Beaux Daddy's CAnaJUN Grillhouse - Thunder Bay

After reading the foodie section on Thunder Bay chefs in the February 2013 issue of the Walleye, it opened up our eyes to the possibilities. 0.o

So that night, we drove down an empty stretch of Highway 61, to find a bright gigantic sign with the words:

Beaux Daddy's CAnaJUN Grillhouse

It was huge...and a little isolated from the rest of the city

Cajun spiced chicken oscar

The chicken was tender, juicy and perfectly grilled topped with a yummy hollandaise sauce mixed with crawtails. It looked pretty empty on the plate because I didn't order sides (which cost an additional $3 each or 3 for $5). I thought the asparagus might be okay as a side, but it was wilty, soggy and so overcooked that it barely had flavour. 

Sticky Date Praline Cake
I was a huge fan of the candied pralines: they're so good! The date cake was moist and delicious with the sticky part being the sticky toffee sauce and paired with the vanilla ice cream  - it was amazing all together.
I would definitely recommend this dessert at Beaux Daddy's

Bourbon Pecan Pie
After the sticky date praline cake, this pecan pie was a flop. There's usually a layer of filling in the pies, but this one was just pure chopped pecans all the way to the pie crust (which was soggy and not very good).

Overall: The menu is interesting with an Acadian and Southern spin on traditional items. However, the food was okay, but the service was awfully slow and not very attentive.

Website: http://www.beauxdaddys.com/article/welcome-1.asp

Fox on the Run - Thunder Bay

Right next to Pita Pit is a local warm & cozy sandwich place, Fox on the Run:

The menu is mostly sandwiches, wraps and salads with some daily specials, but I couldn't resist getting the city's namesake sandwich:

Thunder Bay Stacker $7.85

It's made with roast beef, turkey, ham, lettuce, tomato, onions and Swiss cheese with the stacker sauce all on a 12 grain loaf bun. 

The sauce was really good! They also toast the sandwiches which warms it up and melts the cheese. 

The ingredients were all fresh too - they probably make the sandwiches daily and put them behind the front glass counter. 

Overall: Nice sandwiches, fast and friendly service at the take-out counter. 

Website: http://www.foxontherun.ca/Welcome.html

Robin's Donuts - Thunder Bay

Before coming to Thunder Bay, the only Canadian quick service coffee and donuts store I knew of was Tim Hortons (because it's EVERYWHERE in Canada). 

Since seeing multiple Robin's in Thunder Bay, I decided to stop by and try their breakfast. 

I learned afterwards that Robin's Donuts actually had it's roots in Thunder Bay. It started here in 1975 and expanded across Canada (I think it's fascinating that the HQ is in Toronto because we don't have any Robin's Donuts in the city). 

Coffee and an egg, cheese and sausage "brekwich"

I watched him put the brekwich into the microwave...and was a little disturbed. 

I kind of hoped it would be like Tim Horton's or McDonalds where they assemble the sandwich piece by piece with the egg layer, cheese and sausage...but it wasn't the case. 

Croissant on top and on the bottom

At least the cheese was melted in the microwave.

It was okay...perhaps a little bland. 

The brekwich has 510 calories which is less than the Tim Horton's breakfast sandwich at 530 calories and much less than a McDonald's sausage n' egg biscuit sandwich at 590 calories.

Website: http://www.robinsdonuts.com/

Prospector Steak House - Thunder Bay

We've passed by the Prospector Steak House a few times, and we finally decided to try it out.

The menu seems to be on the expensive side; when we got there, we were told that when you order an entrees (including the prime ribs and steaks), you also have unlimited access to the:

Salad Bar
 

soup table and all-you-can-eat Hot Buns.
WOW!

Round 1:

Seafood Chowder and one of the famous Hot Buns with whipped garlic butter
Wow! They weren't kidding with the Hot Buns - they were AMAZING! Fluffy, buttery and delicious buns and when you slather on the whipped garlic butter with parsley - it's heavenly. I totally understand why they're so popular. It's like once you start, you can't stop because they're soo good...and the next thing you know, you're stuffed and you have to take your entree home with you.
The seafood chowder was okay; it was a thick soup with fake crab, mussels, potato, green beans and carrots.

Round 2: The healthy round

I hit the salad bar aka "Thunder Bay's Freshest Salad Bar"
The claim probably works because it's probably Thunder Bay's only salad bar in a restaurant (that I've seen so far). It wasn't very fresh...the ingredients at Pita Pit were probably fresher. I have to admit though: I really liked the Catalina dressing and the croutons (possibly made of the leftover hot buns toasted and buttered with garlic) were yummy. The pasta salad was okay and the egg & potato salad was okay too (not much to write home about).
The beef barley soup was super watery. I wouldn't recommend it - plus you probably should save room for your actual dinner (and maybe dessert?)

Small portion of prime rib (5 oz.)
Eating this was a feat after the salad bar, soup and hot buns (of which I definitely ate more than 1 and heavily loaded with garlic butter). The meat was cold and very pink.
The carrots were nice; the baked potato was really dry; the Yorkshire pudding was soft and gooey in the middle and nice.

New York Roast special with mushrooms
I thought 5 oz. was a lot, but the special was 10 oz. of medium rare roast. It wasn't very good, but the garlic mashed potatoes, carrots and mushrooms were all very tasty. 

Overall: The Hot Buns are really good! However, the rest of the food was mediocre. It's pretty good value for a meal considering you get access to unlimited salad, soup and buns - but I'd probably stay away from the beef options here (despite it being called a steakhouse).

Website: http://www.prospectorsteakhouse.com/ordereze/1000/Page.aspx

The Persian Man - Thunder Bay

Interestingly enough, the Thunder Bay tourism site has a section called "Unique to Thunder Bay" and you know it's a big thing when it's not only featured here, but when it has it's own Wikipedia page. "Try the Hoito and a Persian" are usually what I get when I ask for food recommendations or advice. So, I couldn't wait to see what the Persian was all about. 

 

The story behind the Persian is that it was named in honour of a U.S. General John Pershing.

 

It's basically a cinnamon-bun like roll with a little cinnamon in the middle topped with a sweet and slightly tart pink icing which I think could be a combination of raspberries or strawberries. It's debatable which one it's actually made of. It was nice...and really very filling for breakfast due to the size of it.

 

Chocolate Icing Persian

The icing is pretty thick - I liked the chocolate one too! 

Overall: Definitely satisfied the craving for the novelty Persians (but I probably wouldn't be able to eat one everyday or anything). 

Pita Pit - Thunder Bay

Pita Pit is a chain of restaurants that started from Kingston, Ontario and has expanded to include more than 300 stores. (Clear sign that they're doing something right!)

After weeks of indulgent eating, I was craving something a little less caloric for lunch. 

Huge, fresh and customizable: first, choose your meat and then take off with your choice of fresh ingredients from alfalfa sprouts to pineapples. You can have it any way you like.

Chicken breast - lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, onions, cheese and sauce. Yum!

Overall: Definitely one of my favourite pita places (wherever I am) - you can count on them to have a wide variety of fresh ingredients and to cram your pita with as much stuff as it can possibly take.

Website: http://pitapit.ca/consumer

The Blue Door Bistro - Thunder Bay

The Blue Door Bistro took over the location that used to belong to the Good News Cafe and opened it's doors November 2012.

The colourful blackboard of the daily specials is a welcome sign when you walk into the restaurant. 

Tomato and Meatballs Linguine
Our friendly waitress mentioned that the sauces were all made in-house. The marinara sauce was lightly more tart and distinctive with the flavour of black olives and there was a lot of tomatoes in the sauce making it chunky. The meatballs were made with a leaner meat and plentiful in the plate (always nice when you order a meatball and pasta dish) and the garlic bread was a delicious multigrain toasted and buttered. It was beautifully presented.  

Meatball & Olive Panzerotti

The panzerotti was really good! It had a combintation of peppers, green olives, lean meatballs, multi-grain dough and lots of melty cheese! The best part that it wasn't greasy either and it felt like you were making a healthy choice as you were eating it. It was nicely toasted and the marinara sauce complemented it perfectly.

Blueberry strudel

The chef made a batch of blueberry studel in the morning and I couldn't resist grabbing a piece!
It wasn't as crumbly on the top as I would have liked and the cake bottom was a little harder than it appeared, but the blueberry filling was really nice. 

Overall: A nice place to grab lunch and the breakfast specials looked pretty tempting as well. They actually had old blue doors in the decor which added a nice touch.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlueDoorBistro

The Drake Hotel (Winterlicious)

I was pretty excited when I saw that The Drake Hotel was offering a Winterlicious menu this year. 

The last time I was at The Drake Hotel, I had one of the best pork chops ever. 

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I heard they also had the best blueberry scones in Toronto as well, so we ordered some scones to start:

Warm scone share plate with cream and preserves $7.75

The scones were really good: flaky, tasty and fresh from the oven. We also got mascarpone cheese, a homemade strawberry preserve and some butter accompanying the scones. Yum!

It was definitely pricier ordering the plate to share and eat in the restaurant (considering you can buy the scones for $2.25 each and they're at least twice the size of these ones), but at least these are fresh and with the mascarpone - they're heavenly. 

On to the Winterlicious menu...(lunch for $20):

(*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

 

Potato soup with escargot and parsley

Thick and creamy soup with some chunks of salty escargot. 

 

Hoisin glazed perth pork tacos with brussels sprouts & bacon slaw, hazelnuts and chili apple sauce

The tacos had some slightly charred fatty bacon strips and the tortilla shell was a little hard; it wasn't exactly what I was expecting for pork tacos). I did like the slaw though and I would probably recommend the pork tacos over the soup as an appetizer. 

 

*Grilled Pacific Salmon with fingerling potatoes, red cabbage & fennel slaw

The salmon was done very well. The downside of the dish was that the slaw was the same as the one served with the pork tacos (same cabbage, chopped fennel and bland sauce). 

 

Ontario Flank Steak with roast baby red potatoes, green peppercorn, roasted cauliflower and mushrooms

The vegetables were slightly charred again as was the flank steak. It was tender and the au jus was nice, but it was really quite salty. 

 

*The Drake Black Forest - chocolate and Ontario Cherries

It was rich made with dark chocolate and not too sweet. 

 

*Pear Upside Down Cake with parsnip ice cream and candied ginger

The cake was really nice, moist and tasty. The parsnip ice cream wasn't very appetizing on it's own, but when paired with the candied ginger (YUM!) and the pear cake - it was really good. 

Overall: The highlights of the meal were the desserts, but we weren't particularly impressed by the rest of the meal. We were blindsided by the automatic 18% tip (because it didn't say anywhere that we would automatically get charged this) and after a disappointing meal, we weren't very happy. 

Website: http://www.thedrakehotel.ca/

Pho Vietnam

We came to check out Pho Vietnam on a recommendation. The plaza is still relatively empty despite being open for one or two years and at the end of the plaza is Pho Vietnam (which opened March 29, 2012) serving Vietnamese cuisine.

The Interior is really nice.

Rice vermicelli with grilled chicken and spring roll $8.50
The fish sauce was okay, but not quite tangy enough. I liked that they pickled the carrots and radishes and the chicken was nicely grilled and flavoured, but this was an okay nuong dish. It's more expensive than Pho Con Bo (and not as good)

Steamed rice with beancurd and shrimp paste and grilled pork $8.50
I really liked this dish! The grilled pork chop was thin and tender with a lot of flavour and it was perfectly complemented with the cơm tấm rice (broken rice). I also liked the shrimp paste wrapped in beancurd- it was an interesting experience eating it. The dish has a variety of flavours from the marinated pork to the sweet & tangy pickled vegetables and the crispy shrimp paste and it was held together by the warm steamed broken rice. Yum!

Rare flank, tendon, tripe pho - large size $8.50
It was a big bowl mostly filled with a chicken broth and flank meat, then not a lot of noodles and a few pieces of tendon and tripe.
We were pretty disappointed to say the least. This pho definitely wasn't filling and not particularly tasty. Then when we asked for another bowl of just noodles, we were charged $7.99 for a large bowl - ouch.

Overall: The restaurant was okay - but I'd probably recommend Pho Con Bo for Vietnamese food (it's a 25 minute drive away according to Google Maps)

Website: http://phovietnamfamilyrestaurant.com/

Lucien

The first of my Winterlicious reservations this year ($35 for dinner): 

I really like the Wellington & Front Street area with Berczy Park and the Flatiron building because it's so close to the Financial District and the area has such great character with the St. Lawrence market and these cute boutique-y restaurants. 

(*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

*Albacore Tuna Crudo with rye crisp, smoked quail egg with Russian dressing

This was really nicely done. The tuna crudo is almost like tuna sashimi but lightly seared and crusted on the outside. It was meaty and delicious with the Russian dressing and chopped pickles on the side. I wasn't too sure where the smoked quail egg went...but it was still a fantastic appetizer.

*Perth County Pork slow cooked with sauerkraut, navy beans and steamed prune cake

Since eating the Perth pork chop at the Drake Hotel, I have been obsessed with Perth pork and I was super excited to see it on the menu at Lucien. The pork definitely did not disappoint me here. It was tender and succulent and oh so good! The portion was not as small as it looked in the picture, rather it was pretty filling and the navy beans, sauerkraut and steamed prunes were a nice complement to the pork.

Duck Breast a L'Orange with wild rice and braised rutabaga

I'm not as big a fan of duck a l'orange, but the duck was done nicely (I wasn't a big fan of the orange sauce though). 

Banana Chocolate Parfait with peanut cookie

The parfait was really interesting; the pastry chef managed to make a smoky chocolate sauce which was really good! However, the ice cream, banana and peanut butter cookie combination didn't really wow me. 

Pot de Creme with cumin essence with honey and carrot gelee

Apparently a pot de creme is similar to a crème brûlée, but a little looser and it was topped with a cumin, honey and carrot gelee. The waiter did give us a warning: if you don't like cumin, you probably will not enjoy this dessert because it is heavily scented with cumin. We weren't that experienced with the flavour of cumin, so we decided to give it a shot. After eating it, I don't think I'd recommend it unless you really like cumin and jello. It's definitely a warming spice and has a fragrant flavour, but it's quite distinctive and if you're not used to strong and hot scents - then it's probably not for you.

Overall: It was a nice Winterlicious meal: food was nice, the service was really good and the restaurant has a lovely and intimate atmosphere. 

Website: http://www.lucienrestaurant.com/