ADAM STANLEY: Eat, Golf and Relax on Prince Edward Island

Written by Adam Stanley in partnership with Golf Prince Edward Island

 

Eating an oyster is a different kind of fun, right? They look weird. Let’s just call a spade a spade. And it’s an odd, slippery slide to fully taste them. But they’re often set up so beautifully – like an extension of their natural surroundings – and they often come with a few flavour enhancements with French names (except Tabasco, of course).

 

But an oyster on Prince Edward Island, I mean, that just hits different. Especially since no matter where you are in the world, from Brooklyn to Beijing, you can probably find a PEI oyster.

 

For those travelling to Canada’s small-yet-mighty province for a golf trip, it’s not just about oysters when it comes to dining and all other off-course experiences. Fine, yes, I did have oysters at three of the four dinners on a recent trip (and yes, I did visit the same coffee shop on three of the four days) but how could you not?

 

 

The good news, however, is that PEI’s food scene isn’t just about oysters and seafood. While, OK, it should be. And could be. World-renowned restaurants are importing seafood from the Atlantic Ocean waters that is PEI-adjacent, and there’s nothing quite like some of those über-fresh first bites on a grandiose fine-dining plate or from a cardboard box with your toes in the red sand.

 

But for golfing travellers to PEI, no matter what your foodie focus is, you’ll likely find something special. “Eating local” isn’t just a marketing tag-line out there – it’s a way of life.

 

Even the simple potato tastes different on PEI, which should come as no surprise, since over 86,000 acres of potatoes are grown on the island each year.

 

At this point it’s pretty clear – the food on PEI is pretty darn good. But where should you go to experience all those tasty treats? You’ll need fuel between rounds of golf somehow, after all.

 

Mill River Resort is a great place to start. About 75 minutes from the Charlottetown Airport, there has been a ton of great work done at Mill River lately. The golf course is great and getting better, with the Canadian legend herself Lorie Kane providing some guidance to the new-ish ownership group. The on-site restaurant, Callaghan’s, boasts plenty of golfing staples like a fulsome club and a recognizable fried chicken sandwich that’s a knockoff of an American fast-food favourite. Salads, appetizers, and mains like pan-fried haddock, lobster, and pasta (and oysters, duh) are on offer.

 

About 20 minutes away from the Mill River Resort is the Northport Pier, with a restaurant that is a nice off-resort option. Again, plenty of PEI’s best are prominently featured including a lobster-stuffed chicken dish, bacon-wrapped scallops, Chowder fries (a PEI-twist on poutine) and please, please, order the blueberry bread pudding for dessert.

 

Back closer to Charlottetown, there are options aplenty for foodies and picky palettes alike. Sims Corner Steakhouse boasts a zingy Caesar salad and melt-in-your mouth filet mignon (don’t skip on the smoky gouda crust) along with all the hits a top-tier steakhouse should have – and it’s just steps away from an iconic stop for any PEI traveller: Cow’s Ice Cream.

 

For lunch or dinner, Charlottetown’s main downtown strip has everything you’ll look for in a meal-time decision. For breakfast there’s just one choice for me, though – Receiver Coffee. Now with four locations on PEI, it’s the coffee shop of dreams. Sandwiches, bowls, breakfast plates, pastries and plenty of craft coffee beverages are made with care. My wife got the veggie focaccia (homemade, obviously) twice and left with a Receiver Coffee sweatshirt to boot.

 

A golf trip to PEI is a golf trip – celebrated, fun, a thrill for the senses, and Instagram-able. But with my family in tow, I was able to mix in all the things that make PEI, well, PEI – the beach, the people, the sand and the sun.

 

And most importantly, the food.

 

Maybe next time I’ll get my daughter, who was just nine months old at the time, to try an oyster for the first time. Because you know I’ll be ordering them myself.