Duke of Kent review - Authentic British Pub at Yonge & Eglinton!

[Sophiasolange]

The Duke of Kent has been my local for years now so it goes without saying that I love this place! It’s changed quite a bit over the years in terms of the pub expanding to a second floor, change of mgmt, etc, but it has always managed to keep that authentic British pub atmosphere. It’s a great gathering place with friends for dinner, brunch or just drinks. On that note, they serve a great English breakfast on the weekends so we do find ourselves having brunch there quite a bit. The food selection is good, albeit a bit limited. Recently they’ve focused more on their seasonal/weekly special dishes and beverage offerings which had been great. Drinks are also affordable – when you consider that this pub is located in a rather pricey part of Toronto, you can still get a glass of red wine for $4!

Note: the menu has since been revamped and it looks good. You can get a bottle of wine at half price everyday between 11am and 4pm!

I cannot say enough about this place – it’s the closest to an authentic British Pub that you will find in Toronto!

[Pincus]

The Duke of Kent is part of a mini chain including the Duke of York on Prince Arthur and the Duke of Somerset on Bay near Elm. http://www.thedukepubs.ca/

They are a step above the "Fox and Fiddle" and "Gabby's" chains, but that's not really a hard thing to do. And they are about as authentic a British pub as something in a theme park.

[Charles Yu]

Any Scotch egg on the menu?

[midtowngirl]

No scotch eggs, but quite a few items on the menu that are typical English pub food - welsh rarebit (nice smoky whiskey flavour served with toasted flatbread), ploughman's lunch, bangers and mash, fish and chips. They make all their pies in house and they are tasty (not those horrible reheated from frozen things you get at the chain pubs). I have not sampled a lot of the menu because I always end up ordering the cornish pasty. The menu also has typical bar food items like wings, nachos, quesadillas, etc. The decor is all red velvet upholstery and carpeting - old school british pub. I wouldn't necessarily travel across the city for it, but a good option if you are out in the Beach and craving a pint of guiness and some british pub fare.

[magic]

The Beach?? Duke of Kent is Yonge/Eg.....

[eller]

She's speaking of The Feathers here.

[biggreenmatt]

Yeah, I was wondering, too. 5 years of Tuesdays at the Kent playing trivia and I've never seen welsh rarebit or cornish pasties on the menu.

[magic]

Ahh. She was was replying to Charles Yu so that did not compute.

Gotcha :)

[prima]

Have you tried the Queen + Beaver? The Q + B is the closest I've found to an "authentic" British pub that also serves tasty British food.

[biggreenmatt]

The Q&B is excellent, but I've found what I think is a more classically-authentic English pub, though the food isn't anywhere near as good as the Q&B- Feathers out at Vic Park and Kingston Road. Room's terrific and they've got more scotch than you can shake a stick at, even if it was a very very large stick and you had some kind of stick-waving machine to wave it for you, since the number of scotches there at Feathers would require the kind of stick you can't just pick up and haul away with you, but required mechanical help to lift, never mind wave.

[biggreenmatt]

I play trivia there on Tuesdays, so I have a soft spot for the Kent. Plus it was my local when I lived on Erskine.

Listen, it is what it is: a good chain pub. But the best thing about it is the staff.

[hal2010]

The food's mediocre and the beer selection is limited. So, yes, it is like many British pubs these days.

[Sophiasolange]

You're entitled to your opinion...

[magic]

I've only been once but I thought the food was quite good! Great atmosphere.

I don't know why I don't go more often :S It's a good spot.

[atomeyes]

the beer list is indeed quite drab.
i've eaten there a few times over the years. "unmemorable" is the best way to describe it. sorry, but hal2010 and I are on the same page.