Old Marina Restaurant & Gift Shop

Old Marina Restaurant & Gift Shop
45 McClintock Drive
Puslinch, Ontario

519-658-0367

In her opinion:
Old Marina Restaurant has a prime location on Puslinch Lake...just ignore the trailer park next door. No, I'm not kidding! The Old Marina Restaurant has been around for years actually 1927 to be exact. It even survived a fire in May, 2005 but reopened in Summer, 2006. They rebuilt and made it even nicer.  This place is known for large portions, home style comfort food and an awesome deck with views of Puslinch Lake.

We visited on a Tuesday night before the dinner rush and were able to procure a table on the deck...for about 5 minutes. You see, the restaurant has two "G" Scale trains running along its perimeter and when you are with a 6 year old train enthusiast, the deck is really not an option. Our waitress moved us into the dining room and turned the trains on for little man.

I ordered my usual...an open face hot beef sandwich with a twice baked potato. It also comes with a cabbage salad.

The food is pure comfort. Let me remind you that this in not fine dining and the flavours are not super complex. But simply put this is meat and potatoes at its best. Beef gravy smothering thinly sliced roast beef on white bread. The potato is excellent. A very good version of a twice baked potato.

Overall, this is a nice place for a family dinner.  Little man had his usual grilled cheese with a salad (for mommy and daddy since he doesn't like sides). He was not disappointed.

In his opinion:
The Old Marina Restaurant on Puslinch Lake is a local attraction with many people enjoying it for the view, the large portions and friendly service. 
This is a home style cooking restaurant located right on the lake that offers inside and outside (lakeside) seating.

We have frequented this restaurant regularly for quite a few years and the consistency in the comfort food and its ideal location are the main reasons we continue to go back. Its re-built facade since the fire of 2006 made it larger and more modern but also kept the old charm that made it so popular with its patrons.

On this particular summer afternoon, I decided to try a couple of appetizers instead of having an entree and it worked out very well. Note to self...in the absence of tapas restaurants in the area, try multiple appetizers everywhere you go.

To start, I picked the battered mushrooms with dip which was garnished with shredded iceberg lettuce. The menu refers to the dip simply as dipping sauce as if to make you wonder what "special" dip will you get. For my surprise it was the very exotic "ranch" dressing that served as dip.

The mushrooms were very good, crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. The ranch dip serves well to compliment the the crispy batter...who knew?

Along with my mushrooms, I ordered Canada's soon to be signature dish...Poutine. Thinly cut fresh fries smothered with 2 cheese blend and drowned with the Old Marinas homemade gravy. This poutine although not executed in a traditional way, was delicious. It was a healthy portion and at no point did the gravy make the fries soggy, which is always a plus.

Other favourites that I have tried through the years and enjoyed are...the chicken quesadillas (very good), the steak on a bun (good meat) and the famous Puslinch burger, for which you will need to deslocate your jaw to be able to take a bite, given its size. 

The Good: Consistency and homemade style food. Amazing view and great service.
The Bad: Flavour is not one of their strong points. It is a meat and potatoes type of place so don't expect to be wowed with intricate tastes.
The Verdict: Good place for home style cooking and be treated to one of the best views in the region. The service is also good and produces a home away from home experience.

I give it 3 Olives out of 5 as rating