In the eight summers I've been coming with husband and his family to Muskoka, the building…read morecurrently occupied by The Scoop has been...probably eight different ice cream shops. And why not? It's the perfect little hut, situated just outside of Bala town, with its own dock and excellent views of Bala Bay. Unfortunately, none of these ice cream places ever seemed to be open in the middle of the summer at the height of cottage season. Until The Scoop. Purchased last year by a local college student and her brother, the hut received an adorable Canadian facelift -- red, white and brown paint -- revamped signage and a new life. The siblings take turns working each evening, greeting customers and proudly scooping delicious, Ontario-based Kawartha brand ice cream. A tiny Swedish berry in lieu of a cherry on your scoop is their quaint signature. We're *so* glad they've set up shop in Bala and wish them the best of luck for continuing success; cuz nothing beats grilling your dinner al fresco followed by a boat ride to town for frozen dessert.

Again, was not disappointed! Stopped by for lunch with a friend. Ordered the same chicken club on…read moreGF bread since it was so good last time. This time I also tried a salad on the side that was like a vinaigrette slaw made from mainly cauliflower - it was delicious and flavourful. My friend got the pulled pork sandwich with potato salad and said it was excellent! We were able to eat outside which was so nice. We both agreed, we'll be back next time we're in the neighbour.

Cottage Cravings only recently came to Bala after a fire at their original Gravenhurst location…read more last year left them looking for a new space. But I'm so glad they landed in our tiny, sleepy town: CC is about as close as it gets to a one-stop shop here. There aren't a lot of places where you can grab a coffee and sandwich, pick up cheese and charcuterie to take home, or grab wall art or dish towels for the cottage. I appreciate that the products here are so thoughtfully selected as well. Cottage decor can teeter on kitschy, but the selection at CC -- technicolor enameled outdoor dining sets, lake-themed hooked rugs, craftsman birdhouses -- is tasteful as well as fun. Popsicle makers and painted martini glasses give ideas. Food from local vendors means you don't have to wait for next week's farmers market to pick up those jams or condiments. And a bounty of healthful dining options from veggie paninis to fresh soups make a quick, delicious lunch. CC definitely makes a great addition to our little hamlet.

Awesome (and only) General Market of Port Sandfield. BEST local sweet corn around!! Silver Stream…read moreis accessible both by car and boat. On a hot summer day we love tying up our boat under the bridge and walking up to the store for an ice cream cone. Not only does Silver Stream have corn and ice cream, they have a room full of produce, a meat counter, dairy refrigerators, a bakery, all the Canadian candy you would ever desire, a magazine and newspaper wall, cleaning supplies, and pharmaceutical items.

Thankfully this popular summer spot beside the highway and at the bus stop remained open during…read moreCOVID. They didn't offer as many flavours as usual but the classics remain on the menu. Portions are quite generous and it's Canadian ice cream (you can't beat that!) Right now it's cash only...I actually think it's always cash only but I might be wrong. I'm trying to remember if the one lady working was wearing a mask. She was behind plexiglass and sanitized her hands but I cannot remember if she was wearing a mask or not.

visited this ice cream stand and the girl working had no gloves or mask on. asked her "why not"…read more She said " well I wash my hands". I watched her take money from the customer before us and went and grabbed another cone and started scooping ( no hand washing in between). We left with no ice cream and its very doubtful we will be back

Their ice cream is AMAZING!! Completely made in house and to-die for! I got the Sponge Toffee and…read moreDouble Chocolate Chuck. Both were so so good! The staff said they are going to trial selling ice cream tubs in the near future. They also have fudge, chocolate, and many other sweet things. Highly recommend stopping by this shop!

Cute little fudge shop on the main strip in Collingwood. Sometimes you can see the fudge being made…read morethrough the window or up close in the shop. They have so much really good fudge and other goodies such as caramel popcorn. They are very nice and you can ask for samples of any kind.

We decided to stop by here for some fish and chips. This place is busy even at 2pm. We were met…read morewith Christmas music in July and great hospitality. The owner explained that the cod tongues were like the neck of the cod and had a chewier texture (like calamari) while the cod cheeks were tender and more like scallop texture. Food: Cod tongue with onion rings - you get a dozen or some pieces of deep fried cod tongue - they were pretty good though I'm not sure I'm a connoisseur enough to appreciate it. Still great though! 4/5. Cod cheeks were also quite good with a similar number of pieces. Again, I probably couldn't appreciate well enough the difference between the two so they seemed similar but still tasty. The custom lemon, dill sauce was great to dip in! 4/5. Pickerel - this is a massive piece of fish and chip. The batter is delicious and the fish was moist and flaky. Totally with every dollar! Beside the fish and chips is a ice cream stand that sells kawartha dairy in massive scoops. Be aware that small is two huge scoops, baby is 1.5 huge scoops! Price: Pretty reasonable for fish and chips, and great value for ice cream! Definitely recommend if your a big fish and chips fan!

Great place to stop for some fries! Not fussy - big portions…read moreand fast. Just bring cash.

Getting out of the city can be hectic, but totally worth it to be surrounded by the rolling forests…read moreand lakes of muskoka. The Rosseau General Store has anything you might have forgotten to pack or unexpectedly need, and everything else to make your cottage weekend great. They have camp groceries, seasonal produce, gourmet ingredients, toys, games, hardware, maps, souvenirs, etc. Maybe grab a snack or fresh baked goods and enjoy it on a backyard bench, with a beautiful view of the lake. The store sits on the main village intersection. Hard to miss the beautiful store front with an antique carriage. Refill, restock, and refresh here.

This store has everything you need for a weekend at the cottage. You don't even need to bring food…read morereally, you can get it all here with all the seasonings and fresh veggies to go with it! It has it's own butcher shop at the back! Forget flip flops or a towel? I did and the General Store had just what I needed! Staff are friendly too.

A great pit stop for sure. Look forward to this place every…read moretime we come up to Casino Rama. Love their ice cream, Staff is awesome Store is nice and clean. Keep up the great work.

Kawartha doesn't disappoint Exceptional-…read moreStrawberry Maple pecan Waffle also good suggestion Big servings Good price

AMAZING place! I'm super fussy about ice cream. If I'm gonna take in those calories I want it to be…read moreworth it and along with that being high quality ingredients it means as little (or preferably zero) binders.... And they only have a bit of organic guar gum to keep the ice cream all silky smooth. Many other ice creams including Kawartha have carageenan in them which is not good for us at all. After speaking with the lovely owner who is a chef (all ice cream made ON PREMISES) we learned that a few shops carry this ice cream (2 places in Scarborough ON and also The Royal York hotel). After an absolutely terrible and underwhelming and laughably overpriced lunch at Local this was a great reward.

Belly was located across the street from our Air Bnb during our weekend stay in Huntsville. And…read moreeach night we looked covetously over at Belly as we pulled into our driveway, arriving too late from dinner to get there before they closed. It was a priority of mine to finally visit Belly our last evening but then the time started slipping away from us. We thought all was lost after it turned 8, but then we serendipitously looked over our brochure for Belly again and noticed that on Saturdays they closed at 9. We hustled over, only to have the doors close on us at 8:59. The manager told my daughter she'd already started putting covers on the ice cream. And then I begged and said it was our last night and she responded that she couldn't say no. So of course we each got lots of samples. Kidding! The Kiddie scoops followed the usual trend in Ontario of ridiculously large scoops of ice cream. At Kawartha Dairy where we ate the day before, a Kiddie was like a large where we live in the San Francisco Bay Area. This time the Kiddie was more like the size of a Medium. (A Medium at an artisan creamery in the Bay Area is $8.50 American compared to this Kiddie $3.50 Canadian.) The two Kiddie scoops were a bargain and easily fed the four of us. My daughter earlier had pored over the Belly brochure we had at our Air Bnb, and requested the Blueberry Lavender. Even though it wasn't in the case, the manager had a container just behind her! (Unfortunately they didn't also have the Sticky Toffee Pudding Flavor I also saw in the brochure.) My son got the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry, which was more like strawberry with some chocolate chips than what I'd imagined by the name. Maybe there's a better way to make it actually taste like it sounds? These are all minor quibbles. The ice cream was excellent and both were better than the flavors we got at Kawartha Dairy. The blueberry lavender was really good and my favorite of the two. I'm sometimes skeptical of floral notes in food but this worked. The strawberry in the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry was easily better than Kawartha's strawberry. This one had real strawberry flavor and actual strawberry pieces in it. I felt like the chocolate taste didn't come through in the chips, which often happens with chocolate chips in ice cream. My daughter (absorber of the Belly brochure) filled us in on the founding of the store while we ate. She said that the name came from a mom who had a big pregnancy belly while carrying twins. As a fellow twin mom I relate. If this was 14 years ago I'd come here to eat for three. Best tastes of Huntsville trip 1) Farmer's Daughter (pierogies) 2) Farmer's Daughter (berry scone) 3) BELLY (blueberry lavender ice cream) 4) Allora (papardelle with short ribs) 5) Farmer's Daughter (lentil wrap) 6) Farmer's Daughter (mac and cheese) 7) Farmer's Daughter (chocolate chip cookie) 8) Farmer's Daughter (iced chocolate chai) 9) BELLY (chocolate covered strawberry ice cream) 10) Farmer's Daughter (bean avocado edamame salad)

Liam Rieder gives me good service Everytime I walk in. his happy attitude always brightens my day…read moreand puts a smile on my face. promote him to manager. Also make it so I can bring my dog into the store.

From the owner: italian gelato 40 + flavoursread more