Old Mill at Ashton

We had a chance to go out to the Old Mill at Ashton with some friends.  I have been here before a while back.  The place is an old mill in Aston Station just west of the city that has been transformed into a micro brew pub.  The style inside is of a very European country-side style pub, and comes along with plenty of soccer(football) decor.  There was a small patio outback as well as a decent amount of seating within the main area.  We ordered some of the beers, while the boss and our friend ordered a cute flight that came in a mini-truck.  I thought this was a very nice touch!

For food specials, they had a cajun fish and chips which three of us ordered and there was the classic bangers and mash.  The food was very tasty.  The fish was very nicely battered with the cajun spice noticeable but not overpowering.  The bangers and mash was flavourful and was what you would expect for an english pub.

The beers were also brewed quite well.  I have been on a stout binge and was very satisfied with what they served as their stout.  The service was friendly, helpful, and with a smile.  If you are in the mood for some classic pub fare and good micro brew, I would very much recommend checking this place out.  We hope to be back soon!


Review (out of 5):
Food: * * * 1/2
Value: * * * 1/2
Atmosphere: * * * 1/2
Service: * * * *
Price: $7 - $20
Website: http://ashtonbrewpub.ca/

Beer Works - Boston

Waiting for our tour of Fenway Park, we saw and notices a big sign at one of the places just outside our gate that had the word "Beer".  On a hot sunny day, that caught our attention, so we went over to check it out.  Sure enough, it was a craft brewery local to Massachusetts.

When we went in, our server was very knowledgeable and friendly.  We told him we were on a timeline, and he had no issues to make sure we were going to make our tour in time.  He also knew his beers on tap.  We each explained to him what beers we liked, and ask advice on what beers would be unique to this location.  They had on tap a couple different fruit beers.  There was two blueberry beers, which is apparently the beer they are most known for.  One of those blueberry beers was the original one they made, back by special request.(I can see why, this one was the better of the two)  There was also a watermelon beer that came with a big wedge of watermelon.  This was also a very light and excellent for a hot summer beer.  There was also a good selection of reds, browns, stouts, and pilsners.  All of the beers were excellent in flavour and each had its own identity and balance of flavours.

We did not have time to eat any meals, but we did get some quick munchies of pretzel balls, spicy peanuts, and potato sticks (Home made hickory sticks).  It was a good addition in having something salty with the beer.  The menu itself looked good if we had more time, with lots of selection of your typical pub fare.

The restaurant itself was open and spacious.  There was plenty of TVs with baseball on (it was next to Fenway), and had a "steel mill"/industrial vibe to it.  In the entry way were the big vats of beer they were brewing. 

The prices were a little high.  But that was expected due to the location by the stadium.  If we get a chance to be back in that area, I expect to be back to sample more beers and the menu!

Review (out of 5):

Food: N/A
Value: * * * 1/2
Atmosphere: * * * *
Service: * * * *
Price (dinner): $7 - $20
Website: http://www.beerworks.net/

Mill Street Brewery Part Deux - Ottawa

With the great weather we are having, we felt like visiting one of our favourite micro-breweries and enjoy the patio with some good friends.  This time, we had more to eat than drink, which suits this blog a little more.

Since I have already reviewed Mill Street already, I will not go into detail about the facilities part.  The beers are still tasty and this time, I was able to take a picture of the pulled pork nachos.  So tasty!  The service was once again great, and we were checked in with a few times to make sure the food was good and the beers were full.

For meals, around the table, we had the chicken club, the turkey cobb salad, fish and chips and I had the tortiere. The cobb salad was very tasty.  The chicken club was huge!  The boss only ate half of it, which meant I got the other half for lunch!  Yum!  I felt that it was a good combination of all the toppings, and extra bit of roasted garlic added that extra touch.  The fish and chips was battered perfectly, with a good balance of batter and fish and with plenty of flavour.  Lastly the tourtiere was spiced very well.  I know it is a dish best eaten over the winter, but I had a craving for some baked meat pie.  The tourtiere was served with green peas, which sadly was over cooked.  The fries that everyone else had were very fresh and tasty. 

Overall, the beers and the food was great.  We still will be going back :)

Review (out of 5):

Food: * * * *
Value: * * * *
Atmosphere: * * * *
Service: * * * *
Price (dinner): $8 - $26
Website: http://ottawa.millstreetbrewpub.ca/frontpage

Big Rig Brew Part Deux

We recently went back to Big Rig with some friends who have not yet had the pleasure to try out the new west-end brewery.  I have already reviewed this place a few weeks ago, so I will not go into the details there, but I did want to update on the food and service from this time.

I had started with a cheddar and Ale soup which was presented very nicely and tasted very good.  It was rich, but not too rich, and made a nice start to the meal.  I had ordered the Chicken pot pie there, one of my favourite meals.  I felt disappointed with the pie because it lacked seasoning.  It may have had to do with the rich soup I had before, and that may have messed up my taste buds.  The contents of the pie itself had big chicken chunks and lots of veggies.  The pastry was flaky and for bonus points, even the bottom had pastry!

The "boss" had the spicy blue cheese burger.  The bun was toasted perfectly, the toppings were fresh and lots of flavour. The burger patty was not memorable.  It was not bad, but there was an expectation for a little more.  Our friends ordered the fish and chips and the Big Rig classic Pizza.  The fish and chips came out perfect.  There was a good balance between batter and fish, the fish was still juicy and the batter was crispy but not over cooked.  The pizza was actually very good.  I was sceptical about it when I saw it on the menu, but they did an excellent job on the quantity of pizza, the amount of cheese and toppings. My friend does like his pizzas to have extra sauce, but that was more of a personal preference.

Once again, we still ran into issue with the service and what seems like them being understaffed.  I still did not get offered ketchup.  When asked for an extra utensil, the server forgot it.  I still do not feel that it was the server's fault, as they looked overwhelmed.  More staff in this case may help give a better level of service in my opinion.

Overall, the food was still very good.  It was a little bit of a miss for me, but others still seemed to very much enjoy their meals.  The beer here is always great, and they need more help still in the service department.  They are still pretty new, but that excuse can only last so long.

Review (out of 5):
Food: * * * *
Value: * * * * 1/2
Atmosphere: * * * * *
Service: * * * 1/2
Price Range (dinner): $15 - $35
Website: http://bigrigbrew.com/

Mill Street Brew Pub

I have always been a big fan of the Mill Street Micro Brew's.  In one of my trips to Toronto, we dropped in for a visit to the brewery there and it was packed, but we still had time for a quick beer.  When I heard they were opening one up here in Ottawa, it was a constant check to see when they would be opened.  I sure hope I did not over hype them up!

The location in Ottawa is where the old Mill steakhouse used to be.  There is a great view there of the river and plenty of parking.  Inside, the restaurant has a very modern feel to it, wood and stainless steel, two floors, two patios, two bars, and a glass encasing of the brew tanks.  When we sat down, they have their food menu and their drink menu for all the beers they serve.  The Portage, Chaudiere and the Irish Red are the only three brewed in Ottawa, and are exclusive for this location.  They have an option for a sampler flight of 6oz or 8oz glasses to try out different beers.  This is an excellent way to sample everything at not much extra cost.

When it came to the food, we had tried regular nachos, and pulled pork nachos.  I was a little scared when I was first told about the pulled pork nachos, but it has become one of new favourites!  The combination of the sweet pulled pork sauce with the salty nachos make for a very tasty appetizer which came in a very good size.  Also had was the chicken poutine, which garnered some mixed reviews.  I enjoyed it very much, while some did not feel that the curds were fresh.  Also of contention was that the gravy was not the proper dark gravy, but with the chicken, I thought the light gravy went well.  It comes down to personal preference at that point.

I had the chicken pot pie for an entree, and I have to say, it lived up to my expectations for a chicken pot pie.  The crust was flaky and there was big chunks of chicken and lots of veggie goodies inside.  The "boss" tried the piggy delight flat bread.  It was a good size, had a good amount of toppings and was very enjoyable to eat.

I have to say that when I get a chance to come to Mill Street, it was always a treat.  I would come back for sure.  If you get a chance to go on the brewery tour, it is worth it, just to get a chance to chat with the brew master, and go into the depths of the brew tanks.  It is free and only takes 15 mins.  The place does fill up quickly and can be difficult to get a table at times, so if you can show up early, it can save yourselves a headache.  With the nice summer weather, there is quite a bit more seating with the patio's open, so it is not as much of a problem.



Review (out of 5):
Food: * * * *
Value: * * * *
Atmosphere: * * * *
Service: * * * *
Price (dinner): $8 - $26
Website: http://ottawa.millstreetbrewpub.ca/frontpage

Big Rig Brew

A new micro-brew pub opened up recently in the west end by current Ottawa Senator Chris Phillips.  This peeked our interest as this fills a big gap in the west end for a micro-brew type location.  We went on a Sunday around 6 and it was still a 30 min wait.  To pass the time, we took a seat at the bar to have a drink and try out some of their brews.  It was $7.50 for a sampler of 4 types of beers, which I thought was very reasonable.  At the time, they were serving 5 types of beer:  the red, the gold, the brown, the stout, and a seasonal weiss beer.  None were disappointing but one of the beers came out ahead easily as the #1 consensus, which was the brown.  There was even a giant board reporting on what beers are available, and what beers are being conditioned and coming up soon.  Very nice added touch.

Me enjoying my Philly Grilled Cheese and the Brown Beer.  YUM!  (Thanks to C. For the photo)

The food was very delicious and tasty.  We decided to start with the Big Rig Pulled Chicken Nachos.  The nachos were tasty but a little disappointing.  The chicken looked like diced chicken, not pulled chicken and was nothing special.  The Canadian Tortiere had lots of very good spices and flavour.  Good’a Chicken & Avocado was an excellent combination of flavours and Philly’s Grilled Cheese & Beef was plentiful and also an excellent choice. For it, it was true, I did need to eat the meal with a knife and fork.  The later two came with fresh cut fries that were seasoned just right and crispy, just the way I liked it.  The tortiere came with some mixed veggies that left a little more to be desired.  The deserts sounded delicious, but the food was good portioned that we had no room left for sweets.  The table next to us was celebrating a birthday and they brought out a giant fresh baked cookie for them.  It smelt wonderful and was a really nice added touch.  It did come out on a tin pie plate, and I know I am being picky, just doesn't seem to fit the rest of the atmosphere in the restaurant. 

When it came to the service, it seemed like the staff was overwhelmed.  It took 20 mins at the bar to settle up so we could take our seat at the table.  When ordering, the server forgot the addition of a side upgrade and did not get the right information from the kitchen on what the side veggies were.  There was also no ketchup offered for the fries.  Albeit they have only been open for just over 2 weeks, I would expect the staff to become more experienced over time and these small kinks work themselves out.

The restaurant itself looks very clean, spacious and modern looking.  There was plenty of TV's on showing the different sport channels.  It was noticed that one TV was on a good 2 second delay compared to one beside it showing the same channel.  This may not be good if you plan on going here to watch a live sports event. 

I very much enjoyed this place.  The food was tasty, the beer was very good and the prices were comparable to what I would expect coming to a micro-brew.  Great job so far CP12!

Review (out of 5):
Food: * * * * 1/2
Value: * * * * 1/2
Atmosphere: * * * * *
Service: * * * 1/2
Price Range (dinner): $15 - $35
Website: http://bigrigbrew.com/