But I digress... And the Toucan deserves better than me to be talking at length about holding feet (gag!). Considered Kingston's local Irish pub, The Toucan (website found here) is located - like many of our stops - in downtown Kingston; directly on Princess Street. Open since 1986, the pub prides itself on serving reasonably priced authentic pub fayre and having 22 draughts on tap. With deals like half-priced wings and half-priced nachos almost every night of the week as well as frequent live music nights, there is much more than beer drawing locals to this pub - then, you add flavourful food to the list, and it's a must-go.Oh - and you should also know that Arthur the bartender is "Mr. Twitter" and is apparently worth following.
The pub is small at first glance, but once inside, you'll notice that it stretches much further back than expected - one level in the front, and 2 levels in the back in addition to a comfortable patio that is open spring-fall provide you with lots of seating options. Ambiance and decor are... well... "pubby" - wood furnishings, bar as the focal point on the first level, a variety of wall hangings (including mirrored) advertising a variety of draughts, and music playing over the speakers on every level. For the record, Jordan thought that it was important to note that the music was really good, too - Beck, Wilco, Black Keys... good stuff. Perhaps the only drawback of the music was that as the evening got later, the music got louder; making conversation a little more challenging. That said, maybe a few pints would have helped the situation as we would have been more willing to get more "boisterous". :)
The menu at the Toucan has a pretty good variety - items you would expect from a pub, and some items (like the soup special for the evening - a curry coconut chickpea soup) that you wouldn't necessarily expect and perhaps leave you thinking that its nice they are willing to take risks. I have certainly heard of people repetitively going there specific nights of the week for specific meals, and that is never a bad sign, either.
So what did we order? Here's the run-down:
Tonia: Curry coconut chickpea soup to start; falafel in a pita with tzatziki and fries.
Shirley: (Good to have you join us again, Shirley!) Steak and mushroom pie: tender pieces of steak and fresh mushrooms in a beef wine sauce topped witih puff pastry and gravy, served with fries.Jordan: shared spicy Thai wings with Kendra to start. Fish and chips (haddock) served with fries.
Kendra: Chicken pot pie: comfort food classic; chunks of chicken with onions, peas and carrots in a rich cream sauce topped with puff pastry and served with fries.
Todd: Curry coconut chickpea soup to start. BLT with fries.
Carrie: Honey garlic chicken wings and a poutine (no one should be shocked by the latter).
Food arrived in good timing. Just enough time to have some good quality conversation (like the smell of bleach... how we got there, I don't know...) and catch up on everyone's weeks. Presentation: pretty good. Nothing overly spectacular by any means, but it is a pub after all. I don't think that anyone goes in to a pub expecting amazing presentation - just tasty fries. And, if you do go to a pub looking for amazing presentation... please let me know if you find it - I'd love to go.
Not only was food on the table in good time, but it tasted good, too - which is never a bad thing. We were all easily able to munch through our selections, and did our usual offers to share so that we could all sample different things. The big surprise on the table in my opinion, was the soup special. Curry coconut chickpea soup was greatly enjoyed by Todd and Tonia, and even I sampled and enjoyed it - which, if you know my tastes, is quite surprising (the combination of coconut and chickpeas in a bowl sounds pretty awful to me so I was happy to try it and be surprised).
And the scores...
Tonia: 4 forks. The soup was really awesome - super flavourful. The falafel pita was good in terms of flavour, but the falafel wasn't crispy. Pita would have been better in a wrap as it was quite messy and hard to eat. Tonia was happily surprised that she wasn't charged for a change from salad to fries.
Shirley: 3.5 forks. The beef in the steak and mushroom pie was tender and delicious, but the overall dish was a little too "doughy" for Shirley's liking.
Jordan: 4 forks. Jordan said it was "really good pub food". His fish was nice - crispy, light, flaky. The fries were great. The cole slaw was lacking creativity and was pretty ordinary (aren't we just becoming regular food connoisseurs?!).
Kendra: 4 forks. Kendra was happy with the food and the quality of the food, but said that she didn't feel "blown away" by anything. She expected more with the pot pie, but it was mostly just chicken - which is okay, but she was hoping for more of a variety of vegetables, too.
Todd: 4 forks. The BLT was really good. The bread they use for the sandwich is amazing (Todd said he loved it!) and the BLT was well balanced. Mayo was left to Todd to apply, which he liked. Todd also stated "most surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed the soup. I wouldn't have expected the whole chick peas to be good". I think that Todd's review was a little longer, but my note taking skills couldn't keep up with the speed of his chatter as he was 3 sheets to the wind at this point...
Carrie: 4 forks. Great poutine. LOVE the gravy. Seriously. L-o-v-e. Perfect amount of cheese (you know when you get a poutine and there is only cheese on the top, and eventually you're left with fries and gravy, which isn't what you ordered, so you're left disappointed? I don't like it when that happens... glad it didn't happen here!). The wings were tasty, but not as meaty as I'd like.
Overall score: 3.9 forks. Is the Toucan "Just a pub"? Based on that score, I'd say absolutely not. Go in for a drink, and be sure to bring your appetite. It's all worth a try.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! We look forward to meeting again at Darbar!
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| Cheers! |
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