Paula's
When it comes to restaurants, I prefer unpretentious, simple, independent ones. I love Italian food, but I have trouble wrapping my head around $20 pasta that I know has a food cost of $2. I realize that there are other costs, but sometimes I just have trouble (I am also quite cheap...thrifty sounds better).
Last Thursday, we had some time so we went to Paula’s. This isn’t a pretentious place at all and quite frankly it could use a paint job and new furnishings, but it’s clean and has great food.
Paula’s is located right by the gate of Point Pelee. We enjoy going for a drive then stopping in for a bite. It has a nice deck which is great during the summer.
The menu is based around perch and pickerel and in my mind great. These should be the cornerstone of the local cuisine. Why do I want fish shipped in from outer mongolia when I can get fish which came off the boat this morning?
We both had the “all you can eat pickerel” . These were treated like fish and chips, but the batter was wonderful. Light brown and light texture. It didn’t overpower the fish. The fish was done perfectly and from the colour of the fish one could see that the oil was fresh and the cook knew what he/she was doing.
We’ve eaten there several time and the food was always good. Yes, it has a salad bar...I hate them...but I’ll forgive that. Simple salad, some nice spicy potato salad and a good choice of dressings. There was a choice of sides to come with the pickerel and I chose the rice pilaf which was salty and I think was from a box. It wasn’t bad but the pickerel was the key. It was great!
The wine list is rather limited. I remember it having more local, but it had only Pelee white and a Piat D’or so oh well at least one local. We had a litre carafe for $24 so I can’t complain too much.
The service was exceptional as usual. If you want a stuffy professional server this isn’t the place. It offers more of the homey friendliness which makes you feel like our an old friend. Courteous, friendly, yet attentive. It fits the place.
If you want good food, great service go to Paula’s. We paid a whopping $71 dollars for dinner and wine. That’s cheap for some of the best pickerel I have had.
SUMMARY
cleanliness: excellent
menu: fish based
portion size: ample
food: very good
service: very good
wine list: I wish it was better
value for money: very good
