Bonavista Social Club - King's Cove

My husband and I were travelling on a very hot day. We had run out of water, and so we stopped at the Bonavista Social Club just to get something to drink. We told the server that we did not have a reservation, but only wanted something to drink. The server turned us away ! This is so unlike typical Newfoundland hospitality. Very unkind and unfeeling. We would never think of returning.

If you're in St. John's during Spring and Summer, it's definitely worth a trip up the Bonavista Peninsula to this unique restaurant. You'll get to enjoy wonderful pizza and other seasonal fare. Their menu is posted online. Many of the ingredients are grown on the restaurant's hillside garden. It's not unusual to see whales. They serve alcohol (indoors). You can eat inside or outdoors. I recommend eating outside. In season, it's open from 5-8, Tuesday through Sunday. Make a reservation.

Food was fantastic, two pizzas, gluten free pesto pasta and moose ragu. Moose ragu was mine and it was fantastic, so fresh and delicious. Kids all had desserts and loved those too. It was a long wait for table but understandable with their popularity and the food was certainly worth it. Love the atmosphere and view was awesome.

The restaurant is a little bit out of the way but really worth the drive. It's right by the coast so the area is pretty scenic. The restaurant is a little small and they don't take reservations. There's seating out front with a view of the water Menu wise, there's pastas, sandwiches and pizzas which is what they're known for. You can choose a base of either pesto or tomato and pick individual ingredients. I had the pesto with bacon and caramelized onions (the latter is delicious). My partner had the tomato pizza with mushrooms and caramelized onions. Both were tasty. Apparently some of the ingredients are from the garden in front of the restaurant! I'm not sure about the sheep roaming around though it wasn't on the menu. Service was great. All in all great meal.

After eating a bunch of very mediocre meals in rural NL, we had pretty much decided to stop spending serious money on food. Fortunately, we changed our mind and made an exception because this was an awesome meal. After a long day hiking, we ordered a ton of food to share between the two of us, including two pizzas, the cod with salad and carrot cake. Simply put, everything was excellent. I want to specifically call out the cod as it was essentially perfect. Fresh and flaky with a side of crispy fries and a salad made from lettuce picked from their garden, this was a dish that would stand out in any high end restaurant in a big city. What's even more amazing is that basically nobody in the restaurant was ordering it, opting to stick to the pizzas for which this place is justifiably well known. When your fresh fish dish is not being ordered even though you're located on the ocean and it both looked and tasted incredible, you know you have a strong rest of your menu!