Pour House Irish Pub

All day Wednesday I watched the snow bury my car by the parking lot.  By the time I finally went out to go home, I had about 20cm  of snow on roof of my frozen Civic.  It was rather funny that my  -20 C guaranteed winter ankle boots were useless as the snow were up my shins.  It felt weird to have toasty warm feet and wet freezing legs.  That night I was to have dinner with old friends from Ryerson.  For a fleeting moment, I just wanted to go hibernate after fighting my way out of the snowed-in parking lot.  But after the dinner and company I had at The Pour House Irish Pub, I am glad that I did not let the snow hamper me in.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Changing to warmer clothes and knee-high boots, I opted to take the subway to the pub.  I just had about enough white-knuckled-grips on my steering wheel driving home. It did help too that the pub was a short walk west of the Dupont station.  From the outside, the pub appeared small.  Getting inside, I was rather surprised how deep the restaurant was.  Way past the bar was another section with a decent amount of tables lining up the hardwood-panelled walls.  I am loving that fact as there was enough distance between tables to keep the noise level at bay.  I intended to catch up with what’s new with my old friends.  It sure would help if I don’t have to strain myself trying to hear every bit of info.

Despite the long list of beer on their tap, I chickened my way out and ordered gin&tonic. I tend to get too sleepy when I have a beer.  For food, I opted for what the server recommended.  She told me that their frequent customers always came back for their Cottage pie, Angus beef stewed with carrots and peas, Guinness and fresh herbs topped with cheddar mashed potatoes.  When I heard what it was all about, I could not resist ordering it.  I thought it was the perfect dish on a frigid, cold night like Wednesday.  Natalia went for their Bison Meatloaf, which sat prettily on top of mashed potatoes stuffed with kale and crowned with crispy fried onions.  Afshin picked the other pub favorite, Fish and Chips, fried in their crisp Kilkenny cream ale batter.

When my food arrived, it took some willpower to pause to take pictures.  The waft of woodsy Rosemary from my stew made it difficult to concentrate.  Comfort came a few minutes later in the form of a perfect bite of beef, soaked in robust gravy and perfectly crusty-yet-soft mashed potatoes.  That bite really paid off for the toiling that I had to do to keep my sense of humor with this long dreary winter.  Comfort food like that Cottage Pie ended the day right.

After a night of good food and good company of my friends, I hope my luck would not run out when I start wishing for an early spring. :)