With the North part of PEI done, it was time to let the very eager Charlotte head towards her near relative – Charlottetown.
The drive from Summerside to Charlottetown is only around 65 km, but on the way are 2 PEI institutions:
To be fair, I stumbled across the former on the drive, but the latter was a deliberate goal of mine.
The PEI preserve company manufactures all kinds of “spreadable fruit” – the name they use as the very small amount of sugar they use means that technically they cannot call their products jams or marmalade or jelly or even preserve (though that remains in the business name).
Nearly every type of “spreadable fruit” is available for tasting, in that good way where they just leave open jars at a counter next to crackers and you can simply help yourself (rather than having a formal supervised”tasting”). Of course I indulged in every single product on offer. To a man they were delicious – tangy, full of flavour, but without the sugary sweetness that accompanies mass produced versions.
In addition the PEI preserve company sell savoury products from hot sauce to relishes, along with locally produced teas, though most of these are not available to try (I wonder why).
I ended up buying 3 small jars of varying descriptions, none of which had more than 3 % sugar (!), and as I write I am just about to run out and have to consider a quick stop back there to pick up some more.
This is a gourmand’s delight, though the number of tourist buses that stop here can make it a bit of a crowded ordeal. Still worth the trouble.
From here, it is but short step to New Glasgow Lobster Suppers – an all you can eat lobster, chowder and mussels indulgence that has been running since 1958.
That description doesn’t quite do it justice though.
It really is as much an “institution” as is possible.
Starting of as a once off fundraiser, it has morphed into a family owned business that produces over 20,000 pounds of lobster from it’s own pens, and employs over 100 people during the season.
It is housed in a huge open space (not unlike a barn) with room for up to 500 guests at a time. Diners queue at the front door, select the size of their lobster (from 1 lb up to 3 lbs) and sit down to dine. They do sell other food – steak. fresh fish etc, but the name of the business isn’t New Glasgow suppers!
Whilst the lobster is being prepared (you can have it hot or cold), you are provided with unlimited bowls of a tasty chowder and unlimited buckets of steamed mussels.
The lobster arrives pre-cracked, accommodating easy access, and after devouring your crustacean, they even have unlimited dessert (if you can fit it in)
The lobster (cold) was absolutely delicious, the chowder pretty good and the mussels steamed simply without any “sauce” to preserve the more natural taste.
My 1.5 lb lobster cost me $42.95 (plus tax), and by the end of it, numerous bowls of chowder and at least 2 kgs of mussels, I was stuffed to the gills. Not being a desert man, I was happy to skip that part of the meal.
it only took about an hr to chow down, so it’s just after 5 as we depart. We take a longish, slow route to Charlottetown and stop just outside the town to sleep.
Charlotte can have her family re-union tomorrow.
