Good Eats in Cape Breton Summer 2014

Baked haddock over spinach, rice, French lentils and mushrooms.  (Photo by Anthony Benson)

One of the nicest things about vacationing in Cape Breton is the good food that we have there.  I'm listing a few of our favorites for this summer.

We usually head over to Whycogomagh for a bowl of seafood chowder at Chalene's Bay View Restaurant.  This is said to be the best seafood chowder in all of Nova Scotia.  We certainly would agree with that.  It is always chocked full of seafood and not dominated by potatoes as many chowders are. 

Charlene's famous seafood chowder.

Although the Ela Restaurant in Halifax isn't in Cape Breton, we usually have a meal there if we are in Halifax.  Alice tried the grilled octopus at my recommendation and she liked it as much as I do.

Alice enjoying grilled octopus. 

While we were over in St. Peter's we discovered a new little bistro, and the corn chowder and toasted pimento cheese sandwich were special.

Corn chowder with a pimento cheese sandwich on homemade bread.

The fresh Arctic Char that we bought at Masstown Market was a hit with the three of us.  We poached it just enough so that it separated from the bone nicely.  Dan is very discriminating when it comes to fish, and he declared it fresh and delicious.

We're always happy to see Laura and Anthony arrive.  Laura is an exceptional cook and the haddock dish she prepared was one of the best things we had during the three weeks.  She prepared a bed of rice, French lentils, and mushrooms, with steamed spinach and topped with baked haddock.  So scrumptious.

Laura's baked haddock. (Photo by Anthony Benson).

Laura made blueberry pancakes for breakfast several mornings.  Her pancakes are the best I have ever had.  They are made with a multigrain batter and loaded with fresh wild blueberries.  We ate lots with maple syrup and with grape jam.

Dan ready to devour Laura's blueberry pancakes. 

We did not have as many desserts as usual because Alice doesn't like desserts, and she was a good influence on me.  I did make a delicious Manitoba blueberry pie with fresh and cooked blueberries topped with whipped cream flavored with almond. 

Manitoba blueberry pie.

One of the best food at the birthday party for Michealette was the fruit kabobs.

Beautiful and tasty fruit kabobs at Michealette's birthday party.

We celebrated a belated birthday party for me at the Dundee Resort noted for its great restaurant.  Several of us enjoyed a half rack of lamb that was cooked to perfection and the spinach salad starter was good too.  

Spinach salad with strawberries, eggs, citrus and red onions. 

Half rack of lamb.

The last evening we were there Laura made steamed mussels.  She steamed the mussels in a broth of chicken stock, onions, chives, tomatoes and yellow squash.

Steamed mussels.

   Yes, we always enjoy eating when we are in Cape Breton, and this summer was no exception.

Breakfast at Finch's in Raleigh

Finch's of Raleigh.

If you want a real Southern breakfast in Raleigh, Finch's is the go to restaurant.  Finch's has been around since 1945 in the same location. You would drive by this place on Peace Street unless you knew where it is.  It sits back from the road and looks like an abandoned diner except for all the cars out front.  Unfortunately it will be replaced by a new clover leaf at the intersection between Peace and Capital Blvd in the near future. 

Photo from Trip Advisor.

We had a friend from Nova Scotia visiting, and we took him there the other morning so he could enjoy a real Southern breakfast.  Dan says it was his first time there too, but I had breakfast there with the kids several times after ballgames over at Salvation Army. 

Big Man's Breakfast.  There were pancakes on the side for this.

Blueberry pancakes.

Dan and Dave both had the "big man's breakfast".  I chose the blueberry pancakes, and they were chock full of blueberries. The maple syrup was not pure maple syrup but the corn syrup with maple flavoring type.  But the butter was real. 

Our friendly waitress.

Friendly staff.

Service was excellent.  Breakfast was served very quickly and the over medium eggs were done to perfection.  You never know what kind of cup your coffee will be served in.  This morning the cups were from UPS.  Lots of folks donate cups for them to use.

Coffee was served in these cups this morning.

It was quite busy for a late Saturday morning, but there were tables available because we avoided the early morning rush.

Still rather busy for breakfast at 11:00 a.m.

We must visit them again soon before they are replaced by a new cloverleaf.