It seems every time I get tickets to a concert Ma Dukes ends up joining me. This time it was Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire and the pre-concert dinner was at The Church Key Bistro Pub in downtown London, Ontario. 

     The Church Key Pub is located on 476 Richmond St. across from the Grand Theatre and only a few blocks away from Bud Gardens making it the ideal spot to  dine before an event. It is a welcoming and warm space and gets busy when events are happening downtown but lucky enough we were able to get a table for two.

     We were seated and we began to decide what we should order. I gave the beer menu a once over and could not believe how reasonably priced the Church Key's beers are. A 10 oz draft started at $3.75 (and have only gone up to $4.10 after the minimum wage increase), keep this in mind when considering a place downtown to go to for drinks. We ordered drinks and appetizers, Ma Dukes went with the soup and I opted for the mussels steamed with leeks and lager beer. A massive loaf of bread with house blended butter also made its way to our table.

     The mussels were excellent, steamed to perfection in beer just like the ones I make at home. They also offer a baked version in a white wine cream sauce that I will have to return and try. Ma Dukes liked her soup and the loaf of bread and butter was so good we asked for another loaf.
     Now for the main course I decided on the Church Key burger with a Caesar side salad and Ma Dukes went with the fish and chips.

     Ma Dukes is British and a bit of a fish and chips aficionado and she gave her order the two thumbs up. I have been know to eat a few burgers myself and really enjoyed the Church Key burger. The patty was made in house and was topped with caramelized onions and Stilton cheese which added some bite to the burger. The Caesar salad was a great choice after eating all the bread from the appetizer round as well as the bun from the burger.
     The service was excellent just like the food. Surprisingly the prices are also very reasonable too. Some of the neighbouring dinning establishments in the area are known for their expensive prices and through my assumptions I placed the Church Key into the same category. Totally not the case, the fish & chips are only $17.50 and the burger was only $18.50. A visit to a chain restaurant these days will run you a similar bill (more if you are ordering beer).
     Jay Eatz definitely recommends the Church Key Bistro Pub downtown London. Elevated pub fare at reasonable prices, cheap beer and a great chance to support a local downtown business by shopping local.

    I would have liked to title this post "So I found the best Roti in Barbados......." but that would be an impossible task to accomplish during a 7 day stay on the Island.  So many restaurants offer this Caribbean delicacy in Barbados, you would almost need to live there for a year and eat Roti daily to really be able to make such a statement. 
     If you are wondering what Roti is well here goes.  Roti actually refers to a type of flat bread originating from India.  This bread is unleavened meaning gas is not added to the dough to make it lighter which results in the Roti bread's dense consistency similar to pita bread.  Traditionally Roti is torn apart and dipped into a curry to sop up the juices and scoop up the meat.  In Trinidad during the 1940's the Roti wrap was born (which I will be talking about).  The curry that the Roti bread would be dipped in was used as a filling inside a Roti wrap which transformed the Roti into a hand held street food which popularity soon spread throughout the Caribbean.  The Roti wrap is simply called Roti.  I will give you my opinion on three different establishments where I got to experience the Bajan take on Roti.

     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 one 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.