The Village Squire, 1981-09, Page 20Squire's Table
Courtin' and sparkin' over clam chowder
Summer is the time to celebrate what
we've got. In Western Ontario that means
our lakes, especially Lake Huron. So on a
late summer evening we headed out for a
restaurant with a spectacular view of the
shoreline, and of a river marina, Sanders
Tavern, Restaurant and Dining Lounge at
the end of the beach road in Grand Bend.
Sanders' dining room is a cozy pine
panelled place with comfortable rustic
wooden chairs and tables and huge
windows offering the aforementioned
view.
But you can't eat scenery, no matter how
gorgeous and we were eager to see how
Sanders' food stacked up against good
solid recommendations from friends.
"You can't go wrong at Sanders", said
one young couple who'd eaten there
recently with young children. "It's a super
place for a late night drink", a pair of
friends who are courtin' and sparkin' said.
Our first courses confirmed they are
absolutely right. After relishes and two
small loaves of delicious warm bread we
had the best clam chowder we've ever
tasted. (And we've eaten clam chowder up
and down Cape Cod and all over the
Maritimes.) The Sanders' clam chowder
was meaty, milky rather than creamy,
with just a hint of tomato and delicately
spiced. Chunks of celery, green pepper,
onion and potato were there too. A bowl of
Sanders' clam chowder and the Lake
Huron sunset are guaranteed to put you a
little closer to heaven.
A fellow diner tried the snails in garlic
butter and they were just fine but not good
enough to woo us away from that clam
chowder.
Sanders has a good variety of main
courses, heavy on steaks and seafood with
more moderately priced chicken and ribs.
An interesting innovation in this area is
the restaurant's vegetable plate, a large
assortment of steamed fresh vegetables
served with a cheese sauce, $7.95.
Vegetarian or veggie fans of any stripe will
love it.
But on Lake Huron's shore we had to
have fish, even though some of it was
imported, Two of us opted for the
evening's special, king crab legs at
$14.95. It was a huge serving, properly
cooked with drawn butter on the side.
The catch of the day was local whitefish
(poached in the oven) at 58.50 and our
fourth diner ordered Sole Dorchester, a
large piece of poached sole on a bed of
spinach, all served with a very good
cheddar cheese sauce. There was a
problem with both fish entrees. Perhaps, a
waitress said, someone with a heavy hand
had mixed new spices that day. At any rate
whatever had been sprinkled on top made
the whitefish and the sole too salty to eat.
The way our complaint was handled
confirmed Sanders' reputation. Quietly
and without protest our waitress took the
salty fish back to the kitchen and quickly
returned with two new entrees, minus the
salty garnish.
These second helpings were excellent,
the whitefish firm but moist, the sole as
near to fresh tasting as you'll get this far
inland.
All the entrees came with standard
baked potatoes and a big bowl of sour
cream. Our only gripe was with the canned
yellow beans that also graced(?) our
plates.
Sanders has a Targe selection of desserts
and although stuffed to the gills, we
dutifully sampled blueberry pie and
pistachio torte. Both were ordinary. For
voracious eaters we'd recommend
double helpings of clam chowder instead.
We drank a litre of white house wine, a
dry Italian that was adequate at $9.95.
Sanders, which serves interesting snacks
after 10 p.m., has a huge selction of exotic
drinks, including a long list of Irish,
Spanish, Amaretto etc. coffees. The
restaurant serves lunch too, which you can
eat on the patio outside, and breakfast for
the summer months. The place must be
hopping from 9 a.m. to well after
midnight.
Service throughout was excellent,
both friendly and competent. Sanders is
the sort of place that gives Lake Huron
vacation spots a good name, and a
relaxed, comfortable eating place.
Dinner for four, with wine $82.
Reservations accepted at 238-2251.
For the campus from
The Campus Shop
ALL FASHIONS FOR
0 TO 14 YEARS
THE
CAMPUS SHOP
92 WELLINGTON ST.
STRATFORD
PHONE 271-3720
Open every day till 5:30
Friday evening till 9
VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1981 PG. 19