Being Canada's newest province and a province that marches to the beat of its own drum, you…read moreshouldn't be surprised that Newfoundland has its very own beloved chicken fast food chain that has spread to Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Alberta thanks to the Newfie diaspora.
On the last full day of my visit to Newfoundland, my compatriots and I stopped at this Mary Brown's location on the TCH between Gander and St John's. It's quite a family friendly area as it's adjacent to a small water park and mini golf course (re. roadside tourist trap), but we were just here for some fuel. Greasy, artery clogging fuel. My friend's are born and raised Newfoundlanders and they raved about Mary's taters, as much as a Pictou Countian would about the pizza, or a Haligonian about donairs.
The restaurant is bright and welcoming, with lots of windows letting in plenty of light. Sure it's fast food-chique, but I've seen much more garish over the years. Half of the restaurant even has table service with waitresses in uniforms similar to cleaning staff at a hotel, that is, long greyish dresses that look like they're from the early part of the last century. We opt for the usual fast food counter service, and line up and ponder our options from the back-lit menu. One of the first things that you'll notice is that the prices are distinctly higher than Mary Brown's mainlander competition. Even a mid-sized family people of 8 pieces of chicken and sides is going to cost you in the mid-$20 range and it just gets higher from there as your meal grows. That aside, the personal sized meals weren't prohibitively priced and a two-piece meal with taters and one other side and pop was a reasonable $9ish after tax. The drink choices were noticeably Newfie as well - Pepsi products (Pepsi signs are on EVERY restaurant and corner store in the province) as well as popular Crush flavours such as grape and the Newfoundland staple of pineapple. That's right. Pineapple Crush....on an island quite possibly as far as a civilized place can be from the natural climes of pineapples. I went a more mainlander route and simply got a Pepsi to go with my meal.
After a short wait and collection of the fast food necessities of cheap plastic utensils, condiments and a pile of napkins, we headed out onto their outdoor deck that had a view over the water park grounds, especially the bottom of their largest water slide, which made for amusing sights. The chicken was comprised of a good sized bone-in breast and a drumstick; while it was a little greasy, it was perfectly cooked and came off in nice moist bites, without any undercooked stringiness or hard to palate dryness. Like a certain story I read to my nephew, this chicken was cooked juuuust right. My friends noted that this batch of taters didn't seem to be quite up to the usual level for Mary Brown's, and while I didn't have any other MB experiences to compare it to, I would have to agree as the batter on them seemed sparse and wasn't enough to give any contrast between the exterior and the soft potato within. The little cup of mac salad was mostly an afterthought, although it was much creamier than most fast food macaroni salads.
If you're in Newfoundland or happen to have a Mary Brown's nearby, I'd definitely say give it a try. It has a bit less of a generic, corporate feel to it compared to most fast food joints and who doesn't like some good fried chicken? That said, have your chicken and.....pineapple juice in moderation.
