A fixture of the Bedford highway for decades longer than I've been around, I stopped in at the Esquire one day while on a rare trip through the neighbourhood on my way to Sackville.
The restaurant sits about 80, which is also close to the average age of its clientele, in a mix of booths and tables. The room certainly shows its own age as well, with cracked green vinyl booths, worn carpet and chipped tables. Their website is surprisingly nice though, as it seems that the Grafton Connor Group found it easier to put money into that than the restaurant itself.
With it being after the lunch rush, I was seated quite easily and was soon perusing their good sized menu. With sections like their famous dishes, sandwiches, seafood, Maritime favourites (diner classics like Salisbury steak, liver and onions, etc.), pasta, and all day breakfasts (with a Newfie breakfast with fried bologna), there's a lot going on. As this was my first time here, I had to go with their chowder to see if it lived up to its stellar reputation, and I also got a one piece fish and chips.
The chowder came almost immediately, served with a roll and packet of saltine crackers. While crackers in soup were my grandfather's bag, it never really caught on with me, so I stuck to dipping my roll. That is, once the nuclear hot chowder cooled down. Smooth and creamy, with small chunks of tender potatoes, and bits of fish and red pieces of lobster shining through, it was definitely a good chowder. The best though? I'm not nearly enough of a chowder connoisseur to say so, but I think that may be a bit of a stretch.
My fish and chips came out a few minutes later, with my sizable piece of fish on top of pile of telltale, from-frozen fries, with Kraft tartar packets and coleslaw with pickles on the side. That being said, the fries weren't bad. As long as they're not freezer burnt and are cooked properly, frozen fries can be damn good, and these definitely were. The haddock seemed good at the first bite, with an airy and crispy batter, but on subsequent bites I found the fish to be a bit soggy. I'm not sure if it was from being frozen, under cooked or old, but it wasn't the most enjoyable texture.
Service was friendly and speedy, with great timing.
All told, the Esquire is pretty par for the course for diners. It's probably doing a good business right now, but they're going to have to re-invest in the property and step up their game in the kitchen if they want to be serving chowder for another 50 years.