Fork it Over.

A6

Dan and Brufrog

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The Side Door Café

3180 Rothesay Road

[Brufrog]

The Shadow Lawn Inn is a classic old English style inn, surrounded by large trees and gardens. It is a regular spot for weddings, and many locals go there for a quiet dining experience. In the last year, though, they've been slowly reinventing themselves, while also attempting to maintain the original feel and clientele. That is not easy to do. Local music and beer lover Andrew Fischer and his wife Chef Nancy Fox have been helping the Gallagher's (owners of the inn) by introducing music nights (featuring local talent as well as such luminaries as Peter Case), putting Picaroons beer on tap, and now they've opened the Side Door Café, with a new menu. There's a new sign on the road, and if you walk around to the right of the inn you'll see a side entrance through the hedge to a private, sheltered patio. You can also sit inside, in the dining room with the most windows in the inn. The Side Door makes a great first impression, very reminiscent of country inn/pubs in England.

[Dan]

It takes a lot to get me to drive out to KV. Luckily, Brufrog and I were meeting for dinner at 6:30 p.m. so the Mackay Highway wasn't as big of a clusterplug as it would have been an hour earlier. One thing about that, why is it that people in the right lane drive 15 km/h slower than the speed limit and everyone in the left lane drives 15 km/h above the speed limit? If only there were a way to let everyone know (like a sign or something) a good speed to go so traffic flows better - oh wait! I made it through Rothesay Freedom Militia & Chowder Club's roadside checkpoint "" remember folks, get your passports!

When we arrived at the Shadow Lawn Inn's Side Patio it was still a nice evening, although I knew some cold air was following me out to the valley from town. Brufrog was already sitting waiting for a Picaroon's Dooryard ($6). The keg was dry so a new keg had to be put in. I ordered one as well when his came. We also got the new patio menu which is neatly laid out with several simple salads, sandwiches, burgers, dips, and an appetizer plate for sharing that range in price from $6-$16 or so.

[Brufrog]

The patio has umbrellas for most of the tables, which are necessary at lunchtime when it gets pretty hot in the valley, but we didn't need them that evening. Drinking my cold beer had me reaching for my hoodie to warm up by the time dinner arrived.

[Dan]

We ordered all four dips ($6 for two so $12 for all four) and they came out with pita chips seasoned with steak spice. I tried a couple of them and the winner for me was the spinach and artichoke dip that was a cheese and garlic bomb for those who are into that. Creamaphobes beware, these dips are all pretty creamy.

[Brufrog]

I really enjoyed the roasted red pepper dip, as well as the refreshing eggplant and strong flavoured artichoke versions. There was also a clam dip, but I'm not much of a shellfish lover. For what it is worth, I had sampled these dips with another group of foodies a few weeks ago, and they all loved the clam dip. We also wanted to try the mixed appetizer platter, but they were out"¦next time, hopefully.

[Dan]

I went for the NB Traditional Burger ($12.50) and asked for it to come medium well, if the chef will cook it that way, as I've found most chefs will refuse to cook a burger anything but well done here in New Brunswick. The burger came out with tomato, lettuce, and pickle on the side so I could put on what I wished. As ordered, it had no condiments in sight (thank you!) The burger didn't have any pink in it so I assume the chef wasn't comfortable serving up less than well done ground beef. The burger, quite thick actually (maybe 2 inches!), was still surprisingly juicy and very well seasoned. I'm curious to know the technique the chef used to get such a thick burger with a perfect crust and juicy centre. I'd have to guess a good char on high heat and then finished off with indirect heat. On the side were thinly sliced sweet potato chips that are a lot lighter tasting than I thought they would be. These chips were lightly seasoned with salt.

[Brufrog]

I went for the grilled veggie panini ($10.50), which had red pepper, portabello mushrooms and goat cheese. It was savoury and quite rich, owing to the cheese and (I think) olive oil. It was delicious and not too big or heavy, so I easily finished it as well as the side of sweet potato chips. Like Dan said, these were very thin, light and crispy. They are the best version of sweet potato chips that I've had around these parts.

[Dan]

This was my first time being at Shadow Lawn for any reason. It's a beautiful building, great patio, and has a lovely wood paneled room inside the house that reminds me of a really comfortable traditional pub, but I guess it is mainly used as a reception area.

[Brufrog]

That was a nice finish to the visit. In truth, it was a bit slow, and my second pint arrived after I had finished my meal. It was getting really breezy, so I figured why not finish the beer with a chat in the pub, rather than whine about its lateness. We slipped in to the quaint little sidebar (which has no name that I know of, but I'd like to give it one, something very British but also New Brunswick themed, like The Fiddlehead & Firkin or some such thing, with a gorgeous carved wooden sign).

I could see myself in there on a chilly winter's eve, but this summer I think I'll be heading to The Side Door when the sun is out.