The Twisted Kilt (Yonge & Davisville)

The Twisted Kilt is a rather welcoming-looking pub just north of Yonge & Davisville. Inside, we found a fairly standard and slightly dated, although quite warm pub set-up. We entered the pub at about 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, finding it fairly quiet. The pub boasts a fairly solid selection of 22 beers on tap, which include some interesting cask ales as well as a good mix of Canadian and European b%ers. Mo3t importantly, they have Guinness. Unfortunately, there's no Kilkenny or Boddington's on tap, but no matter. There is Old Speckled Hen, which seems to be becoming rarer as a draught beer these days.

Another minus, beer-wise, was the fairly average Guinness. Not terrible, but not great either. Service was friendly, although understandably slowed down a bit when a large group of pub-hoppers popped in. Overall, not a bad pub, but also not a great one.

Score:

Guinness (/10): 6
Atmosphere (/5): 3
Service (/5): 4
Base Score: 13



Bonus:
Ale selection: 1
Bonus Score: 0

Final Score: 13/20 + 1 Bonus

The Town Crier, John/Adelaide

We found out about this completely by accident (gasp!) and immediately decided to check this out. Doing some wine deliveries up in Brampton, we were recommended to check this place out for a great pint of Belgian beers on tap (at a very reasonable $5.95/pint mind you). Brampton to downtown in 45 minutes? Check. The place is located within an old townhouse, with some interesting floor configurations, but a smart atmosphere attracting an intellectual crowd. Pleasant for an after-work drink if you're in the area.

They have a lot of beers on tap, I didn't count, but 50 sounds right.  All the proper beers from the proper beer countries are available.  Great selection of British, including an extremely rare Fuller's Honey Dew (not bad at all!) and Boddington's, a bunch of German beers, and of course Belgian as well.  We also tried their Moules Frites and German Meatballs. Great stuff there.  Of course, no Guinness Quest could be complete without a taste of the proper stuff. All beers were fresh and quite good, although a tiny bit of bitterness was detected on the Guinness finish. However, I would say this is a reliable 7 on the Guinness scale.

Score:

Guinness (/10): 7
Atmosphere (/5): 5
Service (/5): 4

Base Score: 16

Bonus:
Boddington's (/2): 2 - great stuff here, definitely recommended!
Food (/2): 1
Fuller's selection: 1

Bonus Score: 4

 

Final Score: 16/20 + 4 Bonus

The Goose: Newly Renovated

The Goose is a recently renovated Firkin pub in Don Mills. Not exactly the hotspot for pubs, but with a Keg next door, the Goose isn't exactly in poor company. The new interior is pretty swanky, slightly reminiscent of other public house-style pubs like the Queen and Beaver and The Oxley. Lots of nice British pub touches, like the Union Jack couch, which manage to avoid seeming tacky. Overall, a great improvement to the atmosphere. If only the beer had improved as well.

I started out with a Kilkenny, which was pretty disappointing. Fortunately, the Irish nachos soon arrived to help save the afternoon. The nachos were enjoyable deep-fried pub fare. They weren't why I was there, though. Having finished my mediocre Kilkenny, I ordered a pint of Guinness. It was surprisingly better than the Kilkenny, but not by much. Overall, a nice place with good service and poor beer. Unfortunate, especially since it's so close to home.

Score:

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

Base Score: 13

Bonus:
Kilkenny (/4): 2
Food (/2): 1 

Bonus Score: 3

Final Score: 13/20 + 3 Bonus