You Are What You Eat: September 20 through September 24
This is the second part of the food eaten on our PEI Trip.
Friday, September 20 - Dalvay by the Sea doesn't do breakfast, so we motored into the touristy heart of Anne of Green Gables territory. On the way we stopped at a diner called the By the Bay in North Rustico. It appeared to be a year round place popular with the locals; there were construction workers getting coffee there and the like. We had a perfectly fine late breakfast there before moving on to all the Anne of Green Gables tourism we could handle.
For dinner, we stopped at Sou'west Bar & Grill in Kensington. We sat on the patio overlooking the water. I believe this was the night I had fish tacos (fried haddock, specifically) and we split some PEI mussels as a starter. It was a nice night. A heron was perching just off the desk, and in her role as "person interested in bugs" M checked out a number of large spiders who were webbed up in the patio railing.
When we returned to Dalvay by the Sea we adjourned to the lounge, where we split another half dozen oysters and some alcohol, the last of which was consumed on the extensive patio that wraps around the front of the hotel. It was a good night. I'm calling this dessert/alcohol, and although the lounge is a separate room from where we had dinner the night before, it is still the same menu so it's a repeat.
Saturday, September 21 - We rose late and headed immediately to another wing of the PEI National Park to do some hiking. From there we drove into Charlottetown. Our initial destination was the PEI International Shellfish Festival. Like most such festivals, this involved an admission ticket and then paying concessions inside. This meant it got a little pricey, but on the other hand we got to try a bunch of different things in one place. Since we hadn't eaten breakfast, we were up to the challenge. We both tried quahogs - they are basically meatier oysters, which M didn't care for too much so she then bought some oysters. I had lobster nachos. We tried some PEI cheese and beer pairings. M had a few beers. Meanwhile around us there was a cooking competition and other such activities. Despite the grand name, the whole thing was in a comparatively small tent and there weren't that many vendors, which given that Charlottetown is tiny shouldn't surprise anyone. We had a good time. We'll count this as a "party", since it doesn't fit nicely in any other category.
After checking into our lodgings, we wandered down to the harbor. There I saw a sign for Cows, which claims that they were "the best ice cream in the world" as picked by some major travel company. Clearly a claim like that has to be tested, so I went to the harbor location. Best is a tough claim, but it was very tasty and I enjoyed my cone.
That night we went to the Anne of Green Gables musical. After the show we went to John Brown's Grille. We sat on the sidewalk patio, which was a great idea until the propane heater shut down and then was a bit chilly. The residents of Charlottetown didn't seem to mind the cold; in the way of young people anywhere at the end of summer a large pack of twenty-something women wearing short skirts and shorts wandered by despite the chill temperatures. Anyway, I had the seafood pasta. It was fine. The restaurant didn't have enough servers to keep up with the rush, so we sat and nursed our drinks for a while before returning to our Air BNB.
Sunday, September 22 - Our first breakfast attempt was a restaurant within walking distance of our room. We got seated quickly, but after waiting 15 minutes for someone to acknowledge us, we left. We ended up heading west out of town and stopping at a local place called Sam's Family Restaurant. We had a passable breakfast, but nothing special and I wouldn't hurry back there.
Necessity forced us to have an early dinner. That night we stayed in the West Point Inn and Lighthouse Museum (yes, it's a hotel attached to a lighthouse), but due to the recent ravages of Hurricane Dorian the only nearby restaurant was closed. We really wanted to be at the lighthouse for sunset, so we boogied into nearby O'Leary and grabbed food at the only restaurant, Vinnie's. This restaurant was basically the Dairy Bar I worked at in high school. The sense of deja vu was overwhelming - same small agricultural town milieu, same fried food smell, same locals picking up takeout talking about the harvest. We had some fried food and headed back in time to catch a glorious sunset.
Monday, September 23 - The lighthouse hotel had a solid Continental breakfast, so we ate up.
That morning we crossed the Confederation Bridge into New Brunswick. Since we had a clear need to eat a meal in New Brunswick to cross the province off our list, we found C & J's Family Restaurant in Port Elgin. We split an enchilada and some other food. If Vinnie's was the Dairy Bar, this was the long gone Thompson Cafe, except competently run. It clearly had been there for years, and the had the slightly rundown look of a place that they can't afford to renovate so the scrupulous cleaning has almost worn things down. It was doing better than the rest of Port Elgin though, everything else near it was closed and for sale.
We found ourselves staying back in Halifax near the airport. We headed back into downtown and ate very close to Murphy's at a slightly more upscale place called Pickford & Black so M could sit on the water one last time. We had more oysters, I had another lobster roll, M had an oyster for dessert, it was a good night.
Tuesday, September 24 - After another absurdly early flight, I got a pre-packed chicken curry sandwich from some nameless shop at Newark airport. It was actually not bad.
Once we were back in Columbus, we took M's mother and sister our for lunch to an Indian place called Amul India Restaurant. The lunch buffet was pretty average, and the service was abysmal. I'll not hurry back.
We came home, bought some groceries, and improvised dinner. Well, I did. M fell asleep very early. I'm counting this as leftovers.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 5
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 0 / 0
New Recipes: 0
Leftover Nights: 1
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 10
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 2
New To Me Restaurants: 11
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 1
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 1
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 266
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 155 / 212
New Recipes: 93
Leftover Nights: 10
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 134
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 56
New To Me Restaurants: 84
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 48
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 21
Repeated Recipes: 24
Friday, September 20 - Dalvay by the Sea doesn't do breakfast, so we motored into the touristy heart of Anne of Green Gables territory. On the way we stopped at a diner called the By the Bay in North Rustico. It appeared to be a year round place popular with the locals; there were construction workers getting coffee there and the like. We had a perfectly fine late breakfast there before moving on to all the Anne of Green Gables tourism we could handle.
For dinner, we stopped at Sou'west Bar & Grill in Kensington. We sat on the patio overlooking the water. I believe this was the night I had fish tacos (fried haddock, specifically) and we split some PEI mussels as a starter. It was a nice night. A heron was perching just off the desk, and in her role as "person interested in bugs" M checked out a number of large spiders who were webbed up in the patio railing.
When we returned to Dalvay by the Sea we adjourned to the lounge, where we split another half dozen oysters and some alcohol, the last of which was consumed on the extensive patio that wraps around the front of the hotel. It was a good night. I'm calling this dessert/alcohol, and although the lounge is a separate room from where we had dinner the night before, it is still the same menu so it's a repeat.
Saturday, September 21 - We rose late and headed immediately to another wing of the PEI National Park to do some hiking. From there we drove into Charlottetown. Our initial destination was the PEI International Shellfish Festival. Like most such festivals, this involved an admission ticket and then paying concessions inside. This meant it got a little pricey, but on the other hand we got to try a bunch of different things in one place. Since we hadn't eaten breakfast, we were up to the challenge. We both tried quahogs - they are basically meatier oysters, which M didn't care for too much so she then bought some oysters. I had lobster nachos. We tried some PEI cheese and beer pairings. M had a few beers. Meanwhile around us there was a cooking competition and other such activities. Despite the grand name, the whole thing was in a comparatively small tent and there weren't that many vendors, which given that Charlottetown is tiny shouldn't surprise anyone. We had a good time. We'll count this as a "party", since it doesn't fit nicely in any other category.
After checking into our lodgings, we wandered down to the harbor. There I saw a sign for Cows, which claims that they were "the best ice cream in the world" as picked by some major travel company. Clearly a claim like that has to be tested, so I went to the harbor location. Best is a tough claim, but it was very tasty and I enjoyed my cone.
That night we went to the Anne of Green Gables musical. After the show we went to John Brown's Grille. We sat on the sidewalk patio, which was a great idea until the propane heater shut down and then was a bit chilly. The residents of Charlottetown didn't seem to mind the cold; in the way of young people anywhere at the end of summer a large pack of twenty-something women wearing short skirts and shorts wandered by despite the chill temperatures. Anyway, I had the seafood pasta. It was fine. The restaurant didn't have enough servers to keep up with the rush, so we sat and nursed our drinks for a while before returning to our Air BNB.
Sunday, September 22 - Our first breakfast attempt was a restaurant within walking distance of our room. We got seated quickly, but after waiting 15 minutes for someone to acknowledge us, we left. We ended up heading west out of town and stopping at a local place called Sam's Family Restaurant. We had a passable breakfast, but nothing special and I wouldn't hurry back there.
Necessity forced us to have an early dinner. That night we stayed in the West Point Inn and Lighthouse Museum (yes, it's a hotel attached to a lighthouse), but due to the recent ravages of Hurricane Dorian the only nearby restaurant was closed. We really wanted to be at the lighthouse for sunset, so we boogied into nearby O'Leary and grabbed food at the only restaurant, Vinnie's. This restaurant was basically the Dairy Bar I worked at in high school. The sense of deja vu was overwhelming - same small agricultural town milieu, same fried food smell, same locals picking up takeout talking about the harvest. We had some fried food and headed back in time to catch a glorious sunset.
Monday, September 23 - The lighthouse hotel had a solid Continental breakfast, so we ate up.
That morning we crossed the Confederation Bridge into New Brunswick. Since we had a clear need to eat a meal in New Brunswick to cross the province off our list, we found C & J's Family Restaurant in Port Elgin. We split an enchilada and some other food. If Vinnie's was the Dairy Bar, this was the long gone Thompson Cafe, except competently run. It clearly had been there for years, and the had the slightly rundown look of a place that they can't afford to renovate so the scrupulous cleaning has almost worn things down. It was doing better than the rest of Port Elgin though, everything else near it was closed and for sale.
We found ourselves staying back in Halifax near the airport. We headed back into downtown and ate very close to Murphy's at a slightly more upscale place called Pickford & Black so M could sit on the water one last time. We had more oysters, I had another lobster roll, M had an oyster for dessert, it was a good night.
Tuesday, September 24 - After another absurdly early flight, I got a pre-packed chicken curry sandwich from some nameless shop at Newark airport. It was actually not bad.
Once we were back in Columbus, we took M's mother and sister our for lunch to an Indian place called Amul India Restaurant. The lunch buffet was pretty average, and the service was abysmal. I'll not hurry back.
We came home, bought some groceries, and improvised dinner. Well, I did. M fell asleep very early. I'm counting this as leftovers.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 5
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 0 / 0
New Recipes: 0
Leftover Nights: 1
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 10
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 2
New To Me Restaurants: 11
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 1
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 1
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 266
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 155 / 212
New Recipes: 93
Leftover Nights: 10
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 134
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 56
New To Me Restaurants: 84
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 48
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 21
Repeated Recipes: 24