Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Are we regulars yet?

As my latest post describes, the Windsor Rose GastroPub is excellent.  I can say this with confidence because we now are becoming regulars.  After our first visit, the need to try more beers and eat the calzone became to great to handle.  We were back the next week, and frankly, have been at least once a week since that day.

Now we have our own "spot".  LOL.  The service is always quick at the bar, and usually we end up chatting with the bartender.  We sit right under the TV so if the Flames are playing we can keep an eye on the game.   Well, no, that's a lie.  We don't watch the game.  Unless it goes to a shootout, we couldn't care less.  95% of the time I'll order a Keith's but every now and then I'll branch out.  I ordered a Bavaria one time, and it was just ok.  It was sort of like a Bud, or a Coors Light.  I wasn't down with having to pay so much for a beer that tasted cheap so one was all I had.     

As much as I enjoy this place, I sometimes am put off by the price.  A pint of Keith's is like 6 bucks or something.  That's fairly average, but where I get a bit squirrelly is the kinds that Mike drinks.  If you get an import, something fancy say, it'll run ya 10 bucks.  Seems steep if he has 4 pints, ya know?  

Sidebar: I just checked their website and they don't list prices on their menu.  Strange.

But I'm not complaining.  This pub is still pretty awesome.   We've never seen it crazy busy, we can always hear ourselves speaking. There is no terrible canned music from a bad sound system.  But - there also is no sound on the Flames games.  We over heard the bartender explaining this to a guest the other day.  The manager says "We aren't a pub.  No sound on sports games." 

Well then.  I would hope that changes if the Flames ever make a Cup run again.  

I was a bit hungry, imagine that.  I went all out for an order of bruschetta.  Now I am not an onion fan, but if they are big enough I'll pick them off and eat around them.  When asking the bartender if the bruschetta mix has onions he wasn't sure.  But very quickly went to find out.. He came back with "We can do it with no onions."    Makes me wonder if there are, and some poor sap is in the back picking them out - or they make it fresh to order and just omit them.    I wonder....but after I eat it, I don't care.  This is tasty business!  They can pick out my onions every time.  The bread was soft, just how I like it, and the parmesean cheese on top blended well with the tomatoes.  Even just typing this makes me want to eat some right now.

Our next visit and the rest of the menu is calling my name so I order the Smokehouse Ribs while Mike finally gets to order the Windsor Calzone.   The portion sizes never fail you here.  Mike has few words.  Soup of the day is "excellent" (that's a big compliment from him).  Calzone, also excellent.  The crust is thin and flaky, not doughy, ingredients are fresh.  He is smitten :)  I on the other hand wasn't impressed.  So sad.  My ribs I found tough and after two bones the sauce was too spicy for me.  I had to pass one to my right for his opinion and then packed the rest up.  The "butterwhipped" mashed potatoes were brutal.  Plain, kind of lukewarm, no hint of butter.  Just plain, plain mashed potatoes.  And the side of veggies.  Oh man :( Zucchini, eggplant, peppers.  Yuck.  I tried them all though, so that's a start.  I figure that the main reason I didn't like them was because they were so mushy.   If I'm going to eat veggies they've got to have a bit of a crunch to them.

There is still hope!  Probably 25 other things on the menu that I want to try, even though I won't venture far in my beer choices.   I've been recommending this place to anyone that I know and as a bonus for our friends with kids: They allow minors until 7pm on Sundays.  Good deal, to be able to have a place to go where our friends with kids can meet us kid-less friends for some pints and grub.    



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