The Study Hall

We loved the food at this new place. My husband had a brisket sandwich which he said was probably the best brisket he has had yet. Juicy, tender and flavourful. Our compliments to the Chef! It was accompanied by a caprese salad which was also very tasty. I had the fish and chips, huge portion, coleslaw included. Had fun trying to put names to all the faces on the wall. Our waiter was pleasant and welcoming! Will definitely be back again!

The Study Hall is a very special place.
It was the day before Valentine’s Day, and it was profoundly cold in Orillia. We wanted a nice dinner but nothing ridiculously fancy. I remember for some reason hearing about this place the last time we were in town, but didn’t go in. So this time we decided to give it a shot.
It’s got a nice, elegant ambiance, decorated with a vast array of black and white portraits of famous people. It was a fun bit of entertainment for Lee and I to identify the people.
They’ve got all local beers on tap, which was pretty nice.
We started with their poutine, which to be honest is less poutine than it was cheese-​and-​gravy fries, but that’s because they used shredded cheese and not curds. Other than this, it was one of the best gravies I’ve had in a long time, rich and meaty. There was shredded aged cheddar, which melted to a creamy consistency.
They had a few Valentine’s Day specials, one of which was a surf and turf of steak and shrimp. Lee ordered that and I had a bite of his steak, which was … really quite incredible. It had a wonderful smoky seasoning. The NY strip was cooked perfectly to medium, and it was a really good quality of cut. Lee proclaimed that it was one of the best steaks he’s had in years, and I couldn’t disagree.
They had cod fish and chips, which I decided to order on a whim. It was good, not completely outstanding like Lee’s steak, but it had a good crunchy texture, with a really good dry coleslaw, and more of the great fries that came with our poutine.
We decided to skip dessert since we had some back at our AirBnB, but I am sure it would have been fantastic. I would definitely love to go back here again!

I tried the brisket sandwich and it was amazing. Tender, flavourful. So delicious. The fries had unfortunately absorbed too much oil and they were brittle on the inside instead of potatoey.
Service was incredibly slow and a bit cold.
I would come back for the brisket and order a different side.