Visiting the county for the week, was delighted to see The Royal was finally done construction and opened for business!
Located right on Main St in Picton, the building has a beautiful facade and ambience.
We came for dinner on a Tuesday night. At first we were only one of two tables, but throughout the night more and more tables were filling up. The server was very friendly, knowledgeable and polite.
The food was very very good! We ordered a few appetizers and entrees to share. The drinks were also delicious!
We tried the following:
Cocktails:
Mule: served with a lot of crushed ice. Really lovely light taste that was not too sweet.
County G and T: Made with Kinsip Old Toms Gin - one of our favourites - and their own homemade tonic water. This was a very lovely refreshing G&T. I would've thought it was really really good, had i not tried Kinsips own recipe for G&T which does beat it. But if you haven't tried Kinsips drink, this one is still very very good!
Beef tartare: just what you'd expect, simple served with some crostini's.
Whitefish mousse: really really good! I think it might be one of my favourites of the night. Little "grainola" on top to add a delightful little crunch.
Radicchio salad: to be honest, we only ordered this to make ourselves feel better about ordering all meat and fish it was still a nice fresh salad, but I would've liked more citrus in there to offset the bitterness of the radicchio.
French fries: Really good fries! They were seasoned perfectly and nice and crunchy. They also were great to dip into the whitefish mousse and beef tartare. We were having a huge craving and this was just right!
Capellini: OUTSTANDING! Might be one of the best pastas I have ever had and I have been to Italy a few times. Filled with unctuous butternut squash in a brown butter squash. This was seriously so delicious.
Cheese plate: Came with a variety of Canadian cheeses. One soft, one firm, one blue with a fruit jelly (I am guessing Concord grape) and some nut bread. Really nice entrance into dessert!
Lemon dessert: I don't recall the true name, but it was excellent - not too sweet. Lovely lemon custard with blueberry jelly and some crunchy graham cracker.
All in all it was truly a wonderful meal, great service, and beautiful atmosphere. read more