More than pub grub
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You don’t go to a rock concert expecting opera.
So you don’t go to a pub expecting gourmet cuisine.
But if the pub prides itself on its food, you should expect quality, i.e. homemade fries, a cheeseburger with real cheese, tomatoes tasting like tomatoes, not cardboard.
And if a pub bills itself as a “gastro-pub,” it’s not about intestinal disorders, but about extra-good food to go with the beer.
The Weekly Dish was in a burger ’n’ fries mood this week, so we checked out two of Old Strathcona’s pinthouses with reputations for food.
The Next Act on 104 Street has long been a gathering spot for the Old Strathcona arts crowd. But until it changed hands a year and a bit ago, the food was dull and limited.
Around the corner on Whyte Avenue, the Pourhouse (now about a year old) has carved out a reputation as a true “gastro-pub”.
The Next Act’s kitchen has greatly evolved, as has the room. It’s no longer in the psychedelic ’60s, has been cleaned up and modernized. It’s also a room for conversation, not loud music.
But the Next Act is still a pub. Round bar tables with stools dominate the open space, booths line two of four walls.
Its pub food is good, but still not great. I tried “the editor” burger — with bourbonsoaked apple, caramelized onions and brie — but I couldn’t find the advertised flavours. The bun was boring. The homemade fries were copious and tasty, but came with your basic ketchup. The Next Act’s Mac ’n’ Cheese was a winner, a big helping full of cheese in a pan, finished under the broiler for a crispy top.
And for a pub, the Next Act has excellent salads — very fresh, a true house dressing with pea-shoot sprouts, halved grapes and strawberries.
The Next Act is ready to take the next culinary step … which already exists around the corner at the Pourhouse.
The Pourhouse is a real Old Strathcona surprise. Nothing about the outside prepares you for a most interesting interior — a narrow warehouse look with open brick and cathedral-high ceilings.
The Pourhouse has boldly proclaimed itself to be “deepfryer free” — which is courageous, given most bar staples — fries, riblets, chicken wings — are hot-oil addicts.
The gastro-pub’s menu is wide-ranging. A variety of burgers/sandwiches come with a choice of coleslaw, soup, salad or “smashed” potatoes. Very healthy!
But i t ’s the “Nathan’s Coney Island Original Dogs” that people rave about at the Pourhouse, and for good reason: The Reuben was delicious, with a homemade mustard-based sauce, beautiful onions, real bacon chunks slathered on top of a first-class jumbo hot dog on a good (but not great) bun. The chicken and brie burger was good, but had too much chicken (!) not enough brie. Sadly, the mulligatawny curry soup — I love mulligatawny — was watery.
Both The Pourhouse and the Next Act represent a “humanizing” of the Edmonton pub scene, becoming what pubs are meant to be — community-wide gathering spots, as opposed to the drink-’tilyou-barf crowd. Service is very good at both, and their kitchens have the food out within 20 minutes. At noon on Saturday, young families with kids and babies were at the Pourhouse and it was quite natural.
P.S. There’s lots of beer!
Next Act Pub
8224 104 St.
Food: 3/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Dinner for two, basic: $25; loaded: $40
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The Pourhouse
10354 82 Ave,
Food: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Dinner for two, basic: $25; loaded: $40
