I popped my head into The Auld Spot a couple of days ago to take a look at their menu .The signage outside had caught my eye. Especially the sign boasting freshly shucked oysters. I'm an East Coast boy and a huge lover of seafood so naturally I had to investigate.
The interior is very nice. I'm guessing the place is brand new because there is still a lingering smell of fresh carpentry. They have a nice selection of beers on tap. It is a nice cozy pub atmosphere. The menu has some very staple pub fare items and some items that speak very definitively of gastro-pub aspirations. I decided I would return with my panel of judges (aka. The flatmates) who are some pretty tough critics.
Service was pretty good. We were approached several times before we were ready to order.
We ordered the following:
4 Beau Soleil oysters
Mussels in white wine
Hickory smoked ribs
Macaroni and cheese (with double smoked bacon which was forgotten)
Poutine
Ploughman's chicken liver paté with pickled vegetables
Chicken drummies with scotch-bonnet bbq sauce
Veal sweatbread nuggets with port-cassis jus
This was plenty of food for four people. The portion sizes were good for the price. Everyone got to taste everything. The failure was in the execution.
-The oysters were fresh and simply done.
-The mussels were poorly cooked and of low quality. Flavour was seriously lacking in this dish.
-The smoke on the ribs was nice but they needed more cooking. A stint on the grill would have been nice. They looked like they had been steamed and then soaked in the bbq sauce then slapped on a plate. Grilling would have made the ribs more tender and would have caramelized the sauce nicely. As it was the bbq sauce would have been pretty bland without the smoke from the ribs holding it up.
-The macaroni and cheese is delicious. Hands down it was one of the best things we tasted. the rich cheese sauce with gruyère and a nice crispy top made this dish perfect. It was a very hefty portion. The accompanying greens had a nice onion vinaigrette as well.
-The poutine sucked. If the gravy didn't come from a can then the boys in the kitchen need to learn to make one that doesn't taste like it came from a can. I'm quite sure it came from a can. If you want to be a respected gastro-pub you can't cheat something this basic. Add a menu item that you can make a proper gravy with. The curds (yes, at least there were curds) were bland and the fries didn't hold their crunch for more than a minute.
-The ploughman's chicken liver paté was decadent and buttery. It was delicious on the toasted baguette and the pickled onions and beans were fantastic. The gherkins were very generic. I hoped the pickled veg were done in house. If not, they've got a good source for the onions and beans but might look at a different type of gherkin. This was the other star dish of the evening.
-The chicken drummies were in a crispy breading (like you'd get from the deep fryer at Pizza Pizza) which was unexpected but I enjoyed the crunch and the bland bbq sauce that we had on the ribs was given an amazing kick in the pants with the addition of scotch bonnet heat. It was a hit all around though not everyone could stand the heat. A good portion for the price.
-The veal sweetbread nuggets with port-cassis jus. This is not likely a menu item that everyone is going to go for. Most people might eye it with trepidation to say the least. I love sweetbreads so I knew right off the bat I'd have to try them. They arrived crispy and golden and tender. There was nothing fancy about the flavour until you dipped them in the port cassis jus. The sweetness was a nice compliment to the fried crunch and tender chewy centres of these nuggets. I would like to see a sauce that was closer to a syrup consistency but that's just me. The dish was nice. I would order it again sometime.
Overall we weren't blown away by our experience but I think we will all revisit The Auld Spot occasionally. I hope that the food execution improves as the place matures.