The Dancing Goat Café and Bakery in Margaree, Cape Breton Island is the stuff dreams are made of. Imagine waking up to the quiet early morning light on a crisp day. Outside the forest air is full of frosty dew and you feel like you could be in the middle of nowhere, but you’re definitely in the middle of somewhere special. A short walk down the road you see a busy parking lot and racks of freshly baked goods in the window. You enter and there’s a warm, bustling café. You order a good cappuccino and breakfast and find a cozy seat. You are a tourist sipping away in a dreamy hideaway that happens to only be a short few hours from PEI as the NFL ferry sails and you will leave wishing you were a local so you could spend every morning like this. Breakfast is so delicious that you obviously have to order another cup to go and one of every sandwich for your hiking lunch. O, and also a bag of their famous oatcakes. By 11AM there’s a constant line of people young and old; tourists, locals, gals from Sydney on a brunch date, musicians, artists, truckers and American fly-fishers in hip waders.

If you only eat wheat once a year or something sad like that (I am mostly sad in this way), please make it here because you won’t regret indulging in the best old-fashioned sandwich this side of the earth. Although you get a choice of freshly-baked-that-morning bread it would be wrong to choose anything other than Porridge Bread. It’s a Cape Breton tradition courtesy of the island’s Scottish settlers.  FYI: My favourite is Chicken Tarragon but the Bacon Avocado is another crowd-pleaser. Hot Tip: They open early in the morning so before you head home don’t forget to stock up on souvenir bread for presents or for freezing.

6289 Cabot Trail, Margaree,
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, B0E 2H0 

(902) 248-2727

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