7 Best Restaurants in Central Coastal Drive, Prince Edward Island

Located within the excellent Dunes Studio Gallery, this café has wood ceilings that soar above the indoor dining room and a deck overlooking the dunes and marshlands of Covehead Bay. Like the view, the food offered by chef Norman Day is amazing, showcasing local ingredients with an international twist and some inspired combinations. Your main at dinner, for example, might be halibut coated with banana bread crumbs, with a sweet curried apple cream sauce or chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, sautéed apples, and bacon, with a cranberry cream sauce. Lunches are no less inventive, and meals can be taken in the lounge or on a patio overlooking the vibrant gardens. Reservations are only accepted for dinner.

Established in 1958, New Glasgow Lobster Suppers brings fresh lobster direct from a pound on the premises to your plate. Scallops, roast beef, salmon, chicken, haddock, ham, and even a vegetarian dish are other choices if you've already had your fill of crustaceans, or you can choose to have just an appetizer and dessert. All come with fresh rolls, steamed mussels, seafood chowder, salads, house-made desserts, and beverages. Bar service is available, as is a separate children's menu. The huge, bustling dining area can seat up to 500 guests, and it often fills up. Because turnover is fast, there isn't usually a long wait.

This down-home dockside eatery serves common fare in an uncommonly good way. Befitting its location, the seafood is very fresh: expect lobster rolls, scallop sandwiches, steamed clams, and such served with fries that are twice-cooked for added crispness, plus house-made sauces and 'slaws. Nonseafood options are limited. The upstairs room has a huge glass door onto the deck to open up the view to the interior. If you'd rather cook up your own feast, the adjacent fish market sells everything you'll need. If you're coming here to eat, you don't need to pay the park entrance fee—just tell the person at the gate.

In addition to the excellent oysters, this nice little restaurant has an eclectic menu that includes other seafood such as charred haddock, lobster rolls, and scallop dogs—as well as salads, sticky ribs, and jerk chicken. The caveat is that the little Landmark fills up quickly, so having reservations (or patience) helps.

There's nowhere better to enjoy world-famous Malpeque oysters than this casual, family-run wharf-side eatery right at the source—you can see their beds right outside the window. Oysters can be prepared several ways, but purists should just order a dozen unadorned (with a cold beer as an accompaniment), then slurp away. Chowder, steamed mussels, lobster rolls, and similar fare appear on the menu as well, and there is a retail outlet in case you want to take some seafood home.

One of the best spots on the Island to stop for a bite, the café at this preserve company has a soaring ceiling and two walls of windows looking over the Clyde River. Everything served is noted for freshness—even the ice cream is house-made. Particularly praiseworthy items include the savory potato pie with maple-bacon cream, and pan-seared scallops, which you could follow with a not-too-sweet raspberry cream cheese pie.

Avonlea Village may be all about Anne of Green Gables, but the branch of Samuel’s Coffee House in this historic setting is all about good coffee and house-made treats such as muffins, scones, soups, salads, and a delectable raspberry cream cheese pie.