Sunday, July 7, 2013

While I miss Moore's I still love The Dutch


My wife's family have been friends with the Moore family for quite a few years. They met up through the Southwood Lakes golf course back when golf was a huge part of my Father-in-law's life. The Moores used to own a very small place on the corner of Moy and Tecumseh called The Moore's on Moy. 

The Moore's on Moy was a great home cooking style place. Everything was made to order. The head cook Gordon Moore himself prided himself on fresh food and catering to people's unique tastes and food restrictions. It's the one place I remember going in with my Wife and having the head Waitress (Gordon's wife Joanne) remind my wife of her Milk Allergy and point out that Chef would have no problem finding a substitute. Added to all this was the fact that the food was just damn good and it was very reasonably priced. We hit The Moore's on Moy for pretty much every special occasion. Birthdays, Good Friday Fish, Father's day, etc. 

Mozzarella and bacon omelette
Sadly this restaurant on Moy didn't last. Something came up with the Landlord and Gord and Joanne were forced to close the shop. It was their life long dream to open a restaurant and this just didn't work out. Thankfully, for them and the rest of us, they didn't give up. A few months later they bought a small diner in Kingsville called The Dutch.

The Dutch keeps everything that was great about Moore's on Moy: the fresh food, the great prices, the very personal service, it's all still there. What's new is a much more relaxed casual atmosphere. Now the Moore's on Moy wasn't really a high end restaurant but it never had the homey greasy spoon feel that The Dutch has. Gord's still cooking and Joanne can still be found up front, though she's hired a lot more staff at The Dutch and it's good to see her just sitting down and chatting with friends and customers.

Love places that have stuff for
the kids to do
Now there's a ton of great places to eat in Kingsville. Amazing places like Jack's Gastropub. So why would I bother to go to this small diner? Well besides the fact that the owners are family friends, the food is still great. Gord makes something everyone calls "Gord's Bread" This is a thick rectangular loaf of bread covered in a secret mix of spices. This stuff is amazing. You can get Gord's Bread with almost anything. Sandwiches can be served on it, you can get a burger on Gord's Bread, you can even ask for a slice with your morning eggs. It used to be that you could buy just the bread, take out style, I have to admit that I don't know if they still offer that. I do know they offer homemade pies for take out.

Burger on Gord's Bread
In my opinion there's no better place for breakfast in the county. I'm a fan of the make your own three egg omelets with hashbrowns. I get mine with mozzarella and crisp bacon. My wife digs their Uitsmijter or "Bouncer" a traditional Dutch dish that was served to bar patrons late at night just before they were to be kicked out. This is black forest ham, cheese and fried eggs served over toast. Our kids love their oatmeal that is served with brown sugar and walnuts. Now I'm not saying other meals aren't good, not in any way, it's just that now that the Moore's place is out in the county it's usually somewhere we stop on our way to do other things out in the county. Stop in for breakfast before hitting the Sandpoint splash pad. Stop in on the way to taking my mom to her favourite greenhouses. Stuff like that. I do have one complaint though: Joanne isn't so great at topping up the coffee.

So I've already told you that The Dutch is my favourite breakfast stop out in the county. Where's your favourite place to eat before a day at Colasanti's or Point Pelee?

No comments:

Post a Comment