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| - We were in Toronto on a trip by the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan for the weekend and wanted to try a pub restaurant for dinner. We picked the Duke of Devon because it was easy walking distance from our hotel AND it had everything we were looking for: Fish & Chips, Poutine, Scotch Egg, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and...Guinness! I had carefully studied dozens of Yelp listings and reviews, checked menus, and even made a few phone calls to pin this down.
While Fish & Chips were easy, some didn't have one or more of the other items. And with limited time available we had hoped to find everything in one place. I sent an email through Yelp to the Duke of Devon and quickly got a reply from their General Manager confirming that they did have all of the dishes we wanted...the search was over! And since they only make a limited number of Scotch Eggs each day, he said he would set one aside for us as we would be arriving later in the day.
When we arrived at the Duke of Devon that evening we were greeted and quickly seated in their outdoor patio area. We ordered Diet Coke and Guinness, separately, of course. Then we ordered Fish & Chips, Poutine, Scotch Egg, and Sticky Toffee Pudding for later. I showed the General Manager's email to our waitress, Heidi, and she took care of everything.
Then the feast began: the Fish (great crunch) & Chips came with a petite Yorkshire Pudding, or Little Yorkie; the Scotch Egg had a soft yolk and was served on a plate with pickled veggies and chutney; the Poutine was made with crosshatch fries and added bacon to the traditional gravy and cheese curds; and for the finale, Sticky Toffee Pudding was served warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream as well as Whipped Cream; and the Guinness, well, it's Guinness!
Everything met and exceeded my expectations. All the food was delicious, and the service was great. In short, it was a near perfect experience! And we were able to meet the General Manager to thank him for being so gracious with some complete strangers. The only way this could have been better would have been if I had the willpower to not have ordered Fish & Chips and Poutine for lunch earlier...good but definitely not at the level of the Duke. Oh, and ask for Heidi!
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