Huron House tastes better than it looks
Huron House- 1345 Huron
Street
If you live anywhere near the corner of Highbury and Huron you've probably noticed the Huron House Restaurant located at 1345 Huron, nestled in the elbow of the plaza that includes Talize, a medical walk in clinic and Shoppers Drug Mart. Incidentally, the Huron House has been a part of that plaza for decades.
The Huron House attracts a loyal clientele, despite the general dinginess of the place that adds to the dining experience here. It is well known for their lunch and dinner buffets and the place is usually bustling during those lunch and dinner hours.
When visiting a place like Huron House I tend to take note of how many older people are dining there, and there was plenty the night I visited. I believe older people tend to dine out where they get good value for their cash and Huron House has that reputation.
I recently had the opportunity to rediscover Huron House after not dining there in over a year, and in this case absence didn't make the heart grow fonder. I coaxed a group that I was with into dining at Huron House despite the general trepidation of some in my group.
The Huron House's menu offers-up your typical diner fare with some roadhouse thrown in for good measure. Like a lot of diners, I got sucked into diving into the dinner buffet based on the variety, which included salad bar, buffet and dessert table.
I must admit I'm not one to really dive into a salad bar, heck if I'm going to get my calories I'll get them at the hot buffet. Despite this I took a gander and it was your typical salad bar, with a variety of greens, picnic salads like macaroni and potato salads etc, olives and items of that nature. If you've ever been to a salad bar then you know what I'm talking about and there was nothing out of the ordinary here.
The dinner buffet offered up roast beef, ham, souvlakia, ribs, chicken, mashed and roasted potatoes, and two types of pasta, one in a white sauce and the other a Texas chili lasagna concoction.
Being the glutton that I am, on occasion I sampled everything but the white sauce pasta. The ham was excellent and roasted potatoes were excellent, but I was a tad disappointed with the roast beef and the souvlakia. The flavour just wasn't there for me. The same goes for the chicken and ribs. Truly disappointing was the mashed potatoes, which were bland. The Texas lasagna was different but I'm not a big pasta eater either.
The dessert bar offered up a variety of desserts including cream pies, brownies, jello and some other offerings. Again the wow factor wasn't there for me, but for less than $10 what should I expect?
I left the Huron House kicking myself for not ordering the steak sandwich with the homemade fries that looked absolutely mouthwatering one table over. My first instinct though was to order my usual favourite hot turkey sandwich, which I have ordered on previous visits to the Huron House to great satisfaction.
I should also mention that Huron House is also open for breakfast and on Sundays they offer a Sunday Brunch. I've never been to Huron House for breakfast but it is typical of most breakfast places after scanning the menu, and pricing is what you would expect.
The saving grace on this visit was the personable wait staff, and more specifically the person working the hot buffet. You could see the pride in the food he helped prepare and went to great lengths to explain the dishes being served. His sincere thank you upon our departure was enough for me not to close the door on Huron House and to give them another try.
I suggest you give them a try as well, just don't make it a first-date place.
At the plate is a weekly column that features local restaurants, and in particular those that are close to Fanshawe. If you have any suggestions drop us an email.
If you live anywhere near the corner of Highbury and Huron you've probably noticed the Huron House Restaurant located at 1345 Huron, nestled in the elbow of the plaza that includes Talize, a medical walk in clinic and Shoppers Drug Mart. Incidentally, the Huron House has been a part of that plaza for decades.
The Huron House attracts a loyal clientele, despite the general dinginess of the place that adds to the dining experience here. It is well known for their lunch and dinner buffets and the place is usually bustling during those lunch and dinner hours.
When visiting a place like Huron House I tend to take note of how many older people are dining there, and there was plenty the night I visited. I believe older people tend to dine out where they get good value for their cash and Huron House has that reputation.
I recently had the opportunity to rediscover Huron House after not dining there in over a year, and in this case absence didn't make the heart grow fonder. I coaxed a group that I was with into dining at Huron House despite the general trepidation of some in my group.
The Huron House's menu offers-up your typical diner fare with some roadhouse thrown in for good measure. Like a lot of diners, I got sucked into diving into the dinner buffet based on the variety, which included salad bar, buffet and dessert table.
I must admit I'm not one to really dive into a salad bar, heck if I'm going to get my calories I'll get them at the hot buffet. Despite this I took a gander and it was your typical salad bar, with a variety of greens, picnic salads like macaroni and potato salads etc, olives and items of that nature. If you've ever been to a salad bar then you know what I'm talking about and there was nothing out of the ordinary here.
The dinner buffet offered up roast beef, ham, souvlakia, ribs, chicken, mashed and roasted potatoes, and two types of pasta, one in a white sauce and the other a Texas chili lasagna concoction.
Being the glutton that I am, on occasion I sampled everything but the white sauce pasta. The ham was excellent and roasted potatoes were excellent, but I was a tad disappointed with the roast beef and the souvlakia. The flavour just wasn't there for me. The same goes for the chicken and ribs. Truly disappointing was the mashed potatoes, which were bland. The Texas lasagna was different but I'm not a big pasta eater either.
The dessert bar offered up a variety of desserts including cream pies, brownies, jello and some other offerings. Again the wow factor wasn't there for me, but for less than $10 what should I expect?
I left the Huron House kicking myself for not ordering the steak sandwich with the homemade fries that looked absolutely mouthwatering one table over. My first instinct though was to order my usual favourite hot turkey sandwich, which I have ordered on previous visits to the Huron House to great satisfaction.
I should also mention that Huron House is also open for breakfast and on Sundays they offer a Sunday Brunch. I've never been to Huron House for breakfast but it is typical of most breakfast places after scanning the menu, and pricing is what you would expect.
The saving grace on this visit was the personable wait staff, and more specifically the person working the hot buffet. You could see the pride in the food he helped prepare and went to great lengths to explain the dishes being served. His sincere thank you upon our departure was enough for me not to close the door on Huron House and to give them another try.
I suggest you give them a try as well, just don't make it a first-date place.
At the plate is a weekly column that features local restaurants, and in particular those that are close to Fanshawe. If you have any suggestions drop us an email.
