Mill Street Brewpub (Distillery District)
55 Mill Street, Building 63
416-681-0338
http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/

The Distillery District is an unexpected and interesting spot in Toronto to explore, particularly in the summer. As I learned, the Distillery has a rich history, and some wonderful old buildings, having been around since 1832!

Mill Street Brewpub, which occupies Building 63, boasts that it’s the winner of the 2007 award for best Brewpub – which I’m assuming means restaurant bar that makes its own beer. Sounds great!

We arrive, quite hungry, seeking precious grub, and enter the unusual high-ceilinged pub, full of people and plentiful hub-bub.

The beer made by their Mill Creek microbrewery goes down very nicely indeed. Microbrews are almost always better than your average bottled beer. And so, when it comes to ordering our meal, we choose the beer-battered halibut and chips. Oh, yum! (To quote zillionaire kitchen-queen Rachel Ray.)

However, YUM this was not – for this dish of pricey fish was a dicey flop.

Two tiny pieces of halibut, layered in a thick overcooked batter find their way to our table. The thick greasy batter my wife fully discards and I eventually discard it, too. For over $10 (it might have been $13), we note how cheap and stingy they are on the halibut (we each receive two skinny pieces – how odd!) which are about the size and shape of a dill pickle! (My local fish and chips shop serves a piece the size of your hand that is far more tasty.) Given the fact their F &C is advertised as being made with their own beer, I was disappointed that I couldn’t taste even a hint of beer; and so, the dish was disappointing in both flavour and texture. It was at that point (or perhaps after seeing the heady prices for pub food), I began to sense our little lunch about to go downhill and fast.

And while I wished I was wrong, I was right. For despite being home made, the coleslaw is totally tasteless and is soon moved aside.

The chips are really greasy and therefore not edible. Both of us set them aside.

At that moment, I wished I had ordered the sweet potato fries on their menu. As I learned afterward, that is one of their better-liked items.

(Thinking I might have come on an off-day, I later read some other reviews of Mill Street that remarked on the bland, overpriced and very standard pub fare at the establishment.)

In any event, we left without dessert or leaving either complaint or comment – I mean, where would I begin?! (Oh, right, this review!)

The Distillery District is a great location for a date or a lunch out on a nice warm day, but I would certainly choose another eatery in the area (there are 5 or 6 others), since the food at The Mill Creek Brewpub really needs one helluva kick in the ass to turn its fortunes around!

Chef Ramsey, are those your footsteps and f-bombs I hear approaching?