The Bar Towel

Ottawa Mill Street surprises all by opening three days early - more info here: http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2012/01/ ... ays-early/

Cool, they sell growlers.

Brews Phillips wrote:Cool, they sell growlers.

Yeah - I "knew" about growlers when I was younger, but Mill Street is where I started becoming a "growler regular". And I gotta say, I spent a lot of time there getting a beer-a-cation.

Enjoy it!

Perhaps this should be moved to the Pub Reviews board now. Tried it out today and was pleasantly surprised. The location is fantastic (if inconvenient) and my new mission in life is to snag one of the tables over the river. Mill Street has done a grand job of incorporating some great Ottawa history (and brewerania). Their site specific brews standout from the regular offerings (from what I saw). The Valley Irish Red was interesting, with a nice syrupy touch and a good toastiness. The Paradise (I)PA was a pretty classic AIPA at 7%ish, pretty much the hoppiest beer available in Bytown I reckon. They'd run out of the Portage Cream and the Chaudiere Amber Farmhouse (which I'm dying to try). Friendly staff and decent pub food.

Pretty hopping this weekend obviously, interesting to see how much it settles down in the next few weeks given the location. Beer geeks were out in full force judging by the dirty beards, beer guts, and tatty t-shirts!

Bytowner wrote:my new mission in life is to snag one of the tables over the river.

That's a good mission. I could be wrong, but I think those seats are right over some sort of waterfall. Just got a glimpse as I drove over the bridge.

I went on Saturday and had a tasting flight, which included the Red and the IPA, and a duck confit sandwich. The little store also sells kegs in case anyone wants to stock up. Growlers are local Ottawa brews only (not sure about kegs). I think it came out to $15 including deposit.

The place was rammed at 4pm. I would definitely recommend reservations.

the food is notoriously ungood at the Toronto location.
they using that same craptacular company for the Ottawa bar?

atomeyes wrote:the food is notoriously ungood at the Toronto location.
they using that same craptacular company for the Ottawa bar?

No idea.

http://www.millstreetbrewpub.ca/

The menu is certainly similar. I've only done wings which have been fine. Heard people say good things about the pork carnitas.

A bit about the new chef here.
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/12/ ... new-video/

I was always under the impression that Mill Street in Toronto farmed out their menu to the same pub chain that ran the Pour House on Dupont. The menus used to be identical. If I read this article correctly, though, the Ottawa location will have its own menu.

Brews Phillips wrote:I was always under the impression that Mill Street in Toronto farmed out their menu to the same pub chain that ran the Pour House on Dupont.

FAB Concepts, the pub chain that owns the Pour House (along with The Watermark, the Foggy Dew, the Brazen Head & many other places) owns and operates the Mill Street pub in Toronto. Which is why there are similarities between the food menus.

I'm not sure if FAB is involved in the Ottawa location, but if so, they seem to be allowed the kitchen/chef to be more unique with the food offerings, similar to what they did with Against The Grain here in Toronto.

And for the record - if you avoid most of the regular menu at Mill Street, the food can actually be pretty decent. I've had a couple of really nice specials there before, and the food at the beer vs wine dinner they held a few months back was excellent.

Question about growlers... I have an empty from Mill St. If I bring it in, will they fill up the one I have, or simply trade me for one of theirs? Just wondering to what extent I need to have mine cleaned/sanitized.

Also, I assume they won't take growlers from others in exchange, right? I have a couple of blanks.

rejtable wrote:Question about growlers... I have an empty from Mill St. If I bring it in, will they fill up the one I have, or simply trade me for one of theirs? Just wondering to what extent I need to have mine cleaned/sanitized.

Also, I assume they won't take growlers from others in exchange, right? I have a couple of blanks.

I think they will just exchange it for a new one. From what I understand growlers have to be pre filled in Ontario.

atomeyes wrote:the food is notoriously ungood at the Toronto location.
they using that same craptacular company for the Ottawa bar?

Man, when it opened years back I was the first to howl at the terrible kitchen of the distillery pub. AND they tried to refuse their own promo vouchers, adding insult to unsavory injury. They earned the Uncool Bar award that year.

But the burgers I had there last year were tasty enough that I'd recommend those. They are far better than Rhino's. Nothing is cheap for sit-down meals in the Distillery.

Checked it out last night. Definitely a cool location, lots of sightlines to the water and an interesting looking patio (obviously not open yet).

They had 4 exclusive for Ottawa beers - a Portage ale (ran out), a biere de garde (also ran out), a red and a Scotch ale. Plus they've got all the regular beers from Toronto (core brands plus Helles, Vanilla Porter, Frambozen, etc.) Would have been nice to try more of their exclusive Ottawa beers but by the looks of the crowds they're having a hard time keeping up!

Food was good and staff were friendly, but it was so busy that it's a not quite a place to sit back and relax just yet. On-site store sells everything from their regular bottles to 750s and growlers of their exclusive Ottawa beers, which were alas sold out (but the person at the store offered to reserve some when they were back in stock).

Without question a nice addition to the Ottawa scene.