Alma's Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Channel-Port aux Basques

We were recommended to visit this place instead of the restaurant at the ferry terminal. The lady at the terminal suggested we go outside for food, as the restaurant inside was overpriced and not very good. So we came here expecting it to be at least decent.

As we walked in, we noticed some CDs for sale on the counter… cheap jewelry… and even knitted socks. The waitress who seated us was friendly, attentive, and answered all our questions. She even mentioned she was “new,” but honestly, she may have been the best part of the whole experience. The rest of the staff, however, were kind of rough around the edges.

As we waited for our food, I stepped outside to vape and stood next to one of the servers who was smoking a cigarette. She sneezed directly into her hand and then just left it—walking back inside, grabbing the same door handles I would now need to touch. She went straight into the kitchen and back to work. Moments later, I saw her emerge with another table’s food. There is no way she had time to wash her hands before serving it.

The rest of the servers weren’t much better. At one point, I watched another wipe down tables—pushing everything onto the floor and seats, then leaving it there. The two older lady servers had noticeably rosy cheeks, the kind you get after a few drinks, which might explain the sloppiness.

When the food finally came, my wife had fish and chips, and I had a club sandwich. Her fish and chips were not fresh fish (in Newfoundland, of all places!) and had no taste. My club sandwich was… well, just a club sandwich. Nothing more to say about it.

Sixty dollars and forty-five minutes later, we walked out quite disappointed. It makes me wonder just how bad the terminal restaurant must have been if this was the recommended alternative.

I gave it two stars—but one of those is only for the new server, who was excellent. Get more staff like her (after letting the rest go, including the chef), upgrade the interior, and enforce proper sanitary standards, and maybe you’ll earn a better...

We went to Alma’s Family Restaurant expecting home cooked meals! What we got did not resemble anything like home cooked!

My husband’s 6 small chicken wings cost $11.99 and were dry!

His sister ordered a chicken dinner around $18.99 expecting a dinner with sliced chicken. What she got was chicken chopped up for hot chicken sandwiches, dressing that resembled couscous, frozen vegetables not fresh, coleslaw that was virtually puréed and dark in colour, and a tablespoon of cranberry sauce, the roll wrapped in plastic wrap was stale. The baked potato and sour cream were fine.

My liver and onions meal cost about $18.99 and was barely edible. The liver was so overcooked I could barely cut it with a steak knife, the vegetables were frozen not fresh, the coleslaw was virtually puréed and dark in colour. To top it all off the roll wrapped in plastic wrap was mouldy! Yes, I said mouldy! The solution was to heat up a replacement in the microwave making it at least warm. The onions and baked potato with sour cream were fine.

No compensation was offered for our absolutely substandard meals. In retrospect we really should not have paid for any of these meals. We all left hungry and with our...

Arrived here based on a mention in Lonely Planet Canada. From the outside it doesn't look like much. A random single door in a retail park (though we suspect Google sent us to the back door). We arrived at 1940, super close to closing. The girls at Alma's were very accommodating. They answered questions about the food and didn't rush us even though we were there past closing time.

And the food - my goodness. The fish burger was superb! Perfectly cooked fish. In fact better battered fish then I've had anywhere in the UK! GREAT tartar sauce too. The veggie poutine was maybe not the best I've had, but I certainly couldn't knock off a star for it - and the fries themselves were...