Tom's Place

Do you ever find yourself thinking "I'd love to have appetizers that I don't need to make myself beside a fire that I'm not in charge of stoking"? Or perhaps, "If only I could eat dinner in a comfortable arm chair surrounded by taxidermy..."? 

Okay... maybe you've never had such thoughts come to mind, but just in case you have, or in case I now have you intrigued, then you need to check out Tom's Place. I'm not sure when I learned that Tom's Place existed... To those who know it, it is well known and definitely a favourite - for a snack or meal, for a drink, for TGIFs or an end of work-day drink with co-workers and friends. To others, it's a place they've heard of before, but while driving back and forth on Princess Street they wonder if their GPS is wrong since it's location is not well marked... And still others don't even know it exists. Competing for a table isn't my favourite thing in the world, but certainly, I don't mind spreading the word about Tom's Place and risking it. 


Tom's Place is located in the Best Western on Princess Street between Sir John A MacDonald Boulevard and Portsmouth Avenue. Also located here is the perhaps more well known (and certainly much better identified through road-side signage) Bistro Stefan. I will be completely honest as always and let you know that not only have I been to Tom's before, but I have been there a large number of times - and, working nearby, this is sometimes where I "land" at the end of a week. Certainly, it has become the "where we want to go when we want to go somewhere" place - in fact, I visited Tom's 2 nights in a row this week (please believe me when I say that this doesn't happen... I'm not completely obsessed!). With my fellow adventurers for the blog, and the night before with my friends Jen and Kendra (another Kendra... one of three - gotta keep readers on their toes somehow!) over some delicious nachos.

The opening of this blog entry eluded to the decor of Tom's, but perhaps I should paint a better picture. Certainly, it is one of the things that sets Tom's apart from any other restaurant in the city - at least that I know of - so certainly, it deserves to be part of the forefront of my writing. Picture a hunting lodge. I truly don't mean this in jest - I mean this as an honest-to-goodness real picture of what I think of when I'm there. The restaurant is split into two sections - a front area with a bar and seating on two levels, and a back area with two levels of seating. In the back area, the lower seating includes couches, chairs and coffee tables and the upper area includes large booths and bar height tables. In both areas, the upper seating includes tables with 4 cozy arm chairs. Imagine the most comfortable chair in your Grandparent's living room. Now move it to a restaurant. You're at Tom's. Of course, while the chairs pretty much rock and are kind of the best part, there is so much more that adds to the appeal. "Log cabin" walls adorned with old shot guns, taxidermy, vintage signage... Okay - maybe you're reading that and thinking "she did say 'appeal', right?"... But even if you're like me and you aren't an avid hunter or even a fan of hunting, it's really not a bad thing. It's just part of the experience... Besides - the lights (cool on their own - each beautifully crafted) are dim, so if you think you may be bothered, don't skip out completely - you can just keep your eyes on the prize (the menu, the food) and not think about it too much.  Or, just sit close to the fireplace and quiz your friends with the Trivial Pursuit cards provided at each table - that will do nothing but keep you cozy. 

So... How's the menu? For one thing, it's brief, which is quite nice. It seems that Tom's has picked a number of items that they feel they can do really well, and is sticking to them. Not such a bad idea in my opinion. It's pub food - starters, salads, burgers, sandwiches, and - while I didn't have them during this visit for ratings - what just may be some of the best nachos in town. There is certainly something for everyone - no matter how hungry you may or may not be. 

And what did we order? 

Carrie: Split a caesar salad with Tonia, Tom's Burger with cheese and bacon, side of poutine (Can hear my arteries crying? They do that from time to time...)

Tonia: Club sandwich (looking for a good club experience after Stooley's!) on light rye bread, side of fries.

Todd: Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich on rye bread served with french fries and gravy

Samer: Blackened chicken sandwich on focaccia with a side house salad served with raspberry vinaigrette

Jordan: Tom's burger with a side of fries

Kendra: Chicken wings with 2 sauces on the side for dipping - honey garlic and sweet hot sauce (Kendra loves her sauces!) served with a side of fries

The best thing about ordering food was how accommodating our server and the kitchen was. Poutine isn't even on the menu, and they made it for me. Wanting 2 sauces for wings - also not on the menu. Tonia said "no tomato" for her sandwich, and they said "sure" instead of what we sometimes hear - which is "sorry - the sandwich is pre-made". Oh - and, our server was nice enough to change the channel on the TV for me so that I could get my March Madness fix and watch Louisville barely survive Wichita State and make it to the championship. That in itself makes for a great experience in my books. Our glasses were constantly tended to, and the server continued to check in from time to time even after we had our food in order to ensure we had all that we needed.


How'd it all taste? Here's the run-down of scores:

Carrie: 4 forks. I really like the food here. There isn't anything overly special about the food, but the caesar salad was yummy and the burger I quite enjoyed. It was juicy and cooked well. The only drawback for me was that the gravy used for the poutine was a little watery - almost like it's the "au jus" for other dishes - and I like it thicker. Pretty darn happy that they gave me what they wanted, though.

Tonia: 3.9 forks. Tonia really enjoyed the club sandwich (phew!) - especially on light rye. She thought that the french fries were underwhelming, though, as they were tough as thought they had been sitting a while. The salad was "okay".

Todd: 4 forks. Everything was tasty to Todd, but the last reuben he had was better because it has more sauerkraut and sauce. The light rye toast was a good bread choice.

Samer: 3.75 forks. Samer just thought that 3.5 was too low, but 4 would be too high based on his experience. The not-so-positive part of his meal was that the blackened chicken wasn't blackened, sadly - more "rotated in stuff to make it look blackened"...

Kendra: 3.75 forks. Kendra really enjoyed the chicken wings. She was disappointed with the amount of fries, but thought that they were enjoyable. Kendra just wasn't "blown out of the water" on this night.

Jordan: 3 forks. For a burger, Jordan wasn't as impressed as he was at a burger joint like "The Works" - he felt he could have had a really awesome burger somewhere like that for about the same price and this one wasn't spectacular. While Jordan enjoyed the fries, there weren't as many as he'd like - he pointed out that serving the burger with the bun open meant that there is less room on the plate for a side. Jordan loved the atmosphere.

Overall score: 3.73 forks. 

So - should you go to Tom's Place? Hands down, yes. It can get quite busy there - so, especially if you are with a large group, be sure to make a reservation. Ultimately, whether you want just a drink or food to go along with it, you will sit more comfortably than perhaps anywhere else in town - maybe even your own living room. I don't know who Tom is - but I picture him sitting in an armchair in front of the fire place of a log cabin, dressed in flannel pyjamas under a cozy thick robe, holding a glass of scotch, pondering what book to read next from his expansive library. Now that's the life. Go on - join him.