This past week I went to a gem of a café out by the airport in London, Ontario. The food at the airport is dismal, but this café is superb. It is located to the left of the airport (when facing the entrance road to the airport) and provides views of the airstrip so you can watch planes land and take-off. We had a reservation and it was definitely needed as the venue is small and it was packed. All the food we saw, as we waited for our whole party to arrive, looked very tempting.
It was a cool and wet day so there was a run on the soup of the day and they were all out by the time we ordered. However, the Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Chowder that is always on the menu got positive reviews from one of our party who ordered the soup with a Reuben Sandwich (Montreal smoked meat with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on grilled marble rye bread and spicy Dijon mustard). I also settled on the Reuben Sandwich which was delicious but with the House salad. Another two had the daily special, meatloaf sandwich, one with regular fries and one with sweet potato fries. There were six of us so we tried quite an array from the menu. One person enjoyed working her way through the Open-Faced Smoked Salmon (Smoked Norwegian salmon on multigrain bread with guacamole, peppers, grilled pineapple and pickled red onion). And, lastly, one ordered the Portuguese Chicken Sandwich (Piri piri seasoned roasted chicken on a Portuguese bun with field greens, tomato, pickled onion and roasted garlic mayo) with sweet potato fries. Everyone cleaned their plates except for me as I was full.
When you enter the Diamond Building, go to the back and the entrance to the café is on the right, past the shop for the pilot school. If you are not on the side of the table facing the windows, you can feast your eyes on the old black and white aeronautic-themed photographs covering the walls.
It is good to know there is tasty food near the airport, whether you or not you have a flight arriving/departing.
The waiter was very courteous, engaging and prompt with service. It is definitely somewhere I will be returning.
Note: I recently returned to the Katana Kafe with my sister and enjoyed another lovely meal. I had the Tortilla salad and she had the mussels – pictures added.
“www.katanakafe.ca”:http://www.katanakafe.ca
