Thanksgiving meats – a turkey, duck, game hens and sausages – all roasted together – the sausages keep the turkey moist – also – a mixture of fresh herbs, butter and shallots was placed under the turkey’s breast skin.
Now – on to Sidney
Ahh Sidney – land of the 65 plus Canadian Retiree….
As I walk down the street – I feel young again – I don’t need a walker, scooter, or cane. I can step briskly off of the curb, and maneuver around any stroller bearing down on me. Truly, Sidney is a great town for the mobility impaired – they have street cuts for their street cuts – but is it a real food town – the Propane Chief sets off to investigate…
All kidding aside – Sidney is a great town to spend a couple of winter months in. When we bought the boat, we said we would always like to winter over in a foreign port – well – we are here. Most Americans may not think of Canada as a true foreign county, but don’t tell that to a Canadian. Their are striking differences between here and big city Seattle – let me list a few..
The people are very friendly – we ride the bus around a bit – we have had three great conversations at the bus stop – we met somebody who teaches sailing, a retiree from Calgary, and a nice woman who works at the airport – I think that is three conversations more than I ever had at a bus stop in Seattle – those conversations in Seattle sort of went….
"get off me you drunk" — "Seattle Human Services is at the next stop" — "No – I don’t have any spare change…."
In Canada – Prime time TV has curling as a major sport….Ice hockey can be on three stations at once….The nightly news lasts for one and one half hours.
But – this post is about eating out in Sidney – so let me get on to that subject.
We have been to a NW seafood place, a Mexican place, two Greek restaurants, a yuppie pub, two Chinese restaurants, and a Thai place. We mostly eat lunch out – though have been out to dinner twice. We like lunch – that way we can get lickered up on the boat without having to worry about getting run over by a wild Canadian retiree on a rascal scooter.
The "Captain’s Table" is at the entrance to Port of Sidney Marina. It is sort of a retro 1970’s place where you might have taken your mother for for a nice dinner – think Red Lobster. We had a great meal called the seafood platter for two. It had shrimp, halibut, salmon, smoked fish, salad. There was a dill sauce that came in a small plastic cup – as did the salad dressing. The fish had been frozen, as were some of the shrimp The salad had a nice amount of small lettuce – it was very nice for the $36 can. My expectations were low and they were exceeded – I will go back here a second time.
Greek passes for exotic cuisine here in Sidney – we went to a place called Theo’s – one of the oldest Greek restaurants in Sidney – for Greek special night. $11.96 can (about $10 US) gets you a nice plate of food – Slovakia – which is beef and chicken kabobs on rice, Greek salad and rice – or dolmas and mousaka. The mousaka was a bit dry and too small a piece, but the dolmas were great – the lemon sauce on them could have used some OUZO in it. But – we had a bottle of retsina for $23 CAN(10.95 at the liquor store – so a 100% mark up) but who cares – it came as a liter bottle. Theo’s was a nice place and I would recommend it. By the way – all of the greek resturants in Sidney are also Italian resturants – I cannot place an Italian influence in greek cusine. The italian food has lasagna, speghetti, alfredo, and ravoli – they also do pizza. I think this is because they have a hot oven….I may order a greek pizza with dolmas and souvlaki – that might get me kicked out of town….They also do Barbque – you can get a plate of ribs with spaghetti and meatballs – that is something I have not seen before…..
As you are starting to see – the food here in Sidney is not exactly the cutting edge. It reflects the taste of the local inhabitants – most of who probably remember rationing in WWII and think Spam is ham. Portions have been generous – prices seem a bit lower than Seattle. So far we have not been disappointed – but have tried to adjust our expectations to the local scene – we think that is what cruising about is all about.
More on another post…..
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