Mad Michael’s

Hit this place after hearing a lot of chatter abt it from fellow cottagers.
Dinner
Overall rating: 3.75÷5
Ambience:4.5/5 cute cottage feel to it with an outdoor patio next to a small stream.
Service: 4.5÷5 friendly staff, met the owner Michael as well who was checking in on the upatrons.
Food: 3.5 is this the best bbq we’ve had? No. But the food is yummy. The best spot in the area for a sit down meal. They are trying to be a bit inventive and unique. Tried the pecan pie which was nice, but I think they do better with banana & coconut cream pies. The bbq platter for two was good. Plenty for a couple.
Value: 3.5÷5 the bbq platter for two was decently priced (perhaps could be 5 – 10 $ lower). However, going by the prices (bottle & 5oz) for their wine, I think they are aiming at the TO audience. If so I’d try to select some bottles that are at least not easily available at the LCBO.
Repeat:Likely

We came here with friends and family while up at the cottage.
The setting is ideal for families. We sat on the patio and the kids loved going for a walk on the trail along the river and playing in the teepee. There are lots of interesting things for the kids to look at. Good points for ambience. The chairs are made of branches /​sticks and aren’t the most comfortable things you’ll ever sit on. A few persistent flies also dampened the otherwise perfect patio. Everyone there is super nice.
Our food order focused a lot on BBQ, with most ordering brisket and me ordering the Texas ribs. The BBQ is OK, maybe two stars. It’s not especially smokey. I found the brisket to be a bit too lean /​dry and didn’t see any visible barque (crusty outside you expect on a brisket). The BBQ sauce that came with it was good but it would have been nice to have a couple of choices, especially for those who found the sauce a bit too spicy. The pork ribs were not what you’d expect from «ribs». There was no rib bone. The Small plate (they were out of large) was three thick ¾-​inch-​thick slices of pork. I’m not sure exactly what cut it was. Like the brisket, I prefer more smoke but the smoke was more prominent than with the brisket with some pinkness as proof. The sweet glaze was good. I would recommend the ribs over the brisket. The sides were all good. Really liked the bake beans, cornbread was great, and the potato salad decent.
It’s a good stop if you’re in the area of the overall experience. Just set your BBQ expectations if you plan to compare it to hard-​core Southern BBQ.

Ok. This is the deal. Super cute country restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I give it points for charm as we were eating outside the pretty yellow building smelling the smoke from the smoke room next door. I had the brisket and am sad to report that it was disappointing… not very smoky and not really seasoned at all– verging on giggly and grey with only a small bit of BBQ sauce for flavour. I believe a tasty rub that would provide flavour and crust would make it much better. That said, the cornbread was sweet, moist and delicious. Other sides looked very good including the beans. I found the dessert equally disappointing– the crust is flaky but not flavourful at all (butter please!) and the cherry filling was a little dry. Would I return? Probably. Despite the food disappointments, it was quite reasonable and the atmosphere on a warm summer night was very pleasant.