A tale of two Southern Shore restaurants

Plus, a list of where to eat in Newfoundland (outside St. John’s)

I have long rhapsodized about Newfoundland’s underrated food scene. For its size, St. John’s has a fantastic and dynamic dining scene, but one New York Times writer’s lamentation about the abundance of “beige food” (a.k.a. deep-fried seafood and fries) in outport Newfoundland always rings in my ears. There are indeed some spots around the island doling up frozen seafood, deep-fried and tossed (sans salt) into a basket – it's the only option in many communities. But, there are also fantastic restaurants serving fresh seafood, deep-fried or not, interesting dishes and great cocktails to boot.

I just returned from a stay at Fishers’ Loft in Port Rexton, and my four-course meal was sublime (full newsletter coming soon). The nearby Twine Loft in Trinity has also found success with its small dining room, serving delicious, simple meals made with local ingredients. Boreal Diner in Bonavista has made a go of it, combining local produce with trendy dishes like steamed buns, while the Norseman in L'Anse aux Meadows presents a lovely dining experience on white linen tablecloths.

It’s not easy to have a “fancy” restaurant in Newfoundland outside of the bigger spots like St. John’s or Corner Brook (Fogo Island Inn notwithstanding). Running a restaurant in rural Newfoundland is a very different beast than opening shop in Downtown St. John’s, or any other major city. Most are only open seasonally, catering to tourists and St. John’s staycationers from May through September. Finding the balance between accommodating tourists (and figuring out what they want to eat) and satisfying the local community is tricky. Many restaurants are only open a few nights a week, missing out on those weekday tourist dollars, and most local residents don’t get the chance to eat there – or they don’t want to.

Take The Three Sisters Pub in Placentia — housed in an 1883 heritage merchant home, they reopened in the early 2020s with a menu of contemporary dishes. Think salt cod ravioli, steak frites and Basque cheesecake (an ode to the area’s fishing history). I watched their menu transform week after week on Instagram until it was full of chicken tenders and fried calamari with just a few of the more elevated dishes remaining (for the record, the mozza sticks I ate there were some of the best I’ve ever had; the calamari was “meh” at best).

Anecdotally, I spoke with several Placentia residents on assignment who never walked through the door after four years of being reopened – I know many who grew up in Placentia who never even thought to visit. It’s now closed.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am SO here for a basket of fried scallops, and I love me a two-piece fi-and-chi, but these restaurant menus need to have balance. To find success in outport Newfoundland, there needs to be the fish and chips and the salt cod ravioli on the menu – a tall order for any restaurant. Here’s the tale of dining at two Irish Loop restaurants that are in different stages of this necessary evolution.

A tale of two Irish Loop restaurants

Both Fork Restaurant and Forager are found on the Southern Shore of Newfoundland (though it's not the southern shore, more like the easterly south side of the Avalon peninsula), on the Irish Loop. Fork Restaurant has turned into a destination in its own right. The restaurant is a well-balanced 8-year-old, having spent years honing its dishes and its vibe. Forager is still in its infancy, a newborn really – they only opened their doors in the fall of 2024, and this is the first tourist season.

When I first reviewed Fork for the now-defunct Overcast newspaper in 2017, they were still a pop-up, so they didn’t necessarily have to follow the rules, but the greatness was there in a few dishes, one in particular. Those Bay of Fortune scallops, seared perfectly, were served with blood pudding, apple, celery and mustard seeds that popped in my mouth like caviar – it sparked a love for that restaurant in me.

By 2019, when I reviewed them again for Atlantic Business Magazine, they were just getting settled into their new home in Mobile. They were a toddler, unbalanced and just a little bit feral – the menu was disjointed, like they didn’t quite know what they were going to be yet. The appetizers were amazing – a display of Chef Kyle Puddester’s experience and predilection for Asian cuisine with Korean BBQ wings, kimchi fried rice, and a fantastic Brussels sprouts Caesar salad (which was cool before that was cool). The mains? Forgettable at best, I had to scroll through my archives to find them: steak, a boring chicken dish, you get the idea.

My latest review of Fork is two years old, but it’s a rave (linked below) – a golden hour meal with fantastic cocktails, tuna crudo with tiger’s milk, Pico de Gallo and jalapeno and a crispy paneer dish I’m still thinking about. Puddester’s business partner and wife, Kayla O'Brien, is the pastry chef who always nails desserts like apple fritters. The pair have created a special dining experience at Fork, one that both local residents and St. John’s visitors frequent and enjoy. The menu is approachable yet interesting and draws on the chef’s background as well as the local terroir.

And now back to Forager, a newborn crying out for direction. Found inside the Cliffs Edge Retreat – which brings up a whole set of problems of being a hotel restaurant too – it has some ways to go. Don’t get me wrong, the food was fantastic. But two things were running through my mind as we dined there over the May long weekend: I asked myself, “Would I drive an hour to eat here?” and I kept thinking about if I was a tourist, what would I want to eat? A big bowl of seafood chowder? Absolutely. A run-of-the-mill pork tenderloin? Not so much.

It felt like Forager doesn’t quite know what it is yet. I found the menu a bit confusing – the apps were all presented to be shared (smoked olives, tartare, oysters, etc.) while the two mains were very much solo dishes (it's hard to share a tuna bowl). The special of the evening was fiddleheads, and while our server couldn’t explain to us what it was, it was fantastic. Tender greens nestled atop an herbaceous green sauce with a bright pink hit of acid from the pickled onions.

There are certainly bright spots on the menu at Forager, unsurprising considering Chef Jeremy Shaw’s pedigree and kitchen experience at places like The Merchant Tavern, but with a tourist season under its belt the restaurant will grow up and discover its identity – and hopefully make it worth the drive for us Townies.

I’m certainly no expert on what makes a restaurant successful, but having lived away and here in Newfoundland, as well as travelled extensively for writing assignments as a culinary tourist, I certainly have an opinion about it. I think having approachable, local dishes like chowder, a lovely piece of cod, or some local berries in the dessert paired with the Chef’s creations, which showcase personality, could highlight what a dynamic and delicious food scene we have here in Newfoundland. I know I want a giant bowl of chowder, but I also want that tuna crudo too.

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Where to eat in Newfoundland (outside St. John’s)

These are my favourite places to eat across the island in no particular order – I have yet to visit Labrador, but I hear very good things about Mamattuk in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Fork Restaurant in Mobile

I mean, I raved enough above, didn’t I? You can read my review of this spot from a few years ago if you need more.

Forager in Bauline East

The Cliffs Edge Retreat restaurant serves up inventive cocktails with fantastic views of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve islands and its thousands of puffins.

Fishers’ Loft Inn in Port Rexton

This lovely restaurant overlooks the ocean in a heritage home – a set four-course menu is served in two sittings a night with candles, warm bread and produce from the garden just outside. I’m still thinking about the zucchini dill soup I had there last week.

Twine Loft in Trinity

The Artisan Inn’s dining room, the Twine Loft (in an actual historic twine loft), is also simple, elegant and has a set menu with only two sittings a night. Think fresh salads, cod en papillote and a great wine list.

The Old Store Cafe in Norris Point

This cafe is perfect for breakfast or lunch before or after a hike in Gros Morne National Park. I loved their meat pies, and their curries are fantastic. They’re also doing small plates and oyster nights now!

Juniper Cafe in Grand Falls -Windsor

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this restaurant surprised me with its delicious Middle Eastern lunch bowl. Fresh flavours and contemporary dishes with a new location – they just moved to the Salmonid Interpretation Centre with views of the Exploits River.

Hew & Draw Hotel in Corner Brook

This beautifully designed restaurant shares a space with Boomstick Brewing in the Hew & Draw hotel. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, dinner it’s a great mix of approachable faves like fish & chips, along with “fancy” items like pulled beef ragout pappardelle.

The Boreal Diner in Bonavista

The bright red historic house on Main Street is welcoming, delicious and I love their fresh pastas. Think beets with salsa verde and lobster with turnip chai tow kway.

Chucky’s in Happy Adventure

I love this restaurant in the Happy Adventure Inn. Plenty of fried seafood on the menu here, but you can bet it’s fresh. My family always has a meal here on our annual beach trip to Eastport/Sandy Cove. Don’t sleep on the giant onion rings.

Georgie’s Restaurant in Twillingate

I loved the seafood pasta here. Found in the Anchor Inn Hotel, the menu is filled with fresh seafood, salads, soups (think seafood chowders and root cellar bisques), plus great fish tacos.

Norseman in L'Anse aux Meadows

A lovely dining experience on the Northern Peninsula, where fresh produce coming off the island is harder to come by. I enjoyed a very good local berry martini there, along with cod brandade, lobster ravioli and duck confit.

Bare Mountain Coffee House in Clarenville

This spot is a must-stop on the way to the Bonavista Peninsula. They have the best coffee drinks for miles (and miles), plus their cookies, paninis and ever-changing cheesecake offerings are great.

NOTE: Bare Moutain is currently not open, much to my dismay they closed for the season last fall and and yet to reopen under new ownership, stay tuned.

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What’s new?

I chatted with Restaurants Canada’s magazine MENU, about grieving a restaurant — you can read the interview here: Eating Our Words: In conversation with Gabby Peyton on How Food Writing Shapes Canada’s Culinary Identity

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