Niagara on the Lake Travel Continued: Rest -The Stone Road Grille
If I told you the best dinner I had in NOTL was at a strip mall beside a Subway restaurant and Dollar Store you’d think I was joking. If the following bacon dessert intrigues you, read on!
The Stone Road Grille’s website not only boasts endorsements from big name travel and food authorities but also heartly declares that it is the place where locals dine. High accolades aside, even the discerning food critic would have doubts upon approaching the Stone Road Grille’s very modest exterior. With all of the windows blocked up, you couldn’t event sneak a peek to reassure yourself that this was the restaurant that had garnered such rave reviews.
Upon entering we were greeted with a darkened and surprisingly packed restaurant. Chris and I were promptly greeted and squeezed by several noisy tables to get to our cozy 2-seater by the window. The warmth of the room and the happy chatter were definitely reassuring.
(Bar area at the Stone Road Grille)
Immediately the restaurant did not disappoint. We had an awesome waitress help us with our dinner order and our wine selection (A bottle of Megalomaniac Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Proprietors Reserve).
The first stand out of the night? The Stone Road Grille’s Fois Gras “Gnocchi Poutine”
Seared fois gras sitting on top of Monforte cheese curds with deep fried Monforte ricotta gnocchi acting as the fries. All of this married together by savoury chicken skin gravy and goat cheese cream. Can you say ‘heaven’? We loved it so much that we only remembered half way through the meal to take a decent picture.
We both decided we wanted some red meat for our main course and the restaurant offers half sizes of their entries. But note: even their half size plates are pretty big:
(Half Size Black Angus Beef Entree)
Stuffed from our meal we decided to glance at the dessert menu and saw that “The Barnyard” dessert option had won awards. But bacon for dessert? I was skeptical but Chris egged me on… boy, was I glad he did!
The Smoked Maple Bacon Ice Cream “Pig” complete with curlycue tail was adorable and looked like it had a grand old time rolling around in the cinnamon sugar crackling “dirt”. The bacon trough with carmel mousse was a nice added touch. Who would have thought that cinnamon, carmel and bacon would be flavours that go so well together!
Overall, a fantastic meal! Obviously they’ve got some geniuses at work in the kitchen! There are lots of places in NOTL for al fresco dining but if you really want a good meal, go where the locals go, the Stone Road Grille will be sure to impress!
