Homemade meals at their yummiest! My husband and I really enjoyed our meal at the Old Loft…read more
The Old Loft is located in Woody's Point, a small town surrounded by Gros Morne National Park, in Newfoundland. We were camping in Norris Point and decided to hike the Tablelands on the other side of Bonne Bay. Driving there took us past Woody Point, so we stopped for lunch. ( You can also take a water taxi from Norris Point to Woody Point and back.)
The Old Loft Restaurant is the rope loft of an old restored fishing shed. It's a charming, rustic spot. The dining area is half of the loft, and there are locally made handcrafts on display in the other half. Downstairs, there are more souvenirs and items made by local craftspeople, as well as baked goods for sale.
My only two complaints about the restaurant are this: one, there are only windows on the ends, so it's a bit on the dark side (the craft areas are bright). Two, the chairs, made out of barrels, are cute but not overly comfortable.
When we walked in, there was a mix of other tourists and locals. Seeing locals is usually a good sign!
On to the food. We both had hot turkey sandwiches with fries. I also had dressing and gravy on my fries, a Newfoundland favourite. We split a basket of onion rings.
The onion rings were hot, light, crispy, and huge! They were like doughnuts in size, and delicious. Wish I had some now...
The fries were hand-cut and cooked just right. The turkey sandwich was open-faced; the turkey piled on top of a thick, delicious slice of homemade bread. Yum! The turkey was topped with gravy and traditional Newfoundland dressing. I loved it.
My husband loved his, too, except for the dressing. The dressing was loose breadcrumbs, mixed with melted butter, and flavoured with onion and summer savoury. Not what we're used to, and he doesn't like surprises.
Portions are large so no way we could manage dessert! Too bad, I'm sure it was good.
Finally, my beverage of choice when eating out is iced tea. For me, a litmus test of a good, casual restaurant is whether or not they make their own iced tea, or just fob off a commercial can or fountain drink on me. Seriously, it's not hard to make iced tea! At minimum, you can brew strong tea, pour it over ice in a glass, and serve the glass with sugar & lemon wedge on the side. It's sooo much better than pre-made. Really. A lot better. A lot.
I'm happy to report that the Old Loft not only makes their own, but it was the best I've had dining out: slightly sweet and lemony tart. Yum.
Our waitress, the only one working, was friendly, attentive, and happy to join me in a little good-natured ribbing directed at my husband.
I may never get back to Newfoundland, but if you go, and you're in the area, I recommend you try the Old Loft.
