Restaurant Review: Duke of York Pub

The Duke of York Pub, 39 Prince Arthur Avenue, Toronto; entrees between $5 and $16.

Chicken pot pie & sticky toffee.

A friend of mine (hi Amanda!) told me to go to the Duke of York pub when I put out a general call on Facebook for places to eat in Toronto, so on the list it went.  It helped that the Duke of York is virtually in the hotel's back yard, about a 2 minute walk.

Front of house

C'mon, it's a pub. You shouldn't expect a fine dining, or even a dining experience.  The wait staff were fantastic nonetheless. The hostess seated me promptly in a comfortable table near the bar.  My waitress, Dollie (this can not be her real name), was attentive and knowledgeable about the pub's food, offering me a couple of favourite options when I asked her what was good. she checked back on me a couple of times throughout the meal - not too often, but often enough that I felt taken care of.

Unlike last night, the food came promptly, exactly when I wanted it.

I had headed over to the pub a little before 6pm, and it wasn't at all busy; however, it really started picking up at about 6:30, and was just about packed by 6:45.

Main

Amanda told me to head to the Duke of York when I was in Toronto, but she didn't really tell me what to have when I got there. Since I'm feeling adventurous this trip, I decided to put my fate in Dollie's hands.  I asked her for her recommendation, of which she had a couple; I settled on the chicken pot pie, after toying with the butter chicken, which was supposed to be really good (chicken pot pie just seemed like it was more of a pub meal than butter chicken, despite Britain's love of curries).

I'm really happy I ordered it.  It was exactly what a chicken pot pie should be. The pie was piping hot and wonderfully flavourful, with a couple of surprising additions such as anise. The crust, the backbone of a good chicken pot pie, was light, tender, and flaky, and the pie - which, if I'm following the bodily metaphor is its lifeblood - was perfectly balanced to the pot pie.  It came served with a perfect mashed potato and peas. 

Dessert

When Dollie returned after I'd finished my main, she asked if I'd be interested in dessert.  As she started listing off the dessert specials, I told her I was putting myself in her hands, and asked her to bring me what she thought would be best. A few minutes later, she returned with a sticky toffee pudding.  It was just delightful.  Sticky toffee pudding isn't a very complicated dessert (but then again, what is complicated at a pub?): it's a sponge cake made with dates covered in a toffee sauce, usually served with ice cream.  But, like the chicken pot pie, it's brilliant in its simplicity.  The sticky toffee at the Duke of York, although heavy, was a great way to top off the meal.  Even better, the Duke of York makes their own desserts, rather than bringing them in from somewhere else. This really does make all the difference, folks, and shows you that the chefs actually give a damn about the food they're making.

Overall

I don't know if it was just in comparison to the dinner last night, the pretty mediocre conference food we had for lunch, the energy expended after a long day of talking and thinking, or if the chef of the Duke of York is just on his game, but tonight's was just a damned good dinner.  Although I do enjoy it, I think some chefs can get too complicated with their dishes, ruining the enjoyment of the food itself.  Sometimes, as the Duke of York handily illustrates, simple really is just best. And Dollie was, well, a doll. I'll be back before I leave Toronto.

But not tomorrow night, when I head to Mistura!