Blue Mussel Cafe

My wife and myself dined at the BMC on our last trip to the East coast. It was my third time but her first. I had her psyched for a great dining experience based on my previous trips.
Place was quite busy and we were told it would be 30 – 35 minutes. Turned out to be an hour but okay, we were on our honeymoon – no big deal. Then we sat down and ordered relatively simple fare. My oysters appetizer came right away .She did not have one. Then we waited 55minutes for our dinner. Our waiter told us at least four times that dinner would be right up.
Food was awful – my bay scallops were very small and my wife’s lobster mac’n cheese was just terrible. She said «I think they waved the lobster over the cheese!» What bothered us the most was that complaints to our server and the owner himself were met with very hollow apologies.
Owner said he’d make things right but we never saw him again before we left.
We dine out quite regularly. The BMC would match top any other bad experience!

Why is it that the best seafood restaurants are hidden away at the end of the pier or on some point jutting out to sea? Maybe the freshness of the food has something to do with it. Blue Mussel Café is at the North Rustico harbour and we just came upon it by taking a wrong turn. Lucky us.
I had the best scallops I have ever tasted. They are bay scallops, so small, but plentiful. But the sauce is extraordinary: butter, salt, dill, Chardonnay, cinnamon, allspice, red pepper flakes — apparently 12 spices in all, but they weren’t going to reveal the whole recipe. I asked for a spoon at the end to make sure that none was wasted and would have licked the bowl if I’d been alone. I even passed on dessert for fear of losing the taste in my mouth.
My wife had their version of fish and chips: pan fried halibut with potato wedges. The portion of fish was generous and delicious.
The service is excellent with the owner stepping in where needed. He told us that he had purchased the restaurant three years ago and I must say that he has done an excellent job in terms of staffing for both wait staff and kitchen staff. The outdoor seating looks out on the harbour, making it a pleasant place to have an evening summer meal.

One of the best seafood places I’ve eaten at and the service was great. Thanks Terry!

Not a huge 5 star guy but wow.
We stay in NR 2 weeks every year. This was our first time here, can’t believe we didn’t discover this place last year. We heard the location had gone through a few owners so we weren’t sure how it would be but the menu looked interesting and I was caught by the simple branding.
Great greeting staff. Seems like whomever is floating can take care of the table in all aspects, drinks, greetings, etc. our waiter was just perfect, very helpful, and very good at what he does.
The owner was making his way around the tables talking to everyone for a few mins. Turns out we have our original growing up place in common. I’m in the seafood industry so we chatted and geeked out on the seafood details. I really hope he makes it with this place, branding is relevant and perfect for the location, great alternative to the over priced meals around the corner.
My meal — chefs famous linguini. By far one of my top 5 meals in my last 5 years of travel. The musses were insane for how much you got for the cost. The beer choices of locals were perfect but the night aw made at my entrée. My wife had the haddock and as new englanders said it was the best she’s ever had, mainly the light breading coating, the owner gave us the peek-​a boo of how they prepare the haddock. Minimalistic but on point.
Can NOT wait to go back and will be our annual go to. Really hope he makes it he’s hooked us.

Best bloody ceasars ever!!!
Attentive service.
Good food and seating indoors/​outdoors.
Clean bathrooms.

This place is fantastic — the owner, his family, and the other servers are warm and friendly and they bring you some of the best, freshest seafood you’ll ever eat. The chowder is the best we’ve ever had — by far. $ 11 got us a huge bowl of steamed mussels that were so tender and flavorful. We also tried the «best of the sea» special halibut and that was so good too. Between the view, the food and the friendliness (they were also really sweet to our 4 kids) we would go back again in a heartbeat!

This was such a lovely restaurant by the beach and along the scenic route of PEI. It was highly recommended from our hostess in the bed and breakfast we stayed at, so we had to check it out.
The food was really good, the best chowder we have had in the 5 days of our vacation. The owners are really great and genuinely care for the food. The menu was heavily based on seafood. We had a little bit of everything, like the chowder, fish cakes and the lobster wrap. Everything was good, but boy, I felt like I should have just ordered 2 chowders instead, its hard to share when its so good. It does come out a little hot and I burned my tongue trying to eat it. Though, their drinks menu is a bit limited and not much of a cocktail selection.
The most interesting item on the menu was a Chocolate Potato Cake which was a rendition of a Chocolate cake but flour is replaced with mashed potatoes. We had mixed reviews about this dish, my other half loved it but I thought it wasn’t as sweet or as chocolaty as it could have been. As well as, it was a fun way to end our journey to the east coast.
Overall, we loved the vibe from the restaurant and the treasures it brings with the menu,

Chowder. Get it. It’s loaded with scallops, salmon, haddock, and mussels. I don’t even like mussels but this is awesome.
Great view, fast service, fuss-​free good food. What else can you ask for when you’re on vacation?

There’s so many things to like about the restaurant. We went for lunch on the way to Cavendish. Location is great. It feels so relaxing being in there and I guess the area is quite popular since I saw cars from all over US and Canada
We ordered the lobster dip for a starter and it was really delicious.
I forgot the name of my dish but had a bit of everything: fish, lobster and scallops. A real treat! Price is also reasonable for the location and the amount of food you get. I wanted an ice cream but I was full enough to skip. This place is definitely worth it if you’re driving nearby

Blue Mussel looks like just another seafood shack serving the usual collection of deep fried items. But this place has no deep fryer. The dishes and presentations are all still basic, and the environment quite rustic. Most of the seating is on a deck with a translucent cover. But the seafood is extremely fresh, and (not counting some classic PEI dishes such as Seafood Bubbly Bake) show what could be called respect for the haddock, lobster, shellfish, etc. The newish owner here is sensitive to the interests of his customers as well as to the condition of the over-​harvested fisheries upon which he and we depend. Get the mussels.

Today’s the first day of this year’s three-​day Halibut season. That’s relevant because three of our party-​of-​four was fortunate enough to order the halibut. The halibut that, this very morning, was swimming along just fine at about 13 miles offshore.
The Blue Mussel café is the perfect place to enjoy the first Halibut of the season. Seated Al fresco, we enjoyed the view of the shanties and the wharf in the distance. The dill sauce was a great accompaniment and the fish was cooked just right.
We kicked off this special dinner with the smoked mackerel as well as the steamed mussels. Incidentally, the mussels were the best we had the entire week!
It’s easy to understand how this joint packs ‘em in during the high season. We were facing an hour wait when we first came this past labour-​day weekend!
Curtis Murphy, owners’ son, came by the table and was very welcoming. Explained that Doiron Fisheries called them yesterday to be ready for halibut today — and when it came, they were sure to pick it up.
Have no doubts — this place is a winner.
May 22 — October 4.

Best meal we had in PEI all week although I am sure there are some other spots we haven’t tried which are great as well. Lobster roll looked and tasted great. My wife had a warp which was great as well. Good kids menu with a Krabby© Patty which was pretty tasty as well :-)

This place is AWESOME. Clean, colorful, right on North Rustico Bay…
We were there July 2015 for lunch with our three kids, visiting from Montréal. Had the lobster roll fresh and delicious, lobster dinner fresh juicy and delicious, and the kids had either grilled cheese or tuna sandwich, very generous portions. Delicious sides of potato salad and cole slaw. Seafood chowder soup outstanding, with home-​baked biscuit.
Desserts were original and outstanding: chocolate almond pie, chocolate potato cake, blueberry pie…
Had the locally-​brewed blueberry beer. nice!
I have already been recommending this place to my family and friends; the maritimes have been a popular summer destination this year for many people we know, because of the current US exchange rate.

We visit PEI annually and love trying different places each time we come. Some neighbours highly recommended this place even though it was about a 40 minute drive. However, my overall experience was very poor for such a highly recommended and rated restaurant.
The 6 of us arrived on a Monday night. The place was full and we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. No issue there, amazing views and a couple shops to wander through while waiting. Once we were seated, we were put in a small hit room right next to the washrooms, with no view of the bay, disappointing.
However, our orders were quickly taken and our drinks came. That’s about the last good thing. It took about 30 minutes for the appetizers to come and another 30 – 40 for our mains to come. I know 6 people is a good size party but over an hour is excessive. In this time we were very warm and being swarmed with flies and surrounded by many dead ones hanging off the walls. Not the most appetizing décor.
Once the food came I split some good crab cakes with my GF. They were flavourful and came with a tastey chow dip. However, the main course was much more bland. I got the halibut steak with potato salad. The halibut was bland with only some areas tasting of cajan or bbq seasoning and others of plain fish. With no sauce or dressing. The fish was bland and almost dry in the middle.
Most people in our party were fairly disappointed with the experience and the food except for the mussels and fried haddock.
Would not visit again especially with the travel time involved. I expected a certain level of cleanliness and flavour with 4 or 5 star average ratings. Idk if it was a bad day or why my experience was so bad but there are many other places I’ve enjoyed much more.

First time coming here after having heard it was a 4 star restaurant; it was extremely disappointing. The minute we walked in and sat down the restaurant was obscenely hot and very uncomfortable. There were flies flying around us the entire time we were there and enjoyed their pick of the litter from our scraps after the meal.
I started by sharing the crab cakes with my boyfriend, which were okay but were bland until we received the chow (a relish type dip) to put on top of the cakes. It came with crackers as well, which was a nice touch and different from the way I have eaten crab cakes before. The chow was delicious and I ended up using it to dip my garlic bread in because I found it didn’t have much flavour to it; could use more garlic next time.
For my main course I had the lobster dinner with potato wedges. The lobster was good and juicy but the wedges were quite tasteless and didn’t come with any ketchup or vinegar or any type of dipping sauce.
All in all there were ups and downs. The wait time was a bit long and other tables who sat down after us were receiving their food before we received ours. I enjoyed most of my food but I think some things can be improved upon for the future. On the fence of whether it is worth the drive to come here again.

Incredibly fresh, massive Raspberry Point oysters on a chill-​out deck. PEI Perfection.

We had the fortune of renting a cottage 20 meters away from this remarkable find.
I feel we could have eaten every single evening meal and lunch of our 7 day stay and still not gotten bored of the food. People clearly have travelled quite the distance across the island of PEI to get to this restaurant… I could see why.
It initially looks somewhat unassuming from the outside, but it is an absolute find when you get the experience.
No surprise that fish and all things PEI are featured on the menu, but I can highly recommend the portobello mushroom burger for those who don’t want surf or turf.
Nothing here is deep fried. The halibut was pan fried and the best my partner had tasted for some time. Oven roasted potato wedges, tasty vegetables are a great complement. The Blue Mussels «grown» right here in the bay were reviewed as the best they’ve tasted.
Though I didn’t try it, kudos for having chocolate/​potato cake on the desert menu… a blast from my past.
Highly recommended, I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m in PEI.

Great chowder, awesome smoked mackerel, nice cold beer, fair prices and friendly staff. The view is great. I cant wait to come back here.

Amazing view, food and service! Well worth the drive.

On a rainy July day the wait at the Preserve Company was over 30 minutes, so we drove off to find a lunch spot. There at the water’s edge was was looked like a classic «seafood shack» — the Blue Mussel Café. We opted to eat inside the tiny dining room, but a covered patio gives you a comfy area to sit along with a better view of the harbor.
I can only comment on the seafood chowder, which will set you back $ 12’for a large bowl brimming with mussels, scallops, and fish. It’s rich and filling, and comes with a large white roll that resembles a popover in looks (I wish it was warm!). Friendly service.