Milestones’ Meatloaf

I go to Milestones Grill + Bar from time to time, mostly the location near Parliament Hill. Not too often, as I find the faux-branché atmosphere sometimes a little on the annoying side. Milestones, which was founded in Vancouver in 1989, has grown fast since Cara bought the chain in 2002, and now has 45 locations in British-Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. I went there for lunch with a bunch of colleagues between two meetings, and hesitated for some time as I studied the menu. Despite the “a little of everything for everyone” approach, I was really undecided. Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers and Wraps, Pasta, Asian-style, Steaks, Chicken and Seafood. They even have a Gluten-Free selection, which I assume is appreciated by those on a Gluten-Free diet. The food is generally good, if overpriced. Which perhaps leads to the aforementioned hesitation. After a few minutes, I settled on Milestone’s version of comfort…

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Five Stars for the Five Guys!

Sometimes, life sucks. And when it does, you need to make it better. And today, life sucked. And one way to make it better, is to go for comfort food. Mel and I were both in need of comfort food, and, good thing was, lunch time had arrived. I asked her what she would like and she said she could use a good burger. Now, I know that Mel is not keen on fast food chains such as Burger King or Wendy’s. She doesn’t mind Harvey’s or A&W but will reject McDonald’s 99% of the time. This wasn’t what she needed anyway. I thought of The Works, I thought of Hintonburger… But something else popped up in my mind: Five Guys – Burgers and Fries. Ever since their arrival in Ottawa was pointed out to me by a great member of the Waffler nation, Big Turk, I meant to try…

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Finnigan was a winger… But do his wings live up to his legacy?

A last minute decision to accept Rod’s offer to go see the Ottawa Senators’ game against the New Jersey Devils meant that dinner wouldn’t be super healthy tonight. So be it. We walked into the Scotiabank Place, and pondered what to do. Time was limited, but perhaps because this is basically the last day of the Holidays, there wasn’t that many people in the concourse. We stopped by the Club Red to peer at the menu, and thought that a pricey fine dining experience was probably not what we needed. Walking towards the concessions, we noticed that Frank Finnigan’s was pretty much empty – which suited us just fine. Born in Shawville, QC, Frank “The Shawville Express” Finnigan played 10 seasons for the Ottawa Senators in the 20s and 30s, and was captain of the team for two seasons. He scored 115 goals and accumulated 203 points in 553 NHL…

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Opening the door of the Mauricie

We were driving back from Quebec City and were letting the little one sleep in the back for as long as we could. Such is what you do when you are driving a lot during the holidays. When she woke up would determine, once again, where we would eat, depending on where we were. Just how far could we go? We were on the 40 and closing in on Trois-Rivières. Perhaps we could reach the outskirts of Montreal? Not quite. She woke up as we were exiting Trois-Rivières, limiting our options. I suggested waiting until Berthierville, but was told that she wouldn’t hold out that long. We were closing on Yamachiche. The choice became obvious: la Porte de la Mauricie. This old truck stop, which opened 30 years ago, was recently expanded and renovated. The complex now includes, on top of the original restaurant and the gas bar, a convenience…

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