I can only imagine how busy Lake House Restaurant gets in the summer. Located at a convenient halfway point between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake, just off the highway, it’s an ideal stop for a meal either before or after a day of wine tasting… especially if you want to avoid the winery crowds.

During our late-winter visit, things were much quieter. The slower pace meant most tables were seated by the large windows, giving diners a clear view of the vast, albeit muddy, Lake Ontario.

If you enjoy condiments the semolina crusted calamari ($26) comes with four dipping sauces: sweet-curried aioli, sweet chili, basil pesto aioli, and sriracha aioli. It would’ve been nice if at least one packed a bit of heat, but they’re all tame, adding flavour without overpowering the squid. Thankfully, the semolina crust was excellent - crunchy, light, and not oily at all. The portion is generous and easily shareable between two or three people.

A newer addition to the menu is the short rib sandwich ($34), and it’s a good one. Large chunks of tender, flavourful beef are topped with sautéed mushrooms, crispy onions, arugula, and brie. The cheese adds a creamy richness that makes the sandwich stand out. The menu notes a horseradish aioli, but any zing from it gets buried under the slightly sweet braising sauce, which was too sugary for my taste. I would’ve preferred it kept more savoury. The sandwich is already quite saucy, and yet more sauce arrives on the side. Good for fries if you choose to switch the salad to spuds.

After hearing plenty about the Great Canadian Burger ($29), I couldn’t resist splitting one, though I ultimately wish I hadn’t. The short rib sandwich is better. The burger is hefty, with a thick beef patty that’s overly dense and heavily mixed, giving it more of a frozen-patty texture than the crumbly tenderness of a good homemade one.

The potato bun also struggled to hold up against the avalanche of toppings: grilled peameal bacon, cheddar, onion, tomato, arugula, pickle, and two sauces. I’m not sure why the kitchen insists on sweetening everything - the burger comes with caramelized onion bacon jam and a maple chipotle aioli, both quite sugary. If you enjoy sweeter savoury dishes, you’ll probably like it. Otherwise, I’d skip the handhelds.

On our weekday lunch visit, the restaurant was well staffed and attentive. Even though we never felt rushed, we were in and out within about an hour. If anything, the service bordered on overly attentive… during that hour we were interrupted six times by four different people checking if everything was okay. My suggestion: let the primary server handle most of the check-ins, and only have others step in if things get busy.

Lake House Restaurant nails the setting and hospitality, but the kitchen’s heavy hand with sweetness doesn’t always work. Still, for a scenic lunch break on the way to Niagara, it’s a comfortable and convenient stop.