Prince Edward County
Has anyone recently dined at Prince Edward County restaurants? We are going next weekend for my birthday (staying @ Huff) and will be dining out for 2 casual lunches and 1 special dinner. Really appreciate any recommendations as we have not been to the county for a couple of years.
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thanks to everyone who recommended east and main on this thread and others. had dinner there last night and it was wonderful... the food, the portion size, the service, the drinks! all were well executed. it took awhile to get our main though but we were forewarned and were not in any sort of hurry anyway (toronto impatience, be gone!). instead, we munched on some of the most delicious tasting frites (with lemon aioli) i have ever had (only $4?!), and i sipped on my very perfectly spiced and boozed bloody mary. i had the vegetarian main (vegetable napolean) and my friend had the duck dish (i forget the name) along with a pairing of red wine from sandbanks winery. we sat on the patio and it was too dark to see our food but it sure tasted good. :)
also grabbed some lunch (i had the apple and brie sandwich with a few flimsy baby spinach leaves on it, and i think they forgot the apple spread + the quinoa salad) to go from miss lily's cafe in picton (underwhelming.. just average) for lunch on saturday and ate at sandbanks beach. however, i think it would be a nice place to sit and have a coffee or tea or juice and a casual lunch since the place is cosy and nice.
we also grabbed lunch to go today from the carriage house in bloomfield. my friend enjoyed her smoked salmon sandwich, and i did enjoy my quiche but for $6.50, the slice was really tiny.. at least include some salad with it or something please, or give me a fair sized slice for the price! i also got the blueberry and almond tart which was pretty good. i actually asked for a slice of pecan pie (the label in front of the pie said you can get a slice or buy the whole pie), but the man told me he would rather sell the whole pie than just a slice (since there were no slices out of it yet). i told him i understood and ordered the tart instead.. but come on, if you don't want to sell people slices of pie, then don't advertise that it's available and then tell them you don't actually want to sell it to them!
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Recently returned from my visit to the County - wow, what a gorgeous little pocket of land and a lovely place to unwind amidst wide open green space, rolling hills, beautiful vistas, art studios, farm-fresh veggies, exceptionally warm and friendly people and, of course, yummy food. Highlights for us included lunch at County Cider (pizzas in their outdoor wood burning oven + great salad + cider served outdoors by the vineyards), dinner at Blumen, a visit to Vickie's Veggies, lunch and great coffees at Tall Poppy in Wellington and a visit to Closson Chase (Hillier and area is a particularly beautiful corner of the County). For those that haven't ventured out there, or haven't been lately, it's a perfect little getaway from Toronto. I'm already planning a return visit (or two). Thanks for the various recs on this and TorontoJo's trip report thread.
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Spent the day in the County and ate way too much food. Lunch at East and Main was nice and a good casual spot that is for sure family friendly with a decent menu. I had the panko crusted perch sandwich and the bf had the burger. We enjoyed both.
We continued to crazy for the rest of the day enjoying a couple of Buddha dogs of the day, campfire and rhubarb and ginger ice cream from Slickers and a little pastry from the Marshmallow bakery.
All in all a lovely day in PEC and we came home with lots of farm fresh veggies and very full bellies.
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haggisdragon
Jul 10, 2012 01:44 AM
Seems like Pomodoro is the new hoot spot in Wellington. Chef is a former cook at Enoteca Sociale. Homestyle Italian cooking. So far I have only heard positive reviews. Haven't been there myself yet.
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re: haggisdragon
Pomodoro is owned by the same people who own East and Main. I ate there a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the food which consists mainly of pastas -- my experience there was cut short by childcare issues back home so I can't really review it other than to say what I had was good (although I thought the pasta portion I had seemed kind of small - but it had delicious sausage in it!). I will definitely try it again -- the pasta focus is a nice switch from the more meat based PEC fare out there.
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re: Arcadiaseeker
Any other reviews on Pomodoro? We're heading out to the County for a midweek visit - have one dinner rezzie at Blumen and pondering Pomodoro (or somewhere else) for our second evening (East & Main and Norm Hardie's pizza oven are closed that night). It needn't be a fancy spot - just yummy food and a lovely setting. Thanks!
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re: Arcadiaseeker
We stopped in to Agrarian and hubby had a fantastic grilled cheese sammie. They had just opened and didn't have the liquer license as yet. The couple were very nice too! The girls went shopping while the guys snarfed down the grilled cheese and they both loved it. Although it's not somewhere I'd want to go for dinner, it was perfect for lunch.
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re: millygirl
Didn't end up going to Agrarian (my small kids would not have fit in) but we did head to Williams Family Diner in Picton -- it is a gem. The space has been totally renovated and there is a kids' play area at the back. It's bright and spacious and the food is made from scratch. Had fish tacos which were very good -- salads were also solid, with homemade takes on classic dressings like thousand island and french. I wish they had a place like this in Toronto -- simple and well-prepared food in a kid-friendly environment.
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Another thumbs-up for Blumen Garden. Very good food and good value -- prices are not exactly cheap, but the portions are quite generous. Between us we had salad, crab cake, pork tenderloin, lamb and crème brulée. All in all, a very good experience. I'd file it under "casual fine dining"... it's the County, you can relax a bit. One quibble: service seemed a little fast to our Montreal sensibilities, and the bill was brought without our asking for it. A huge faux pas where we're from, but maybe not a big deal in Ontario? (And no, we were not camping out, and there were plenty of available tables, and it was nowhere near closing time, so it wasn't a question of giving the boot to guests who won't take a hint.)
Also, soup and sandwiches at Schroedter's: really hits the spot for lunch. Great place. The bean and ham soup is outstanding. However, I have no idea why anyone considers their doughnuts special in any way. Yes, it beats the pants off Tim Horton's, but that's not hard these days.
Breakfast at the Picton Harbour Inn: a good classic Canadian breakfast, as always. Spuds maybe a little too salty, but that's as close as I come to a complaint.
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re: Mr F
I have one dinner and two lunches in PEC in September. The dinner menu at Blumen Garden sounds fantastic, but I'm staying at Angeline's and they are open only for dinner. Should I choose Angeline's for dinner (which will also be my birthday dinner) and save Blumen Garden for a lunch? I wasn't wowed by their lunch menu online, though. What to do?
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re: prairie_dog
We had a great couple of days in Prince Edward County. We started with lunch at East & Main in Bloomfield. We each had the daily specials - DH the quiche(roasted red peppers/cheese) & salad; I had a fajita (with Greek salad, black olive tempanade & chicken). Both were accompanied by a glass of county white wine & were delicious.
We visited a number of wineries with Clossen Chase and Norman Hardy among our favorites.
We had a very enjoyable stay @ Huff Estates & enjoyed their included buffet breakfast the next morning - the breakfast tortilla was great!
We had dinner at Blumen Garden which was wonderful. We both started with the crab cake appetizer which is wonderful - many different flavors in sauces on the side. For mains, DH had a very tender & perfectly cooked steak and I had the fresh perch. Both dishes were wonderful and enhanced by the included side dishes. A bottle of Norman Hardy pinot was perfect for both dishes. Our only regret was that we had no room for dessert!
We intended on trying one of the suggested lunch venues for the following day but after breakfast were too full (we were also sampling cheese, etc. at wineries). But we did stop at the Black River Cheese shop to buy a couple of cheddars to bring home (maple syrup flavored being one) and then dropped into Schroeders to buy cinnamon doughnuts and fresh asparagras.
All in all, a very successful couple of days. Many thanks to everyone who made suggestions - much appreciated!!!
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MiniMom
May 3, 2012 05:02 PM
Try Angelines in Bloomfield.. amazing reviews from friends who live in the county and really know good food. We havent made it yet but next trip.. and Tall Poppy cafe for light lunch really good. Love East & Main good food and atmosphere. You should hit Terroir as great sampling of all the local foods and wines. Not sure when it is this year though.
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East and Main is my favourite right now, especially now that Harvest has closed down. It also has a great vibe - the best of all the PEC restos IMHO.
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re: jmlh
I think you have a pretty good start...PEC is fairly small, and Picton is the largest town and that's where the majority of the tourist/restaurant trade is. Even Lake on the Mountain is fairly close to Picton, so your best food bets would be in the Picton area.
One place that looks interesting to me is the Restaurant at the Waupoose Vintners -- like Niagara, there is a trend for the vintners to have restaurants at their vineyards, but as PEC wineries are fairly new, there aren't a whole lot of vineyards/vintners with this option yet. I like Wapoose especially for their apple ciders, and that would be a lovely destination lunch or meal.
http://waupooswinery.com/restaurants6.php
You might do a wine and cheese tour, making sure you hit Black River Cheese Company on the way to Waupoose!
http://canadacheeseman.wordpress.com/...
You're going to have so much fun!
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re: freia
... if you're into cheese, you may want to check out Fifth Town Dairy too http://www.fifthtown.ca/artisan_chees...
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re: freia
I absolutely loved Harvest. IMHO Michael Potters is one of Canada's best chefs and his cooking there was outstanding - he had a hand in every single dish that went out of that kitchen (he was there constantly) -- everything was made in house from pastries to bread etc. All for a fraction of what you'd pay for a similar experience here in Toronto. I am SO sorry it closed. I still miss it every time I go to the County. I never had issues with the food but I have heard that the service could be quite poor (I never had this problem myself). For my money, East and Main is now my go-to County place. Honest, solid cooking with everything house made.
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Lake on the Mountain is nice for lunch or dinner -- casual, nice, but you'll need to drive there. That would work well if you're planning a small car tour of the County.
I really enjoy Portabella's -- http://www.portabellaonmain.com/directions.html. That would work well for a nice dinner out.
There is a nice sandwich shop (Miss Lily's Cafe) attached to Books and Company on Main Street -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvsMwv...
This is a good place for a nice sandwich/quick lunch stop.
If you want a picnic, there is a gourmet picnic place on Main Street as well that will make you a gourmet basket -- you could get one made and take it to Sandbanks for example, for a neat experience.
The thing about Picton is that it is nice and small, so you can part, walk around, give the smaller places a try. Enjoy! -
midtowngirl
May 3, 2012 01:34 PM
We stayed at Huff Estates last year on the May long weekend. We had a lovely lunch at Huff (my asparagus and goat cheese salad was spring on a plate) and then dinner at Blumen Garden in Picton. I think it was probably our favourite meal of 2011 so I would highly recommend Blumen Garden for your special dinner.
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TorontoJo
May 3, 2012 01:30 PM
I had a fantastic dinner at East and Main last year.
And lucky you! You're staying a short walk from Schroedter's Market (at the intersection of HWY 62 and RR 1). Best doughnuts ever! Just one kind -- cake doughnuts tossed in sugar (I can't recall whether there is cinnamon in there as well). I highly recommend going on your first day, so you can decide if you want to go back every day of your trip for fresh doughnuts. :)
My trip report from last summer:
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Hi there, check out this http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/794135 trip report from last summer, it still holds true (special dinner East and Main would still be my best suggestion. Super casual is Schrodeters or anywhere in Picton or wellington or county cide co (great view but on the other side of the county) or Lake on the Mountain (should be open by then but call to find out for sure for both of these options
)The folks who onw East and Main are opening a new place next door but I have not been yet!
let me know if you need anything else!
