 Restaurant
Reviews
We will review local restaurants randomly. We
will re-review every restaurant that gets a not-so-appealing review upon
request in
order to show you, the potential patrons, that they were indeed isolated
incidents. These opinions are strictly based on our personal experiences and are
certainly nothing personal. Please voice any experiences you have on our
Forum.
Dining out is not cheap entertainment and should be an enjoyable & relaxing
experience. If you would like to make any comments about our reviews or
suggest a place to be reviewed please e-mail any reviewer by clicking on
their name. We have now added a rating system on the newer reviews. The
scale ranges from 1-5, 5 being highest.
Date: Oct/2006
Place: The Open Grill
Meal: Dinner
 Rachael:
It was a cold and rainy Friday night, but the weather outside was quickly
forgotten upon entering the cheery and warm restaurant. It wasn’t terribly
busy for a Friday so we were quickly seated in a booth. Our waitress
promptly came over and introduced herself, lit a candle and quickly returned
with our beverage order. I hear that somehow the owners are related to the
owners of The Chipican Restaurant. The features are very similar to that of
the Chipican with the large BBQ behind glass where you can see your steak
being grilled. The atmosphere at the Open Grill is more pleasant but the
paper placemats complete with advertising are not suited to the fancier
decor.
We began with the salad bar. It
was fairly small but seemed to have the basics. The lettuce was torn into
nice bite-sized pieces and it was fresh - no brown to be found on the
lettuce! For an appetizer we shared stuffed mushroom caps, filled with cream
cheese and spices. The mushroom caps were about $8.00 for the six. It was
excellent. Our main course was a 9oz prime rib, baked potato and broccoli
spears. The rib was good . . not excellent, but good. It was a wee bit dry
and not overly hot. I can usually tell the measure of the chef by the
vegetables. The broccoli spears were perfect – tender crisp and a pleasure
to the pallet.
Overall I had a very enjoyable
meal and I will recommend the Open Grill for anyone who appreciates a good
steak or rib at a reasonable price.
Laura: We arrived at the Open Grill for a late dinner and they
looked like they were just finishing the early bird crowd and the later
diners were strolling in. They seated us in a little booth but I was
surprised that it was actually pretty roomy. Sometimes in places if you
sneeze in a booth you could break an arm, but these were good. We could see
the chef cooking the steaks on the grill from our spot and were easily
accessible to the salad bar so I was happy with that. The room is broken up
quite well so that you are not overwhelmed by noise therefore it is easy to
focus on your own party. Our server was named Rachel and she was awesome!
She was steady with other tables but didn't miss a beat. The Ceasars were
good, they made them with pickle juice and that is the key to a great Ceasar.
We
had the Prime Rib dinner special that came with salad bar. It was a 'variety
of salads' bar but for the basic garden salad it was all pre mixed and you
had only a few toppings to add, although their were a ton of other salads
such as macaroni, cole slaw, potato. Although it was good I like the salad
bar with basic lettuce and a variety of toppings so it wasn't a really
selling feature for me.
The
appetizers we chose was crab stuffed mushroom caps with melted cheese. Yum.
They were awesome! They also brought breadsticks and buns so in no time we
were getting stuffed. The main course came and I haven't had prime rib in a
few years and it melted in my mouth. I just loved it! Also I was pleased
that they had broccoli on the plate for the vegetable and no green beans.
Ever notice how many places give green beans? Naturally
once again we had no room for desert and it was good to leave feeling full.
I would recommend this restaurant anytime you want to eat well for a
reasonable price in a peaceful, warm atmosphere.
**********************************************************
Date: Feb/2006
Place: Stoke's By The Bay
Meal: Dinner
Rachael: Laura
and I chose to go to Stokes at the Bay on their second busiest day of the
year next to Bayfest - - Silverstick weekend. The joint was packed and
patrons were lined up to the door waiting for table. Despite that, we only
had a 5 minute wait to be seated.
The atmosphere had a real casual
family feel to it. Our waitress, Tara, was friendly and ensured we got our
drinks quickly. We weren’t in any hurry and Tara was a tuned to our
lingering mood and didn’t rush us in any way.
The menu was complete and well
laid out. There is a dish to satisfy just about every craving. To begin we
started with an appetizer of toasted garlic bread smothered in a variety of
cheeses. There were 6 portions, two of which were topped with mozzarella,
two topped with cheddar and two topped with Colby. There was more than the
two of us could eat and would easily have been enough for 6 people.
I had a Greek salad which to say
it was “OK” would be more than fair. I found the lettuce to be brown edged
and soggy. The flavour was lacking and boring and the cheese to be sparse.
The main course was a sausage and
penne tomato based pasta dish with a kick. It was excellent! The portion
was large, again far more than I could finish. The penne pasta was cooked
to perfection and topped with a spicy tomato and sausage sauce. It was just
hot enough to make me thankful for the cold beer at my fingertips. The
sweet peppers helped to tone it down a bit and the sausage was spicy and
juicy.
I highly recommend Stokes By The
Bay for casual dining with friends and family.
Laura:
Finally a new dinner review! We decided to check out a old
local favourite that most locals are familiar with: Stoke's By The Bay. Once
again I was not disappointed with my visit but I walked away impressed. It
was a brutally busy night with the teen girls silver stick tourney in town.
The place was really loud at the doorway and I dreaded the long wait so I
reluctantly put our name on the waiting list. The girl said possibly 20
minutes but it was doubtful to be that long because the turn over was pretty
quick that night. Sure enough about 7 minutes later we were seated and
ordering our Ceasars. Yum.... We were tucked away in a great spot where
although you could see how packed it was you didn't feel it or hear it at
all. No bumping, no raising your voice but a nice atmosphere for visiting
and talking and gossiping. Our server was very nice and if she was stressed
from the busy night she handled it well and our service was great and she
even took a minute to chat us up a bit. We were in no rush and so for us the
timing worked out really well.
We ordered an appetizer of garlic
bread with cheese and it proved to be an excellent choice! They gave a
variety of cheeses each on 6 different slices of fresh bread so it was
almost like sampling plate with every wedge being different. Nice choice for
the casual dinner! I then had a bbq chicken on a bun with a garden salad.
They served a nice salad and it wasn't leaves that look like they are picked
from your yard, lol. I hate that stuff. I like the traditional salad and
this one was exactly what I wanted. The sandwich was very flavourful
but not too spicy and overall it was a great meal. It was a large portion
and I certainly walked away full and could have brought home the leftovers!
For sure a hot spot for dining during the summer or winter!
**********************************************************
Date: May/2005
Place: Maison
St-Aubin's
Meal: Dinner
Reviewer: Average Jo
 This hidden gem is
located in the Lakeshore and Murphy Road plaza. It is an intimate fine
dining establishment housing roughly 15 dining tables and is efficiently
operated by a welcoming staff.
Cleverly designed on one wall is
a fabric draped mural creating the illusion of a picturesque window with a
charming view. The rest of the dining room is simply yet tastefully
decorated with specifically placed art and elegantly set tables. This
combined with a friendly greeting and a tantalizing aroma resulted in a warm
and inviting ambiance increasing my anticipation of what culinary delights
will follow.
After being seated, served bread
and virtually salivating over the menu, my husband and I both decided on the
surf and turf with an excellently suggested Sauvignon Blanc to complement
it. First came our salads, which were a good serving of richly coloured
greens and delicately cut radish topped with a tasty fresh herb dressing.
Then came our eagerly awaited main course. My surf and turf option
consisted of a beautifully seasoned and cooked to perfection rack of lamb
with an abundance of pan-fried scallops and jumbo garlic shrimp. Further
enhancing the meal the chef added creamy scalloped potatoes, a unique and
appetizing blend of carrot, rutabaga and pureed cabbage as well as a
delectably stuffed tomato, all providing and exquisite and completely
satisfying explosion of flavours. My husband’s option came with a superbly
prepared Sirloin covered with a mouth-watering peppercorn sauce and included
all of the other accompaniments as mine. As if this wasn’t enough, then
came dessert which was slice sponge cake layered with a light cream and
paired with a scrumptious wedge of custard all drizzled with a caramel sauce
and accented with a sprig of cooked sugar. To complete the evening we
ordered a specialty coffee containing various liquors and topped with
cream. This was the perfect finish to a fantastic meal.
Whether you live in Sarnia or are
planning a visit, this restaurant is comparable in price to other fine
dining eateries in this city, and should be on your list of “must go”
destinations
**********************************************************
Date: April 28/2004
Place: Hiawatha Horse Park
Meal: Dinner & Show
Reviewers: Laura & Sylvia
Sylvia :
The
food was excellent!! I really liked the set-up of the buffet at
Hiawatha. If you haven’t been there for dinner before; it’s a
separate glassed-in room with the entire buffet, from salads to dessert, set
up in such a way that you are not bumping into people every time you turn
around.. They had five or six different salads, with lots of
extras to add to them – their best salad has to be their potato salad!
It really is phenomenal. Add to that some roast beef, ham, and I think
they had chicken or pork too. All the necessary side dishes, potatoes,
vegetables, etc. were plentiful as well. The staff in there also kept
all the food dishes filled, which is nice. There’s nothing worse
than being on the end of the buffet line with your mouth watering for that
last piece of ham, and the guy in front of you takes it with no staff in
sight to refill it promptly! So the buffet gets a ten, both for the
excellent food (and the variety and abundance of it) and the efficiency of
the buffet staff and their set-up as well.
The
show was incredible! Karen Grainger is one of the most talented people
I have ever had the pleasure of watching perform. The show was billed
as “Cher, Reba and Celine”, so I went in thinking that it was going to
be three separate acts, with maybe a costume change in between. This
woman was very energetic and upbeat, as well as hilarious and extremely
talented. When she started each new impression she changed wigs and
had all kinds of props to play with. She must have done close to 30
different impressions of singers, including men. Yes, even men! Sammy
Davis Jr., Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias, Neil Young and Michael Bolton were
just a few of the men, then she also did singers as diverse as Alanis
Morrissette and Patti LaBelle, Tina Turner and Britney Spears. Every
single voice she did was EXACTLY like the singer she was imitating. It
was just awesome to see. She also had some fun with it (sometimes kind
of colourful), changing some of the words to some of the songs, mostly
reflecting current events in that singer’s life right now. The show
was really creative, entertaining and funny! I will definitely go to
see her again. This one obviously gets a ten.
Laura:
This was my first
dinner & show experience at Hiawatha and it was fantastic and highly
recommended for those looking for something 'different' to do. I was unsure
how they set it up and was pleased to see they had the actual buffet in a
completely separate area then where the show going to be. They stamped our
hand as you entered and the line moved along at a nice pace. There was good
variety of food and I tried a bit of almost everything (except dessert; Sylvia
covered that, lol). The potato salad was nice and creamy tasting, my favorite
for sure and I enjoyed the homemade coleslaw! They also had bean salad and
some mac salad too! They had a nice selection of everything and both the ham
& roast beef melted in your mouth! We went in the buffet twice during the
allotted period and had no problem getting in the designated area we were
seeking (salads then main course) and if I could just take a second to say all
the people were very nice. By this I mean the other customers. Quite often we
get caught in line-ups with impatient people who use voices, attitudes and
body language to make you rush. This crowd was very laid back and had no
problem waiting while I checked everything out and made my decisions. That was
refreshing change and I wish some of those patient people would start shopping
at my grocery store!
I
would give this experience 10 as I totally enjoyed myself from beginning to
end and the show we saw was amazing. It is my
understanding that the chef for this area is the same chef for the entire
Hiawatha so that leads me to believe the exceptional quality of food is consistent
throughout the venue.
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This site was last updated
12/10/06
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