Restaurant Review: Sandpiper Restaurant, Port Philip, Nova Scotia.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We are in Port Philip, Nova Scotia,  Canada, and are returning to a restaurant that we saw earlier in the afternoon before we got distracted by the beach.

Last time we saw this place we looked in amazement because there was a long queue of people  lined up out the door, the car park was full to bursting and clearly this place was hot to trot  on the scale of popular local dining.

Now, almost two hours later, we pull in to the carpark to try our luck. Luckily the rush is mostly over and they have a table for us no problem. The kids have worked up an appetite and we sit down in anticipation. This establishment is well known  in the area.

We amuse ourselves with some very novel place-mats that depict clippings of old newspaper stories whilst we wait for our orders to arrive.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Our food arrives… once again we have found an excellent family business, the menu is not terribly extensive, but it doesn’t need to be, what these folks  cook, they cook well.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

Everyone enjoys their main meal and then we approach the subject of dessert.

We ask and apparently the Pie is highly recommended. We ask what flavours and I knew my choice as soon as the words  “Lemon Merange”  were uttered… I think that coconut creme was also mentioned, but I was in such a delirium about the possibilities of Lemon Merange  that I might not have remembered that correctly…

(photo © kiwidutch)

The lemon Merangue was simply delectable…

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

We have had a wonderful meal… replete, happy and tired we end an amazing day.

(photo © kiwidutch)

Nova Scotia, seeking a swim and spying an intriguing scene…

(photo © kiwidutch)

We  are making a side trip to Canada and have just crossed over the border from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia.

We stop at  the visitor information center right on the border and afterwards pile  everyone back  into the van because we have a mission to complete. The  kids have requested that we find a beach so that they can go for a  swim. The weather is warm enough but it’s very windy, the afternoon is drawing steadily to a close so the race is on to find a suitable beach close by.  Armed with directions from the visitor centre, we start a small exploration of Nova Scotia.

We get off the main highway as quickly as possible and enjoy taking the small winding roads. Our navigational skills are tested when signs that we have been assured are present don’t appear anywhere, and at a certain point it’s clear that we have missed the side road we were looking for.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

The road we are on has limited space for a U turn so it’s decided to turn around as soon as a convenient  spot is available and looking for this spot is how we passed a  family restaurant that immediately caught our attention.

So… what was unusual about the Restaurant we have just seen? Well, the fact that the car park was full to overflowing and that people were  patiently lined up outside the door in a substantial queue grabbed our attention instantly.

Clearly the locals know a good place to eat.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We make a mental note of where we are, do our U turn by the parking area and resolve to head back here after our beach mission. The sign to the beach is there as it turns out, but the sign is only on one side of the post, (opposite  to the way we were traveling the first time) so of course we missed it the first time around.

(photo © kiwidutch)

We arrive late afternoon at a little beach and the wind was far too blustery and a little too cool for a safe full swim.  Still, the girls enjoyed a paddle, shrieking and squealing  as the waves caught their legs and Mr. Four  got all excited about shells, driftwood and all manner of flotsam and jetsam on the beach.

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

(photo © kiwidutch)

We stayed for an hour and a half  whilst the kids let off steam and then somewhere a kid mentioned the ” I’m hun-gry” phrase that triggered a mass rush back to the van, a change out of sandy swimming costumes into dry clothes and as they giggled and huddled in the back, we retraced our steps back to a Family Restaurant that by now really intrigued us.

We arrived to find that the car park was now less packed and that a table for seven was no problem.