val mandujano
- Jan 29
- 3 min read

Lobster in the Corner

If you're traveling to an island, it can be overwhelming to find the ideal place to enjoy fresh seafood. But if you find a place with more than four stars and also highly recommended by locals, the feeling is undoubtedly rewarding.

By Val Mandujano,

Jan. 25, 2021

The walls are fully covered in colourful car plates.

Some are from different provinces or from U.S., others are from Germany or Mexico.

Waiters walk in and out of Water Prince Corner Shop with lobster plates, soup bowls and cold water glasses.

On one of the wood tables in the center of the downtown Charlottetown restaurant, a man is waiting for his food.

In front of him, on the wall, there is a navy-blue poster with an illustration of an English Fish and Chips shop.

The memories of his childhood and of his mother using an apron with that picture printed on it made him cry.

After telling his story to Coady Campbell, owner of the restaurant, the fish and chips plate arrived at the table.

Campbell hears all kinds of stories every day from his customers.

Since it opened, the restaurant has kept its unique decor and it is full of thousands of details, like lobster wood crafts, shelves with collectible vintage cars, stuffed animals, framed photos and lots of seafood-related illustrations.

Campbell’s father, Shane Campbell, started decorating the restaurant after opening it in 1993.

“My father is an antique car enthusiast. He started to look for license plates that match (his) vehicles. In his search at a flea market or yard sale he found a plate, and he just picked it up for a couple bucks and all of the sudden he became a license plate collector,” said Campbell. “My mother didn’t want the license plates all over the house, so they had to go somewhere.”

Coady Campbell, along with his father, Shane Campbell, own Water Prince Corner Shop. They opened the seafood restaurant in 1993, and it has been a staple for tourists since it opened in downtown Charlottetown. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

The restaurant is a popular seafood spot in downtown Charlottetown, at the corner of Water and Prince Streets.

Before becoming the business, it is today, the family-owned restaurant began as something different: a lobster pound.

In 1984, Coady’s father and uncle opened a store in Pinette P.E.I, that sold lobsters out of a tank and other seafood. It was called ‘Pinette Lobster Pound.’

The business was doing good, so three years later they opened another store at Charlottetown airport.

Both shops sold retail and wholesale seafood products like lobster, mussels, crab and scallops.

But the rent at the airport started to increase.

Coady’s uncle, eventually closed the Pinette store, and they moved the ‘Airport lobster’ to the historic building downtown in 1991.

Two years later, the shop became a restaurant too.

VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

“It seems strange saying so now, but we had too much space when it was just selling seafood. We started a little lunch counter. We had 16 stools set up and we just served lobster rolls, seafood chowder, steamed mussels and steamed clams.”

Serving food worked out well, so they ended up setting tables in and out of the store.

The building where the restaurant is today was built in 1850.

It was a popular grocery store called “Prince Street Grocery.”

At some point it was also a dishwasher repair shop, and it was vacant when Coady’s father found it in the early 90s.

“It worked out well. Back in 1991 there wasn’t much here. We had the tourism centre here, very close to many hotels, it was a very very good location,” said Campbell.

Despite being seasonal, the place is one of the highest rated places to eat seafood in Charlottetown.

During summer, 70 per cent of its traffic is from tourists.

Mostly during high season, locals find it hard to find a spot to eat, but they still recommend it to visitors that are looking to try fresh seafood.

“Without the community there is no business. Although the locals are not always coming because it is too busy, they are always still sending people. Word of mouth is how we build the business.”

Regular customers, like John Steinsky, discovered the restaurant a few years ago.

“The first time I went there I was surprised how small the place is,” he said. “The ambiance is very authentic; it really makes you feel you are in the Maritimes.”

Steinsky recommends the Lobster roll and the Fish and Chips.

“I’ve been there a few times, and every time I’ve been there, I have to say the service has been very friendly."

Water Prince Corner Shop is open from mid-April to mid-November, but the store is open to sell seafood all year round.

VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO

“We’re very lucky that we have a pretty sound reputation. The business was built on honesty and hard work,” said Campbell.

The restaurant is planning to expand next winter, including a renewal of the kitchen to start doing take-out orders.

“Before Covid, we did very little takeout, our kitchen is too small, we were too busy, we’ve got all kinds of excuses, so we often didn’t do (it). When the pandemic came along, there was a stretch for a while that the only thing we could do was take-out,” said Campbell.