FFWD Weekly
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Food by Beth Weisberg The rumours continue to circulate. Travellers return home from abroad, bragging about passing off Canadian Tire money as real currency. It's a tantalizing concept. What a surprise to find funny money's good right here at home – and not just for hardware either. You can cash in the smiling Scotsman at the Drum and Monkey Public House on Tuesday nights. There are other rumours, too – stories about the Drum and Monkey, which opened one year ago, doing up a pretty good lunch. My friend and I went to check it out, memories of pub lunches in England tromping around in our skulls: the smoke, the congealed salad dressings, the oppressive knick-knack-ness of pub décor. The Drum looks pub-like enough. There's the wood panelling, high stools and football on the telly that you'd expect, but the soothing green walls, the dark chocolate brown booths, and a certain spareness about it all are a relief. And so is the menu – there’s typical pub grub, but there's lighter selections, too. We considered the salads, like mixed greens with tomato and feta topped with a lemon-dijon vinaigrette ($6), the caesar with double-smoked bacon ($7) or the spicy sesame noodles ($6). The appetizers ($6 to $10) were appealing, too, especially the steamed mussels in curry cream sauce. Our only disappointment was that the Drum has taken their reportedy excellent shepherd's pie off the menu. My friend compensated with a steak and mushroom pie ($9). Topped with puff pastry, loaded with bite size pieces of tender steak, carrots, onions and the Drums' wonderful gravy, it was a good and hearty lunch. The portobello burger ($8) I ordered was delicious. Topped with sweet red pepper relish and served with a few onion rings, the only down side was that the bun could not hold up to the juiciness of the well-seasoned mushroom, giving up the ghost about two-thirds of the way through. With a big pile of mixed green salad on the side, this was a well-balanced meal. Not what you might expect of pub food. For traditionalists, there's more standard pub fare: halibut and chips ($9), cornish pasties ($7), and even a ploughman's platter ($7) with "nippy" cheese, pickles, chutney, an egg and fresh bread. And if you really like your English food, mushy peas are one of the side options with many of the lunch features. The peas come right out of a can imported from jolly ol' itself. If you've never had them and are curious, consider a pot of split pea soup boiled down until sliceable, and you're about there. (Our waitress let us in on a hot tip – one innovative mom ordered the peas so she could feed her baby while she enjoyed the more chewable bits of the meal.) If you linger over lunch, you'll stay long enough to order a drink or two. The drum has 16 beers on tap, including Guinness, Kilkenny, Stella Artois and Strongbow Cider. And if you’re enjoying a drink, you may dip back into the finger foods. Cilantro lime or pineapple curry are just two of the chicken wing styles, and you can't have a bar without nachos – at $10 for a two-person order, the most expensive item on the menu. We left The Drum and Monkey Public House (1201 - 1 St S.W., phone 261-6674) happy – and surprisingly non-smoky, though smoking is definitely going on. The bathrooms may not be accessible if you have trouble with narrow halls. The service is easygoing, informative and on the ball. Grab your Canuck bucks and head out.

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