Culinary Tour of Arnprior - Krave Bistro

I was very interested to try Krave Bistro. It looked super cool through the windows and the menu was intriguing. Coincidentally my mother-in-law decided she wanted to try it out for her birthday dinner. I was pretty excited. It's only a 15 minute walk from our house...although it was 32 degrees the day we went so we drove....too hot for Daphne....and mommy.

The restaurant is very trendy. Brick walls, old Coca Cola and wanted posters on the walls. The ceiling fans are even unique. So, you could say I was very into the decor.

Red pepper and feta dip

The service was very friendly and attentive. It was shockingly busy for a Tuesday night and with only one server working the service was understandably a little slow. But we weren't in any rush.

Baked Ravioli

We ordered two starters. Baked ravioli and a red pepper and feta dip. Both were incredible. Agreed by all. The ravioli was crunchy on the outside and full of molten cheese. It came with a little bowl of marinara to dip them in. The red pepper and feta dip was creamy and sweet. Served with tortilla chips and triangles of naan bread. I probably could have eaten just that for dinner and been happy. The portions were significant.

For dinner I had a skillet mac'n'cheese. Half because I wanted pasta and half because I wasn't sure Daphne was going to eat her dinner so I wanted to have a back up. She ended up LOVING the waffle fries they serve so I had a load of leftovers to bring home. Like I said, the servings were huge but the quality didn't suffer...although I do think they could have put more cheese on the mac'n'cheese.

Skillet mac'n'cheese

Montreal burger

My husband, Will, had a Montreal burger and a poppyseed salad. I didn't try his burger but it was a massive patty topped with smoked meat, swiss cheese, and Dijon. He didn't have problem putting it all away so I think he liked it.

I didn't get any pictures of my in-laws food...not sure if they wanted to be included in the blog...but there were rave reviews from across the table for the fish taco and the brie burger.

They also serve breakfast....and I am really into breakfast...so we will HAVE to go back. I'll be honest we didn't pay for the meal so I can't speak too much to the total cost of 5 people eating, but the pries on the menu were incredibly reasonable.

No complaints at all. It's nice to see a trendy delicious restaurant in Arnprior. There are so many dark watering holes and fast greasy garbage restaurants here...we deserve some quality.

And BONUS: I love how they serve pop in glass bottles....

Culinary Tour of Arnprior- PJ's

Our first stop on this "culinary tour" is PJ's restaurant on Madawaska boulevard. Originally opened in 1968 it has been a staple favorite in Arnprior since then.

At least that's what the website says. Looks like a Kelseys to me. On the first page of there website they promote how large the portions are...you know your getting quality when your known for how much food they pack on your plate. They also claim to be famous for there pizza and "flavour crisp chicken"...whatever that is.

So I guess you can tell I had no expectations before we ordered from PJ's. The menu is huge and they give you shit loads of food. Not a recipe for a quality meal in my mind. Also, you can't order off the regular menu if your getting take out or delivery. So almost every single meal that could be considered somewhat healthy is not available for take out. Disappointing. Guess I'll have to order that FOURTEEN DOLLAR Greek salad.

So we decided to order a small pepperoni pizza and a turkey sandwich to share. It was hard to decide what to get because everything was SO EXPENSIVE! Just an order of onion rings costs $8.95. A large Margherita pizza is $20.95 (before tax). The small pepperoni we ordered cost $11.95 before tax. Compare that to PizzaPizza where a small pepperoni costs $8.60 before tax or Dominos at $9.74 before tax.

The pizza was good for the most part. What is that saying? Pizza is like sex. When it's good it's good and when it's bad it's still kinda good. It was full of cheese, which is great...but I'll pay for it later with a sacrifice to the porcelain gods..sorry TMI. I had to scoop off probably a tablespoon of extra sauce that exploded out the top when I bit it...gross. The dough was soft and thick. I'm sure some people love that but I'm a thin and crispy girl. Or at the very least thick crust that doesn't droop when you hold it up.

The turkey sandwich was....well...sliced turkey, mayo and lettuce on Dempsters. Boring. Atually it was probably Miracle Whip. I've never had Miracle Whip but this "mayo" was a lot sweeter than any mayo I have ever had.

I'm glad we tried it. It reminds me of a Perkins... they can probably do bacon and eggs really well but stay away the rest of the day.

Overall I wouldn't recommend it. It was pretty greasy and the portions weren't even that big and I can get a sandwich double the size at Subway (with actual vegetables on it) for less than $6.95.

This is all the food we got for approx. $22. Not huge portions as they are known for. It was basic food, nothing special and way overpriced. I'm not sure why they are so popular around here.


Delivery was fast though.

Culinary Tour of Arnprior, Ontario

I have had this idea since we moved to Arnprior and now that the weather is nice again and it’s easy to get out and explore I think I will finally do it! I’m going to do a little eating tour of Arnprior. I have a list of a few places that have been recommended to me and a couple I have seen while walking around town.

My goal is to try each of these places before the end of summer so I can do a little post about each one.

The places I’ll be trying are:

Krave Bistro

PJ’s

The Press Café

Danny Mac’s Pub and Eatery

Bonnie Janes

and Wes’. 

Wes’ is a chip stand but people keep telling me it’s the BEST in Renfrew county/Ontario/Canada so I feel obligated to try it…especially since it’s right around the corner from my house.

Some we will try for dinner and some for lunch. Really depends on the day and the Daphne :P I’m guessing a few meals will be takeout as my anxiety gets the better of me in busy restaurants sometimes. To be honest, I'm more interested in the quality of the food then the atmosphere anyway.

First post will be coming JULY 5th. Stay tuned.