The Pepper Mill Steak & Pasta House located at 15141 Hwy #35 in Minden

After checking in and settling into our villa, we went out for dinner at The Pepper Mill Steak & Pasta House in Minden, Ontario.  Since our breakfast brunch that morning was just a relatively small one at Goldsor Restaurant, most of us were starving by the time it was 5 p.m. when we were scheduled to have dinner.  Unfortunately, many of our friends were checking things on the computer and we didn’t actually leave to go for dinner until 6:30 p.m.  I was starving.  Anyone who is starving is not good company to be in.  There’s something called “hangry” that I think some people might know about. 😉

A very nondescript restaurant from the outside

Anyway, when we got there, after a 15-minute or so drive around the small lake to get to this restaurant, we were thankful to get a big table for all of us.  The restaurant was relatively empty as you can see in the picture here, but about 10 minutes after we were seated, the restaurant was packed!  This seemed like a very popular restaurant for the locals to dine at considering how full the restaurant got!

On the inside though, it looks so homey and cozy! I could have stayed in this restaurant for a long time just to eat because I felt so comfortable here

Menu

The Pepper Mill Steak & Pasta House is a restaurant that specializes in steak and pasta; hence the name.  They had a couple of pasta and steak specials going on that night.  All of their dinner dishes came with a soup or salad.  I was pretty excited to try this place out (and blog about it!).

I usually don’t order steaks, but since I was absolutely famished and starving, I chose the Steak & Seafood Trio which contained an N.Y. striploin with garlic boiled tiger shrimp and Ocean Bay scallops.  I chose the soup which was a clam chowder (I love clam chowders!).  You could choose salad (garden or Caesar) or soup (clam chowder).  The entree is also served with the vegetables of the day and a choice of fries, Alfredo noodles, wild rice, or potato of the day.  I chose the Alfredo noodles.  Again, normally, I probably would have chosen fries, but since I was starving and wanted something carby and substantial, the noodles was a good choice.  Also, since this was a pasta house, it meant that I got to try both their well-known steaks AND their pasta.  Joy! 🙂

Garden salad

Clam chowder soup

The server did a really good job taking all of our orders and making sure everyone’s preferences were written down in her notepad.  She was really sweet too.  Our soups and salads arrived quickly and I scarfed down the clam chowder soup SO quickly.

The clam chowder soup was a very decent portion too for a starter soup.  It was creamy and so delicious.  I don’t know if it was because I was hungry that I found it so delicious, but I would say that it was one of the best clam chowders I’ve ever had.  It was just perfect.  I added in some crumbled crackers too and it just made the dish even more perfect.  I actually finished my soup before some of the guys at our table did — you can definitely tell how hungry I was.

After our empty soup bowls and salad plates were cleared, we eagerly awaited the arrival of our entrees.  Unfortunately, we ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour for all the dishes to arrive.  I’m not sure why it took so long, but it was definitely a long wait.  Luckily, the restaurant provided crayons for you to draw on the table mats if you so choose to, so some of us drew some things on the table mats or played tic tac toe.

When our mains arrived, we were impressed with the portion sizes.  They were huge!  Everyone’s plates looked amazing and full of colour.  Bon appetite! 🙂

Seafood Marinara. $18
-fettuccine noodles sautéed with tiger shrimp, Ocean bay scallops, combination crab meat, rainbow peppers and portabella mushrooms and tossed in tomato marinara sauce

Pepper Mill Pepper Steak (8 oz.). $25
-centre cut 8 oz. N.Y. Striploin steak seasoned with fresh cracked pepper and smothered in homemade V.S.O.P. Brandy peppercorn sauce

Mixed Grill. $21
-try them all! Combine a tenderloin medallion, 1/4 rack of ribs, a country ranch pork chop, and 2-3 ounces of grilled chicken breast with potato and vegetables of the day

This was Sereen’s pasta; don’t know what it was exactly…

Steak & Seafood Trio (6 oz.). $26
-N.Y. striploin matched with garlic boiled tiger shrimp and Ocean Bay scallops with Alfredo noodles and vegetables of the day

With freshly grated cheese and pepper!

I asked for my N.Y. striploin steak to be done medium rare, but it arrived more as medium instead of medium rare.  The meat was seasoned well and not bad for a little town steakhouse.  I found that the the meat was a little more rough than I liked it to be (due to it being medium).  The shrimps were also not bad; a tad overcooked for my taste buds.  The Alfredo noodles were actually really good!  I liked that they gave me a spoon so that I could swirl the noodles perfectly in my spoon — very civilized way of eating pasta, I think!

I wasn’t a huge fan of the long green beans because they were very thick-skinned and I found it hard to chew through.  It did mean that they were full of fiber though.

Many of us felt full upon one third into the plate.  The portions definitely were huge!  Some of the people who ordered pasta found it difficult to finish all those carbs so they packed the rest of it to go.

All in all, it was a good night to dine out at a little small town steak and pasta house.  It was a good price for the food and portion that we got.  The only minor mishap was the amount of time that we had to wait for our food, but the wonderful company and delicious food made that part pale in comparison.  Yay for travelling and getting to explore new restaurants that most people don’t know about! 🙂