Elephant & Castle Pub & Restaurant

Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant 

350 St Mary Ave 

204-942-5555 

www.elephantcastle.com 

British food isn't known as a big player in the culinary world; here at Elephant & Castle, neither is the service.   Sadly, much of today’s restaurant scene features 20-ish servers in tight, tiny outfits, flaunting their appearance and flirt, rather than their knowledge of food and drink.  Fortunately, most places teach their servers the basics of food competence, which E&C sadly lacks. 

For starters, our party reserved a table of 13.  When we arrive, this is the seating arrangement they present to us: 

 

The set-up has bar stools and a long table, enough to seat 12.  At the end, a supporting post sits, floor to ceiling and six feet wide.  Then there’s a lonely stool on the other side of the Berlin wall where our last guest is meant to sit. 

Really?! 

Is this ok to anyone with one iota of common sense?  For the host who put this together:  would you want to sit there?!  C’mon! 

We look around and the dining room’s not busy at all—not even a quarter full.  Staring right in front of us sit two tables, side-by-side, capable of seating eight each, comfortably.  What’s wrong with those tables?   

After some shuffling, we finally seat in a way where our final guest doesn’t look like he’s disease-ridden.   

I often subscribe to the theory that when in Rome, eat Roman—when in an English pub, eat English.  What’s more English than Fish & Chips?  E&C’s version comes with haddock in a beer batter.  One of the simplest items on the menu, you cannot possibly screw-up fish & chips, right?  Wrong!  You can undercook the batter so that it’s still raw on the inside.  Three of our five orders of fish & chips come with raw batter. 

The fries come cooked through, which is somewhat surprising since these thick-cut sticks need some time in the fryer.  I’m not a fan of thick cut and you can describe these more as slab-cut.  That’s a preference thing so if you like thin fries, look elsewhere. 

Another English staple, the Steak & Mushroom Pie comes impressive-looking, dominating the plate.  The pastry cap likely covers an area of 6” x 6”, deceptively veiling the cup of stuffing below which is a lot smaller than what the cap indicates.  I specifically asked our server how large the portion is since I have a healthy appetite.  She reassured me that it’s considerable.   

It’s not. 

In all, there’s about four ounces of stuffing here.  Despite the wee size of the bowl, it only comes half-full.  The beef comes in large cubes, but you only get two of them.  I count two slices of mushroom, not evening summing up to one button mushroom.  What’s here is good—I just wish there could be more.  There’s nice depth to the sauce, oozing with flavour; it could use a tad more salt but overall, it’s a good effort.  It’s nice sauce for dipping with the pastry, if only there’s enough to use for the entire cap.  The pastry tastes nice, light and fluffy, if you like eating pastry on its own. 

The pie comes with a side of salad, which comes crisp and fresh.  The dried berry-based dressing tastes nice but could use a zing of either tartness or sweetness.  There’s a lot of dressing here; it’s just a bit light on flavour.  The dusting of almonds adds texture and depth.   

I suspected the meal would not be enough for me.  To be safe, I added an order poutine.  It never came.  Come time to settle the cheque, I ask about my missing poutine.  She tells me that I refused it when they brought it to me. 

Huh? 

I must have drank a lot because I completely missed that (we didn’t drink at all).   

One member of our party questions the combination of oven-roasted salmon, apple, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, bacon and fresh guacamole, specifically the combination inclusion of bacon with the salmon and guac.  The melange sounds good to me.  Apple complements salmon nicely; guac goes with bacon, and bacon goes with everything.   

Apparently not.   

To start, the tzatziki sauce is missing, which leaves the other ingredients a dry mess.  The bacon stands out like a sore thumb and ends up being plucked.  The salmon comes overcooked, flaking to nothingness.   

To make things worse, our celiac guest went to great lengths explaining her intolerance to gluten.  The first attempt came with a gluten-loaded dish.  When I express with great emphasis about a food allergy, I expect the establishment to take me seriously.  This frivolity is more than just laissez faire; it’s hazardous to peoples’ health.   

Elephant & Castle have been around a long time and I've visited frequently.  The spectrum here spans from acceptable to disastrous, including one visit where they sat us and no server came for the next hour, despite repeated pleas of "is someone going to take our order?"  Today's visit isn't that bad but it's far from good, or even competent.  I still can't get over the seating arrangement.  With literally dozens of restaurants within view of Elephant & Castle, I cannot think of why I would ever come back here again. 

This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide.  If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads.  This is the only compensation I receive. 

For continuous updates, please follow me on Facebook @Ray Yuen's Winnipeg Restaurant Reviews or Twitter @food_winnipeg.  As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!