Andre's Pizza

I first went to Andre's a few years ago while staying in New Glasgow. At that time, I didn't know that there was a special Pictou County pizza, so we went in to the "seats" area and ordered individual meals. The food was fantastic- I still remember the taste of the maple curry chicken penne, a fantastic combination of flavours that we tried to replicate at home many times. Dessert was also fantastic- admittedly, I can't recall what the dish was called, only that it was some sort of chocolate cake that was amongst the best I've had. Last year, when I found out about Pictou County having a unique pizza, I went back to try it. The pizza is fantastic, a blend of cheeses and great pepperoni on really good crust. *Update: I had the good fortune of a friend thinking of me when passing through Pictou county this week, and bringing back some Andre's. The cheeses are fantastic, as I remember, blending really nicely together. The pepperoni is of a higher quality than you would find at a chain pizza place. The sauce, as is the way in Pictou county, is a brown sauce which I've been told is onion-based. The pizza is definitely spicier than it is in other places, with this great smokey after-taste. Overall, this is my favourite spot to eat in New Glasgow. The food is fantastic, and,if you eat in, it's decorated pretty neat, with ticket stubs on the tables from shows all over the continent.

Acropole

Pictou county pizza is special. This was something I learned last year, from a friend from Pictou county. So I tried it, liked it, and wanted more. A few weeks ago, I was back in New Glasgow and decided to hit up Acropole. It's located right downtown NG, with a big storefront and room to sit. The menu is short and simple, and the prices were reasonable (Large Pizza and a garlic fingers was about $30). The pizza was good, it had that Pictou county flavour that I like so much. My only complaint was the crust; I found it chewy, perhaps undercooked. The garlic sticks were also very good. I also very much appreciated that they were open late on a weeknight, saving me from dinner at another fast food joint.

Relish

Relish is becoming a bit of a New Brunswick institution. It's going all over the province, bringing the gourmet burgers, overenthusiastic staff, and great sides that started in Fredericton to people across NB, as well as to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and PEI. I've had the pleasure of visiting most of the Relish locations in NB. My most recent visit was in Moncton a few days ago, so I'll review it based off of that, before giving some more general info: When you walk in to Relish, they greet you loudly, as does the decor and general vibe of the place. The menu consists of a variety of gourmet burgers, available as either beef, chicken or veggie patties. I've never tried the latter two, but the beef is a high quality burger, to be sure. The menu can be confusing: burger prices are given for the combos, while sides are priced separately, although included in the combos. This makes it hard to tell how much you'd pay for the items separately, and directs you towards buying the combo. My favourite is the "L.A. is my lady", which combines flavours like avocado, peppers, and goat's cheese. It's fantastic with sweet potato fries. All of the burgers I've tried are really good, the restaurant is clean, the service is (generally), friendly, and the experience is fun. The caveat, however, is the price- the combo I described will set you back almost 18 bucks, which means it's not something you should consider "fast food", but rather "a nice dinner". Now, on to the various locations- each one has a signature burger, named in some local way. I haven't tried them yet, but they're a fun way to vary things up and make it worth checking out different locations. I really appreciate how widespread they are: after over a week eating every meal out in the Miramichi, we were ecstatic to see a Relish location (although it seems to have been forgotten on their list of locations!). The original Fredericton location is a nice little downtown building, which takes the whole experience very seriously (those who are shy or socially anxious should be prepared that they will joke around with you, very loudly). Moncton has a great, large spot right smack downtown (though I'd hate to park there during business hours- Moncton is notorious for bad parking), which is clean and very friendly. Saint John, however, I was less enamored with: the location is very convenient (though less so than Moncton), but small and less friendly. To my recollection they didn't call out your name or anything like they do in Fredericton which, although uncomfortable for some, is part of the experience. I say "to my recollection" because, despite repeated attempts, I didn't get to try Relish in SJ this year- twice I arrived around, though not at or after, close. The first time, about quarter to close, it seemed no one was interested in serving me, and they were already cleaning the grill. The second time, five to ten before close, they had already switched off the sign, turned off the grill, and told us they were closed. I'm a bit torn about this- on the one hand, we were near close, and it does take some time to clean etc. On the other hand, more upscale restaurants tend to treat their posted close time more as a last serving time; I've had places tell me they were reluctant to serve me so close, but I've never been told they flat out won't. Somehow, that doesn't seem to jive with the overall image. That said, I love Relish, and would recommend you go- yes, even in SJ.

Updated: Common's Creperie

Recently, I've finally had the opportunity to visit Common's Creperie, and decided that I would do a proper review, having visited only recently. Because this review is only based on one visit-as opposed to the several I had made a few years ago-I've decided to keep the original review below. I was very excited to finally get the opportunity to head out to Common's, having tried multiple times last year to do so, and even brought a family member along with me. The location and décor of the restaurant make for a nice spot to sit and have a relaxing lunch or dessert. The menu consists of crêpes, sandwhiches, and a variety of desserts. Savoury crêpes are paired up with soup (carrot ginger, curry squash, or soup of the day) or salad, and run between 11 and 13 dollars each (when ordered in the pre-made combinations). I chose the squash soup with a crêpe with smoked salmon, lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes and hollandaise sauce. The soup was very good-flavourful, with the curry nicely complimenting the squash rather than overpowering it. The crêpe, however, was somewhat disappointing-it didn't seem freshly made, there was far too much lettuce spilling everywhere, and the hollandaise sauce had no flavour to it. Overall, it was quite the let-down, and I decided not to get a take-out dessert as I had planned. I was torn while leaving. On the one hand, I had had some great crêpes there in the past, and knew that perhaps I didn't order the right one. At the same time, I felt that the crêpe I did have did not live up to the expectations I had developed. While I would no longer consider this my favourite restaurant in the Saint John area, I would still recommend it, and hope (and expect) that my next visit there will put it back to the top of my list.

My Original Review: I've been hesitating about reviewing this restaurant for a few weeks now, for one simple reason: I really desperately want an excuse to go back there. Common's is a real gem. While working in the Rothesay area last year, we drove up and down Hampton Road, looking for something a little less mass-produced for lunch, and spotted this cute little building on the edge of a park. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Although decor isn't usually something that matters so much to me, this place merits a note- the restaurant is nicely decorated, with water being served in arts little glass pitchers, and a nice view of the commons. There's a good menu selection, and their soup and crêpe combos are what we decided on. Unfortunately, as I haven't been back this year (yet), I don't quite remember the names of what we chose, but everything we tried here was excellent. What's really nice is the combination of crêpe and soup (I chose carrot and ginger, and another option was available as well). Working on the road, it's not often that I get to have a lunch that actually leaves me feeling really healthy. We came back a few more times in a short period- it was that good- to try the desert crêpes. Again, although I can't recall the name of what I tried, it combined toffee and chocolate and was absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, their hours are a little limited Monday and Tuesday, which I learned the hard way- by making time both days to go. I haven't gotten to head to Common's this year, and I don't know if I will, but I sure hope I do, because it's one of my favourite places to eat in all of New Brunswick.

Café Archibald

I was excited to get back to Moncton to try out some new food. I don't really get out to Moncton as often as I do some other Maritime communities, so I was quite excited to get cracking on my list of places to try. After doing some research, Café Archibald came out on top of that list. The reviews were good, and crêpes seemed like just the right food for the evening, so I headed out. Their downtown Moncton location (there's also one in Dieppe) is a quaint little building on Mountain road. The staff were friendly, attentive, and very bilingual. I was impressed by the menu- a wide variety of things to try, with very reasonable prices. My pick was the French Crêpe, which consisted of black forest ham, asparagus, green onions and hollandaise sauce. I'm sad to say that I was actually really disappointing by this one- the combination sounded great, a lot of my favourite things, but the execution wasn't all there. The crêpe itself was good, but I found the hollandaise sauce lacking in flavour, and the asparagus pieces cut too small to really discern from the green onions, of which there were far too many. The whole thing actually left a bit of a poor taste in my mouth. Certainly, I would consider trying Archibald again. The staff were friendly, the place was nice and I really appreciate the bilingual service. I would, however, avail myself of one of the many other menu items; hopefully these are the ones all of the positive reviews were based on.

Sea Dog Pub

Shelburne is a pretty little town on Nova Scotia's South Shore, between Liverpool and Yarmouth. We pulled in just for lunch, and found that it was a little hard to find places to eat. The Sea Dog is located on the water, near a group of historic buildings that we actually came upon by accident while turning around. Sea Dog Pub has a fantastic location, with a view of the water and big patio to go with it. I highly suspect that it was the owner who served us- and extremely friendly man whom I saw chatting with all of his customers. As always, I was very happy to have a chance to chat a bit with the owner, find out a little bit about him and his restaurant, and the kinds of customers who come in. It very much gives a human face to an establishment, and makes you appreciate the effort a person puts in to run it- this is certainly that kind of place: the owner even came over to let us know he was going to go pick up more groceries. Very friendly and casual. I ordered the salt cod; admittedly, I didn't actually want it- I wanted to try one of the sandwiches, which looked fantastic- but a little voice in my head told me that this was the place to try a dish like salt cod, and boy was it ever right. The salt cod here is served in a very traditional style, chopped up with pork scraps (pork fat and cuttings) and bacon on top of mashed potatoes (which tasted freshly made). The combination was outstanding, with the flavours balancing out very nicely, and the potatoes making for a hearty, filling meal. Diced turnip and chow were served on the side, as was a roll. The roll was also a nice, traditional treat- oatmeal brown bread, a sweet sort of bread I haven't seen in other parts of the country. The price my food was a reasonable 14 dollars after taxes. My coworker had pan-fried haddock, which, although I didn't try it, he said was very good. The Sea Dog is definitely a place I would recommend to stop at for lunch on the way through. It's certainly not fast food- in any sense- but you can't beat the combination of a friendly owner, great food, and a beautiful sea view.

Papa's Pub and Eatery

We finished working and pulled in to Port Hawkesbury pretty late one night. By the time we got settled in a hotel and went to look for food, it must have been near 10 o'clock. Port Hawkesbury is a small town, and at that hour our options were pretty much limited to pizza, Chinese food, or fast food. Having had two of the three above fairly recently, I opted for pizza. You don't often associate a pub with good pizza, but Papa's was right across the street from our hotel. The staff were friendly to us, and we loaded up our pizza with a wide range of toppings, and added cheese sticks, hoping that it would be both enough food, and good tasting. Both criteria were more than met. We ordered one of the larger sizes of pizza which, with cheese sticks, came in around the thirty dollar range. The pizza was absolutely fantastic- I really couldn't believe how good it was. The toppings were fresh and very very plentiful, and the crust and cheese were just right. The slices were very generously proportioned, and we could barely finish all we had ordered. The cheese sticks were also fantastic. With this in mind, we took lunch a little earlier than usual the next time we came through Port Hawkesbury, just so that we could go again. There was something on the menu that I had to try. The restaurant calls it the "messy donair fry bake." I think of it as donair poutine - donair meat and sauce, on top of fries, with green onions and peppers, smothered in cheese then baked in the oven. And oh my God, did I ever make the right decision. This has to be one of the most delicious junk food meals I've ever had. The donair meat is made on site, and it shows. Donair meat, donair sauce, and cheese all come together very nicely and, although it's on their appetizer menu, really ought to be listed as an entrée. The total cost was around 13 or 14 dollars after tax, and well, well worth it. The only critique I will give is that the fries were maybe not the best I've had. But it hardly mattered, because what really shone in this dish were the donair meat and the cheese; you could almost even skip the fries.