Sir Andrew MacPhail Homestead - Orwell

We were a group of 20+ so we preordered our meal - salad, a choice of 2 entrees (fish cakes for me), and a choice of 3 desserts (carrot cake for me). The food was delicious - the fish cakes were more fish than potatoes and quite tasty. The carrot cake was scrumptious with the perfect portion size as it was quite rich. The service was friendly and food was served promptly. The manager gave us an interesting history of Andrew McPhail and his family and I enjoyed touring the small homestead. The only negative was that the mosquitos were wicked.

A romantic "tea room", in a historic house which serves very good food. The grounds and restaurant are a good destination.

My wife and I dropped in for a relaxed lunch and to scope out the Homestead as a place for food. We deliberately chose different meals off the lunch menu to get as broad an impression as possible.We were cordially greeted by the lively wait person and shown to a table in the sunporch. The chairs were comfortable.There were two dining areas: the sunporch was totally acceptable - a little sparse in the details that soften. The dining room would be fantastic for an evening meal, for a couple,a few friends or even a large group of a few dozen.My wife had the leek and potato soup, built on an excellent basic recipe but with a good bit of character added. It was excellent.I had the fish cakes and beans. Here too the fish cakes were based on a traditional recipe, also with character added via 'spices and herbs'. Excellent. The side of brown beans, after a dousing of salt and pepper, were quite good, although differing quite a lot in texture and taste from the PEI staple. I don't wish to judge on that basis. Someone else may enjoy them immensely.The desserts were disappointing. The carrot cake was not recognizable in form or taste as carrot cake - heavy blob of a thing.The bread pudding was good. Baked on a loaf pan it was served as a slice on a plate. Again I don't wish to judge on the basis of 'that's not the way my Mother or my wife, made it". It was tasty though! The bread pudding had what I think was one of the best pudding sauces I have ever had!I am a tea drinker, and maybe a picky one at that. If you want a tea that is more upscale than off the shelf at the chain grocery store, maybe you could bring your own bag.Finally if you think a gratuity is of your own freewill, park that idea at the door. Somehow I get offended, and have to keep my mouth closed and body-language covered, when a 'gratuity' is added to your bill, or casually asked "Do you want change back?" We thought being held to ransom for a 25% gratuity was excessive.Cash only please. They don't accept credit cards. No problem though. Just so you know.Would we go back? Or take friends / business people? Yes indeed. We were quite focused on tallying up the positives and negatives from the point of view of hard-to-impress client groups. Our overall experience was excellent!

I haven't reviewed this restaurant in a while, but I keep coming back to it again and again.

The food is delicious and authentic, and the service is quick and friendly.