Next Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Pelham

Here is my experience at Culinary Dropout for Mothers Day Brunch 2023: We selected this venue because it seemed pretty well reviewed, had a cool vibe, and we’d never been before. The Brunch menu looked promising, and we had high hopes considering the price was over $40 per adult, and each mom got a tomato plant… OK fine that’s a cute idea, a little on the high side for a buffet, but we’ve had some pretty amazing buffets brunches in the past so we figured lets try it out. Kids were reasonably priced at $15 each. Surveying things there was a big charcuterie board with a bunch of cheese and meats but I thought I go for breakfast food first. In the buffet server I tried an egg omelet which had some peppers in it (that scared off the kids), and it was round and folded over, then some breakfast sausage, and bacon. First issue I immediately noticed was that the bacon was all stuck together and mangled up from people trying to separate it with the tongs. Hmm. I get the need to tray bake bacon in the oven but please separate it for good presentation.. Then I took a look at the other hot food and noticed what looked like Arancini (Mozzarella stuffed rice balls) with a sauce and thought that looked nice. Taking that back to the table I was really excited to bite into a nice breakfast sausage, however I was a bit disappointed that the temperature wasn’t as warm as it should be. Same deal with the bacon, omelet, and rice ball. Dang, the flavours seemed nice I just wish it was warmer. I didn’t want to complain and make a deal on Mother’s Day, and my wife and mother-in-law didn’t mention anything, so maybe it was just me?? Finally, after settling up the bill with tax and tip (I figured the food temp wasn’t the waitress’s fault), I realized I was three bills deep $$$ (for 4 adults and 2 kids) for a mediocre brunch experience. Good thing I didn’t let my father-in-law pay when he offered, he would have fell off his chair or had a heart attack… I’d have better quality pre-made omelets and bacon at hotel hot breakfast bars. Seriously the pre-made omelets were right out of the hotel playbook…. My kids even commented afterwards that the waffles were doughy and chewy and not very good. hrmmm To that end I even called the restaurant back that evening a spoke to a guy who said he was the regional manager. He even took my details and said he’d get back to me, even offered to mail something out. 3 weeks later, he hasn’t. Whatever, I’m not going broke over one brunch but if you say you’re going to follow up with someone who didn’t have a great experience, follow up. My money would have better spent getting some good platters of smoked salmon from Costco, aunt jemima on the waffle iron, a bottle of Prosseco with OJ, and some espressos from the home machine. Anyways, I’m sure they’re fine on a normal day doing their normal menu but apparently are new to brunch and literally laid a big fat egg on this Mothers’ Day Brunch in my books. Probably won’t be back any time soon, too many other spectacular restaurants around to fool with this place...

Have been hearing local forums talk about this place for a few weeks and having recently moved into the area, decided to give it a try.

Really nicely located and prominently located on the corner, we had our reservation snd strolled on in. It was covid lockdown easing so we were seated in the patio.

Patio is very nicely setup vs plain old tables and chairs. Some “booths” - nicely printed laminated tables and wicker style bench seats.

The server was very friendly - like a friend just greeted you. Wasn’t forced or plastic as you get from some places - I’m sure they’re happy working there so it comes through that they’re not just “doing their jobs”. Felt right at home immediately.

Menu is of good size and variety so we tried a few of the popular items you’ll find discussed on the internet we weren’t disappointed.

The Korean fried cauliflower was excellent t. Sweet, spicy and nicely fried - not mushy at all. Good flavour and one dish I will always get when there.

My daughter ordered a flat bread - I can’t remember which one but it had chicken , avocados and arugula (edit - was the twisted club minus the pancetta since we don’t eat pork). Looked amazing and she said it’s one or her favourite pizzas now. Crust was crisp and nicely cooked and the portion was of good size.

I had the dirty bird sandwich, but opted for no bun. Was nicely sauced and flavourful, panko crusted filet. Side salad was good - yes I know it’s a salad but it was well put together and not just a bowl of handfuls of lettuce. I throughly enjoyed this meal.

My boy had the short rib sandwich (the butchers beef dip) that everyone seems to carry on about. It’s a cool gimmick - you pull the rib bone out of the sandwich leaving the most tender flavourful meat in the bun. Just was shredding apart. If you go, you need to try. There’s an entree version of it as well. I intend on trying this the next time around.

Other boy got the steak frites. Not much you can say about this dish. It was tender, flavourful and cooked on point. Also, the butter. Oh it was just covered. So good. Fries were also great . It’s another must try.

The wife had the risotto. She really enjoyed it. Truth be told it was a tad on the salty side. We did bring it up and the (I think) owner, who was wandering around checking on the guests often, had graciously offered to remake it but welcomed the comments…. We insisted we were ok with it but she made a note to let the chef know.

I figure restos are still ramping up from the lockdowns so it is completely forgivable (salty) and will definitely head back there for another round.

If ever you’re in the Niagara area or fonthill in general , take a trip down the 406 to hwy 20. It’s 20 mins from the falls in a beautiful quiet area away from the touristy food. ...

Two of us came here a couple weeks ago and I would say before going into detail that this is most definitely a place to go and try, and we will come back. It is good. The overall experience here was where I struggle with giving five stars. I would like to think the two of us that went are friendly, but maybe something happened that day because our host and server seemed the least bit interested in doing some of the bare minimum social interactions. I actually couldn't tell you the name of our server, he never introduced himself, and despite the restauraunt seeming a little slow (watched another server sit down with some patrons, her friends im sure), our service was slowwwww. In his defense he picked it up in the latter half of our experience to what I would consider alright, but nothing about the experience screamed "we want your patronage". BUT it is not all negative. The food here is superb, and the beef dip I ordered was different than a traditional beef dip, but in my opinion a must try menu item. There was not a single thing I think a person could say was wrong with that sandwich. Flavourful, cooked perfectly, portion size was more than generous, and even the fries were amazing! My friend had the spicy chicken sandwich and that too was a great item. We'll be back, just going to cross our fingers that the service isn't a culture thing and maybe just a bad day for the staff we...