Escape Cafe By The River Food Review: Never a better time to Escape

I love to dine out at new restaurants and it seems like there are so many places that are popping up in the city of Windsor, or ones that I’m just discovering. On Sunday night, I received a call from my boyfriend Bill who suggested that we go out for dinner. He just finished his last performance at Summerfest and was famished after performing in the hot sun all-day long! Looking on the kitchen table, I found a 20% coupon for a restaurant called Escape Café. We haven’t enjoyed Mediterranean food in a while and so that was the plan.

Upon entering, we were greeted by a friendly waitress and since it was just the two of us, she led us to a quiet booth away from the other customers. I loved the fact that since the restaurant is located on Riverside Drive West, no matter where you sat in the restaurant, you could admire the beautiful view of the riverfront!

Since we were both very hungry, it made the most sense to order the “platter for 2” which consisted of: Fattoush, tabbouleh, shish tawook (chicken) shish kafta (lamb) shish kabob (beef), accompanied with rice, and hummus with pita bread.  On a side note, Bill ordered one of their refreshing non-alcoholic strawberry/banana smoothies, which had a heaping scoop of whipped cream on top and an umbrella! If you can’t go to the tropical islands, why not bring it to your table, right?

As the dishes arrived, we were not aware of how much food was actually put in front of us! (Yes that meant leftovers galore!)  Presentation is always an important element of a meal for me, and I was definitely not disappointed. You could tell the chef didn’t just slop food on a plate. It was situated in a desirable fashion.

It’s hard to describe the aroma that filled the air but it was blissful.  The marinated meats were of high quality, very juicy and tender on the skewers. The Fattoush and tabbouleh salads were fresh with a bit of zing to the palate, but perfect to spread over the pile of pitas that we had with hummus. Speaking of which, the hummus was satisfying and so tasty that it would have been a shame to even leave the slightest bit of hummus on the serving spoon at the end of the meal!

Another bonus that I really appreciated was that each dish had just the right amount of flavour and wasn’t overpowering at all. I am not one for spicy food and so it was a perfect blend.

My only regret with visiting Escape Café… I didn’t have enough room to try out the assortment of decadent desserts! Maybe next time. 

No matter what the occasion, Escape Café should be your first choice to experience a memorable downtown dining adventure in Windsor, Ontario!

*Note, I was able to review this restaurant when it was Escape Cafe. 
*2013 Update: They have now changed to Time Grill & Lounge
*2014 Update: No longer in business!