Ottawa Foodies

Irene's Pub has a great soup and sandwich deal every day. Quite filling for a reasonable price. Full value for your buck and homemade too.

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1

Irene's Pub has lowered the price or their no-alcohol Becks Beer from $6 a bottle to the same price as a large soft drink $3.74.

2

I wanted to like this place, I really did. And I really hate to write bad reviews... but here goes.

After reading a few reviews here, when Mr. rdmsgirl asked me if I wanted to see some live music on Saturday night at Irene's I was more than willing to venture out of the 'Burbs for some cider and music.
We were feeling peckish, and decided to stick with pub finger foods - nachos, wings, zucchini. Big mistake. I should have ordered a burger or sandwich instead. Dismally small portion of zucchini, though they were tasty - certainly not worth the price. Wings were ok, but the nachos were a huge disappointment. Barely any cheese , barely any topping at all, and no sign of the "in-house salsa" that their menu describes. Literally a handful of cheese, some chopped peppers and onions, and jalapenos. And they forgot the sour cream. The picture here is what we got. And no follow-up visit by our server to ask how things were, so I never got my sour cream and couldn't give feedback.
Oh well , there are other places for live music and cider :(

(Sorry for the pic orientation)

3

If you have to ask, well, its a well kept secret.

BBQ burger and chips are very good but too much business often leads to slow service and even sometimes cold food.

When they are on, it is fantastic (the glebe meat market is next door, and they give the works a run for its money)

Live music has overtaken the pub, and for me it is now too much. Not because live music is undesirable but retired gleebe elites playing at being talented garage bands, takes me back to a place my parents thankfully never went.

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Those nachos look awful.

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Ilikerealfood, it's one of my fav spots for a pint and a burger. Really good pub food. Awesome free band every Sunday!

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5

I saw one of the best local shows of my life last night at Irene's. A very good friend of mine performed with the "staggering punters". They rocked the house. I was also totally blown away by this local Jazz/Funk/Groove/Soul/Stevie Wonderish type band called Jeff Rogers and the All Day Daddies. Phenomenal!

I have never been to this place before, but damn does it ever have character. Excellent beer selection, nice large stage, awesome group of people who patronize the place and it seems that they serve great food.

Mind you, I only had nacho's, but I saw what other people were eating at it looked fantastic.

The nacho's were great. Tons of Jalapenos, pieces of chicken, onion, peppers etc. I really liked it since they don't stack it with soggy crap. The chips were very crispy and the surplus of jalapenos made my day. (Can't see too many in this picture as I picked quite a few right off to enjoy with my beer(s).

I really liked the fact that underneath the nacho's was a sun-dried tomato tortilla that was also nice and crispy. I love edible plates.

This place is an awesome little gem in the Glebe!

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psst

Hey folks, stop telling your friends about Irene's.
Some things should remain secret

club at irene's. Big thick real chicken, awesome. I usually go for the side salad. The salads they make are amazing!Tons of really fresh veg.

darn I just noticed that my photos are rotated the wrong way and cant change them :-(

1

I love Irene's, I really do.. the service is really friendly and welcoming, the beer selection is great and they have some awesome bands from time to time. Brunch, however, is definitely not their forte. I had poached eggs on an english muffin which was exactly that, and my partner had a tomato and lettuce sandwich (wtf?) with potato soup which was essentially warmed milk with half cooked pieces of potato floating in it. Not awesome.. not awesome at all. I will be sticking to beer next time I'm at Irene's.

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Over 16 types of good Single Malts and prices are not too high.
Recomend the Bruichladdie Classic Laddie. Really smooth and medium priced. Have not seen this Scotch in bars very often.

Good price on Macallan's.

4

They just got Hobgoblin in on tap. Great
Ruby beer from Britain
Not on tap anymore but available in 1 Pint bottle.

The Cajun wings...

Last night was my first time at Irene's. Its a narrow little pub that you likely wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, but the food is decent and the service is friendly. The have a great selection of beer, whiskey and entertainment lined up and I'm betting would be a great place to relax and listen to music on the weekends. I was there for a friend's birthday, and as it was also Robbie Burns day, we decided to give the half priced haggis a try as an appetizer...it was interesting...like stuffing. Anyway, as a main, I went with the wings. They had several options, all of the heats, sweet and hot, honey garlic and dry Cajun. I'm personally a fan of the dry spiced wings, so I gave them a go. They were good! Wing size were alright. The seasoning had a lot of salt, which is unfortunate, but never unexpected in deep fried. I had expected it to be spicy given that it was Cajun, but it wasn't spicy at all.

Wing size: 6.5
Sauce: 6.5 (in this case a spice..not at all spicy, and a little to salty)
Recommended Beer: Creemore or Mill St. Organic