(Preston, Ontario, Canada)

I’ve been spending some time in Southwestern Ontario lately for a series of lawn bowling competitions. Today’s post is about the “hidden” Ontario town of Preston.

Our home base for 4 nights was the Conestoga College residence in Kitchener. More and more, we are using college residences as an alternative to the high cost of hotels during the summer months. If you can get a promo code, the cost is even less. And the rooms are even bigger! It’s not luxurious, but I don’t need luxury when I’m spending most of the day in competition.

My first day of competition was at the Preston Lawn Bowling Club. Officially, it is located in the city of Cambridge. But the city of Cambridge is a relatively recent creation, as it consists of the former village of Hespeler, the former city of Galt, and the former town of Preston. Each community still has a distinct and recognizable downtown area, even though the former gaps between them have become urbanized.

The club is a throwback to a simpler age, and very much resembles other century-old clubs throughout Ontario. After a hot day on the green, I was ready for (1) rehydration, and (2) some adventurous food. Fortunately, I had done my research in advance, and found a promising Nepalese restaurant within walking distance of the club.

MoMo House has perhaps the most extensive menu I’ve ever seen at a restaurant. Not only did it offer a full range of momos (Nepalese dumplings) and other Nepalese specialties, it also had many Indian dishes and a lot of Hakka (“Indo-Chinese”) specialties. It took me about 15 minutes to review the menu and decide on what I was going to have. (Sadly, they didn’t have salted yak butter tea, which I’ve enjoyed at some Tibetan restaurants over the years.)

I settled on the Chilli Chicken Momos, which were impressively spicy and very, very colourful. Given the hot weather, it went very well with a salty Yogurt Lassi drink. And if a restaurant is called the MoMo House, you need to go with their namesake dish.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t help wondering about the many other interesting dishes I saw on the menu. So, when my 3-day tournament in Kitchener ended, we decided to return to the MoMo House and try some different dishes! I went for a Hakka dish: “Schezwan Chicken Gravy” (more like a curry than a gravy), with some Lachhi Paratha bread and more Yogurt Lassi (the sweet version this time).

I referred some of my fellow competitors (and friends) to this restaurant, and they enjoyed it as well. I think we’ve got a go-to place for our next visit to the Kitchener region!

After the meal, we made the very short drive to the downtown core of Galt. While I preferred the aesthetics and vibe of downtown Galt to downtown Preston, that has to be weighed against the food offerings. Other options in Preston included a Caribbean restaurant and an about-to-open Nigerian restaurant!

I don’t think I’ve seen all that these under-the-radar destinations have to offer. I look forward to spending some more time in Galt and Preston in the future.

Stay tuned for more on non-traditional Ontario destinations!