Northern Bear Golf Course has been clever in keeping their business up in the off season. During the season, the food is here excellent and they have played off of this feature by having theme dinners on Friday nights. I went to the Nova Scotia themed dinner with my husband and parents and was not disappointed. With that experience in mind, I had high expectations for this theme dinner- Maple Inspirations.

*Please note that this dinner occurred prior to the new COVID-19 restrictions put in place in Alberta on December 8, 2020*

The ambience of the club house at Northern Bear is cozy, rustic, but still has a feel of classiness to it. The large wooden beams with high ceilings make the room feel huge. The actual dining room is gorgeous; a dimly lit room with fire place, and again the same wood features. Fun fact, we had our wedding reception in this exact room! (the food was made by Northern Bear for our reception and was awesome, but I digress).

The meal started with a simple Field Greens Salad with toasted pecans, red onions and a maple vinaigrette. It was what I expected- a simple salad. The maple came through a bit in the vinaigrette, but I wouldn’t have recognized the light flavor if I did not know it was there. The pecans were the star of this dish for me; lightly toasted, adding a slight nutty flavor to the bitterness of the greens.

A Maple Roasted Carrot Soup was next. This beautiful dish was drizzled with crème fraiche adding a layer of sweetness to the already delightfully sweet soup. The consistency of the soup was perfect. Thick and creamy. The maple flavor came through beautifully, bringing out the sweetness of the carrots. As I stirred in the crème fraiche, each bite was a surprise if I would get a taste of this decadent cream. Needless to say, this was the best part of the meal for me. It may have even inspired me to add some maple to my next batch of carrot soup!

For the main course, we were served a Roasted Pork Tenderloin with hassleback potatoes, seasonal veggies, topped with a maple whisky jus. I don’t know about you, but in my ventures of cooking pork I have always had issues of keeping it tender, while making sure it’s done. The chef at Northern Bear clearly does not struggle here! The pork was incredibly tender and juicy. I almost had myself questioning if it was pork! The maple whiskey jus was good, however I would have liked a bit more of the maple flavor to have come through. The veggies were excellent, and while the pork was clearly the main feature here, I would argue that the vegetables earned an honorable mention in their performance.

Dessert was a classic- Apple and Maple Pie with vanilla ice cream. I certainly have had better apple pies in my life, and the apples were a tad underdone for my taste, but it was still a great ending to this excellent meal. The maple was more noticeable in this dish, which I appreciated. Oh and the ice cream was to die for. What can I say, I’m a sucker for some good vanilla ice cream.

Overall, this meal was excellent. Perhaps the chef was worried about overdoing it, but I would have liked to have the maple flavor be more evident in some of the dishes. The Carrot Soup was easily one of the best soups I have had in my life, I would even hazard to say the best soup I have had in my life! (sorry Mom).

I am looking forward to attending the next theme dinner at Northern Bear and experiencing the excellent dishes created here. I would highly recommend these theme nights to anyone looking for something a little different in their eating out adventures.

Now, to figure out how to recreate that delicious soup…