I had to bring Josh, because he is Irish himself. So all aboard the double person post!
Josh: We started the night off great with two pints of the house specialty, the Alexander Keith infusion. This refreshing beverage is a work in progress, something the house makes new each week, trying out some pretty exciting combinations each time. This week, we got lucky with an amazing infusion of Alexander Keith India Pale Ale, cinnamon, cloves, apple, citrus, and tea. Its a summer drink for sure, and it went down easy on this hot August day.
Nathalie: Did you know they make these in a tower? They are one of few pubs that have this tower. The tower is an infusing system where pubs are able to create their own flavours of beer by adding different fruits, tea bags, and spices. These are created nightly by the bartender to suit the food being served. They have offered the following flavours on the Keith’s tap: Berry citrus, apple cinnamon, acai berry tea with lemon, pineapple-banana, kiwi – strawberry and fennel, just to name a few.
They also have Happy Hour from 3-6 Monday through Friday with menu items like pulled pork flatbread, Margherita flatbread, pulled pork poutine, dry ribs and Irish nachos. And their drink specials? I’ll have to come back for $4 high balls! They offer also $5 house wine, $5 pints of Budweiser and Doolin’s Ale, $6 pints of import and premium import and $3.50 Red Bulls.
Shortrib Flatbread
Nathalie: This is one new item on their menu. I liked this one because it wasn’t too greasy. It was zesty, so it actually didn’t bog down your palate while being delicious with hints of the spiced meat.
Josh: The flatbread is a warm, zesty appetizer with a very generous helping of tender short rib meat spread across an herb Flatbread that pairs very well with our infusion beers.
Nathalie: I really wanted to try their new fried pickles, but it was that or this. I’m happy we picked the Flatbread.
Josh: We kept the pub spirit going strong during our entries, delving into a flight of imported Irish beer that included Goose Island Honkers, Magners Irish cider, Kilkenny, and of course, Guinness.
Nathalie: This beer is a new item on their menu! It’s $11.50, and you can choose 4x 6oz samples from 23 beers. I had Guinness before, also in a pie. Josh made me a pie with meat marinated in Guinness. I love it on its own, and I was surprised by how much I liked Kilkenny. It’s funny, I dislike hoppy beers and drink paler ales, but then I love these darker, heavier and creamier beers. The Irish Cider kind of turned me off – only because it reminds me of Apple Wine for some odd reason and I had a little too much of that stuff in Germany when I backpacked. I watched Josh down that one, he called it drunken juice. I really liked Goose Island too, despite it’s hops. I was telling Josh it had enough to balance that out for me, it paired well with its citrus notes and its sweeter undertone (not sure if its brown sugar or caramel).
Josh: I ordered the beer can chicken variant of the house poutine, which came as you’d expect any poutine to come – drizzled in melted cheese and hot gravy. The chicken was an added nicety, and was flavourful and tender and brought variety to the traditional appetizer.
Nathalie: If we weren’t so full during appetizer time, I noticed their shots of Jameson’s were $5. Maybe on a much more “livelier” night in Nathalie history…
Josh: This was the main event. My mother’s family is from Cork County itself, so I had some pretty high expectations, having spent my childhood in Ireland eating the real pot pie deal. The dish came with a perfect golden brown crust, and the presentation was very welcoming, with perfectly grilled vegetables on the side. When I dug into the pie, the aroma hit home, and while I can’t call this pie better than the one my Gran used to bake, it is certainly a small piece of my childhood home right in the heart of downtown. I’m sure to come back to Doolin’s for this dish alone, and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking some authentic Irish cuisine.
Nathalie: I had the Irish Stew. I love lamb, and I was a fan of it here. Not too over powering with its herbs and rosemary hints, it was tender and moist. The carrots and potatoes had the same sort of tenderness as the lamb, so everything was easy to eat and super flavourful without being too rich. I really like that aspect a lot – it allows you to eat, enjoy the entire portion and taste everything than having something incredibly rich. I was choosing between this and the Fried Chicken Sandwich, but I decided to impress my Irish pal.
Nathalie: We ended off with the Brownie and Ice Cream. It comes with a peanut butter ice cream, which was my favourite part of this dish. It’s ridiculously good. It’s what I remember most and will be back for. It reminds me of peanut butter cookie but in ice cream form. I was debating getting wine at this point because they have Roaring 20’s Red & White, but I was way, way, way too full. They treated us right. Thank you again so much Doolin’s. It was worth every bit of time I was there. I noticed all different types of age groups coming in for dinner on the Friday we came. An older crowd next to us teased me for taking so many photos of my food and we ended up just joking with them during our dinner.
That being said, yes, they did treat us out for a night and I am writing a review in the response. My personal disclaimer is if anything was terrible, I am a terrible hangry person. (Hungry + angry) So yes, this was all good.
If you’d like to go, enter our contest below to win a $50 gift card and a ticket that is VIP Line, No Cover and a Free Drink.
Their new menu is: Cajun Chicken Salad, Wonton Prawns, Fried Pickles, Short Rib Flatbread, Fried Chicken Sandwich, Wild Salmon Sandwich, Cork Country Chicken Pot Pie.
Catch me here drunk sometimes!
Disclosure: We were invited by Doolin’s to try their newest menu, our meal was complimentary but opinions are our own.
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