A little over two months ago, I set off on a summer mission discovering decks, prowling patios, and lurking on lanais. Despite rain, wind, smoke, and cold I persevered, and here, on Labour Day, the last long weekend of summer, I bring you the final outdoor dining option column. While the season does technically last another 2 weeks, I've had to write a number of those columns from inside the restaurant staring out, so I thought it was time to shut down the series until next year. If September's nicer than August, I hope you get to sample some of those that I wrote about, if you haven't already. In the meantime, I've moved on to eating for my fall column series, which will debut later this week. Enjoy!
The Toad 'n' Turtle, located just off Barlow Trail in the northeast, is unique for a couple of reasons. First, they have one of, if not the only, rooftop patio in northeast Calgary. Second, that patio is almost an entirely separate entity from the pub downstairs, in that each boasts a completely different (one is not a miniature version of the other) menu. As such, this review can only be considered indicative of the patio, and the pub will be reviewed on its own at some later date.
On the hottest day of the year, three of us headed up to "The Swamp", as the Toad calls it, for supper. Though it was one of the few days this summer we didn't need them, the patio has overhead heaters, fake palm trees, and quite a few stairs to navigate in order to get to or from it, which is something to consider before having too many pina coladas up there. In addition to the umbrella drinks, they also offer the extensive beer list of the pub downstairs, and the menu suggests beer pairings for each item, which is a nice touch.
That menu, in another move to differentiate the patio from the pub, contains absolutely nothing fried -there's nary a chicken wing or french fry to be found. Instead, they focus on grilling, making a number of their own marinades and rubs. The prices remain pub-ish though, with Rickard's braised ribs being the most expensive item at $17.95. We ordered the smoked nachos with spicy beef (this is an important detail), a thai chicken wrap (since they were out of our first choice, the pastrami stack), and a burger. And we waited. And waited. After a half hour we asked our server what the problem was. She told us the food was coming, and that they have "a small grill". First of all, it's a stupid thing to say. If your grill is small, then don't seat a large number of diners. If you want to serve more diners, get a bigger grill. It's not rocket science, nor is it an excuse to take 40 minutes to deliver food. With that ranted, though - I don't actually believe their grill is that small. We watched so many people who had ordered after us get served while we waited that I suspect she just forgot to put in our order. Certainly she forgot to put it in correctly.
When the meals finally did arrive, there was no beef on the nachos, spicy or otherwise. Upon pointing it out to our server she offered to bring some on the side. When she did, 10 minutes later, what she brought was a soup bowl full of plain ground beef. They should have been embarrassed to serve it. That beef did not have so much as salt or pepper on it, never mind chili seasoning or anything else. While it obviously didn't add much to the nachos, fortunately, they were alright without. Topped with cheese, olives, jalapeño peppers and accompanied by sour cream and a pretty good homemade salsa with lots of red onion, the portion was generous, too.
As for our other items, the chicken wrap was just alright, filled primarily with cold noodles and lettuce with some slices of white meat chicken and peanut sauce. The burger was reasonably good for bar food, about 3/4 inch thick and fairly juicy, with an interesting smoky BBQ sauce I'm guessing was one of the ones they make in-house. The fruit salad was definitely the better of the two sides we had, with a Grand Marnier lime glaze on the fruit. That I'd order again, though I can't say the same about the caesar salad, as it was basically underdressed lettuce with some slivers of cheese on top.
This wasn't my first visit to the Toad, though it was only my second to The Swamp. I've actually eaten at the pub multiple times, mostly over years when I worked in the area. The fact that I went that many times should tell you I enjoyed those experiences much more than I did this visit to the patio. While I give the Toad points just for having a rooftop patio in this the neck of the woods, and for trying to distinguish it with the menu, most every other aspect needs work. Here's hoping the pub is still better downstairs.
On the ratings scale:
2 out of 5 Stars
Outdoor dining option:
Rooftop patio
For more:
The Swamp at the Toad 'n' Turtle
2475 27 Avenue NE
(403) 717-0670
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