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Manx Pub
When is a pub a pub?
Ottawa is certainly not lacking in pub choices. They are everywhere and are all basically clones of each other. They mimic décor, the faux renderings of English or Irish traditions, the same beers and the same menus.
The Manx, hidden in a very small basement on Elgin Street bills itself as a pub. But a pub it is not.
It has all the trappings of a traditional pub, a dark wood bar, crammed booths and small round tables. But Manx has broken the pub mold by recognizing early on that Ottawa has become a foodie town, long past nachos and chicken wings.
Getting into the Manx takes some dedication. Lynn and I have tried twice to eat there in the past only to be frustrated by the lineup to get in.
The Manx is so small that even 4 people in the line ahead of you constitutes a major hurdle. The nights that we tried to gain entry in the past were very wintery ones, snow squalls outside, foot stomping to keep warm, kind of nights.
Our mistake was we had always arrived at the dinner hour, for us just after 7 so we could be eating by say 7:30 or there about.
If you know the Manx, we discovered, you have to get there early.
Our schedules this week were crowded and busy which meant that dinner was not an option for our weekly date. We decided to meet for a drink as compensation and chose the Manx, 5ish was the target.
Even then it was half full. I walked in a little after 5 and there were women sitting alone at half the tables who looked up at me expectantly as I entered, only to be disappointed. They had arrived early to stake out a spot until their dates or companions arrived.
Real Estate is a precious commodity at the Manx.
Lynn was already there protecting our turf like a suspicious lioness.
The staff has that pub lackadaisical attitude to service but in place that is so small and that has so few tables even the so-so service seems to go unnoticed.
What shines here is the food.
One of the specials was Caribbean seafood pasta which reflects some of the adventure that is offered on the menu. As a starter you might choose a Quesadilla with smoked onion, roasted corn, black beans and cheddar cheese served with sour cream and a tomatillo sauce (9.)
You can get a Furlonger club sandwich, a Lamb curry wrap or a Curried tofu and chickpea burger topped with a balsamic onion jam – all $12 each.
Lynn decided on the Salmon filet with a jalapeno and peach glaze and scalloped sweet potatoes served with a small mixed greens salad tossed in a lime-honey dressing (13.)
I wasn’t that hungry so I steered towards the Crab cakes with a mango-basil chutney accompanied by a lemon-caper aloi (12.)
Lynn hit gold with her Salmon. It was perfectly moist with a gentle hint of the glaze that gave it a curious exotic yet comforting taste. The scalloped sweet potatoes were amazing – almost worth having on their own.
My Crab cakes were terrible, over cooked, almost burnt, dry and suspiciously almost absent of crab. There was a crab taste hidden in there somewhere but I was hard put to poke around trying to find it.
We were halfway through our meal when I looked up to see that the room was now completely full and it was only just shy of six o’clock.
A gentleman beside us was just starting to bite into his delicious looking Curried lamb wrap. Just across from us a young woman was tucking into her Caribbean pasta. Lynn looked like she wanted to stay right where she was sitting, forever.
From everyone’s expressions as they ate I seemed to be the only one without a reason to smile, one out of so many others who seemed not only happy but pleased.
We'll try it again, if we can get in.
Manx Pub
370 Elgin Street
613-231-2070
When is a pub a pub?
Ottawa is certainly not lacking in pub choices. They are everywhere and are all basically clones of each other. They mimic décor, the faux renderings of English or Irish traditions, the same beers and the same menus.
The Manx, hidden in a very small basement on Elgin Street bills itself as a pub. But a pub it is not.
It has all the trappings of a traditional pub, a dark wood bar, crammed booths and small round tables. But Manx has broken the pub mold by recognizing early on that Ottawa has become a foodie town, long past nachos and chicken wings.
Getting into the Manx takes some dedication. Lynn and I have tried twice to eat there in the past only to be frustrated by the lineup to get in.
The Manx is so small that even 4 people in the line ahead of you constitutes a major hurdle. The nights that we tried to gain entry in the past were very wintery ones, snow squalls outside, foot stomping to keep warm, kind of nights.
Our mistake was we had always arrived at the dinner hour, for us just after 7 so we could be eating by say 7:30 or there about.
If you know the Manx, we discovered, you have to get there early.
Our schedules this week were crowded and busy which meant that dinner was not an option for our weekly date. We decided to meet for a drink as compensation and chose the Manx, 5ish was the target.
Even then it was half full. I walked in a little after 5 and there were women sitting alone at half the tables who looked up at me expectantly as I entered, only to be disappointed. They had arrived early to stake out a spot until their dates or companions arrived.
Real Estate is a precious commodity at the Manx.
Lynn was already there protecting our turf like a suspicious lioness.
The staff has that pub lackadaisical attitude to service but in place that is so small and that has so few tables even the so-so service seems to go unnoticed.
What shines here is the food.
One of the specials was Caribbean seafood pasta which reflects some of the adventure that is offered on the menu. As a starter you might choose a Quesadilla with smoked onion, roasted corn, black beans and cheddar cheese served with sour cream and a tomatillo sauce (9.)
You can get a Furlonger club sandwich, a Lamb curry wrap or a Curried tofu and chickpea burger topped with a balsamic onion jam – all $12 each.
Lynn decided on the Salmon filet with a jalapeno and peach glaze and scalloped sweet potatoes served with a small mixed greens salad tossed in a lime-honey dressing (13.)
I wasn’t that hungry so I steered towards the Crab cakes with a mango-basil chutney accompanied by a lemon-caper aloi (12.)
Lynn hit gold with her Salmon. It was perfectly moist with a gentle hint of the glaze that gave it a curious exotic yet comforting taste. The scalloped sweet potatoes were amazing – almost worth having on their own.
My Crab cakes were terrible, over cooked, almost burnt, dry and suspiciously almost absent of crab. There was a crab taste hidden in there somewhere but I was hard put to poke around trying to find it.
We were halfway through our meal when I looked up to see that the room was now completely full and it was only just shy of six o’clock.
A gentleman beside us was just starting to bite into his delicious looking Curried lamb wrap. Just across from us a young woman was tucking into her Caribbean pasta. Lynn looked like she wanted to stay right where she was sitting, forever.
From everyone’s expressions as they ate I seemed to be the only one without a reason to smile, one out of so many others who seemed not only happy but pleased.
We'll try it again, if we can get in.
Manx Pub
370 Elgin Street
613-231-2070
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