The Iron Duke on Wellington

I have said it before and I will say it again: I must be honest. And so, I will be honest... I have been to "The Duke" many times. I actually used to live down the street from The Duke. In fact, I was at The Duke so often that it was my personal goal in life to walk in and have people yell "Carrie!" the way that they did to Norm on Cheers. Sad, perhaps... But I'm not (entirely) ashamed to share. 

Did that happen? Unfortunately, no - but we were more recognized in due time. And sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came! 

So, why am I blabbering on about my history with The Duke? Well, much like other places along the 40-in-40 adventure, having a history somewhere means that naturally, I have pre-conceived notions about what the restaurant can offer me and how happy I might be at the end of the experience. In this case, my love for The Duke has ebbed and flowed much like the tides - for a long time, I absolutely loved it. Not only was the atmosphere alone something that kept me coming back, but everything I ate and drank also made me completely happy. And then... a time came where the menu changed (not drastically), and the staff changed, and thus, my feelings toward The Duke overall changed. Was I miserable? No; but I didn't necessarily prioritize going the way I had in the past - and then, I moved away from downtown, limiting the ease with which I had visited in the past and ending my dream of becoming Norm.  Over an extended period of time, I visited less than ever before, and while I felt satisfied, I stopped being "blown away" the way I had been in the past.  Heading into this leg of our adventure, therefore, I was keen to go back, but wasn't expecting a whole lot.

(Happily) I was wrong.

I'm not 100% sure why things felt different, but they did. Maybe it was a result of the nostalgia that settles in when you return to a place that holds so many memories... But ultimately, I think that more was going on. The menu has changed again - and again, not drastically - but just enough to make me happier (some items that were removed from the original menu were missed greatly and not replaced by things that I would enjoy - in this case, some nice options had returned or been added). The atmosphere continues to be comfortable and inviting - booths and tables encourage patrons to be social and the exposed limestone walls and wood beams with simple wall hangings add a nice touch. Simply put, I have been for minutes, and I have been for hours, and in all cases - like this visit, I have never felt eager to leave. 

So... what did we sit so happily eating? Here's the low-down:

Carrie: Caesar salad to start, Cheesesteak sandwich (beef, sautéed with onions and mushrooms in an artisan loaf topped with provolone), served with fries.

Samer: Blackened chicken (spice-rubbed chicken breast with guacamole, pico de galo, jack cheese and greens in a grilled flour tortilla) served with house salad.

Tonia: Caesar salad to start, Turkey club wrap (deli-slicd turkey breast, seed to sausage smoked bacon, sage aioli, tomatoes and greens in a grilled flour tortilla) with fries.

Todd: Greek salad to start, Grilled Cheese (maple-chili roasted butternut squash, aged white cheddar, balsamic glazed onions and sage aioli on whole grain bread) with the soup special - tomato and smoked cheddar.

The menu is brief, but certainly offers a good variety of options, and I would consider the items - especially the specials - to be slightly more "upscale" than other pubs (they are known as the "food lover's pub", after all). To me, it's food that says "our chefs know what they are doing in the kitchen" rather than "we know how to slap meat on a bun". That said, there was nothing more disappointing to me than the realization that the deep fried pickles have ceased to exist (huge mistake in my opinion), and there was great sadness to see the falafel wrap leave the menu as well (perhaps another huge mistake). All in all, though - we were quite happy with our food during our visit (not a huge mistake). Here are our scores:

Carrie: 5 forks. My meal was delicious all around. That cheesesteak may clog your arteries, but you'll certainly die happy!! Oh yeah - and the caesar salad was pretty rockin' too.

Samer: 4.5 forks. Samer thought that the garden salad was very good - giving special attention to the "strips of something on top" that were "very delicious" (we weren't sure what they were). He also really loved the sandwich, but sadly was disappointed by the pickle on the side, stating that it "sucked" and he "hates that flavour of pickle". (For the record, as a pickle lover, I have to disagree, but Samer is certainly entitled to his opinion).

Tonia: 4.9 forks. Tonia liked the caesar salad - the homemade dressing was really "yummy" - and she thought that the french fries are "pretty wicked". The aioli on the wrap was quite lovely and flavourful, and Tonia was especially happy because Samer gave her his guacamole. I think he should have also given her his pickle, since Tonia felt hers was too small and he didn't like the flavour anyway... but we won't give him too hard of a time.

Todd: 4 forks. Todd finished his meal and said that not only was everything good, but he also felt very healthy when he finished eating, which is pretty awesome. Todd felt that, relative to other 5's he's given thus far, he wasn't as in love with this meal since he could have made something very similar at home... he did order the grilled cheese after all.

OVERALL SCORE: 4.6 forks. Well done, Duke. Well done. I have no doubt that I will be visiting again some time. Maybe you can convince your fellow patrons to give me a shout out? Cheers.

Oh - and I suppose I should apologize for the lack of good pictures of the Duke - there was a big crowd and between that and the terrible lighting coming in the window, my phone just couldn't get good shots easily. I guess you'll just have to see it for yourself! (Or, check out some pictures on their website, here). 

Tune in next week for an entry on our visit to VIP!

Probably one of my worst photos to date... You need to go and check this place out!