The Weekly Whisk - 9/15/23
Musings from a foodie…
We’ve just finished our 6-week tour of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland with the vast majority of time spent in the latter province. I must say, I was initially reluctant to consider such a long trip. But, now that it is ending – it was a fabulous experience. In my last issue, I highlighted my review of the various “Fish & Chips” sites around Newfoundland with the exception of the Norseman Restaurant in L'Anse aux Meadows near the Viking encampment established in 1054. It was exceptional. There are two other favorites I discovered if you happen to visit Newfoundland. They are both located in/near St. John’s, the capital of the province. Both were extraordinary and definitely worthy of a visit.
Mallard Cottage [8 Barrows Road – St. John’s, Newfoundland – 709-237-7314 –[* * * * *] Upon arrival, we were greeted quite warmly in the casual – yet formal – atmosphere of “the Cottage”. In fact, it felt like a cottage with soft music playing in the background and people casually engaged in conversations both at their tables and with one another. It was almost like dinner at a friend’s home. I can’t say enough good about the place. The chanterelles with kale and a creamy lemon sauce, the summer squash, the cod tongue (fried, of course) were amazing. We couldn’t decide between the cod and the halibut so we got one of each. Both were cooked to perfection – all under the leadership of Dave Woods, the Chef de Partie. Unfortunately, he is departing back to his home in Toronto where I hope to meet up with him again in a couple of months when we are there for a visit. However, Todd Perrin, the Chef and Owner, will be continuing so I expect that the reputation of Mallard Cottage will not be tarnished. Mallard Cottage is the first of two restaurants in the St. John’s community that are “must trys”. The second one is…
Terre Restaurant [125 Water Street – St. John’s, Newfoundland – (709) 383-2136 – [* * * * *] The second place to absolutely consider is Terre!! I’ll keep this short. Every single dish that we ordered was outstanding from the sour dough bread with a hint of rosemary to the grilled Shishito peppers to the Tuna Tartare to the veggies (pea shoots with a ranch style dressing and toasted bread crumbs and roasted tomato with habanero sauce AND bacon!! I could go on and on. We did the extravagant thing and ordered the “Let The Kitchen Cook For You” whereby they basically cooked small portions of almost everything that was on the menu. What a taste treat. The only downside was the noise level got a bit extreme at times during the course of our dinner…but, other than that – it was a fabulous dining experience. I’d go again in a microsecond – and, then take several hours to enjoy 😊.
