Southside Cottage Grill in Oakville, Ontario

We have lived in larger cities, small towns, villages and rural but much prefer small towns of the four.  I'm very much a small town gal but I love visiting cities.  My favourite Canadian city is Toronto, Ontario along with the other cities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) like Mississauga, Oakville, Milton and Burlington.  It is just an amazing area to visit with something to please everyone from entertainment, attractions (eg. Ontario Science Centre, Canada's Wonderland), six publicly funded universities, as well as every shopping and culinary experiences you could ever want.  We were in the GTA last weekend

The Southside Cottage Grill is located at 234 Lakeshore Road East in Oakville, Ontario tucked between quaint and unique shops.   Lakeshore is a lovely street to stroll along, do a bit of window shopping and just enjoy!  Be warned to bring a lot of money though as some of the shops are on the expensive side but then it is Oakville and they can be pricey.

The Southside Cottage Grill is really a small pub and grill that offers a bit more than pub grub as well as live entertainment.  The food is quite good, reasonably priced for the GTA.  The service was excellent and very kid friendly!  We were a party of five with one being a toddler.  There is a kid's menu and they give the kiddies crayons and a colouring sheet as well.  What we really appreciated is our grandchild is only three years old and while a mature three year old, waiting patiently can wear thin.  They brought that dish out first, spaghetti with three meatballs :)

We ordered the potato shells filled with mixed cheese, bacon bits and green onion, baked & served with chipotle sour cream ($7, not pictured).  Every once in awhile I spot a menu item that I just have to try, usually because it is just so different.  So it was with the bacon wrapped hot dog ($7.50 for one, two for $10.50).  A gluten free bun is available for an additional $1.50.

Who would think to wrap a wiener in bacon?  I just had to try this culinary specialty of the house!  I substituted Caesar salad for the fries to make the meal a bit healthier but I doubt it helped much.  The jumbo all beef wiener was wrapped end to end with bacon then grilled served on a toasted bun.  The flavour combination was quite delicious.  I doubt I would make this dish at home but it would be quite easy to make should you desire to do so. 

My husband took the Canadian Shield Burger challenge.  This burger consists of a 20 oz patty topped with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, peameal bacon and side bacon.  It is served with the Canadian classic side, poutine made with crispy fries smothered in a three cheese blend and topped with their signature gravy.  The meal is $21 but if you can finish everything on this plate in less than 12 minutes, the meal is free.  If you conquer the Canadian Shield, you are in the “Hall of Fame” and can come back any time to enjoy another for only $16 but you are only eligible for the free meal challenge once.

In case you are wondering, the Canadian Shield Burger has been conquered but not by my husband.  He did finish the burger but not all the fries and declared himself well fed for the following week!  Here is a video of Furious Pete conquering the burger.  It is not for the faint of heart and will likely give you a tummy ache but here's proof it can be done:

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