Read about:

Saturday 21 June 2014

Fredericton Market (Boyce Farmers' Market)

One of my absolute favourite things about living in Fredericton is visiting the Fredericton Market (more properly the Boyce Farmers' Market, as there is now a market on the North Side, which will get its own blog post). I's a lot of fun to head out on a Saturday morning and join the crowds-the market atmosphere is always a lively one-for some breakfast, lunch, crafts, or produce. The market also has a variety of unique shops-food vendors sell different interesting creations or flavours, and there's a lot of good snack food to grab and munch on as you walk around. It's also a great spot to find gifts and souvenirs. So, without further ado, here are some tips for Saturday mornings at the market When The market is open from 6 AM to 1PM, but it will be a different experience depending on when you go. Typically, if you want to avoid crowds and line-ups, and ensure that some of the more popular items will still be available, you should go early-say, before nine. Around nine or ten AM the market gets more crowded, as families, tourists, and people who just aren't early risers (guilty!) get out of our beds and wander down. While the market is open until one PM, I find that vendors start running out of things or even closing up by noon. Crowd levels vary, of course, with the weather and the season. Getting there/Parking Parking is perhaps the trickiest bit about going to the market. If you don't arrive early, you will have to circle the block for a spot-and don't be surprised if you wind up having to walk five or six blocks. If you're near the downtown area, I would recommend just walking, as you can avoid the headache of parking, save the environment a little, and enjoy some exercise. The Market is located on George street, just a few blocks East of Regent St. Direction of walking People generally tend to walk around the building in a clockwise manner, if you're facing the building from the street where the food vendors are. Food Food is the best part of the market, I think. Inside the building, you'll find a variety of baked goods and butcher shops. Outside is where the take-out style food is. There's also a restaurant in the middle of the building. Here are a few of the places you could keep an eye out for: FrostedFrosted is a cupcake vendor, just inside the market from the parking lot. The cupcakes are flavourful and moist, many with delicious butter cream frosting on top, and under $3 each. There are a variety of interesting flavours-get there early if you want to have all the choices! The Bundle HutBundles are an interesting creation, essentially similar to a large egg roll stuffed with a variety of different flavours-donair, teriyaki chicken, apple pie etc. They're a great snack to eat while walking through the market. Samosa Delite and Yummy SamosasAs a bit of an interesting phenomenon, a modified version of the samosa has become very, very popular in parts of southern NB. Samosa Delite and Yummy Samosa are the two main places to try NB's Samosas at the market-both have their own large following, so you'll have to grab a samosa at each to decide. Samosas are reasonably priced-a little cheaper if you buy by the dozen or half dozen-and come in a variety of flavours, including vegetable, beef, and chicken. They are also available mild (which is to say, not spicy at all) or hot. Note that lines can get quite long. Richie's BBQRichie's is a food truck selling a variety of foods, but my favourite is their donair. For those who haven't tried a donair yet, Richie's is a great place to do so, selling one of my favourites. A number of other foods are also available to try. Two vendors sell freshly squeezed orange juice at reasonable prices (one of my market favourites). Several vendors sell a variety of baked goods-you'll find everything from squares to berliners here- hot dogs, noodles, crêpes, and lobster rolls are all available outside. Produce and meat Those looking for produce and meat will find a variety of vendors. Most produce is sold outside, with several farms being present depending on what's in season-this is a great place to find fiddle heads, an NB specialty, and also local blueberries. Inside there are several vendors selling a wide range of meat, as well as a large fishmonger (you can get all your maritime favourites here as well, including clams, scallops and lobster, season dependent). In addition to produce and meats, there's a large cheese shop near one of the building's entrances, and a small shop selling homemade pastas.

Monday 16 June 2014

King Street Alehouse

I'd been trying to get to the Alehouse for a long time-as in, since it was the Garrison District Ale House. For those who don't know, a fire caused Garrison to relocate to what is now the King STreet Alehouse, a few blocks away. Last time we tried to check out this spot, the lineup was around 45 mins-a sure sign it must be good, but a long time to wait when hungry. So it was a nice surprise to see it fairly empty this past weekend for lunch. The Alehouse is a restaurant of the dimly lit variety, a classy kind of place that is comparable perhaps to the Keg in terms of atmosphere. The lunch menu contained a range of foods-a variety of starers, a few different sandwiches and wraps, and a whole host of hamburgers. The hamburgers ranged from around 11 dollars to the upper teens in price, and a are served with a choice of side; other meal options for lunch were comparably priced. The Alehouse also lives up to its name with an extensive drink menu consisting of, according to the server, over one hundred options. For lunch I chose the blue cheese burger, which came highly recommended. In a world where gourmet burgers have become a huge trend, the blue cheese burger has become a bit of a staple, as have a few of the other options on the Alehouse's menu (like the Thai peanut burger)-but with choices such as a pepperoni burger (with marinara sauce) and jerk chicken burger, there are some more creative options available. Sides ranged from the standard sweet potato and classic fries, to a bowl of the soup of the day-in this case, fiddle head and chicken chowder. All of the sides I tried were great, served exactly how I like them. The sweet potato fries were served with a chipotle mayo style dip-a touch many restaurants have dropped by which I liked seeing. The classic fries were long and thin, similar to a shoestring but still had a good potato flavour. The chicken and fiddle head chowder was an interesting combination and a nice chowder, though perhaps not the best way to showcase fiddle heads, which were a little overpowered by the chowder flavour. I only had a taste of my own burger this time round; the meat was fantastic, not overcooked, juicy and flavourful, and served in a generous portion. The burgers were also topped with crispy, caramelized onions, which was a real delicious treat. After a few bites of the burger together, I noticed something unusual-I couldn't taste the blue cheese. Now, normally blue cheese isn't something that slips in undetected. It's definitely there in my pictures, so either there was only a teeny amount (I didn't find any when I took the burger apart about halfway through) or it was just not a very strong blue cheese (which may appeal to some), but I was a little disappointed, especially given how delicious the burger and onions were. The bun also didn't hold together particularly well, although it was tasty. All in all, the food was good, and this is definitely the kind of place to come on an important dinner, like a meeting, date, or birthday. There are plenty of food options on the lunch menu (making me guess that the dinner menu must be satisfying as well), serve was quite speedy, and the atmosphere is appropriate for finer dining. There's also an extensive drink menu, if that's something you're interested in. I will warn you, however, that the desert menu was quite limited (only four options).
King Street Ale House on Urbanspoon

Thursday 12 June 2014

The Palate

A few weeks ago, my family decided to go out for brunch with my aunt. She suggested we try the Palate, a nice little restaurant downtown Fredericton, on Queen street. We checked it out online and saw that it looked good, and quite affordable, and so we were pretty excited to go. The Palate is a nice little place downtown, conveniently located (although a little harder to park at). On Saturday morning it didn't take very long to be seated for breakfast-although we did see others waiting while we were eating. The staff were also quite friendly. The brunch menu is fairly extensive, with all of the staples plus a few more creative concoctions. For those so inclined, mimosas are also offered at brunch. I chose the traditional eggs benedict, which was also offered with three or four unique variations, including smoked salmon with cream cheese, and a lobster variety. Another good looking option on the menu is called the "Alpine" and includes potatoes, eggs, and cheese. The eggs benny, pictured below, was quite good. The hollandaise sauce was flavourful and the eggs well cooked. I tried a bite of a family member's smoked salmon version, and the smoked salmon was fantastic-definitely what I'll be getting next time. After a good breakfast, we ordered desserts-sticky toffee pudding and chocolate lava cake, to be precise. The desserts definitely stole the show-the sticky toffee pudding was a perfect combination of sweetness and toffee, and the lava cake was a rich and delicious chocolate. The food was delicious, but the service was incredibly slow-probably the longest I've ever waited for food. To be fair, the desserts tasted as though they were just cooked (and with the amount of time it took, they may well have been), but none of the breakfast food we ordered should have taken as long as it did. The restaurant also committed one of my big pet peeves-the menu online is not accurate. To be precise, the prices are several dollars less than what they are in reality, and a few dishes were missing. While the price on the menu is obviously the correct one, it makes the website a much less useful tool when you go in expecting one price, and leave having paid several dollars more per item. Overall, the food was good, and the desserts fantastic. It's a cute little restaurant, and good spot to go if you're downtown Freddy. Just don't go there if you're in any sort of a hurry, and be warned that the prices online are not, as of the time of writing this, accurate.
The Palate Restaurant on Urbanspoon