Adventure
St John’s – Canada
The plan was to fly to Toronto, then onto St. John’s, some three hours northeast of Canada in Labrador, Newfoundland. Once there, I have a day to relax before picking up the ship to Ponta Delgada, Azores , then back to Blighty. However, things didn’t quite go to plan, and the ship had to detour around a storm from Halifax, losing a day or so. This meant it just went straight over to the Azores, bypassing me. These things happen, and it’s relatively normal in the cruising world, but it gave me a couple of days to thoroughly check out St. John’s food scene.
I had done a little research before I left and had earmarked a few places to visit. As you know, I tend to stick to local places that serve local food and drink while on my trips abroad. I’m not interested and have no will to eat pizza or Indian food (no disrespect) in Newfoundland unless necessary, i.e., we arrive late and are famished.
I recommend visiting St John’s from July to August, although any time of the year is good to visit the city.
Month High / Low(°C) Rain
January -1° / -8° 11 days
February -1° / -9° 10 days
March 1° / -6° 11 days
April 5° / -2° 10 days
May 10° / 2° 10 days
June 15° / 6° 9 days
July 20° / 10° 10 days
August 20° / 12° 9 days
September 16° / 8° 11 days
October 10° / 4° 13 days
November 5° / -1° 13 days
December 1° / -5° 13 days
A slow start
After a good night’s sleep in a very comfy bed, I awoke to full sunshine, which was not what I was expecting, as the weather was pretty awful when we finally arrived three hours late from Toronto. St. John’s is a thriving place. Fishing and oil are big business here, and it’s relatively affluent. This is reflected in the food scene, which is pretty good. Like most places and similar to my recent trip to Juneau, it has a sprinkling of restaurants that include Thai, Indian, Mexican, sushi, Italian, Filipino and even Afghan. A couple were expensive, but the middle ground is very affordable.
Getting my caffeine fix
First up, I found three coffee places. The first was The Battery Café, a small but very cool corner shop 5 minutes from my hotel. The tiny place reminds me of a sweet shop I used to go to when I was little. The coffee (Detour) beans they used were sweet and aromatic. Next was one called Coffee Matters, again on the corner of a street on the other side of my hotel. This was a little more run-of-the-mill and had a more extensive food offering. The coffee was good, and the service was average. Also, the list of coffees and milk was not as extensive as Battery Café. Thirdly, there was the Jumping Bean in downtown Saint John’s. This was set in an apartment/office block, fairly basic and full of students and young people. The coffee was just okay.
Lunching by the harbour
The first lunch was at a harbourside brewery and restaurant, Gahan House, with a fabulous view. The menu is small and straight to the point, with a general sprinkling of menu regulars such as calamari, sliders of various descriptions, and fish and chips, a hugely popular dish in Canada, probably as popular as poutine. Cod and seal hunting were the staple food and industry that put St John’s on the map hundreds of years ago. Next and a close second comes salmon and crab, similar to Alaska. Oysters here are also very popular, and the humble bivalve is on many of the menus, mostly eaten raw and right up my street!
So, after ordering a nice pint of blonde ale! and a quick look at the oyster counter, I opted for twelve of St. John’s finest. Four each of; Salty Rock, Puffin Rock and Merasheen Bay. They were small, not too milky or sweet and very similar to the French oysters I had eaten last year in Deauville. They are served with fresh horseradish and spicy tomato relish. I preferred the Puffin Rock, but all were delicious and a great way to start my few days here.
Cod Taco Heaven
The main course is pan-fried cod tacos with jalapeno, avocado and dressing with a side of poutine, one of Canada’s favourite dishes. Now, for the record, I’m not a lover of cod and never have been, it’s pretty tasteless to me, like the Scots, I prefer haddock, especially when dunked in hot oil. However, these thick-cut slices off a pretty hefty fish were fresh as a daisy (my old chef used to say that the fish is so fresh you can stand on it) and were cooked to perfection, proving my mantra: simple things done properly are a joy and cannot be beaten. The side of poutine was good, with lovely crispy fries and softish cheese curds with a slightly gloopy gravy. It sounds weird, but it works; they even had a restaurant downtown that serves this favourite. Overall, a good start, but it did finish me off for the evening!
Waddling out of the restaurant, I spent the afternoon exploring downtown Saint John’s, trying to walk off my lunch. The weather was better: bright blue skies, cool and warm. I had to make the most of it as it would rain the next day, and boy, it did all day!
"Simple things done properly are a joy and cannot be beaten."
Sipping in the rain
It was an early start to my second day in Saint John’s with a coffee (Coffee Matters) and contemplating what to do as it was hammering down. I had a few emails to check over and sort re-arranged flights back to Toronto, then to Lisbon and back to the Azores, where hopefully I’d pick up the ship. What a trip this was turning out to be. Plus, there was no guarantee I’d return there in time!
It was time to check out my next restaurant with that all sorted. I was pretty limited as not many were open on a Monday, but I tried out Saltwater, a trendy, slightly run-down local place. The menu was short and straight to the point with a good range of local beers, sadly none on draught, and I scanned the menu with a pint of Hazures’ Rock stout in hand. I ordered six more Merasheen Bay Oysters as a light starter, and they were perfect with the slightly sweet local stout. Next, steamed lobster rolls, salad and fries are all perfectly acceptable, if not pricy. I’m unsure about the trend of a sweet, pappy bun such as brioche for burgers or fish. In my eyes, it’s completely wrong and doesn’t do anything to improve a dish; in fact, I think it’s unnecessary—no coffee or dessert, just the bill and back to the hotel in the pouring rain.
Walking tour of downtown St. John’s
Walk from Water Street to Duckworth Street to Bannerman Park. Take in the Colonial Building and Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
Whale and Puffin Watching
A trip to Newfoundland just isn’t complete without a look at the famous Puffin. They feed by diving into the water and are better swimmers than flyers.
And if you are looking for bigger things, there are dozens of Whale-Watching tours. Seeing a whale breaching is astonishing. The colossal power, the immensity of the whale, and the rareness of actually seeing one? There’s nothing else like it.
Admiralty House Museum
The Marconi Telegraph Co. initially built this historic building during the Great War as the top-secret H.M. Wireless Station for the British Royal Navy. This station intercepted the secret German naval transmissions and tracked icebergs and ships in distress.
The St. John’s Fish Exchange
I highly recommend booking a night at The St. John’s Fish Exchange, arguably the best place in town, which is located on the first deck of a multi-story car park and has a rather cool atmosphere.
Address: 351 Water St, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 1C2 Canada
Website and Menu: https://sjfx.ca/
St. John's Fish Exchange
For my last night in Saint John’s, I thought I’d book arguably the best place in town, The St John’s Fish Exchange. The rather cool place is on the first deck of a multi-story car park (yes). My cabbie, Carlos, dropped me by the exit as it was still pissing down and pointed upstairs. I wasn’t sure to believe him at first, but I was finally in after climbing several stairs and through a couple of heavy-duty doors. The place is buzzing and pretty full, although a little bit dark for me. But that’s just my age showing.
The menu is extensive, plus lots of specials. I finally punt for cod tongues with scrunchions, Saint John’s Fish Exchange Brussels sprouts and four tacos: crispy shrimp, fried cod, veggie, and tuna. All washed down with a local IPA arrived and a lovely Chardonnay.
Now, here’s me thinking cod tongues are tongues of cod, right? But what the hell are scrunchions? It transpires that a cod’s tongue is a flap of soft tissue cut from under the head towards the throat and is a delicacy. I thought Scrunchions was a sort of tartar/ pickle-based sauce or relish, but I was completely wrong again. They are small cubes of salted pork fat fried in a batter along with the ‘tongues’. Hundreds of years ago, they would cook the fat in a hot skillet to brown well, releasing the pork fat. Once well browned, they were removed, and the floured ‘tongues’ were sautéed in the fat, which sounds delicious.
Deep-Fried Brussels
The St John’s Fish Exchange version was slightly different. Both tongues and fat were lightly battered and deep fried and served with tartar sauce. I had a bit of trouble differentiating between the pork and tongues, not just because of the dim lights (yes, I did have my glasses on) but also because the textures were so similar. The dish was okay, but I think it could have been immeasurably better if the chef had read a little about the dish’s history and browned the salty pork into cubes of crispy deliciousness, lightly battered and then deep fried.
Moving on to the deep-fried Brussels sprouts, they were pretty good, if not a tad undercooked. They came quartered and crispy with a good sprinkling of crispy bacon, onions and a sweet cider/ balsamic vinegar dressing. The whole lot is sprinkled with a crumbly goat’s cheese. This was a good and very nice dish; it was not greasy or overdressed. I have a little experience of deep-frying sprouts from my trips to the USA. The best way is to make 3 or 4 incisions on the sprout base, but don’t cut right through. Next, place them in iced water overnight so they open up like you do with a radish. Drain well in a colander, then spin in a salad spinner until dry (this is important as water and hot oil don’t really like each other), then deep fry at 185C in small batches.
The final course of 4 tacos was very nice: crispy shrimp (very) cod in batter, fabulous seared tuna, so fresh it was almost jumping off the plate and a bean-based veggie, all came with coriander, leaves dressing, etc.
It's never too late for breakfast
It was an early start to my second day in Saint John’s with a coffee (Coffee Matters) and contemplating what to do as it was hammering down. I had a few emails to check over and sort re-arranged flights back to Toronto, then to Lisbon and back to the Azores, where hopefully I’d pick up the ship. What a trip this was turning out to be. Plus, there was no guarantee I’d return there in time!
It was time to check out my next restaurant with that all sorted. I was pretty limited as not many were open on a Monday, but I tried out Saltwater, a trendy, slightly run-down local place. The menu was short and straight to the point with a good range of local beers, sadly none on draught, and I scanned the menu with a pint of Hazures’ Rock stout in hand. I ordered six more Merasheen Bay Oysters as a light starter, and they were perfect with the slightly sweet local stout. Next, steamed lobster rolls, salad and fries are all perfectly acceptable, if not pricy.
I’m unsure about the trend of a sweet, pappy bun such as brioche for burgers or fish. In my eyes, it’s completely wrong and doesn’t do anything to improve a dish; in fact, I think it’s unnecessary—no coffee or dessert, just the bill and back to the hotel in the pouring rain.
Inspired Recipes
Some recipes inspired by my all-too-brief trip to St. John’s
Steamed Wild Alaska Pacific Cod with Ginger Black Bean Dressing
Delicately steamed cod with crisp greens and vibrant ginger black bean dressing, quick, healthy, and delicious.
View RecipeOyster broth
Rich, creamy, and full of wonderful seafood flavour, Oyster Broth is easy to make and a warming lunch anytime.
View RecipeSimple Pacific Cod Stock with Green Herbs
If you are looking for a delicious, light, healthy meal, then look no further. The deep flavour comes from the use of both chicken and fish stock, finished with plenty of fragrant herbs and extra virgin olive oil.
View Recipe