The Lobster Kettle

 41 Strathcona Street

 Louisbourg

(20 or so minutes out of Sydney)

View from the road

View from the back deck of the restaurant

Deck furniture packed up ahead of the hurricane

     We arrived at the Lobster Kettle just ahead of Hurricane Arthur and in a heavy fog and mist. Quite an adventure for us!  But we travelled in a Honda Odyssey and my heavens, it was fun just getting there. So, was the Lobster Kettle worth the drive from Sydney? We ordered quite a variety of meals and desserts, so we have lots of photos and comments for you.

Tea Service

The first item to arrive at the table was the tea and you can see immediately that there's a problem.  The tea pot lid was bent so that it wouldn't close, meaning that it was not possible to have a hot cup of tea.  What you can't see is that the sugar top had the opposite problem - it was stuck closed.  But after the drive in, the tea was welcomed no matter what.

See the lemon?  That's for the water glasses.

Fresh Buns

Next, we all agreed that we wanted to start our meal with buns, so two baskets were delivered to our table.
These buns are as good as they look - whether they were baked in the restaurant kitchen or perhaps in the local area, they were fresh and soft and warm.

We were certainly anxious by this point to try some main courses!

Sample of soup

We had an excellent waitress, "Ava's Mom" who accommodated each and every request.  She also answered every question that we had for her - with a smile. 

When she was asked what the Soup du Jour was, she brought out a sample dish of the Thai Chicken with Rice soup for the diner to try.

Yes, this soup was delicious and not too spicy.

Fish (1 piece) and Chips

     


Two members of the group ordered the fish and chips and both had comments on the meal.  
    Although the batter looks like it should be crispy and crunchy, it wasn't.  In fact, one of the two found it so soggy that she moved the batter to the side of her plate. The other member said that the batter was "okay."  The meal came with tartar sauce, cole slaw and fries; none of it was homemade, but it was all tasty.
     The fish itself, once you decided whether or not to eat the batter, was wonderful - fresh and full of flavour.

Side of Vegetables

The two orders of Fish and Chips arrived at the table with a dish of "Seasonal Vegetables."  Well, this being Cape Breton and what with the coldest spring I'm sure on record, these are not locally-grown, in-season vegetables.  However, if the waitress had simply said "Heated but Tasty Vegetables", she would have been right on.

And for good measure, look at the two packets of butter!

Mussels

Two members of the group ordered the mussels - one with a side of garlic butter for dipping and one platter served in the shell in a white wine sauce.

We all shared the mussels and we all agreed that the Lobster Kettle knows its fish.

These two diners also ordered the most popular supper dishes of the evening! What else did they order?

They ordered ----

Fish Cakes with Salad

Fish Cakes! Yes, these fish cakes were such a hit that two orders went home with members of the group.  Golden brown with lots of flavour - they were cooked just right.

You'll notice that the plate has a salad on it and not baked beans.  Well, it turns out that the beans are canned; they are not your mother's beans, they are not your grandmother's beans, they are canned somewhere else and shipped in.

But the garlic bread was good!

Seafood Alfredo

And this was the other hit of the evening - the Seafood Alfredo with scallops, mussels. shrimp and well, we lost count of the fish.

This tastes as fabulous as it looks and is highly recommended by the diner.

So...what other dinners were served?

Sweet and Smokey Salmon

This dinner was served with roasted potatoes, assorted vegetables, and green chow. 

And how was it?

This diner loved the meal - again, fish served without any batter, cooked just right, with nice sides.  

Not Really Barbequed Chicken

By now, you may have noticed a trend. The Lobster Kettle does well when it doesn't stray too far from plain but tasty fish dishes.

This was supposed to be Barbequed Chicken, but there was little flavour of the barbeque to be found.  Our lovely waitress brought the diner a few packets of sauce to add to the meal, but really that isn't the same.  The meal was good mind you, just not as advertised.

Breaded Clam Platter

I think you know what I'm going to say, don't you?  The clams were fresh and tasty - I could taste the salt water and hear the seagulls singing when I bit into a clam.  But the batter was all wrong again; it was hard and coarse and required more tea.

What would have been nice was a plate of just clams and fries! 

Whoever is doing the batter needs to find their Happy Place before entering the kitchen. 


So now that we have digested all of our meals, it was time to order desserts!

Chocolate Eruption with Whipped Cream

Apple Blossum with Whipped Cream

Strawberry Shortcake (fresh biscuit) with Whipped Cream or Ice Cream

Not Really a Caramel Sundae but Good 

We didn't think that any of the desserts were actually made in the kitchen, but we have seen this before when a restaurant is trying to keep costs down.  And as long as the desserts are tasty, that's okay with us. And thanks to the Lobster Kettle, I have discovered just how good Scotsburn's vanilla ice cream is!

So, to get back to the original question:  Is the Lobster Kettle worth the drive? We talked about this on our way home and we decided that it isn't really worth it. It could be though, if the management looked at and revised the menu.  After all,  the location is lovely - on the ocean; it's situated in a beautiful and historic town; and there is fresh fish being delivered at the wharf. 

Just imagine...I am picturing a scene out of one of Debbie McComber's novels...handsome fisherman, sea breezes, restaurant that needs a make-over, well, you know the rest of the story.