The casual, cozy atmosphere and the longevity of this place in the neighbourhood drew us in but the food was unimpressive. A worse discovery perhaps was that they microwave the food.
We sat in the back section and while we waited for our wine to be served I observed the cook in the kitchen. As she plated food I noticed her taking the dishes out of the microwave.
I mentioned to the waitress what I'd seen and asked if our food would be microwaved. She explained it's how the kitchen staff reheats the food and that yes, our soup and our main would be reheated by microwave. Since I'm a firm believer that microwaves don't belong in food and vice versa, I asked if the kitchen would heat our food by stove-top or oven and after checking in with the cooks she said they would but that it would slow down our service. We were ok with the compromise and we waited.
The food wasn't good - the soup tasted of salty, powdered soup base, the fishcakes were plainly fishy, and our main, the Kosharee, tasted like bland lentils and rice dowsed in tomato paste.
This meal was disappointing and I won't frequent the Butler's Pantry again.