M&T Deli

Well, it seems like time to get back to the old bread and butter of this blog-restaurant reviews. I originally thought that not travelling as much this year meant that I wouldn't really have the chance to do these-and to some extent, it is true that I've seen a lot less new restaurants this year than years previous. What I didn't realize was that staying mostly in Fredericton does give me the opportunity to get to know places better before I review them. Such is the case with M&T Deli.

I actually first went to M&T (and first meant to review it) over a year ago, while out for a walk downtown and in search of lunch. We really enjoyed the food and the vibe of the restaurant, and I've been meaning to go back for a while. Fast forward to this summer, when I've had the chance to enjoy lunch and many, many snacks in this cool little downtown spot. M&T has the kind of vibe that you want from a little café-local art plasters the walls, and the building still retains some of its architectural charm. The Queen street location also means that, if you don't want to eat in, you can take your sandwich to any of number of lovely nearby spots for a picnic-I suggest Officer's Square or the river bank.

The food consists of several variations on a similar theme, with your choice of sandwich, panini, wrap, or salad. The flavour combinations are what you would expect from a hip downtown café-think various combinations of ingredients like chicken, avocados, cranberries, and the like. Lighter, summer-y sort of flavours. A meal will run you around ten dollars, and that includes Covered Bridge Potato Chips (made in nearby Heartland), and a pickle.

As I mentioned, M&T also offers lots of great bakery-style snacks. What originally kept me coming back was actually the highly reasonable prices-you can pick up a cinnamon bun (my personal favourite) for under two dollars after taxes, and treats like giant cookies or muffins run at similar prices. I've spent many a coffee break running down here hoping that there were still some cinnamon buns left (they can sell out quickly some days). Though I've never tried it, they also offer breakfast and have daily specials on a chalkboard out front.

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).

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.

Hiltop Grill

I've been to the Hilltop a number of times since moving to Fredericton, and so will write about it generally rather than one particular time. I've always thought of the Hilltop as something of a Fredericton institution-we've brought visitors and out-of-town co-workers there for brunch or lunch on numerous occasions. They have a really neat décor, friendly staff, and not-unreasonable prices for breakfast/brunch. It's a shame about the food though. See, the thing is, I keep ordering something different every time I go to the Hilltop, hoping to eventually eat something that helps me understand just why this place is an institution. I started by trying diner staples like Philly cheese steaks-these sorts of things were ok, but not on their own worthy of returning as often as I did. Then, eventually I decided to try their well-known Chinese lunch buffet; this must be what everyone comes here for, I thought. Well, I certainly hope not-I found the variety sorely lacking and the food unenjoyable. Breakfast/brunch is better. They typically do a nice eggs benny and their different breakfast plates are good. I can't recall their prices exactly, but I believe they were pretty reasonable. The one note I'd like to attach is that I have fond memories of the nachos here from when we passed through once in my childhood, and have been told that the nachos are still great. I've yet to try them in recent memory, but I'll update if I do. Overall, you could come to the Hilltop for a nice atmosphere, and super friendly service, in a bit of a Freddy institution. I would recommend that, if you do, you come for breakfast/brunch (and be prepared for a line!) since it's squarely better than lunch. If you do come for lunch, you might try the nachos; if you find something else good, please send me a message or comment on this post and let me know!

Blue Door

I was recently treated to lunch at the Blue Door by a family member. I hadn't been there before myself, but was under the general impression of the place as being sort of ritzy and expensive. That impression turned out more or less correct-the décor is nice, but not necessarily fancy, just classy. The prices, on the other hand, are rather expensive-everything on the lunch menu runs in the $10-20 range, with a tendency towards the top of that scale. The both of us settled on the $15 Blue Door burger. The menu does a good job of gushing about a variety of local and high quality ingredients in the burger (and all of the menu items), and this was what really got my attention. It came with fries and a giant knife stuck through it so you could cut it-a messy job indeed. The burger didn't hold together super well, but it did taste very good. I couldn't really distinguish any of the individual, high quality ingredients I was excited about-the cheese didn't stand out, nor did the sauce-but the whole thing was enjoyable; probably not Fredericton's best burger, but definitely up near the top. The dessert menu ran in the $8 range if I recall correctly, and I'm told it tends to vary. I liked the way in which the menu was divided-a chocolate dessert, a cheesecake dessert, and a cardamom dessert-but found the layout confusing, as descriptions of the dishes weren't really kept separate from the names. I wound up choosing a foam blueberry cheesecake with toffee crumble. I didn't fully appreciate what was meant by the description until it came in a bowl of whipped cheesecake innards and blueberries. To be sure, the individual ingredients were tasty (particularly the toffee) but I wouldn't order a foam cheesecake again-it just lacked the texture. Overall, it was an enjoyable meal and a good place to bring someone if you're looking for something classy, and willing to pay for it.