Thanksgiving meats - a turkey, duck, game hens and sausages - all roasted together - the sausages keep the turkey moist - also - a mixture of fresh herbs, butter and shallots was placed under the turkey's breast skin.
Now - on to Sidney
Ahh Sidney - land of the 65 plus Canadian Retiree....
As I walk down the street - I feel young again - I don't need a walker, scooter, or cane. I can step briskly off of the curb, and maneuver around any stroller bearing down on me. Truly, Sidney is a great town for the mobility impaired - they have street cuts for their street cuts - but is it a real food town - the Propane Chief sets off to investigate...
All kidding aside - Sidney is a great town to spend a couple of winter months in. When we bought the boat, we said we would always like to winter over in a foreign port - well - we are here. Most Americans may not think of Canada as a true foreign county, but don't tell that to a Canadian. Their are striking differences between here and big city Seattle - let me list a few..
The people are very friendly - we ride the bus around a bit - we have had three great conversations at the bus stop - we met somebody who teaches sailing, a retiree from Calgary, and a nice woman who works at the airport - I think that is three conversations more than I ever had at a bus stop in Seattle - those conversations in Seattle sort of went....
"get off me you drunk" -- "Seattle Human Services is at the next stop" -- "No - I don't have any spare change...."
In Canada - Prime time TV has curling as a major sport....Ice hockey can be on three stations at once....The nightly news lasts for one and one half hours.
But - this post is about eating out in Sidney - so let me get on to that subject.
We have been to a NW seafood place, a Mexican place, two Greek restaurants, a yuppie pub, two Chinese restaurants, and a Thai place. We mostly eat lunch out - though have been out to dinner twice. We like lunch - that way we can get lickered up on the boat without having to worry about getting run over by a wild Canadian retiree on a rascal scooter.
The "Captain's Table" is at the entrance to Port of Sidney Marina. It is sort of a retro 1970's place where you might have taken your mother for for a nice dinner - think Red Lobster. We had a great meal called the seafood platter for two. It had shrimp, halibut, salmon, smoked fish, salad. There was a dill sauce that came in a small plastic cup - as did the salad dressing. The fish had been frozen, as were some of the shrimp The salad had a nice amount of small lettuce - it was very nice for the $36 can. My expectations were low and they were exceeded - I will go back here a second time.
Greek passes for exotic cuisine here in Sidney - we went to a place called Theo's - one of the oldest Greek restaurants in Sidney - for Greek special night. $11.96 can (about $10 US) gets you a nice plate of food - Slovakia - which is beef and chicken kabobs on rice, Greek salad and rice - or dolmas and mousaka. The mousaka was a bit dry and too small a piece, but the dolmas were great - the lemon sauce on them could have used some OUZO in it. But - we had a bottle of retsina for $23 CAN(10.95 at the liquor store - so a 100% mark up) but who cares - it came as a liter bottle. Theo's was a nice place and I would recommend it. By the way - all of the greek resturants in Sidney are also Italian resturants - I cannot place an Italian influence in greek cusine. The italian food has lasagna, speghetti, alfredo, and ravoli - they also do pizza. I think this is because they have a hot oven....I may order a greek pizza with dolmas and souvlaki - that might get me kicked out of town....They also do Barbque - you can get a plate of ribs with spaghetti and meatballs - that is something I have not seen before.....
As you are starting to see - the food here in Sidney is not exactly the cutting edge. It reflects the taste of the local inhabitants - most of who probably remember rationing in WWII and think Spam is ham. Portions have been generous - prices seem a bit lower than Seattle. So far we have not been disappointed - but have tried to adjust our expectations to the local scene - we think that is what cruising about is all about.
More on another post.....
Laughing so hard I spewed coffee all over my laptop -- all of the Seattle & BC references totally hit home.
low expectations = key to success. my motto for ages. :>
Posted by: angela | March 01, 2008 at 05:47 AM