Village Squire, 1980-07, Page 33I
SQUIRE'S TABLE
A quality meal
in Grand Bend
The outside of the place is deceiving.
The plain red brick building is a large one
on Grand Bend's main street. It's a little
run down looking, not garish like many of
that famous summer resort's businesses,
but not overly appealing either.
But having heard from several sources
that The Village Inn in Grand Bend was a
very good place to eat, we ignored first
impressions and headed inside.
There, things improved at once. We
were ushered into a spacious lounge and
had a pre -dinner drink while seated on
comfortable sofas. Neutral colours make
the decor lush and relaxing. We had plenty
of time to unwind from a day of resort
browsing and look over the menus.
The Village Inn offers a complete five
course dinner at a set price of $12.50. A
friendly waiter takes your order while you
take it easy in the lounge, then it's on to
the dining room and the business at hand.
There are at least six choices of appetizer
and main course. If the waiter didn't know
the answers to our questions about the
dishes, he went into the kitchen and asked.
The long narrow dining room, with white
rough plaster walls, is inviting and it's
broken up with nooks and cranni es that
give diners a lot of privacy.
We started out with king crab cocktails,
excellent in a spicy pink dressing and a
stuffed artichoke heart which came with a
spicy -sweet lemon dressing. Both were
very attractively presented a la nouvelle
cuisine.
Other appetizer choices included salmon
mayonnaise, melon in port, and avocado
pecheur.
A creamy shrimp soup was the next
course. It was fine, but not great. At this
point, nibbling on the relishes and tasty
soft rolls, we wondered how four of us
would manage to eat the next three
courses.
The salads were fine, large and dressed
with a tangy house dressing.
As entrees we chose the sole daumont, a
perfectly cooked fillet in seafood sauce; a
rack of Iamb, excellent with its tangy mint
sauce; steak Diane, a large tenderized
steak in a brandy and cream sauce with
mushrooms and onions (very, very good);
and our only quibble with The Village Inn's
fare, lamb cutlets (they were fine but
consisted of one cutlet, one rib and one loin
chop, not quite what was expected).
Other main course choices were entre-
cote pizzazola (a large steak in tomato
sauce) and loin of pork.
The vegetables were an uninspired
mashed turnip and spicy white beans. Both
were tasty but much the same colour ...a
green vegetable would have been wel-
come. There was a choice of potatoes,
boiled or luscious home made deep fries.
Service was good, leisurely, but with five
courses we were never left sitting without
something to munch on. The Village Inn
had run out of the white house wine we
ordered and so served us a more expensive
South African wine at the same price, S8 a
carafe.
A lovely touch at the Inn is an excellent
pianist who entertains throughout dinner
at a baby grand at one end of the room. He
played show and pop tunes with equal
verve.
The Village Inn's desserts also shine.
They're included in the S12.S0 a person tab
and you visit the chilled showcase at the
front of the dining room to make your
choice. Two of us had mocha cake, a
delicious slice highlighted by about an inch
of mocha cream filling in its centre. The
others had cherry surprise, a creamy cake
with a black cherry on top and another
cherry dessert, textured like a mousse.
Both were good.
Coffee, extra at 40c a cup, was excellent.
The Village Inn is not the place for
dinner if you are in a hurry. We spent
nearly three hours over our pre -dinner
drinks and meal. But for a special occasion,
any celebration or when you want a long
evening out in a classy dining room, it's
tops.
If you skip drinks and stick to the house
wine, you should be able to stay within a
S35 per couple tab. Children aren't
excluded but you'll feel more comfortable
without them.
The Village Inn is a welcome addition to
Western Ontario's small but growing list of
fine dining places. Major credit cards are
accepted and reservations are recom-
mended at 238-2348.
What's inside
The Kitchen Cupboard?
Queen St.. Blyth, Ont.
GIFTS THAT
ARE DIFFERENT
HANDCRAFTS
PLANTS
SILK FLOWER
ARRANGEMENTS
AND FLOWERS FOR
THE BRIDE.
WICKER
FURNITURE
NATURAL FOOD
SECTION
DRIED FRUITS
ASSORTED NUTS
SEEDS
BULK
PEANUT BUTTER
NATURAL OILS
ORGANIC FLOUR
& BRAN
NATURAL
COOKIES
OPEN DAILY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE AND PLEASURE
9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1980 P3. 33