Champa Kitchen - Waterloo

Not originally being from the KW area, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the variety of southeast Asian options present here. Having never come across a Laotian restaurant, I was excited to give it a shot. I would recommend making a reservation on a busy night, but our party of 3 were lucky to get in without a wait. I was happy to see traditional drinks being served, and enjoyed the sweet, but bold Thai-style iced coffee, which helped with the spice of the food. I was recommended the crispy duck on egg noodles. The duck itself had a crisp, fatty skin, but I noticed the noodles were salty being too heavy on soy sauce flavour. The kitchen was able to accommodate to dietary restrictions and spice tolerances. The side yellow curry sauce was less noteworthy, as it had gone cold by the time it arrived to the table.

I love everything about this place. Very friendly service, authentic atmosphere and it was the best Pad Thai I have ever had!! Wish it was in Toronto but I'll definitely make my way to here every time I'm visiting somewhere around!

Wow, what a great first experience with Laotian food! The waiter was happy to give us recommendations on what to try for our first visit. We split the Laos Sausage dish and the crispy duck with noodles. It was incredible! We will definitely be coming back to try more stuff!

Excellent authentic Asian cuisine. My partner and I came with our friend that was a chef for a number of years and she was impressed by the food as well. Material on the booths need replacing and the horrible synthetic napkins placed in the stemware on the tables need to go but the service was friendly, very efficient and the food fantastic. We will return.Dietary restrictions: The server was very aware of vegan options!

My wife and I enjoyed lunch here on my birthday. The restaurant was a nice family run place, and satisfied my craving for some new flavours and textures!I took some recommendations from our friendly server, the chef's husband. I started with the mango rolls these were nice to start, as they fruit provided some lightness, but with the meat inside and peanut sauce, they were still hearty enough. I went with Larb Moo as my main, taking the server's recommendation of chicken/chicken heart as my protein. (It is also available with beef or pork The larb was spicy and flavourful. There was some in house made chili paste that I enjoyed with my rice.I finished with a warm pudding style Lao inspired dessert which hit the spot it reminded me of the flavours I enjoy with the type of pudding style dessert I'd be served for a birthday at my Bengali parents' house, but this Lao dessert had a totally different texture and consistency.It's nice to be exposed to some new flavours and textures, and I'd love to come back to try more of the menu.