Curry Chowder: Collingwood Food Journal

Collingwood, Ontario, is a beautiful spot located on Georgian Bay which is part of Lake Huron. It is located in the heart of Ontario’s finest four-season destination area. Easy to reach (kind of), Collingwood offers a combination of old time charm and history with the best recreation in Southern Ontario. The tourist industry is alive and well in this community and with that comes great restaurants and eateries. I will say, however, while some of them are fantastic, there are a fair number that just don’t measure up and are very expensive, catering to the elite Toronto folks that make their way to this vacation area, many of which are wealthy…or retired.

While in Collingwood, we ate out five times. Here are the places we decided to try. We didn’t get to every location on my list that I posted prior to my departure, but we made a good dent in it.

Café Chartreuse ($-$$)

We had breakfast here and it was magnificent. As you can see from our photos, hubs had the egg white omelet and I had the breakfast special which included eggs, whole wheat toast, bacon, potatoes and onions and homemade strawberry jam. This was our favorite breakfast by far. It’s an upscale breakfast location with the charm of the city as part of the décor. We sat outside and people watched while we enjoyed sharing our awesome breakfast with each other.

Duncan’s Café ($$-$$$)
We visited Duncan’s the last time we were in Collingwood and while it was good, we didn’t think it was as good as the first time we had stopped. As a pleasant surprise, the restaurant was updated and painted a bright color. We love the ambiance in this restaurant which features artwork from artists who live around the area and a shabby chic décor. The painted ceiling is the best. At Duncan’s we shared a butternut squash soup for an appetizer and for our lunch entrée we chose a grilled chicken wrap with salad and a quesadilla wrap with homemade salsa and sour cream on the side. Our favorite part of the meal was the homemade balsamic dressing. It was mouth-watering! Here are the photos. We would def. recommend Duncan’s, but it is a bit pricey.

The Hubs

Copper Blues ($$$)

We had visited Copper Blues for dinner on our previous trip, and remembered it was good. This time, not so much. Besides being extremely expensive, we definitely didn’t think we got our money’s worth. Food was piled on our plates…veggies not cooked all the way…a Christmas tree stuck in semi-garlic mashed potatoes. Hubs had a steak and shrimp. Only two shrimp on an over-sized toothpick appeared. I tried the prime rib and it came with gravy. For just our two entrées and drinks, the bill was 100.00. Insane given the quality of the food. We wouldn’t recommend this place, unless you’re single and looking for a hot date. In that case, you're in luck! The bar is huge and was quite the hoping place for the 18+ singles.

Wild Wing ($-$$)

I didn’t take pictures here. The food was AWFUL! It’s a wing place in the ski village and we had received a recommendation from a family member to check this place out. Hubs found shattered glass in his beer, yes, shattered glass! Wings were warmed via microwave and disgusting. No complaints, but we quickly paid and left.

Old Red Hen ($-$$)
If you’re looking for a great local hangout for a quick breakfast, this is the place to go. Not many tourists head here, perhaps due to its location, but it reminds me of the tiny restaurants with the neon lighted cake turntable and breakfast menu scribbled on a blackboard. It’s has great prices and a good, hearty breakfast. We tried a Canadian favorite here, peameal bacon. Peameal bacon is back bacon, brined and coated in fine cornmeal. Hubs loved it but it wasn’t for me. We’d definitely recommend this neat little place.

Home Cooking

Finally, nothing beats home cooking! Here are a couple photos from a delicious meal we had while with my in-laws. Garlic herb chicken with an amazing hand tossed salad.