Lunch at Trail's End Cafe

Yesterday, my very kind SIL treated me to lunch at the Trail's End Cafe in Trail. I've previously blogged about them here. We had another excellent lunch! Most items on the lunch menu - which includes meal-size salads, pizzas, sandwiches, and pastas - are around $10 and the service is fast and efficient. They also have really delicious iced tea. Here's the rundown.

I had the BBQ chicken & mango wrap with the house soup, which is a super Hungarian cream of mushroom, with dill & paprika. I've had this wrap before and it's very yummy!

Shan had the grilled ham, tomato & swiss sandwich with the house soup. She loved it.

Here is a closer look at the soup. I can't tell you how good it is! Shan & I speculated over what was in it so we could try to recreat it at home. Another little project for me!

We indulged in dessert. Shan opted for the Grand Marnier Creme Brulee, which was topped with some berries. I love the dish this is served in.

I had the Chocolate Paisano cake, which is to die for. It's basically layers of chocolate cake & ganache topped with a layer of...wait for it...tiramisu! Oh, this was so heavenly and so worth the calories! I asked the server if this was made on site, and it's not; it comes from their supplier. But I don't care - it's amazing!

Thanks for the treat, Shan! I really appreciated it - you're the best!!

Restaurant Review: Kootenay Fries

While out on a gardening supplies expedition, my SIL and I needed a quick, cheap lunch. Trail is not the local dining mecca, even though Trail's End is excellent (it's also expensive), but Shan had a brainwave: she wanted fries and she remembered that Kootenay Fries & Food to Go had recently opened. She'd heard that they do pulled pork. Off we went.

The menu is small and consists of fries, hot dogs, burgers, a few wraps, and a few BBQ items. The interior was a little...um...decor-challenged... There were two tables and a sideboard where the condiments were located. It's mainly a to-go place, though, so I guess the interior decorating isn't a huge issue.

Shan ordered the cheese fries, which come with gravy and melted mozzarella, and I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and fries. The sandwich was $5.29 and the fries, I believe, were around $3. Shan's cheese fries were $4 or thereabouts.

The fries were made to order and obviously freshly cut and homemade (as evidenced not only by their flavour and appearance, but the boxes of potatoes visible in the kitchen, which is partially open). They were hot and crisp, and very obvioulsy the cook and proprietor had taken the time and effort to blanch them before deep frying them - something a lot of places don't do. They were perfect! The didn't come salted, but rather salt was available to put on as you saw fit. Also available was malt vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Shan really enjoyed her cheese fries, too, and was impressed.

As for my pulled pork on a bun, topped with coleslaw, it was also excellent! I was really impressed. The pork was very tender and flavourful, and the sauce was sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The pork also wasn't drowning in sauce, making for a messy sandwich, but had just enough on it to keep everything moist and tasty. The coleslaw was a nice creamy counterpoint.

With drinks and tax, lunch came to just over $15 for the two of us. The portions were good and I came away full!

Kootenay Fries is a new eatery, and I hope they do well, because they have a good thing going there!

Restaurant Review: Trail's End Cafe

As I mentioned in my review of Castlegar's The Element, that city isn't the local mecca for fine dining. But, it does have way more going for it than Trail, I have to say. Trail, which is closer to me than Castlegar by about 20 minutes, has the very famous Colander (which I vented about here), a pub that sells average food, and maybe one other place that I've heard good things about but haven't gotten around to trying yet. But there is one very good restaurant that is always full and serves really great food, and it's called the Trail's End Cafe (no web site, unfortunately). I've eaten there twice and haven't been disappointed either time.

My most recent trip was for lunch with a couple of girlfriends. We got there after the lunch rush so the dining room, located on the main floor of an old house in downtown Trail, was quiet.

The lunch menu consists of sandwiches, salads, and some gourmet pizzas. On my first visit, a few months ago, I had the BBQ chicken & mango wrap, and it was excellent. This time, I opted for my all-time favourite, the turkey club on ciabatta bread, and I had it with a side Caesar. It was excellent. The sandwich was $10.50.

My two friends each had the turkey, brie, and cranberry sandwich; one had a side Sonoma salad (greens, sun-dried tomatoes, blue cheese) and the other had the soup of the day, which was cream of garden vegetable (Trail's End also always has on offer a Hungarian mushroom soup that is rich and creamy and has lots of nice paprika in it; I had this with my wrap on my first visit and it was great). This sandwich also has strawberries in it and it's served on multi-grain bread. My friends were very happy with their choices. I think their sandwiches were $9.50.

I wanted dessert, and I can honestly say to you that Trail's End has the best dessert selection around: Grand Marnier Creme Brulee, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pie, cheesecake, a decadent chocolate cake with a Tiramisu topping, and some others are among the choices. I opted for the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pie. It came nicely plated and was really wonderful, but for $6.50, I thought it was a little pricey.

Trail's End also does dinner, and they have a good-looking dinner menu. I would definitely recommend this eatery over the Colander any day of the week, but you'll have to shell out quite a bit more money, though. Ah, well; I think it's worth it.

Thumbs up!