I've announced to all that will listen (and to a few that won't) that my favorite bar in TO is the Rebel House. Which makes this an excellent start of the blog.
Every neighborhood should have a bar like the Rebel House. It is appealingly small. The bar's a pleasing L shape, with maybe 10 spots, which always promotes conversation. It attracts an eclectic mix of people, all of who are happy to hang around and chat with strangers. There's no pick-up vibe at all. No DJ, no karaoke, no music at all, in fact.
What the Rebel House has is an excellent, mostly local beer list (the taps rotate pretty frequently), great food and friendly bar staff. In the summer, there's also the incredibly romantic, tented back patio, which probably doubles the seating in the place.
Nine of us squished into the Rebel House's bar area last night, ready to have a good time. We got there at 7.30pm, were there till 10pm.
I drank a pint of the Great Lakes Green Tea ale, which came served with a slice of lemon. It was light and refreshing, though I couldn't taste the green tea at all, so it must be very subtle. (Atleast 2 other people in the group got the Green Tea ale, no-one could taste the green tea.) Also drank a pint of the Wellington Best Bitter - which was, as usual, quite delicious.
I've had the Wellington before, of course, but never the Green Tea ale. I'd order both again, so a successful tasting experience.
I was looking for a stout on the menu, but the only one available was the Black Oak chocolate cherry stout, which I couldn't quite bring myself to drink an entire pint of. Stouts like this are too gimmicky for me. They make good tasting, but I can't ever drink more than 5oz or so of any of these. (I guess I could have had a Guinness, which the Rebel House does have on the menu, but honestly, what's the point? I can find Guinness everywhere.)
To dilute the effects of the beer, I did order food, a plate of the excellent macaroni and cheese, which I enjoyed thoroughly. (Another girl in the group really didn't care for it, though.) Someone else also ordered wings with jerk sauce, which she felt was too chicken-y and not wing-like enough. Since I'm vegetarian, I have no opinion on the wings at all, or any of their other meat dishes.
Cost? 2 beers and food - roughly $27. Most beers are $6.50, most food is in the $8-13range. Plus, the bartender handled our separate check request pretty cheerfully, which not everyone does for a group of 9 people.
All in all, a fun weeknight out, and a good way to break up some of the monotony of the week.
Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5, mostly cause I'm reserving the right to rate places higher.
