Prenup Pub - New restaurant

Event: Prenup Pub Blogger Tasting
Date:  Dec. 3, 2014
Location: 191 College Street, Toronto

I spent another dinner with a great bunch of Food bloggers at the new Restaurant Prenup Pub for a great tasting of a very diverse menu.

The Prenup Pub (named for what the owner will leave his 5 children), has only been open for 2 months but on our arrival for our dinner the 2 level restaurant was packed with groups of people.  You would have thought it was a weekend night from the hum of the bar/restaurant.  There were large groups of students and some tech geeks and then there were the group of us foodies doing what my friend Mary and I call Speed Eating and Speed Blogging.   We got there and just got seated and organized and then the food started coming.   First there were plates set up for us to take photos of. Imaging what paparazzi in an elevator trying to get a great shot of a baby or something and that's what it's like.   A bunch of dishes on a couple of small tables surrounded by mostly women with cameras and  cell phones trying to get the perfect food porn photo.  Yup that's us if you see us in a restaurant.

Then we sat down and the family style platters came around for us to share and sample the food.  We passed food down the long and packed tables and served up portions on to our tiny side plates.   We all felt like we had to eat fast because all the food practically came at the same time so we had to fill up our tiny plates and pass the food down and then inhale the food so that there was room to scoop up more food from the next platter onto our clear plates.   Why?  Well the tables were small 2 tops pushed together in a booth style/chair set up.   I think there was a dozen of us there.  Large platters, drinks, plates and candles and whatever else was on the table didn't leave much room for platters to linger.
We basically inhaled the food as quickly as we could to make sure we had a chance to try everything.   We all thought it was the fastest tasting ever.

Ok so how was the food?  It was a bit of an eclectic menu I thought.

                                                      What we tried:

Wurst Salad - sliced sausage salad
Waterzooi - Belgian chicken stew from Ghent
Mussels of the Day - Chili tomato sauce
Madame Monsieur Waffle - Ham and cheese on a waffle with a fried egg on top
Prenup Pizza - grilled vegetables on puff pastry
Beer Braised Lamb - Wrapped in phylo pastry served with stoemp, a mash and vegetables.

Pork Schnitzel - with fries and a mushroom sauce
Tiramisu - Italian dessert

So thinking of the origins of the dishes we surfed Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
My favourite dishes were the Mussels which were perfectly seasoned and flavourful without being overpowering.  The schnitzel and frites were really tasty.  The frites were well made, not greasy and very Belgian style.  The waffle dish would probably be the perfect dish for the hangover crowd on a sunday brunch menu with the sweet and savoury covered in one dish.

I wasn't a fan of the pizza though.  Because it's made with puff pastry it doesn't have the puff it would without the vegetables and it was a bit greasy on the bottom and I wasn't a fan of the tomato sauce.  I prefer a passata fresh tomato sauce.

What I really loved though was the way the restaurant was renovated with solid wood and warm walls and really beautiful chandeliers and great separate rooms that give you that private group feel while still feeling like a huge place.  It had an upscale pub look and feel.   This is the perfect place to meet your friends for beers because they have a whopping 70 beers on Tap.  Not being a beer drinker I can't tell you anything else about the beers so you will have to go and check those out for yourselves.

It's located in the heart of the University of Toronto student scene so expect to see lot's of students looking to have a bit of fun to blow off a bit of studying steam.

Prices might be a bit steep for some students but I bet they will just go for drinks and have some of their great frites.