McLean’s Specialty Foods

Wow they have an amazing assortment of cheese. It is like cheese porn in here. Very nice people.

We have been to McLean’s numerous time when boating to Nanaimo, and we love it. It’s a great place to provision all kinds of special goodies for our trips, and to find fun items to bring back as gifts. We are obsessed with cheese, and their selection is simply awesome. The lunches are interesting and delicious. It’s a «must» when we visit town!

Although the staff at McLean’s was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and I did get hooked by the nostalgic story of the place, I was kind of unimpressed with McLean’s.
We got a LOT of stuff there, including crackers, pâté, cheeses, jams, and a bunch of other items, all of which sort of flatlined. Now, in McLean’s defense, the pâté and cheeses were the only things they brought in specifically under their name. And the place was EXTREMELY cute, and they served sandwiches, and the owner was friendly and on premesis, and they’d let you bring wine if you wanted…
…but really, everything flatlined. The fig crackers tasted like prunes. The sheep’s brie was overly strong in flavor, almost off-​tasting. The porter cheddar tasted like… plain cheddar. The pâté was bland.
One standout was a cheese (I forget the name) which had a line of gorgonzola down the centre. Really, of everything we bought, this is the only thing I’d consider re-​purchasing.
Now I don’t want to rule this place out based on one trip, but it *was* expensive (some of the crackers and jams were way over-​priced) and I *was* disappointed, considering how it’s touted around town as being wonderful.
I like to support local businesses, so I will be back to purchase a significantly smaller portion of cheese. Till then…