Mettawas Station Mediterranean Restaurant

Absolutely gorgeous re-​use of a train depot! Six of us dined there for a family holiday dinner on a very snowy night. The service from start to end was utterly fantastic — lots of attention paid to detail, with drinks and meals delivered to the right person on the first try. We all ordered drinks, apps and entrees — we all ended up sharing bites because everything was so delicious. Standouts: lamb lollipops, pastas with tasty sauces, arancini (rice balls — became the joke of the evening) and a beautifully grilled steaks. I was torn between the veal marsala and the Chilean sea bass — very glad I chose the fish plate, though I’m itching to return so I can try the veal!

Mettawas Station Restaurant is in an interesting building (converted railway station), and we had a very nice dinner there. Tripadvisor reviews were pretty good for this place, but our experience exceeded our expectations.
The wine list is not long, but I liked that the wines are all local (it is wine country, after all!), and my husband and I each were happy with our respective choices of red wine. We had a couple of appetizers to start. The antipasto caprese was a fairly traditional caprese salad, and was quite good — light on the basil, though. The Sicilian arancini were also tasty — unlike some other versions we’ve had recently, these rice balls had no peas, and the sauce was served on the side. While not our absolute favourite version of this dish, we enjoyed it and I’d probably order it again next time we visit. We also split a «box car pizza pie»: the «simple pie» (pepperoni and mushrooms). The pizza was excellent — high quality pepperoni, nice seasonings, good sauce, and cheese. The crust was thin, and a little different from many of the thin-​crust pizzas I’ve had — a little crispier and bread-​like (yet not quite like the flatbread pizzas I’m familiar with). We couldn’t eat all the pizza — the arancini are filling — but I am pretty sure that the leftover pizza will make a great lunch tomorrow! Somehow, we still managed to consume dessert. We figured, how often do you get a chance to have carrot-​cake cheesecake with pineapple chutney? (This was the April monthly cheesecake feature, one option among other desserts that sound very decadent.) The cake is made in-​house, and was an interesting hybrid — 2 carrot cake layers and a cheesecake layer in between, cream cheese icing on top, and pineapple chutney on the side. That cake is one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time!
Service was great — friendly, attentive, and helpful. Prices were reasonable. Occasionally I found the TV above the bar area distracting, but overall, the place is relaxing and pleasant. If you’re in the Kingsville area, and in the mood for Italian (sorry, Mediterranean) food, I highly recommend checking it out.

Tried this place based on trip advisor reviews. I had the crispy chicken club on a wrap and shared a salad with my friend who had the chicken and apple quesadilla. My meal was ok, my friend said hers was just ok, but the apple tasted like canned apple pie filling which made it taste a bit odd. The turn-​off was the extremely slow service. There appeared to be only one waitress to cover both the inside and patio area sitting areas, but the place didn’t appear to be overwhelming. The lunch menu offered a decent variety of choices. The restaurant looked nice and clean and looks like it was a old train station in another life. The bathrooms are on the upper level and not handicap accessible. I would recommend this place to try, but not if you are in a hurry.