I’ve had such a great time discovering all of the wonderful restaurants and eateries not just in Cornwall, but throughout SDG as well. When I first moved here in 2022, it didn’t take long for me to hear about Jack’s Pub, a vintage watering hole located in Williamstown, supposedly home to the best key lime pie around. This I had to try.
I worked at a fine dining restaurant called The Buttery in Niagara On The Lake, from the ages 16-19. Arnie, the Portuguese chef, made a killer key lime pie. I grew up on a farm eating apple and cherry pie, so a key lime pie was very exotic to me then. So tart and tangy, and the filling is my favourite colour – green. Forty years later, someone local is saying theirs is the best? This I had to try. Another anonymous tipster said to make sure to try their wings. Challenge accepted.
I walked into the small pub, and immediately smiled. This wasn’t a place where everyone looks at ‘the new guy’ suspiciously – nope, it was a very welcoming environment. The owner, Shawn Fowler, is a big (literally) presence in the kitchen, always armed with a smile. I ordered a drink, the breaded Buffalo wings, and a small plate of nachos. With key lime pie for dessert.
The nachos were great – a thick layer of cheese, tasty salsa, Mexican corn, olives, red peppers, and jalapeños made it more than enough for a meal. But I had deliberately not eaten since breakfast – gimme those wings! Guys, I got eight wings in my order. Eight. Now, I’m 6’5”, and weigh 200 pounds. Normally I would laugh at eight wings. Not these ones. I wasn’t laughing at all – these things are huge! They are still to this day the biggest wings I have ever had. And so delicious! The breading is crispy and light, the sauce was spicy and full of flavour, and I could only eat 5. I had to save space for my dessert.
And what a dessert it was. The best damn key lime pie I’ve ever had. How in the heck was a chef in Williamstown pulling this off? And more importantly, why? So I decided to ask the owner Shawn himself. He told me about how much he liked this type of pie, and that he had scoured the southern states on taste testing missions, before settling on his version. Served in a mug, with a base of sweetened graham cracker, then a generous layer of really tart filling, his key lime pie is like an angel crying on your tongue. I have been back many times, and I have never been let down. Jack’s Pub is a charming space with a great view of the Raisin River on the back patio in the summer. Fantastic food, fantastic prices, and a fantastic chef make the trip so worthwhile.
9/10 all day every day.
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