Roadtrip to Niagara

We're going to Niagara Fall by car and want to know where to eat on the way there and at the Falls. THanks. We will plan our route accordingly!

According to my very very experienced buddy, some of the best fish 'n chips in the known world are in Niagara Falls.

Geo


Fine Kettle of Fish,
3641 Portage Road
Niagara Falls, Ontario L2J 2K8 Canada
888 448 8878

This thread should help:

Driving to Buffalo Tomorrow

as well as this one
Chicago to DC With LTHForum As My Travel Agent [Pics]

My brother had a house in the Niagara Falls (Canada) area, in the middle of some vinyard property, and my visits there were some of my best vacations ever; he no longer has the house there. Because he was in the entertainment/hotel/attraction business my brother knew the restaurant scene well and he always complained that the community was a wasteland - and that's pretty much what I experienced when visiting. One of the upscale restaurants in the area (with a stunning view of the countryside and river below) is located inside Queenston Heights Park, though. Some of the vineyards on the Niagara Peninsula have restaurants and I've probably eaten at a half-dozen of them, and each was good. The Peller Estates Winery Restaurant was particularly good - as are the wines there. I enjoyed Vineland Estates Winerary Restaurant as well. Many of the vineyards sell retail and have wine tastings for minimal cost, and stopping at vineyard after vineyard can easily consume an entire weekend!

Queenston Heights Restaurant
14184 Niagara Parkway
Queenston, Ontario, Canada
905-262-4274
qhrest@niagaraparks.com

Peller Estates Winery Restaurant
http://www.peller.com/niagara/dineinourrestaurant.php

Vineland Estates Winery Restaurant
3620 Moyer Road
Vineland, Ontario,
L0R 2C0 Canada
1-888-VINELAND (846-3526)
http://www.vineland.com/index/page/name/home

I will definitely try the fish and chips and let dh know about the wineries. We'll have the kids so I don't know if we can make it there this time.

Shameful tourist confession to follow.

I went to Niagara Falls yesterday afternoon. Unbelievable. Anyway, we wanted a little snack, and had little time. So, yes, we went to Elements in the visitor center on the Canadian side. I have to say, it was much better than it had to be, but then we only had 2 items from the appetizer menu.

First, the views are awesome.

We had 2 tapas: vegetable spring rolls with an Ontario mustard sauce. Very tasty, with nice vegetables in an un-spring-roll-like wrap that was fried. Next, we had the seafood cake, which was very heavy on breading, but was accompanied by a nice Ontario peach/pepper chutney. Both dishes had Ontario strawberries, which were, oh, let's say strawberries as God intended them to taste. When we said as much to the server, she brought a couple more out, compliments of the chef. That was a really nice (dare I say, uh, Canadian ) thing to do. The tapas were less expensive than listed on the menus, as we were between meal service and they have a reduced price menu.

Also, all wines are Niagara peninsula wines, and what we had (the pino grigio) was quite good.

If you can find a fruit stand, get whatever local produce you can buy. Delicious.

We have decided to make the trip to Niagara next month, will be going through Detroit on Friday, to Niagara on Saturday, through upstate NY on Sunday/Monday (Corning Glass Museum the likely stop) before hitting Long Island and the in-laws on Tuesday.

We'll probably try those fish & chips mentioned upthread, any suggestions for Chicago to Detroit Friday? Will be picking up the hubby at Detroit airport late that night, so no other options. Thanks.

The fish & chips are excellent. We were there last week and really enjoyed them. The place is hard to find, but persevere: it's at the way back behind part of the shopping centre.

Geo

A recent Roadtrip took us thru and then back into Niagara Falls. We opted to go from Buffalo, where we spent Night One, straight into Toronto so that we could enjoy it there on a weekend and then returned to Niagara Falls for two nights before heading home. Second trip here for me which if you've never been is best taken on the Canadian side. Yes it's true the downtown area near the Falls is no different than the Wisconsin Dells or the Jersey Shore but the American side is no different than whatever sleepy suburb you want to name. There are more things to do on Canada's side. This goes for both kids and adults. The views are better too.


Niagara Falls, Canada

I had two fond memories of my trip here as a kid. The first being the fact the police there rode horses and carried a stick, the mounties. I didn't see any this trip but there were plenty of squad cars to keep the peace which was there despite the big crowds.


Strolling around

The busy season was getting into full swing as the place was packed despite it being a Mon and Tues night we were there. My other memory was the ride on the Maid of the Mist which is in it's last year. They're building a winter storage garage on the New York side which is where it will operate out of next year. They've been giving up close tours of the Falls since 1846. Double damn when the entire downtown area lost power on a beautiful sunny day and they couldn't sell Mist tickets, thus we never made it on. Gotta look at the positives though, I can at least consider myself lucky I wasn't riding the Ferris Wheel when it went out.






Some sights around town....Call me maybe?!?!?!

There's alot to do for kids here but not too much for adults. The dining scene is the same way. The downtown area is full of stuff you can waste money on and has all the dining options of every mall in the state rolled into one. If its a chain they're there. From Tim Horton's to TGI-Friday's and every awful spot in between. Although I did read that one of Toronto's top chefs opened a place at the Sheraton at the Falls. We didn't go there and unfortunately the fish and chips place Geo rec's upthread closed down but I did manage to find a few other spots like it around town. Assuming you'll have a car (most people there do) these places arent far and are way better than Wendy's Fried Cod sandwich. So I'd say they're worth seeking out.


Mini-Chain with three locations incl. one in Niagara Falls

I found Lakeport Fish & Chips while googling the info for Geo's place. I'm glad I found it because they do an excellent frying job here and serve creamy haddock with crispy chips. I had been fiendin' for some all thru our trip to Toronto where "Chippy's" like this are popular. I held off knowing it was one of a few good eating options around the Falls. Fish and Chip spots seem to be everywhere in Ontario. Most of them having been around a while. Lakeport's original location in nearby St. Catharines opened up in 1970. Just $7.95 for a one piece haddock which was a generous sized piece (pollack and halibut also offered). Sun. and Mon. it's buy one dinner and get second half off so you could feed a family here for cheaper than Applebee's.


Haddock and Chips

Day two we needed some lunch before hitting the wineries so we rolled into St. Catharines which was a 10 minute drive from downtown at the Falls. The Fryin' guys is another place I found while searching for Geo's spot and since they've been around since 1949 and so many people were praising the place we went there for lunch.


St Catharines, Ontario

I hadn't heard one "Eh" in Toronto but must of heard 20 from the lady owns this place. She was really welcoming and wasn't lying when she said that we're going to eat some of the best damn fish and chips we ever had. I got a two piece haddock with chips along with a single piece of halibut for us and was loving life then and there. Both Chippy's visited had some of the best damn fries I ever had and served perfectly fried fish atop them. Seek 'em out. There's also Batter Up which I wanted to try but they were closed on Monday and didn't open until 2p on Tuesday.


Fish & Chips at the Fryin' Guys

Other non-chain dinner options include quite a few Canadian-Chinese places as well as some Indian eats and an Indian-Chinese restaurant. Me having a little guilty pleasure fascination with other countries takes on Chinese cuisine I had to have some Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls while on this trip. I got an order for $6 with fried rice and an egg roll that wasn't that bad. Actual chunks of white meat chicken inside a dough fried batter formed into balls. Served with sweet and sour sauce on the side. It's basically Canadia's version of ours. More on this cross cuisine with a rich history in another post. This was from China Express which I drove by and decided to try.


Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls...yes I'm immature and laugh every time I say that

So is there anything to eat that isn't fried? Yes there is and aside from the casino (and dirty strip clubs) there's another place near where adults can have some fun. I found myself comparing Toronto to Chicago alot on this trip and the town of Niagara on the Lake is to Toronto what Michigan's Harbor Country is to Chicago. Plus theres the added bonus of the Falls nearby. It's about a 15 minute drive.


Niagara on the Lake, Ontario

This is where I would have stayed had I known. Its the heart of Ontario's Wine Country which is a very booming business these days. There's close to 40 wineries in the area. With them come Tastings, Charming B&B's, Shopping, Spa's, Horse Rides, the renowned Shaw Festival Theater Company and good restaurants cooking with locally grown ingredients. All right there on beautiful Lake Ontario.




If you're going to stay in Niagara Falls make sure to check out a site like Travelzoo for deals as there's tons of hotels there so they have to give things to get people in. Stuff like free wine tasting cards and a $50 credit at the slot machines which was included in a package I got. We didn't get into town until the early evening on the 1st night opting to further explore Toronto during the day so we planned to use the wine voucher cards the next day. Nice call.








I'm glad we did as I'm now a little more experienced in something I dont have all that much interest in drinking if beer is an option. I never tried Icewine until this trip. It was pretty damn sweet (and not cheap) so I didn't buy any but could see myself sipping it after dinner now and then if it was around. There was a local brewery there as well. Oast House is putting out some nice stuff. I was sipping it at a bar and later that night for dinner. We tried to stop by their red barn brewery but they weren't open on our trip.


Peller Estates

So with all the wineries and a cute little town filled with visitors year round you have some nice food options to choose from. I stopped into an outlet of Kurtz Orchards Gourmet Foods while in town and noticed a sandwich menu. I asked what was up and the nice lady working there informed me that they serve soup and sandwiches at their Marketplace a few blocks down. So we rode over.


Kurtz Orchards Farm and Gourmet Marketplace

Inside they have all sorts of products as well as a place to grab a quick gourmet lunch and some coffee and or ice cream in back. I love Turkish Delights and never saw so many flavors offered anywhere else. I never had better. Also grabbed a few jams and jellies to get my mom mothers day basket going. But my main reason for visiting was to try the Montreal Style Smoked Meat sandwich I saw on the menu at their other place.


Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich

They told me their grilled sandwiches were the best sellers and this one was #1. Good for them. This was a nice tasty snack before heading back to Niagara Falls and attempting to ride the Maid of the Mist. We had also decided we would be back later in the evening for dinner from somewhere around there. We chose Zees Grill over the restaurant at Peller Estates which came with high praise but the lady liked what she saw on Zees menu so that's where we went. The restaurant is on the property of the Shaw Club Hotel and Spa located in downtown Niagara on the Lake. Looked like a beautiful place to stay. The menu is described as "Contemporary nostalgic comfort food updated with a unique twist".


Mothers Dumplings

Dumplings to start. I love me some dumplings and these housemade ones with "Pork, Chicken and Shrimp" with "Sweet and Sour Soy Sauce, Cucumber, Daikon and Green Onion Salad" seemed like a good way to start the meal. The waiter informed us one sous chef is from China and this is his grandmas recipe while the other sous chef was from India and used his mothers recipe for the samosas which are also an option under appetizers. I wasn't expecting them to come fried but still pretty damn tasty I thought. Next up for me was a popular Canadian treat I hadn't had all week.


Nova Scotia Lobster Poutine

Despite many options for both smoked meat and poutine while in Toronto I didn't have either of them there so I crossed them off the list on my visit to Niagara on the Lake. Obviously this wasn't your average poutine. Its the only menu item that's remained on it since they first opened, so it's very popular. "House Cut Fries, Butter Poached Lobster, Thornloe Natural Cheese Curds, Red Wine Veal Jus Reduction & Lemon Herb Hollandaise Sauce". Very rich, in taste and style.


Sea Scallops

She had the "Pan Seared East Coast Sea Scallops". Served atop "Sweet Pea & Best Baa Ricotta Ravioli, Warm Chorizo & Tomato Vinaigrette, Pea Puree & Sprouts For Life Organic Pea Shoots" I got to try half of one and this was an expertly prepared dish. Afterwards we had a few drinks at the bar and then took a walk around on the unusually warm night before heading back to the bright lights, beeping noises and carnival games at the Falls.


Late Night Stroll down Queen Street...


...See y'all in Toronto!

Lakeport Fish & Chips
8214 Lundy's Ln
Niagara Falls, ON
+1 905-357-3232

The Fryin' Guys
155 Lake St
St Catharines, ON
+1 905-682-8787

China Express
6175 Dunn
Niagara Falls, ON
+1 905-357-3333

Peller Estates Winery
290 John St E
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
+1 905-468-4678

Kurtz Orchards Farm and Marketplace
16006 Niagara Pkwy
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
(888) 909-2937

Zees Grill
92 Picton St
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
+1 905-468-5715