Shediac, NB

by Alain Bossé

What do you do if you’re in Shediac, NB and you’re hosting 300 of your closest friends for dinner and the menu consists of poutine rapée and baked beans? Or maybe it’s just you and you have a craving for fricot like ma mère used to make; what to do? The answer is the same in both cases. You visit Menu Acadien!

Opened in July 2006 by Dale Lamberton and her mother Joanne Boudreau, Menu Acadien was born from the desire to be close to family and friends after Dale and her husband Jeff’s youngest daughter was battling an illness that saw her spend three weeks in the ICU at the IWK children’s hospital. The family had been living away and the experience made them realize that there truly is no place like home. Dale and her mom talked about a business and decided to open an “NB style canteen.” These are smallish structures with a takeout counter and small eating area, typically not fancy, but known for good, honest food. Once started, the passion for cooking took over and they decided to go with Acadian meals to do something different and authentic.

Dale tries to source local food whenever possible and prides herself making everything from scratch with good ingredients. She will not serve anything that she and her mom are not proud to be making and they enjoy seeing people come in to experience a part of the Acadian culture. They specialize in rappie pie, baked beans, fricot, and fish cakes but also do great seafood (clams, scallops, fish, lobster rolls). The menu is very diverse and there is something for everyone.

Menu Acadien is seasonal, but Dale and Joanne do take pre-orders for their famous Acadian meat pies; of which they will make between 4,000-5,000 pies in the fall. They are all made from scratch with local ingredients, and they offer turkey and hamburger pies as well as Acadien tourtière.

Menu Acadien is located at 55 Chemin Ohio, Shediac, NB and is open daily 11am to 7pm.