Cheshire Cat Pub
2193 Richardson Side Road, Carp, Ontario
Type: Pub/British/Traditional
Rating: 7 out of 10
My girlfriend and I arrived at 6:30pm on a Saturday evening for dinner. The bar and main floor were full (there are roughly 6 or 7 tables). There was nobody on the patio due to weather. The tables upstairs were completely empty.
A group of two that arrived after us were served drinks and had their orders taken before us. In fact, they received their food as we were finally ordering. We waited 15 minutes for our drink orders plus another 5 for our dinner order to be taken. This was rather off-putting given that two waiters and a bartender were hovering about.
The food itself is definitely a step up from average pub fare. There's no indication that prepackaged food is used and everything was served hot. Portion size was very large and presentation was more than adequate.
I ordered Bangers and Mash which arrived with a gigantic batch of mashed potatoes. The potatoes were slightly undercooked and not quite mashed. The sausages were good, though the onions on top were rather burned. The vegetables were fresh though overcooked.
My girlfriend tried the 'Cat's Meow Salad' with chicken, which she reported very good. She raved about the chicken itself being very tasty.
Overall, the food was good and the service very friendly but very slow. I'll give it another shot when I've got a few hours to spare.
3 comments for this entry ↓
1 j // Jul 16, 2007 at 9:22 am
I've been wondering about that place for a year now - it's on my route home when I take the "back-roads"... Now I'm really not sure if I should give it a try or not! LOL
2 dennis // Jul 16, 2007 at 7:52 pm
j: I think it'd be fine if you were with someone for drinks or had some time to kill for dinner. It's too small to be a 'people watching' spot, so unless you're overtly social, you're going to be forced to talk to the locals at least a little bit. :)
3 Gillian // Sep 20, 2007 at 10:36 am
I have been at the Cheshire Cat a couple of times and found the service and the food excellent. The atmosphere of a 'British Pub' is the best I have found since leaving Britain and emigrating to Canada. I would have no hesitation in recommending the Cheshire Cat as an extremely good place to eat.
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