| rev:text
| - I was in downtown Calgary for work and along with a coworker, was looking for a place to grab some dinner. We were walking about 6 blocks from our hotel when it suddenly began to downpour! The owner of the James Joyce pub was outside pulling in their patio tables and in her adorable Irish accent, invited us to come in out of the rain. We were really impressed with the pub when we got inside- dark and cozy, really comfortable, with enough knick knacks around that it really felt authentic! We decided to eat here. There was kind of a bustling bar area with high tables, but we preferred a low table, so we were seated in a back area with some high-back booths and regular table & chairs. I thought the girl seating us(who ended up being our server) was very pleasant and accomodating.
It is worth noting that at that time, we were the only occupied table back there and in the hour and a half we were at our table, we never saw another patron. At 7:30 on a Saturday night!
Perusing the menu, I saw all the things you'd expect- shephard's pie, bangers and mash, fish and chips. But I saw no meatless options, so when our friendly server came by, I inquired about what a vegetarian might eat. She offered that they had a curry without meat or the Ploughman's lunch that could be ordered without the chicken and they'd add extra veggies. That sounded good, as I had seen in the description that there were lots of vegetables, so I was picturing a salad or something similar. My companion ordered their bangers and mash, on recommendation from the server.
When our food arrived(and it was pretty quick!), I was dismayed to see the plate set in front of me!
This is literally what was on it:
- 3 slices of Roma tomato
- 3 slices of pickle
- 3 slices of cucumber
- 1 slice of red onion
- 2 slices of cheddar cheese, cut into 4 triangles
- 4 pieces of small butter leaf lettuce
- about 9 inches of white baguette bread that looked par-baked
- thimble-size ramekin of what looked like dijon mustard
I wish I had taken a picture, because it almost sounds like I am making this up, doesn't it? I guess I had not read the menu as carefully as I thought, because I was NOT expecting this plate of garnishes. I was actually kind of confused and didn't know what to do with all of this stuff at first until my coworker said, "I guess you just make your own sandwich...?"
Which I did. And it was fine. Fine, as in I should've just microwaved my Lean Cuisine at the hotel. You don't dine out at a restaurant for Fine. Coworker, on the other hand, loved his bangers and mash! It was a very generous portion of garlic mashed potatoes(that he said tasted homemade!) and 3 pretty good sized sausages, covered in a dark gravy. He said it was filling and very good.
Okay, so the bill comes out and his dinner(again, generous portion of homemade, warm food!) is $12. Mine(again, cold, very plain vegetarian sandwich that I assembled myself) was $13! We could not believe it! When our waitress came by, I mentioned that I thought that was a little steep. She said she'd talk to the owner about it and get back to me. 5 minutes later, she wordlessly dropped our bill on the table and walked away. Point taken.
I will never dine here again and I don't think you should either. There are plenty of pub-type bars in this area. Patronize one that treats you with respect and values your business.
Also, I do not think the menu they have online is the same one we were given in the restaurant. The one online looks more varied.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)