pave were great sides, adding a little spice and grounding respectively. While I did not have much I was able to sneak some duck and purée. The duck was excellent as well, not greasy or fatty, and the purée was nice and creamy, bringing a little something when paired.
When our waitress came around asking about desserts we nodded excitedly. While their dessert menu is full of delicious plates we decided to go with two of the specials: a flourless chocolate cake and a layered budino. The consistency of cake was so smooth it felt like I was eating velvet fudge with a rich dark flavour. Few times I’ve had flourless cake but this was so far the best. The budino had a chocolate cookie crumble base with a rum custard, topped with caramel and a dollop of whipped cream. While both were excellent the cake won out for me, but then again I am a chocoholic so take that with a grain of salt.
All in all it was a fantastic night: great service, excellent atmosphere, and wonderful food. This place is wonderful for a business dinner, date, having a catch up meal with a friend, or if someone is just looking for a nice meal.
Thank you very much to Mr. Kevin Wong and his staff for having such a wonderful establishment.

This was an amazing dining experience. The food was fantastic we tried the burger and the curry dish and both were fantastic. Talked to the owner for a little while and got the history on the building they’re now in. Ordered one of their carrott cakes to go and was pleasantly surprised. Great experience especially at the price point!

Your food and service is decent but I have to say that you customer service is zero. You are so bad on doing reservation you have no clue on doing business you are just a cantina serving sofisticated food. Than just rely on your seniors and soon you hopefully be out of business.

My husband and I went to JLB on Valentine’s Day dinner. Overall, I would say the service was great, the space was great, the wine list was great but the food was only ok.
My first impression was great. The hostess took our coats and boots and laughed at my foggy glasses. We were expecting a very traditional looking restaurant but were pleasantly surprised by the modern look and feel. I loved the light fixtures and the exposed brick wall — it’s a great space.
We were again surprised when we were given the menu. It was prix-​fixe which we had not been told when the reservation was made. Not a big deal, but it would have been nice to have a heads-​up.
Our server was really great. Can’t remember her name but she was stellar. Very personable with good attention to detail — I don’t think my wine glass was every empty!
Now, on to the food! The meal started strong with really delicious fresh bread. It was awesome. For the first course, I had the seafood salad and my husband had the duck salad. His was awesome. The duck was cooked perfectly and the figs were delicious. I found the seafood salad ok. I thought the octopus was a bit overcooked and expected more olives. Second course — salmon and stuffed chicken. I found the salmon overcooked, but I like my salmon medium rare. My husband loved his chicken. We were both underwhelmed by the desserts. I had the strawberry parfait and he had the lemon cheesecake. Both were just ok.
In the end, I think my expectations may have been to high.

I’ve become a regular at the new location because it offers the best food, wine, and service in the KW region. I’ve dined here many times for lunch and dinner, it never disappoints!
My only suggestion is to change the menu from time to time or offer more specials. I wish there were more places like this in the area.

I went to university in Waterloo in the 90s and stayed for a few years afterward to work. I am now in Long Island, NY but was back in KW to meet up w my UW friends. We selected JLB. When I lived here and JLB was in uptown Waterloo I had heard fantastic things about this place. But I had never been, so I was very excited about going.
Truth be told, I came out a tad disappointed.
Will start off w the good:
Service was fantastic. Attentive without being overbearing, they understood we were «reunioning», and were not intrusive in any way, despite our slowness to order. Server knew the menu very well, and made great recommendations. Perhaps I am now a dumb American but I left an extra $ 50 bill for my che (que)(ck) and the waitress double checked my generosity. Very honest of her. Stupid new $ 50 designs.
I have never really cared about ambiance, but the place is a little loud.
The food was ok. Unfortunately, I began this review 2 months ago, so I can’t remember exactly what we ordered. I do remember our general impression after leaving was that was ok, but not great.
Overall, I am giving this place 3.5 stars, which is heavily influenced by the service we received. Breakdown: 5 stars for service, 3 stars for food. Ambiance, like I mentioned, I usually don’t care about, but but it was loud. Fortunately Unilocal doesn’t do half stars, so Unilocal rating is 4 stars.

Janet Lynn’s was pretty much my entry into fine dining as I grew up and went to university, as an incredibly classy and romantic anniversary. It’s been my go to place for special occasions ever since.
The menu doesn’t change much but the service is just so attentive that It keeps me going back. The room is lovely and maybe a bit stuffy, but it is a welcome change from the restaurants that are closer to the universities. I did feel out of place at first because we were the youngest people there, but our waitress was so nice and helpful with everything on the menu/​wine list.
When the food came I did scarf it down (possibly to the chagrin and scoffing of the table next to us) but it was so delicious. The duck and chicken were so delicious as was the crème brûlée for dessert.
Forget Symposium for first dates, take him/​her to Janet Lynn’s for something romantic, memorable and elegant.

This is the best restaurant in the Kitchener/​Waterloo area.

I usually only eat here at lunch and when someone else is paying. The room has the feeling of a place for business people or ladies who lunch.
The food is on the pricier side, but really well-​executed. The last thing I had was the Quebec ermite blue salad. I’m not sure it came together with the avocado and citrus fruit, but it was interesting.
Definitely not recommended for vegetarians. Typically, the only vegetarian options are a couple of salads. They will do special orders, like risotto with just grilled vegetables. But last time they did that for me, the stock used to make the risotto was not suitable for vegetarians.
Vegans need not apply.