I walked into Dora Keogh quite by accident last night – the original plan had been to go to Allen’s. What a fortunate mistake!
I deposited my bag at our table, and went over to the bar to take a look to see what was on tap. There I found a beer I’ve never seen before – Durham ESB, brewed by what is quickly becoming one of my favorite Ontario microbreweries, County Durham. As a special bonus, it was cask-conditioned.
What an absolutely amazing beer. It was everything an ESB should be, with the added mellowness that cask conditioning brings. It was smooth, delicious and went down very easily.
While I was strongly tempted to drink another Durham ESB, for the second pint, I instead picked the Fuller’s London Porter, also cask-conditioned. Score! The London Porter is the beer I’m always delighted to find on tap. (I’ve also seen it at Sin and Redemption, and the Monk’s Table, but neither of those places had the cask version.)
My only complaint with porters and stouts (a genre that I truly love) – I almost need a palate cleanser after drinking a pint – there’s a bitterness that builds up in my mouth, and the last third of the pint tastes different from the initial heady sips.
However, in cask form, it retained all the complexity of a porter, but without this aftertaste. It was amazing to the end.
Although it was a Wednesday night, I did want a third pint, only because I wanted to see what the pour of Guinness would be like. The staff at Dora Keogh took their time pouring it, letting it settle, and presented me with a pint that had the perfect creamy head. It was classic, textbook Guinness. Delicious!
Minor quibble – perfection does come at a price – all my pints were in the $7.50 range before tip.
Slightly less minor quibble, after about 9.30, they had a band playing. The band itself was reasonably good, but it was loud! Honestly, if I want to yell above the band to make myself heard, I’d go to a dance club. Call me old-fashioned, but in my world-view, bars do not have dance floors. (I actually don’t know if Dora Keogh’s had a dance floor, or if people just ended up dancing because of the music, but my point holds in either case. There should be no dancing in bars.)
And finally, while I didn’t bother with food, other people at my table had the calamari and the fish and chips, and seemed to enjoy it. Music aside, a very successful night out. Three pints I enjoyed tremendously and good company to boot. I’ll definitely be back.
Location: Dora Keogh is located at 141 Danforth Ave. (Closest subway stop – Broadview.)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5. A perfect 5 for the beer, but the music drove it down.
