The Old Toad

Reviews 4

PA

Paul Cicotta

Now I have lived in London, and tried real British cuisine, and The Old Toad will be completely the opposite. Initially when you walk in, you are welcomed with a traditional stuffy English atmosphere. Eating at Old Toad will remind you of eating at the bottom of a church pub on Sunday morning. Back in day, the staff where authentic citizens from the UK, and had that annoying accent to compliment your order. Now it seems those good old days are gone, along with the quality of food it delivers to your table. The only saving grace with an extra star is going to be the Cask Events/Trivia nights they put on with their beer selection. Speaking of Casks, this will be one of the few places you can get beer directly out of one. Service is spotty at best, especially on slow night like the one I was on. When you open any restaurant, you better make sure you have the required items that are listed on your menu. Immediately the server told us what WASNT available on the menu?? Disappointing since I wanted to try the Steak Ale and Mushroom Pie, not to say it would have been executed well anyways. This place is a complete mockery to English food, a shame since there arent many in the Rochester area. Hands-down if this place advertised just as a BAR, it would have been a solid 4 Stars. So lets Banger and Mash this menu out, and get ready to have our digestive biscuits handy after. THE CASK ALES: I got started with a pint of Keuka Brewing Barrel Aged Fat Stack Maple Pecan Porter, which tasted amazing. I have been to Keuka Brewing, and it was one of my fav craft breweries in the Keuka Lake region. Having it in a CASK is a BONUS, as it tasted like toasted malt with maple syrup and pecans- YUMMIES! The DRAFT BEERS: The Ellicotville Chocolate Cherry Bomb is a tasty Imperial Stout NITRO. This stout is brewed with cocoa beans and cherries. It was like drinking a hot fudge sundae, only that I was missing the cherry on top. The Siren Grapefruit Ting is right from England, with fresh grapefruit notes throughout. It is a lot like drinking a pint on a cold foggy day in London. ENTRÉE: If you cant pull off the traditional SHEPHERDS PIE at a place that advertises as an authentic English restaurant, you dont deserve to be in the business of serving food. The looks of the Shepherds Pie when it came out was so unappealing, with the potatoes just glopped on top and not piped like it should be. The jack cheese was so thick and oozing everywhere throughout the interior of the pie. Hardly any ground beef in it, and the ground beef looked like chopped up cat food. The vegetables in the pie and on the side of the dish tasted literally like dish water. The gravy was not simmered beforehand, and just placed in the pie to heat up with everything else leaving you with an extreme watery gloppy mess. There was NO FLAVOR/ OR SEASONING throughout, just imagine those ingredients thrown together to warm up, and thats your SHEPHERDS PIE. God, I am ready to jump off this London Bridge already!! Overall: AMAZING Cask Styled Events, Great Selection of Beers, Most Unauthentic English Food, Slow/Lazy Service, Mashed Down and Thrown Together Shepherds Pie, and NO British Accents...I Will Be Back for the EVENTS ONLY!!!

TE

Tessa Wheatley

If you have refined taste in craft beer and scotch, if you are captivated by bartenders with British accents, if you call yourself an Anglophile, if you prefer a charmingly intimate atmosphere, reminiscent of an authentic English pub, to the deafening madhouse of sloppy drunks packed into a dim, insipid flea trap....then The Old Toad is your new home. I spent a lot of time hanging out with last summers crew of British exchange students, so I have quite a fondness for the place, but even before I knew anyone by name, it enchanted me as soon as I walked in the door. The walls are covered with every imaginable homage to British culture, all authentic of course, as the co-owner is actually a native of England. There are nooks and crannies everywhere to nestle in with your companions and enjoy good conversation over an aged scotch or a cask ale. The single dartboard is made of real fibers, is encased in wood with a chalkboard for keeping score, and uses steel-tipped darts. The enclosed sitting room complete with a decorative fireplace is aptly named the "Victorian Snug". The weekly trivia nights are so popular that they require a reservation. And Im proud to say that for my first alcoholic beverage on my 21st birthday, I braved the Toads legendary "Gas Chamber"--inquire about it if you dare--followed by a soothing, yet deceivingly strong OT20 IPA, which is exclusively made for the pub by Custom Brewcrafters. The delightful intricacies of the place are infinite. Its unquestionably a must-see attraction in Rochester, and the unique character of the establishment is what clearly draws people in. But the people who really fall in love with the Old Toad are the ones who become a part of it themselves. Those who dont sometimes feel disillusioned by inconsistent service, apathetic attitudes, or mediocre food and drink presentations. The young bartenders change yearly, so to feel truly welcomed as a patron you must spend enough time there to befriend the long-term staff and customers, who at times may seem disinterested in the ebbing and flowing crowds. But those on the inner circle (to which even I cannot claim membership) will be treated like family for life.

JE

Jens Fiederer

This is my regular pub, I go there every Sunday and Monday night to play trivia....so perhaps it is unfair to rank it so high. On the other hand, considering I go there at least twice a week, it would be lying to rank it otherwise! That being said, the place does have some imperfections....it is meant to. Every year they get students from the UK to work as servers for the year, so the major part of the staff is interns! The quality of service definitely varies by the year, and Ive been going there for over 15 years....sometimes it is excellent, other times it can be embarrassingly bad. They usually have one (sometimes more) server that is an American with more experience, and one of the managers is the son of the owner (the owners are often there as well). It has an excellent selection of beer (which I dont like myself) and scotch (which I do like), and other spirits. Food is served, including English, Indian (the English love Indian food) and local. There are bar games, there is trivia twice a week, and often there is an excellent opportunity for conversation with people from other countries (not just the staff).

JI

Jill C. S.

I really used to love having lunch/dinner at the old toad. Their menu was especially great for vegetarians. It was so nice not being relegated to a boring salad and besides that I was able to get vegetarian bangers and mash or vegetarian shepards pie. They have recently(within the past 6 months or so) changed their menu and their vegetarian options are the same boring thing at every other place (so sad about the arrogant bangers and mash!!). I do love a good salad though so I tried their version of a goat cheese salad and the lettuce barely covered the plate! If you are going to charge $13 for salad there should be a fair amount of lettuce. The atmosphere is nice here and the wait staff really conversational and fun which is the only reason I am giving it 3 stars instead of two. I would probably only be back for a cider.