Krause Berry Farm

Labour Day marks the end of Summer (even though it isn't technically over) and the start of school.  It also means that there are no more holidays for the kiddies until Christmas, the beginning of rainy days (for the next 6 months) and saying goodbye to delicious berries (unless you pay for the imported stuff).  To celebrate, or more appropriately mourn the loss, we headed over to Krause Berry Farm for some lunch and berry pie.

Of all the savoury items available, my daughter wasn't interested in any of them.  Rather, she only had her eye on the Waffle with strawberries and whipped cream.  Freshly made, the waffle was lightly crispy while fluffy throughout.  It was topped with a considerable amount of freshly-sliced strawberries and only a light drizzle of syrup which kept the sweetness to a minimum.  For myself, it was all about the Corn on the Cob because it always reminds me of how I "stalked" Viv (get it?) at the PNE, always buying corn on the cob from her in hopes of asking her out.  This one was pretty good with niblets that burst with sweetness.

I regretted getting the Corn Chowder though as it was thin and overly sweet.  There should've been much more salt to balance it out.  As mentioned, the consistency of the broth was not quite right for a chowder.  I would've much preferred that they thickened it more.  Moving away from the sweet things, we had their Grilled Panini with tomato, pesto and cheese.  This featured crunchy bread with a thick slice of fresh tomato and effectively aromatic pesto.  By virtue of being a vegetarian sammie, I think there needed to be more salt to elevate the impact.  The panini was quite bland and wet (from the tomato) as a result.

My son went for the Moo Melt which was essentially a grilled cheese on multigrain bread.  Since it was prepared on a panini press, the sandwich was not greasy and relatively dry.  On the other hand, the moisture was provided by the cheddar as there was a good amount of it.  Something that was both savoury and sweet was the Corn Pizza.  Overloaded with niblets, cheese and a piece of artichoke heart, the slice of pizza was more like a slice of pie.  The whole thing was rather substantial and yup pretty sweet from all the corn.  The crust was more bread-like than crispy though.

We also tried their Fresh-Cut Farm Fries which took a bit of time to fry up.  Sadly, these were not crispy at all.  Instead, they were limp, wet and rather dense.  They appeared to be made with russet potatoes and fried only once.  Whatever the case, they were fresh and we accepted their limpness.  We ended up finishing them. But what we were really here for was the Berry Custard Pie that featured enough strawberries and raspberries for 3 normal-sized pies.  Sitting atop a firmly crispy crust, the thick and sweet custard gave way to fresh tart berries.  As much as there was a seemingly excess amount of glaze on top, it was not sweet at all.  Personally, I don't like overly sweet desserts and this hit the spot.  Possibly it might be a bit too mild-tasting for some.  Overall, I would say the highlights rested on anything with berries in it.  Not surprising for a berry farm.

The Good:
- Great place for families
- Lots of products to choose from
- Fresh berries (duh)

The Bad:
- Non-berry items were mediocre