London Gate is where the Wild Goose Bar and Grill used to be. The pub has been renovated both inside and out. It has a British theme happening, with a red phone booth and signs that make you feel like you're in London.
Staff at the old Wild Goose are at London Gate, which was nice to see. I felt guilty that I hadn't frequented this place in ages. I find that if I don't visit an eatery for a while, it eventually closes down.
Last Thursday, my team completed our deliverables for a major software release. We finished early despite a couple of issues that we eventually fixed. My manager suggested that we all cut out early for a drink. He turned to me, as I seem to be the person on our team who suggests places to eat and drink. I wanted to check London Gate out, so we headed over here.
He and I also had a bet that when the St. Louis Blues win a game in the finals, he buys me a beer. I simply play Laura Branigan's song, Gloria, which is what the Blues play when they win a game. Well, the Blues won the Stanley Cup and I get four beers. Our visit here was for my second drink.
We got here on a rainy day. This bar is roughly seven minutes away from work. It must have been 3:30 pm when we got here. One of my colleagues and I parked in front of the pub, and we both walked in. We were a table of seven folks.
Our server asked if we had a reservation. We didn't. We got here hours before the Raptors were going to play the Warriors and eventually bring the NBA championship to Canada. This server talked to another one about who would serve us. It was odd seeing an internal discussion unfold in front of us.
We got a table and sat down. The side that we were on used to be a set of booths. They have been torn down, in favour of a long sofa-like structure, with tables and chairs.
Our server came over. I asked whether there were any special. She said no. It was a disappointment. I suppose that renovations cost a ton that they need to finance them. I was expecting some sort of happy hour deal like they used to have, to entice folks to come in and have a good time.
I got a Stella Artois on tap. My friend and I split the coconut shrimp. A colleague and our manager got Caesar salads. I don't know why two men went with salad. Perhaps it's a trend that I'm not aware of or they just craved salad. One other colleague got cauliflower bites.
The Stella was smooth and what I had expected. It came in its signature glass. It was perfect.
My friend and I enjoyed the coconut shrimp. They were big, juicy, and crispy. The shredded coconut was yummy. The dipping sauce was sweet chilli, so it had sweetness and some heat that was delightful. However, getting five shrimp for $15 is a bit on the expensive side.
The two guys eating Caesar salad liked it. They said that the salad was fresh and crisp. Cool!
I got to try a cauliflower bite. They were huge florets, so I needed to cut mine into smaller pieces. It was battered and had little flavour. It came with buffalo sauce, which I am not a fan of. Instead, I dipped it in the coconut shrimp's sweet chilli sauce, which was much better. I personally would not order this appetizer.
Prices are steep. I would have paid $25 before taxes for my Stella and coconut shrimp. Since my manager was paying for my drink and I owed my friend money for a previous lunch, I simply paid for the coconut shrimp.
The women's washroom looks the same, other than a paint job. It was clean.
It got pretty busy at the bar as we continued to drink, snack, and chat. We stayed for 2.5 hours. It has a decent number of TVs. You can book and use a semi-private room for company functions. There is also a pool table to the right when you first walk into the bar.
I'd come back to hang out again. However, I miss the Wild Goose where there were drink and appetizer specials. London Gate should consider bringing that back once it breaks even on its renovation costs. Otherwise, I can see it losing business with a ton of bars in this area that already offer happy hours specials.
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