Sir John's Public House, Kingston

Located in the heart of downtown Kingston, Sir John's has gotten some pretty positive reviews on the web. Walking in, it's not hard to see why. The pub is on the small side, but makes the most of itself with a cozy atmosphere, clean pillows and nice benches and tables. Named after Canada's first Prime Minister, the pub has a Scottish theme and serves a selection of Scottish, Canadian, and Scottish-Canadian cuisine.

The Guinness was fairly mediocre. Not bad at  the start, but very bitter at the end. A solid 5, really. This is a Scottish pub, though, not an Irish one, so perhaps slightly sub-par Guinness is to be expected. The pub does boast Kingston's "finest selection of Scotch whisky", but the list itself is pretty uninspired. It does deviate from purely standard pub fare by offering some 15 year-old expressions from Macallan and Glenlivet, but the selection of distilleries is pretty bland. Not having tried the food, I won't comment on the kitchen, but, despite the atmosphere and friendly staff, there wasn't much to recommend this pub, beverage-wise.

Score:

Guinness (/10): 5
Atmosphere (/5): 4
Service (/5): 4

Base Score: 13

Bonus: 0 

Final Score: 13/20 

The Feathers, The Beaches

How to best describe the Feathers but to say it's an institution. A true Beaches community center. The locals here fall into two age groups: over 35 and under 10, with practically no one in-between. We had one of the oddest experiences as 20-somethings over a liquid lunch here.

Very unfortunately, the Guinness here was just average. We had to break a cardinal rule and only down one pint. (Of course, the second pint rule is only a verification for those truly amazing pints, but we digress.) An average 6. Service was a decent 3, not too bad, but we kinda felt out of place and as such perhaps the service reflected that. Cannot comment further. Atmosphere was also a solid 3, true pub fare, but maybe a slight update is in order. Granted, this place has been around since 1981. Quick word of advice: avoid the poutine.

One thing must be said though, and this place earns it's bonus points for sheer selection of Single Malts alone:

Ain't that a beaut?


Score:

Guinness (/10): 6
Atmosphere (/5): 3
Service (/5): 3

Base Score: 12

Bonus:
Kilkenny (/4): 2 - better than the Guinness, but not best
Single Malts (/2): 1 - didn't try any this time, definitely in order for a second visit

Bonus Score: 3

 

Final Score: 12/20 + 3 Bonus