The Cedar House

THE CEDAR HOUSE

Restaurant and Bakery

899 Hwy.105, Boularderie

Wall of home-made goodies

The Cedar House. Even the name of the restaurant brings a smile. 

For me, the Cedar House is the place that I stop on my way to Halifax to pick up a bag of large home-made cookies to have with my travel mug of hot tea.  Or it's the spot where we stop on our way home because we are just too tired to cook a meal or perhaps to pick up a dessert for later or a loaf of fresh bread for the morning.  But tonight, eight friends were making the Cedar House our destination.

And what do friends talk about on their half-hour drive to a restaurant? Well, not what you would expect - we talked about what it's like for women to work out west in the oil fields (it's great) and gravy. Yes, before we even left work, we were told about the gravy.  The Cedar House is well-known it seems for its gravy, and in fact, regulars know that their Hot Turkey Sandwich is the best of all worlds with fresh turkey, fabulous dressing, and lots of gravy. 

When we arrived, we were in a line-up at the front door, which is usually the case at the Cedar House. Because the restaurant doesn't take reservations and because we were a large group of eight, we had to wait a few extra minutes for two tables, side-by-side, to clear. In the meantime, we had a chance to talk to the tourists in the line and to chat with people we hadn't seen in months.  Have you noticed the number of people hugging at the Cedar House?  That's because for some reason, you always bump into people you haven't seen in a dog's age. Back to the tourists - they are fun, aren't they?  Here's one of the conversations between two older travellers standing behind me:

"They serve fish cakes with beans here" said one lady, with eyebrows raised.

"That's odd" said the other, with a grimace, actually, with a really yucky expression.

"Must be a Cape Breton thing" and they nodded and agreed that nowhere else in the world would anyone be crazy enough to put those two foods together.  

And what did we order?  Did we order the Crazy Fish Cakes and Beans? the Hot Turkey Sandwich?

Hot Turkey Dinner

Actually, one of the eight friends did order the Hot Turkey Dinner and doesn't it look tasty? 

Yes, that's cranberry sauce, turkey dressing, carrots, wonderful coleslaw, fries with gravy, and the hot turkey (real turkey, as they say) sandwich with lots of gravy.  

And the gravy isn't hiding the turkey dinner - it's adding flavour. Oh yes.

Hot Turkey Sandwich

And here is the Hot Turkey Sandwich!

I must say that the photos don't really do justice to the gravy as the colour is much richer than it appears here.  But do you notice how the gravy is just hanging over the edge of the home-made bread? 

Doesn't this just make you want to run out to your car and drive straight to the Cedar House?

I can assure you that you won't be alone ordering one of these meals.

French Dip on Home-Made Bread on the left and a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich on the right

One thing I have to mention about the Cedar House for those of you who haven't witnessed it for yourselves, is that the service is over the top. They actually served all of our dishes at the same time - that's eight hot meals arriving at once, so none of us had to wait and watch others eating. And when we began to eat, there was absolute silence. We simply enjoyed those first bites so much we didn't worry about chatting.

Fish and Chips

The Cedar House is also known for their fish dishes and one of us did order the two-piece fish and chips.  And look at that batter - it is everything that you want in a batter - light and crispy. 

This was quite a filling meal, so if you are thinking of having fish and chips but you also want to try one of the Cedar House home-baked desserts, you may want to consider ordering the one-piece fish dish.

Chicken Caesar Wrap with Fries

This dish warranted the second photo just to show you the chunks of chicken inside the wrap. And look! I ordered gravy on the side just to try it. Two things that you have to know: 1) this wrap is even better when you take half home and bake it the next day until it is crispy. Delicious! 2) the gravy container is magical. I shared my gravy, some with a person who already had gravy but wanted more and some with a diner who, like me, hadn't tried the gravy.  Even after that, there was still lots of gravy for me to dip my fries into. And is it as good as everyone says it is?  Yes, the gravy is heavenly - thick and tasty.

This paragraph is not for those of you who have cast iron stomachs and never worry about what you eat.  You can skip ahead.  For those of us who do not have gall bladders and who never order gravy in a restaurant, we can enjoy it all at the Cedar House.  Some of us have been to restaurants where the food didn't agree with us and twenty minutes down the road, we are considering cancelling our shopping trip to Halifax because things are becoming unpleasant. We all drove home together without any stops along the way, if you know what I mean. The gravy agreed with us all.

Fish Cakes and Beans

And here it is, the Crazy Fish Cakes and Beans!

Look at the spill-over on that dish of beans - yummy.  This diner told us that it was just as good as it looks; she enjoyed every bite.

You can see that the servings are large at the Cedar House and because it is all so tasty, you may not leave room for dessert.  That would be a mistake. 

As we were waiting in line, we had a clear view of the baked goods counter.  We watched as half of their famous Chocolate Cake with Boiled Icing disappeared and likewise, we watched as several types of pies simply vanished.

Lucky for us, there were many desserts left.  What did we order?

Warm Rice Pudding

I inherited the Pudding Gene from my English Grandfather and please don't tell anyone, but my Grandmother used to call me "Pudding Face."  

My two favourites are Bread Pudding (with raisins) and Rice Pudding (with raisins).  So you can imagine - this dish arrives and I'm tickled. The rice is thick, warm, flavoured with cinnamon and topped with whipped cream and...I can't eat it all.  It was like parting with a dear friend, but I could not get to the bottom of the dish. Heavenly.

Coconut Cream Pie on the left and Lemon Meringue Pie on the right

Well, I don't think that I need to describe these pies to you.  Those who ordered these pies said they were excellent and a lovely way to end their meals.  Two of the diners couldn't decide on what pie to order, so they did something very smart - they each ordered a different pie and then shared!

For those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that we always comment on the teapots.  Well, look at these teapots!  No worries here about spilling, about not having enough tea to finish the dessert, and about the tea getting cold. And what a pretty colour.

The coffee drinker amoung us was also pleased with her hot cup of coffee because they did something special for her as well.  The staff ran steaming water into her cup before filling it with coffee to ensure that her coffee was hot and stayed hot.  

Now, I have to tell you something else about the Cedar House.

When we stepped out into the clear dark night and stood on those front steps, we were looking down the highway towards the Seal Island Bridge and the mountains. And in that moment, with our travelling tummies full and the night still young, we could have very easily turned left instead of right and pointed the cars toward the mainland. There is something about the Cedar House that brings out the traveller in all of us. 

It's really quite magical.