The Cat & The Fiddle Lindsay — Restaurant in Kawartha Lakes

I wrote a glowing review when we came here 3 years ago. This is definitley not the case now!! Twice bitten………forever shy!! We thought we’d give this place one more chance after our last disappointing visit in June and we were even more disappointed than we were the last time we came here. Don’t get me wrong……..we’ve been here many times in years gone by and were mightily impressed. Generous portions of roast, vegetables that were crunchy accompanied by an even number of mini roasted potatoes, tasty Yorkshire pudding and the obligatory au jus and in those days the Crème Brule’ was a genuine firm and tasty pudding in a very generous bowl.

Not now! Talk about shrinkage……with everything except the veggies and potatoes and the price…..and there was a reason for that!!

Both times this year, we came for the Saturday evening special: Prime rib roast with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and veggies with $5 glasses of wine and a dessert of Crème Brule’. Earlier this year we already thought it had become poor value for money.

Then, the prime rib meat portion was smaller finished by a tiny bowl of Crème Brule’ and to add insult to injury, the price had gone up from $28.95 to $32.99. Our most recent experience was the most disappointing meal we’ve had dining out anywhere for quite some time. The prime rib roast was overcooked and way over spiced and it was obvious to us that the meat had been cooked many hours before. The rub on the outside was inedible as it was a mixture of excessive ground pepper and pepper corns that completely overpowered the normally subtle beef crust you look forward to on an outside cut. The internal part of the beef was hard, dense and more like it had been ordered well done when we had ordered medium rare and it was small, about the size of a hamburger patty. There was no point asking to take it back because we could tell we’d get the same again.

But here was where the real illusion began. There was a huge portion of vegetables that had been overcooked ditto with the potatoes. I guess we were meant to be impressed by the volume of the potatoes and veggies and perhaps not notice that the portion of meat had been reduced even further than it had been not 5 months ago. The Crème Brule’ was now just the consistency of syrup but properly topped with the customary caramelised sugar crust and with a slight saving grace, this time it came in a slightly increased size bowl. Perhaps there had been a number of complaints from others about the portion size with the dessert as well. The price was a killer though. Two glasses of wine and a beer and the whole meal came to $99!!! What a rip-off!! I say this to the owner.......you do your establishment a disservice with this fare. As I say, we’ll never come back here again. I can't believe no-one else has bothered to give the meal an honest contemporary review. We have since spoken to their former chef who confirmed that they had reduced the portion sizes substantially since he...

So it took me awhile to process my experience here. I am not a Lindsay local, I just have a cottage in the area and decided to stop here for dinner on the way up as they had good ratings. The space was packed. I was met by a host that immediately asked if I had reservations. I let him know we did not. At this point he informed me he may not be able to assist me and passed me over to another server. The other server quickly informed me that “I had gotten lucky” that night as there was one table left. As I was seated I said I was not aware we had to make a reservation for pub style food. At what point I was snappily put in my place that this was not pub style although both the menu as well as the atmosphere does suggest otherwise. A mistake I will never make again IF I ever return.

The server was pleasant although started the dining experience hastily in order to churn tables. Asking for our drink choices without issuing menus before I could even sit down.

We ordered in total 2 lbs of wings, lattice fries and gravy and 2 beers and 1 mixed drink.

While the drinks were good the food was sub par. The wings were okay and the lattice fries came with about 15 fries total most of which were stuck together from being frozen for awhile. Needless to say, we did not need the gravy which is fine because it never came anyhow.

At the end of the meal the bill came to $80 dollars and we left there to go to another restaurant as we were still hungry.

All in all this was an experience that was lack luster at best. Will most likely not...

After a very difficult day, spending the day at my mother's bed side as she nears the golden gates of heaven and alot of convincing from my husband that going out for a hot meal and a drink was what I needed..........I have to extend a very heartfelt thank you to our waitress who was apologetic that dinner was taking so long as they were busy as usual which honestly was fine. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine that I will say I really didn't think I felt much like having while we waited and I told her about my day. She ended up telling the other lady that was the hostess tonight but I'm sure she is usually behind the bar. After our meal the hostess came over with a glass of wine for both my husband and I as the waitress had mentioned my day and the situation with my mother. She said she had heard and wanted to give us a glass of wine each on her. So very unexpected and thoughtful it almost brought me to tears for about the hundredth time today. Our meal was delicious as always and waiting was no issue as we know we are always getting an awesome meal. The staff was above and beyond and just needed to say, the little things mean alot in life!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I'm so glad we choose the cat and the fiddle, if you haven't tried them I suggest you do your not just another table they really do listen to you when you have that little chat!!! See you next Saturday as that seems to be the day we always...