When choosing to dine out in Bedford, there aren’t any shortage of options, but if you’re looking to take your boat with you, one place to go is the China Town Restaurant & Lounge on the Bedford Highway. China Town has a wharf where people can dock their boats.
“There’s not a lot of places you can do that,” says waitress Kim Ashe.
She says the wharf is a popular attraction during the summer months and estimates that in the run of a week, 20 people take advantage of it.
Ashe says there are a number of things that attract people to the restaurant.
“It’s a beautiful restaurant with a nice view,” she says. “The service is good, of course, and the food is good.”
Some of the specialties include chow mein and ginger beef.
But if Irish food is what you’re in the mood for, there is only one Irish restaurant in Bedford: Finbar’s Irish Pub in the Sunnyside Mall.
“It’s a cozy, upper mid-scale neighbourhood pub in the style of a Dublin-style Irish pub,” says co-owner Mike Casey.
Finbar’s offers what Casey calls “Irish-influenced contemporary pub food.” In other words, they don’t sell chicken wings or club sandwiches.
“Our number one burger is our lamb burger,” he says. “Our boxty’s are our biggest sellers.” (Boxty’s are a traditional Irish potato pancake.)
For people looking for pizza or seafood, Jim’s Pizza House has been a popular draw at its location on the Bedford Highway for the past 22 years.
Manager George Mihelakos says the reasons for the family run restaurant’s success are the great food and the speed and quality of the service.
The view overlooking the Bedford Basin is another factor, as is its patio.
“We just opened it the other day and it rained,” says Mihelakos with a laugh.
