Restaurants
The House On Parliament
The House On Parliament is one of those neighbourhood haunts that seem to be well represented in movies and tv, but not quite so represented in real life.
Although not quite on the 'Cheers' level of things, this is a place full of familiar friendly faces, friendly staff who aren't afraid to take a jab at their customers (all in good fun of course), and lots of good grub and drink.
As the name suggests, The House On Parliament is on Parliament Street. It's just south of Carlton in Cabbagetown.
I last went on Tuesday night, when it was warm enough to sit outside, certainly a nice spring treat. My friend Matt had the Pulled-Pork Sandwich ($9.95), which gets talked about quite a bit on the Ontario Board on Chowhound. I've had it before; it's a nice juicy spicy dish full of pulled-pork goodness. Matt certainly enjoyed his. He chose fries as his side dish, but you can also choose their very tasty house salad as a side.
I had the Steak and Stilton Sandwich ($10.95). The House On Parliament makes, without question, the best steak sandwich I have ever had, which is saying a lot since steak sandwiches are one of my favourite things. The sandwich comes on a garlic bun with the steak prepared how you like it, and adorned by bits of stilton and caramelized onions. It comes with either fries or salad, and, as tasty as their fresh-cut fries are, I opted for salad, because honestly, their salad is darn good too. I personally really enjoy the added touch of pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.
The menu is filled with lots of pretty standard pub fare, and a bit not-quite-so-standard fare. In the standard section you might want to try their burgers or a veggie burger ($8. with fries or salad), in the less standard you might want to try the Pate and Crostini appetizer ($8.95) or a Brie and Grilled Veggie Sandwich ($9.95 with fries or salad). They also have fabulous specials every day. One of the specials from Tuesday was Beef Carpaccio, I didn't try it because I'm not so good with the raw meat thing, but the people next to us who ordered it seemed to be really enjoying it.
I love the laid back vibe of the place and the familiarity of it all, something I felt the first time I was there, even though I couldn't possibly have been familiar with any of it, everyone else was so familiar it rubbed off on me. I certainly recommend checking it out. One word of warning though, it's a small space and quite popular, so get there early, it fills up fast.
House on Parliament, 456 Parliament (just south of Carlton), 416-925-4074
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My only complaint is that I find their fries to be too small, so they loose all their moisture.
Thumbsup!
The food is usually fantastic but I have to wonder if there's been a change in the kitchen staff. The last couple of times I've been there the specials haven't been so great. It's like they're in a hurry and don't really care what they send out. You're safer ordering steak frites or some other standard menu item.
But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's a great place and I'm sure it's just a glitch
Regardless, the final straw was going for lunch, sitting for half an hour at a table, and not being offered any food service. Not even a menu. By anyone. They've lost two regular customers now. If they don't sharpen up, I have a feeling we won't be the only ones voting with our feet.
We moved to the area 18 months ago, this is a fantastic place to have a 5 minute walk away.
We frequent a few times a month.
Overall food is fantastic...have had a few not so great experiences in regards to staff attitude but we keep going back for the great atmosphere, drinks and food.
Often full...especially small patio.
Amazing fries. Fantastic steak salad. Skip the scotch eggs...we had mild food poisoning.