Vegan Hot Spots - Fiddler’s Pour House (St. Catharine’s ON)
A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Milan from Fiddler’s Pour House in St. Catharine’s to check out their bar and participate in a tasting of their growing vegan menu. This past Friday, Momo and I made the short journey from Oakville to St. Kitts to meet with Kyle, one of the managers. We also had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy, who prepared all of the delicious vegan dishes for us.
Fiddler’s Pour House is in the middle of St. Paul Street, which is a long strip of restaurants, pubs, cafés, and shops. When we entered, we were greeted by Kyle, and passed by the large group of gentlemen relaxing and enjoying a late lunch and a couple of drinks to reach our table. Meeting and speaking with Kyle was worth the trip in itself. He had told us that his philosophy in life is that regardless of who you are or where you come from, you can do whatever you want as long as you aren’t harming anyone. Much the same, anyone can come to Fiddler’s Pour House and have a great time and a great meal. This all-inclusive atmosphere is much needed in this day-and-age, and was very refreshing to hear as a vegan who knows much-too-well the struggles of being able to go to a restaurant with people of all dietary preferences and have everyone feeling full and happy. With that being said, LET’S GET INTO THE FOOD!
The first phase of the tasting was the appetizers, which are finger foods that perfect for sharing.
The Cauliflower Bites are lightly battered and seasoned, and served with harissa sauce. One thing that always makes vegan food delicious is 1. the texture and 2. the sauce. The bites themselves were not over-seasoned or over-battered, which allowed for the perfectly tender cauliflower to still shine through. But, to kick up the flavour, the harissa added a nice sweetness and heat that complimented the cauliflower very well.
We were also served Samosas with a tamarind sauce – one of the only items not made in house. Rather, the samosas are made by an Indian woman that the owner met many years ago. A delicious lentil mixture was encased by crispy, flaky dough. They were also smaller than samosas I’ve had before, which is perfect for sharing and nibbling on with friends.
When I go to a non-vegan pub, one of the only options I go for is the sweet potato fries, which are usually served with a chipotle mayo that I give to my friends. We were served Sweet Potato Wedges with vegan honey garlic. I don’t believe I had ever had sweet potato wedges before Friday! They were lightly crisped on the outside and beautifully fluffy on the inside. Although they were delicious on their own, I’d highly recommend trying it with the honey garlic. Sweet, flavourful, and sticky – everything you’d want from a honey garlic sauce.
The last appetizer for the tasting was the highly anticipated Pickle Fries – lightly battered and deep-fried pickle spears, paired with a vegan Cesar dressing that Jeremy was testing out. The Cesar dressing was perfect for this dish. Although a little bit thinner than Cesar dressings I have personally made before, a thicker dressing would have been too “goopy” and would have overpowered the pickles. Just the right amount of sauce was collected with each dip. The flavour of the dressing was also tangy and garlicky, but not so much that would knock over a vampire. It was delicious!
Just when we thought there wasn’t any more food to be had, Kyle brought out a poutine and nachos. Both dishes I would also recommend for sharing with friends, as they were extremely generous portions.
Let’s start with the poutine - a Canadian classic that I haven’t been able to eat much of since going vegan. All you need to know about this poutine is that I enjoyed it more than a poutine I had at a vegan restaurant in Montreal. Poutine may appear to be a simple dish of fries, gravy, and cheese, but there are many different little factors that go into making a great poutine. The fries have to be the right thickness, the gravy has to be smooth, and the cheese has to be very melty. There also has to be a generous amount of gravy and cheese so that all of the fries can be coated with flavour. This poutine hit all the marks for Momo and myself, and was definitely one of our favourites.
Next was the monstrous serving of nachos – loaded with vegan pulled pork, Daiya, jalepeños and other veggies, and served with spicy salsa. Fiddler’s Pour House does not skimp out on toppings at all. These nachos were so packed full of different flavourful toppings that Momo and I didn’t have to fight for the “good chips”. When meeting with Jeremy, he told us that the preparing their jackfruit takes many hours, and includes both smoking and baking the jackfruit. The long process definitely pays off, as it was some of the best jackfruit I’ve ever had!
The final phase of dishes were, in my opinion, more like meals rather than shareable options. We were surprised with Roasted Cauliflower, Vegan Chicken Wings, and Grilled Cheese.
Roasting a large piece of cauliflower is something I have seen online in the vegan community, but always find mixed reviews saying that the texture and flavour on the outside is great, but the inner parts are often under cooked and under seasoned. This was not the case with this dish! It was bursting with flavour from the harissa, cilantro sauce, and other spices; and also had great textures from the almonds and cranberries. The cauliflower itself still had a great bite to it. A truly innovative and intricate dish I would not expect to see at a bar.
Another highlight of mine would have to be the vegan wings. I cannot believe that a non-vegan restaurant with a non-vegan chef would produce some of the best seitan I’ve ever had. I was surprised to see irregularities in the seitan that made it more meat-like, without it being too realistic, which has sometimes turned me off of eating meatless meat. Again, nailing texture and sauces, the wings had a good, meaty chew, and paired great with the three sauce options – harissa, “medium”, and Franks Red Hot.
The last menu item we tasted, with just one bite each because we were bursting at this point, was the grilled cheese. Chef Jeremy is a crazy genius for putting cheese both inside and outside of the sandwich, allowing for gooey, melty Daiya cheese in the middle, and crispy Daiya cheese on the outside. If you’ve been out having a few too many drinks, this is what you want to eat at the end of the night.
As for drinks, Fiddler’s Pour House lives up to its name with 19 items on tap, and you can’t expect to go to the Niagara region and not find delicious wine options as well. Kyle was kind enough to offer us samples of beers and wine we haven’t had before. He also made sure to pair these samples with the menu items we were tasting.
Overall, Momo and I had an amazing experience at Fiddler’s Pour House. Since this was a food tasting, it only makes sense to describe how we felt about each of the menu items. But we also have to give credit to the amazing staff who not only create such a great environment, but whose empathetic and inclusive attitudes allow for such an incredible vegan menu. I often hear from other vegans that non-vegan restaurants should serve vegan and vegetarians items that they are proud of, rather than throwing something on the menu just for the sake of having an option. In tasting the food and talking with Kyle and Jeremy, it was very clear to us how much they care about creating a memorable experience for all of their guests. We would like to extend our thanks to Kyle, Jeremy, Milan, and the rest of the staff at Fiddler’s Pour House for their generous hospitality and for being incredible dedicated to their craft. Momo and I will be back, hungry for more!








