A fellow Canadian blogger, Lindsay Nelson (her blog is called Eat This Town) asked me to contribute to a series she is creating about the iconic foods of each province in Canada in honour of Canada's 150th birthday.  I was asked to write a piece about 1 iconic food from Ontario.  Ontario is such a melting pot of cultures with such an eclectic array of culinary options that it took a moment for my mind to focus on a food that was truly unique to the province. 
     The first thing that popped into my head was BeaverTails.  This culinary delight was born in Ottawa and rightfully calls Ontario its birthplace.  Check out the following link (or click on the photo below) to read the rest of the story and check out Eat This Town to see the rest of the series highlighting each provinces iconic foods.  Happy Canada's Day too eh.

     I don't usually write blog posts about chain restaurants, usually I will save Zomato for my thoughts on a visit to lets say Kelsey's or Montana's.  When I visited Chuck's Roadhouse I discovered they were doing something totally different than the other guys, selling good food at good prices.  I almost want to use the word 'cheap' but the taste of what they serve is far from cheap.  Chuck's really has something good going on and I like it.

     That's right I said "Free".  If you find yourself in the metropolis of Strathroy, Ontario and it happens to be your birthday you can score a free breakfast like Jay Eatz did.  Just head to Roy's Coffee Shop and make sure you have some I.D. on you.

     Roy's Coffee Shop is located on 273 Caradoc S. St. in Strathroy.  I have driven by this place many times on my way to pick up things from Staples or Canadian Tire for work.  It's conveniently located on one of the main arteries in town close to the major business area.  On one of these trips by Roy's the outside sign read "Free Birthday Breakfast".  I took a mental note of this and vowed to return on my birthday to collect my gift.

     Paisley?  Where is Paisley?  Well Paisley is a village in Ontario.  It is kind of near Walkerton and Owen Sound or near the Bruce nuclear plant.  It is also on the Saugeen River and is a canoer's paradise.  Maybe you are just passing through or maybe you are checking out a cultural event like Paisley Beef Fest like Jay Eatz.  If it happens to be between May and October you need to make a stop at Gibby's Grub.

     Gibby's Grub is located on Bruce Rd 3 just as you enter the village of Paisley.

     Prior to a recent journey to the Caribbean Island of Grenada I reached out to the twitter-sphere seeking advice about what to do and where to go.  One of the greatest resources available on line is the twitter account and website of a company called Beach Bar Bums( https://twitter.com/BeachBarBums, http://beachbarbums.com/).  I posed the question to Beach Bar Bums: Where are the good beach bars in Grenada?  I was given the list of a few of his picks and Umbrellas Beach Bar in Grande Anse Beach was one of them.  I added this to my itinerary and off to Grenada I went.
     While there the G.F. and I meet another couple (Alex and Clark) staying at our resort who rented a car and offered to take us to Morne Rouge Beach (A.K.A. BBC beach, yours to figure out) for the afternoon.  One of Beach Bar Bums other picks was located there, called Plywood Bar.  Coincidentally this was also the location for SUP Grenada http://www.supgnd.com/ (stand up paddle board) which is ran by a fellow Canadian named Derek.  I spoke with Derek before heading down and asked him if he wanted anything from Canada that he couldn't find down there.  Guess what his request was?

     There is something about Caribbean food that has got a hold of me.  Besides the ocean and the beach I think the food is the thing I look forward to the most when traveling to the Islands (well maybe that and a cold Carib).  Everything down there is so fresh and in season and local.  One thing we could learn from them is to treat our own local area like an island and source our meals locally but that's another article for another day.  About a week after my return from Grenada I was jonesing for something to take me back to here:

     Lucky for me I found it here:

     Jay Eatz and the G.F. have recently returned from a trip to Grenada.  Lovely place and we both recommend you should go.  While you are there, a trip to the neighboring Island of Carriacou is a must (same country, different island).  A quick 90 minute ferry ride or a 20 minute flight and you are there.

     We did both.

       So Jay Eatz works in Strathroy, Ontario Monday to Friday.  On the ol' work fridge sits a little business card stuck by a magnet.  It reads Banh Mi Shop in a large font and Vietnamese sandwiches in a slightly smaller font.  A week goes by and this business card is glaring me down daily.  I ask my fellow co-workers "any one ever try out this Banh Mi place?"  I get two no's and whats that?  I shrug it off and the weeks continue to roll on.  Every day that card keeps eyeing me down, occasionally it falls off the fridge, I pick it up and put it back to eye me down some more.  Interest gets the best of me and I decide to investigate this foreign place.  I turn to my friend Google to give me a snap shoot of this mystical Banh Mi Shop.  Google directs me to a Facebook page with over 600 likes.  Intrigued I head to TripAdvisor to get their take on things and what do you know #2 rated restaurant in Strathroy.  Now I'm sold and am going (downfall when all your co-workers are from out of town is no word of mouth referral).

       I hop in the car and go.  I should have seen this coming, but had a brain fart, the place is bumpin.  

       That's right, Neil Diamond and he puts on one hell of a show (74 years old, no opening act, no intermission, 2.5 hour set and dancing the whole show).  I decided to invite my mom from out of town to go with me.  She offered to take me out to dinner before the show and I obliged.  Now where to go?  We could have gone to a chain like Kelsey's, Jack Astor's or East Side Mario's.  These are all great options but my mom's town has most of these chains and so does any Canadian city with a decent population.  I thought let's pick somewhere that you could only go to in London, support local business as well as the downtown core and be close to Budweiser Gardens.  Keep in mind that mom was paying so I could have chosen the Tasting Room or Michael's on the Thames but I decided to check out a place my German buddy swears by.  I knew ma duke's would be up for whatever and appreciates supporting good local cuisine, breaking free from the restaurant chain's and truly getting a taste of London so Marienbad's it was.

      So I have told you where to eat in Antigua and now I thought I would share where one might grab a bite to eat if they found themselves at Shoal Bay in Anguilla.  But first things, why Shoal Bay, well it's not only the nicest beach on the island but it is also one of the nicest beaches in the world.  US News Travel rates it #5 in the world, the TravelChannel.com rates it #1 beach in the Caribbean as does Frommer's.  Jay Eatz thinks it might be a tossup between Shoal Bay and 11 Mile beach (A.K.A. Princess Diana beach) in Barbuda but it's a very difficult call.  You can judge for yourself.

       It seems like every radio station is giving away a trip to Antigua right now so Jay Eatz decided to give a little insight about where one should eat if they ever find themselves at Jolly Harbour in Antigua.  This guy recommends Miracle's South Coast Restaurant and Bar located at Jolly Harbour, Valley Road, Main Road at the top of the hill before the main entrance to Jolly Harbour.  If your staying near St. Mary's Parish go, go often, go for drinks, do lunch and dinner. Great spot for a cocktail or a cold beer and the food is amazing.  I strongly recommend the lobster.  

       It's 2:40 a.m.-ish, you just heard your favourite Semisonic song which told you to "gather up your jackets and move into the exits" and informed you "you don't have to go home but you can't stay here."  You have decided to take this advice, home, not yet, but where???  You start walking North (or possibly south depending on where you decided to wet you whistle earlier) down Richmond Street and you see a line starting to form that reminds you of 3 hours ago when the bar you were at was trying to create the illusion that they were busy and the wait must be worth it.  This time it is!
       You get into this strange line debating whether the wait is worth it or if a sharwama, slice of za or some street meat from the dude in front of Jim Bob's is a better idea.  Lucky you can see inside the window and see happy people enjoying delicious food and quickly reevaluate those other late night eat options and commit yourself to the wait.  Prince Albert's Diner (a.k.a Prince Al's as it's called on the street) it is.
       It's never that long so I would recommend sticking it out, or possibly get friendly with the group in front of you (if your flying solo) and turn there table for 3 into a table for 4 (been there, done that).  A seat at the bar is also a good option for smaller groups.  The place isn't super huge but around 50 people can squeeze in.  Your taken down memory lane (if you are old enough to remember the 1950's or 60's) to the decor of a diner the way it was in yesteryear.  Black and white checker floors, chrome edged table tops and bar stools, a touch of neon lighting and the old school powder coated milk shake blender behind the bar.  
       Now the next dilemma, what to order??  It all looks so good, your starving and in need of something greasy to reduce the severity of the mornings (or late afternoon) hangover that is in your near future.  To be honest I've sampled many items of their menu.  Everything is good but there is only one choice (unless you have one of those unfortunate allergies that prevents you from eating awesome things like the Reese's family of products) the Wally Burger.  
What's a Wally Burger you ask?  It's the best darn thing you can sink your teeth into at that hour of the night.  Picture your standard bacon cheeseburger but you've decided to hold the cheese (sounds like a bad life decision, I know but..) and instead you've substituted the cheese for peanut butter (I order heavy PB), that's right, PEANUT BUTTER.  OMG, and Ill leave it at that.  You have to try it for your self and any description I could attempt to provide wouldn't do justice to this amazing creation.  
       Now what about a side?  You could do a salad or plain french fries but that would be no fun at this hour of night.  You gotta do the poutine, simply amazing and the best accompaniment for Mr. Wally.  The fries at Prince Al's are probably the best in London (if you know of better one's please let me know) and defiantly the best on Richmond.  Then smother those baby's in gravy and cheese curds, thank you Montreal for inventing such goodness and for having such a good hockey team, GO HABS GO!!!
       And what meal wouldn't be complete with something for desert?  My recommendation, pumpkin pie.  It is out of this world.  I'm not a 100% on this but I believe the owner's mom or grandma makes it and it is something else, good warm or cold (I like it cold).  If you got room wash this all down with a milkshake.  I've had one once on one of my rare visits there during daylight hours but around 3 a.m. I prefer a solid glass of tap water to combat the previous fun I've had on Richmond.
Go, go often, wait in line, it's worth it and you won't regret it....