Foods from The Arrow and the Loon
Comments
2014 Apr 10
Went to the Arrow and the Loon on Wednesday night. The beer list of local and craft beers is amazing. The bonus, on Wednesday all meals are 50% off after 5pm.
We had 2 beers (totally forget what kinds, I had a local draft and my husband tried the more expensive cask option), a vegetarian burger platter, steak sandwich platter, kid's cheese pizza and a milk and the bill was under $40 with taxes. The platters were $6 each after the discount.
The food was excellent for the price ;) ($6 platter). The fries were good, and the veg burger was a frozen patty type, but had lots of spinach and roasted peppers piled on top. Not sure how the steak sandwich was, but it disappeared quickly.
We will definitely be back on Wednesdays.
We had 2 beers (totally forget what kinds, I had a local draft and my husband tried the more expensive cask option), a vegetarian burger platter, steak sandwich platter, kid's cheese pizza and a milk and the bill was under $40 with taxes. The platters were $6 each after the discount.
The food was excellent for the price ;) ($6 platter). The fries were good, and the veg burger was a frozen patty type, but had lots of spinach and roasted peppers piled on top. Not sure how the steak sandwich was, but it disappeared quickly.
We will definitely be back on Wednesdays.
2012 Sep 5
I would say, further to the below, that the beer list is definitely the best in Ottawa. I was there last night, and they had: Beau's, Flying Monkeys (smashbomb), Cassel Honey, Broadhead, Loon Lager, Some weird Muskoka (Porch Chair or something - 8.5% high IBU), Mill St. Tankhouse ... And about 7 more, all Ontario or Quebec. Plus always two casks - last night one of them was a Wellington, the other a Mill St. Red (sort of like a Kilkenny)
2012 Sep 4
This is our go to place for a meal and a beer in the Glebe. The restaurant is tired looking, but we always just sit on the patio anyway. The food is good, a bit overpriced, but the ingredients are usually good quality. The beer selection is one of the best in town, with offerings from most local and other Ontario microbreweries, and that alone is my biggest reason to keep going back.
2011 Oct 11
New User 4240 - This is exactly the same experience I had on a Monday night during normal operation a few weeks ago. The food has always been terrible, but the beer list is good and we wanted to have a cold beer & enjoy the 1/2 burger deal. We arrived at 5pm, the place was empty. We said hi to the bartender and sat ourselves down in the dining room.
We waited. And waited. We watched the bartender leave. No sign of menus, or any servers. Another person arrived and started moving beer kegs around. I went to the bar, found menus and then looked for a server. The keg guy walked by us more times, avoiding eye contact. Finally I saw a server walk out of the kitchen and I ran up to ask about ordering drinks, only to be met with a long sigh and "I thought someone else was taking care of that section". This was at least 10 minutes into our stay. 5-10 minutes after I interrupted the lone server, the keg guy showed up and said he had just started his shift and someone else should be doing this section not him. Just wow.
Sadly, we made the horrible mistake to continue staying there, we ordered beer & food. The food was disappointing, poorly laid out on the plate and no one came to see if we wanted another pint. We ate in record time, waited again at the bar again trying to pay, and then left. Will not go back.
We waited. And waited. We watched the bartender leave. No sign of menus, or any servers. Another person arrived and started moving beer kegs around. I went to the bar, found menus and then looked for a server. The keg guy walked by us more times, avoiding eye contact. Finally I saw a server walk out of the kitchen and I ran up to ask about ordering drinks, only to be met with a long sigh and "I thought someone else was taking care of that section". This was at least 10 minutes into our stay. 5-10 minutes after I interrupted the lone server, the keg guy showed up and said he had just started his shift and someone else should be doing this section not him. Just wow.
Sadly, we made the horrible mistake to continue staying there, we ordered beer & food. The food was disappointing, poorly laid out on the plate and no one came to see if we wanted another pint. We ate in record time, waited again at the bar again trying to pay, and then left. Will not go back.
2011 Oct 11
@james - if they were closed, presumably the waitress would have said 'sorry, we're closed' rather than take their drink orders. Also, if they were closed there likely wouldn't have been a waitress there in the first place.
Assuming 4240 wasn't exagerrating, ten min for drinks in an empty restau is ample reason to flee.
Assuming 4240 wasn't exagerrating, ten min for drinks in an empty restau is ample reason to flee.
2011 Oct 10
Arrived on Thanksgiving Monday at 11am to an empty restaurant. Had to seat ourselves and grab our own menus. Waited five minutes for a waitress to inform us that they were not serving breakfast. We ordered coffee and sodas and waited 10 minutes until we finally left.
The Arrow and Loon has been consistently missing the mark. The kitchen is sub par and the service is usually lacking. Too bad because the location is great.
Hopefully they can get their act together. If not I'm sure someone will turn the local into a success story.
Avoid for the time being...
The Arrow and Loon has been consistently missing the mark. The kitchen is sub par and the service is usually lacking. Too bad because the location is great.
Hopefully they can get their act together. If not I'm sure someone will turn the local into a success story.
Avoid for the time being...
2011 Jan 5
They have an extensive beer selection, especially in the darks (porters, stouts, and reds) that I appreciate. Also, they have a selection of the scotch irish brewing company.
I've also had their pizza - slightly expensive - but really damn tasty.
I'd skip the fries as they are soggy and oily.
I've also had their pizza - slightly expensive - but really damn tasty.
I'd skip the fries as they are soggy and oily.
Older
2012 Feb 17
I haven't eaten here but they have one of the better beer lists in town, by my approximation. They also offer tasting flights, which is awesome. I'm not sure exactly how many beers they have but there were about 3 or 4 cask conditioned beers available (Mad Tom, Bolshevik Bastard Imperial Stout, an ESB).
Beyond that they carry some of the usual suspects in this town (Beau's, Kichisippi, Waupoos, Mill St.), some more eclectic choices (Wind and Sail Dark, some Nickel Brook beers, a house Loon Lager), as well as a changing list of specials (Wellington Wheat, Mill St. Vanilla Porter, St. Ambroise Scotch Ale, Beau's Beaver River).
Prices are maybe slightly above average, but I'll be back for the beer.
Beyond that they carry some of the usual suspects in this town (Beau's, Kichisippi, Waupoos, Mill St.), some more eclectic choices (Wind and Sail Dark, some Nickel Brook beers, a house Loon Lager), as well as a changing list of specials (Wellington Wheat, Mill St. Vanilla Porter, St. Ambroise Scotch Ale, Beau's Beaver River).
Prices are maybe slightly above average, but I'll be back for the beer.
2007 Mar 14
EDIT : this really has more to do with "beer at A&L" than just "A&L" so I've deleted it from the general section and pasted it here verbatim.
---snip---
Well, I just called to ask them to rhyme off the beer menu for me so I could update my previous post with the name of the beer that my buddy had that was cloudy. OK, admittedly an odd request. so I wasn't starting out on the right foot here.
But I got into an argument with the woman on the phone about how many beers are on tap. She insisted they have 25 and it would be too much to rhyme off. OK, I'll accept that. But I asked why if they have 25 on tap did the beer menu I had last night only list about 12 (I didn't count, but there was no way that was 25 or anywhere even close). I pointed out that there were only about 12 on the chalk board, and that the beer menu that stands on the table listed the same selection of about a dozen. She insisted the beer card lists all 25 and to "nevermind the chalk board" (OK, so why is it there?)
Obviously I'm not questioning how many taps they have - I'm sure she knows that well. I'm just wondering whether or not they are all connected to anything at the moment. And if they are why they were not all listed.
Anyway, one of us is obviously wrong. I'll admit there is a small chance it is me but I'll count that as extremely unlikely. Beer is my 7th sense (balance is all of our 6th sense).
I will try to get back there tonight just to figure out whether or not I'm crazy.
EDIT : Went over around 6:20 to check the menu and discovered several important things : (1) they had 18 beers on the card at the table so my estimating skills are not as good as I would like to think, and (2) the beer my buddy had was not on the list. This means that (3) at least they ARE keeping their beer list up-to-date (a very good thing in any pub) because it seems the beer my buddy had must have been emptied. That means that the cloudiness was likely just end-of-keg protein, and since my buddy Klaus is Schwaebisch and really loves Hefeweizen it probably tasted fine to him. This BTW also means that there very well could have only been 12 on the list last night when we were there.
There were BTW 16 on the chalk board tonight with 2 half wiped out.
Even with 16 beers I suppose it was not realistic for me to have them read to me over the phone. But it's not hard to keep a website updated as any of we should know. Knowing what's on tap ahead of time can be an important part of making a decision on where to go. On their website they do have a long list of beers they carry in rotation which at least gives you an idea, I'll admit. Which is why I like brewpubs because you always can be assured of at least 1 or 2 reliable mainstays :-)
EDIT : btw, this also suggests that my 'foul' Arkell Best Bitter may well have been the cask conditioned by mistake. But still unlike most beer geeks I really don't like a lot of cask ale just because so many pubs don't know how to do it properly ... A&L used to, not sure they still do but I'll at least be back once or twice to determine whether or not that's the case just because their beer selection is still one of the best in the city. And that burger menu pretty much seals their title as "best burger in the city". See my post under "Hamburgers at A&L" for details.
---snip---
Well, I just called to ask them to rhyme off the beer menu for me so I could update my previous post with the name of the beer that my buddy had that was cloudy. OK, admittedly an odd request. so I wasn't starting out on the right foot here.
But I got into an argument with the woman on the phone about how many beers are on tap. She insisted they have 25 and it would be too much to rhyme off. OK, I'll accept that. But I asked why if they have 25 on tap did the beer menu I had last night only list about 12 (I didn't count, but there was no way that was 25 or anywhere even close). I pointed out that there were only about 12 on the chalk board, and that the beer menu that stands on the table listed the same selection of about a dozen. She insisted the beer card lists all 25 and to "nevermind the chalk board" (OK, so why is it there?)
Obviously I'm not questioning how many taps they have - I'm sure she knows that well. I'm just wondering whether or not they are all connected to anything at the moment. And if they are why they were not all listed.
Anyway, one of us is obviously wrong. I'll admit there is a small chance it is me but I'll count that as extremely unlikely. Beer is my 7th sense (balance is all of our 6th sense).
I will try to get back there tonight just to figure out whether or not I'm crazy.
EDIT : Went over around 6:20 to check the menu and discovered several important things : (1) they had 18 beers on the card at the table so my estimating skills are not as good as I would like to think, and (2) the beer my buddy had was not on the list. This means that (3) at least they ARE keeping their beer list up-to-date (a very good thing in any pub) because it seems the beer my buddy had must have been emptied. That means that the cloudiness was likely just end-of-keg protein, and since my buddy Klaus is Schwaebisch and really loves Hefeweizen it probably tasted fine to him. This BTW also means that there very well could have only been 12 on the list last night when we were there.
There were BTW 16 on the chalk board tonight with 2 half wiped out.
Even with 16 beers I suppose it was not realistic for me to have them read to me over the phone. But it's not hard to keep a website updated as any of we should know. Knowing what's on tap ahead of time can be an important part of making a decision on where to go. On their website they do have a long list of beers they carry in rotation which at least gives you an idea, I'll admit. Which is why I like brewpubs because you always can be assured of at least 1 or 2 reliable mainstays :-)
EDIT : btw, this also suggests that my 'foul' Arkell Best Bitter may well have been the cask conditioned by mistake. But still unlike most beer geeks I really don't like a lot of cask ale just because so many pubs don't know how to do it properly ... A&L used to, not sure they still do but I'll at least be back once or twice to determine whether or not that's the case just because their beer selection is still one of the best in the city. And that burger menu pretty much seals their title as "best burger in the city". See my post under "Hamburgers at A&L" for details.
2007 Mar 14
Went last night for supper. The beer selection is not quite a eclectic as I recall it being (it's been a couple of years since I've been here), but they still had about 10 or 12 beers on tap, with 4 from Wellington, 2 from McAuslan, another Ontario Micro whose name I forget (ug), along with more mainstream like Upper Canada (Sleeman), Moosehead, Keith's and Creemore (recently bought by Molson)
I started with one of my old standbys Wellington Arkell Best Bitter, and I was fairly disappointed with it. It was cloudy and going off, and very undercarbed. Yes, I am well aware that some beers are supposed to be cloudy and that cloudy is not necessarily a bad thing. In this case it was. I will entertain the idea that someone accidentally served me the cask conditioned version since they also had that on tap. So either they aren't taking proper care of their beer, or they aren't paying enough attention to the customer's order.
My friend had a light lager from the Micro whose name I forget (I'll call them and update this afterwards) and it was also cloudy, though obviously I did not taste it.
I followed up with the McAuslan Pale Ale and it certainly did not disappoint. Great combination of malt and hops balanced a bit towards the latter, and not cloudy thank goodness.
I started with one of my old standbys Wellington Arkell Best Bitter, and I was fairly disappointed with it. It was cloudy and going off, and very undercarbed. Yes, I am well aware that some beers are supposed to be cloudy and that cloudy is not necessarily a bad thing. In this case it was. I will entertain the idea that someone accidentally served me the cask conditioned version since they also had that on tap. So either they aren't taking proper care of their beer, or they aren't paying enough attention to the customer's order.
My friend had a light lager from the Micro whose name I forget (I'll call them and update this afterwards) and it was also cloudy, though obviously I did not taste it.
I followed up with the McAuslan Pale Ale and it certainly did not disappoint. Great combination of malt and hops balanced a bit towards the latter, and not cloudy thank goodness.
2006 Oct 29
Just went back to this place for the first time in years to discover they have several cask ales on tap. Two of these were done by local brewery Scotch Irish Brewing Company: Dry Hop Boarder Bitter, and Sgt. Major's IPA. The other was by Wellington Brewery: Arkell Best Bitter.
There are a number of places in Ottawa you can get these beers, but most offer it in the bottle, which gives a very different flavour and experience. Trying it on tap recommended for the beer connoisseurs among us!
There are a number of places in Ottawa you can get these beers, but most offer it in the bottle, which gives a very different flavour and experience. Trying it on tap recommended for the beer connoisseurs among us!
2007 Mar 14
These guys easily have the best selection of burgers in the city. Hands-down. And they do them very well!
Their burger selection is in the form of a matrix. Down the left you have about 15 different combinations of toppings with some very wild and original combos like the "Feta Burger" which I had, with feta cheese, salsa and lots of black olives.
Along the top you have your choice of 5 different types of meat : beef, chicken, bison, salmon and one other which I forget. (EDIT: I think it was actually 'Veggie' so they are not all meats). I had the bison.
So you have a choice of about 75 different kinds of burger!!!
Mine was extremely tasty and was served on a bun which looked to possibly be home made. My friend commented that he wouldn't be able to get his burger into his mouth, at which point I squished mine down hard with the palm of my hand. It was still difficult to get in there and I've got a big mouth :-) But that's a good thing - lots of eating! Very well done A&L!
Their burger selection is in the form of a matrix. Down the left you have about 15 different combinations of toppings with some very wild and original combos like the "Feta Burger" which I had, with feta cheese, salsa and lots of black olives.
Along the top you have your choice of 5 different types of meat : beef, chicken, bison, salmon and one other which I forget. (EDIT: I think it was actually 'Veggie' so they are not all meats). I had the bison.
So you have a choice of about 75 different kinds of burger!!!
Mine was extremely tasty and was served on a bun which looked to possibly be home made. My friend commented that he wouldn't be able to get his burger into his mouth, at which point I squished mine down hard with the palm of my hand. It was still difficult to get in there and I've got a big mouth :-) But that's a good thing - lots of eating! Very well done A&L!
2008 May 1
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago for a different restaurant : there are 2 types of veggies burgers - those which try to look and taste like a hamburger, and those which do not. The ones which do try, usually are terrible. The ones which do not, are often pretty good.
This one did not try, and was therefore pretty good. It was not the colour of meat - was actually different colours with various grains in there. Not the best veggie burger I've ever had, but pretty far from the worst as well. I'd definitely order it again.
Like any burger at the Arrow and the Loon, there are about a dozen different ways to order it.
This one did not try, and was therefore pretty good. It was not the colour of meat - was actually different colours with various grains in there. Not the best veggie burger I've ever had, but pretty far from the worst as well. I'd definitely order it again.
Like any burger at the Arrow and the Loon, there are about a dozen different ways to order it.
2012 Jan 9
Last weekend I went for brunch at The Arrow and The Loon. Menu items are standard brunch fare: eggs and bacon options, eggs florentine, and steak and eggs among others.
Our group was seated on the patio inside Fifth Avenue Court. It is a well lit area with a tropical feel which was welcoming on a cold winter day. The server came promptly with menus and coffee. Our mugs were replenished regularly during our stay. We had excellent service all round.
I ordered the Loon Special which seems to be the most popular menu item. It includes two eggs, either sausages or bacon or grilled tomato, homefries, and toast. Since I wanted sausages and grilled tomato I asked for sausage as part of the special and asked for a side order of grilled tomatoes. I had no complaints about the food - the eggs were cooked perfectly, the sausages had a nice flavour to them, and I was really pleased with the amount of home fries served. They took up maybe a quarter of the plate whereas most restos I have been to serve a smaller portion of eggs and bacon/sausages then proceed to fill the remainder of the plate with home fries which I can never finish because the quantity is just too much.
The only complaint I had was with the grilled tomatoes. The tomato was served whole and raw. When the menu says "grilled tomatoes" I expect it to be grilled and was surprised to be served a raw tomato. It was also a very hard, underripe tomato and I had a hard time cutting it. It was served with the top sliced off and garnished with a dried out pesto sauce on top. It tasted mostly like puréed pesto and garlic and almost no oil - very odd. I should have sent it back but I did make a note to self not to order it again.
Other than that I enjoyed my brunch and the service was good.
Our group was seated on the patio inside Fifth Avenue Court. It is a well lit area with a tropical feel which was welcoming on a cold winter day. The server came promptly with menus and coffee. Our mugs were replenished regularly during our stay. We had excellent service all round.
I ordered the Loon Special which seems to be the most popular menu item. It includes two eggs, either sausages or bacon or grilled tomato, homefries, and toast. Since I wanted sausages and grilled tomato I asked for sausage as part of the special and asked for a side order of grilled tomatoes. I had no complaints about the food - the eggs were cooked perfectly, the sausages had a nice flavour to them, and I was really pleased with the amount of home fries served. They took up maybe a quarter of the plate whereas most restos I have been to serve a smaller portion of eggs and bacon/sausages then proceed to fill the remainder of the plate with home fries which I can never finish because the quantity is just too much.
The only complaint I had was with the grilled tomatoes. The tomato was served whole and raw. When the menu says "grilled tomatoes" I expect it to be grilled and was surprised to be served a raw tomato. It was also a very hard, underripe tomato and I had a hard time cutting it. It was served with the top sliced off and garnished with a dried out pesto sauce on top. It tasted mostly like puréed pesto and garlic and almost no oil - very odd. I should have sent it back but I did make a note to self not to order it again.
Other than that I enjoyed my brunch and the service was good.
James C.