Finbar's Irish Pub — Restaurant in Bedford

Picture this: it was a Monday like today. In fact, it was today. Labour Day - summer’s taint, and a soggy one at that. The house was a mess, the kids had their stuff everywhere, and the provisions we’d retrieved from our icebox just yesterday were meant to be grilled under a late afternoon sun, not subjected to a soul-crushing soaking from above.

I set out in my trusty grey chariot, seeking to donate some construction debris to any merchant who’d neglected to lock their dumpsters. My travels took me north along the west side of the basin. Hope for decent sustenance was fading as I rolled through successive yellow lights, noting the local haunts either closed for the holiday or too busy to offer prompt take-out.

As I traversed the Sackville River, my hunger was such that I’d begun to consider collecting the entrails of fresh roadkill. Just then, from the horizon arose a mid-60’s monolith, an oasis in the desert that is Olde Bedford. The watering hole reminded me of the cantina from that old country song, though nobody would die here tonight. I suppose a shooting is possible - Bedford is not what it used to think it was, but nobody would perish of hunger. At least not at Finbar’s.

I was promptly shown to a barstool and offered a Black Angus, odd since all the Angi I’d known were either red, bald or long dead. A mix of pseudo-Irish numbers filled my ears as the citrus cleansed both my sinuses and Catholic conscience. As I left with my BLT and the missus’ Fish & Chips tucked neatly under my arm, I noted the joint steadily filling up. Clearly, I’d made the right choice.

No cooking, no dishes, and not a scrap for leftovers. As for the trash, my quest begins...

I've been going to this restaurant for many years. Normally the food is excellent no matter what you order. Today I ordered the salad with salmon which is one of my go-to choices but today the salmon was very overcooked & dry. Told waitress but as I hate wasting food I told her I'd eat it anyway but wanted to let her know so the chef would know for the next customer. It would have been nice to have a token apology gesture such as a free coffee but we received no such thing. Overall, the service was good though and the others with me enjoyed their meal. Update: I went there for early lunch on Sun Nov 17 with parents. None of us enjoyed our meals. I ordered the Chicken Tarragon Pappardelle The whole dish was just about fridge cold, which had me concerned about food safety more than just taste. I told our waitress I was concerned and she brought the food back to the kitchen. I had said it was ok to just heat food up, so long as the chicken was already indeed cooked. So, that's what the chef did. This, of course, resulted in steaming mushy pasta which I didn't finish - and I'm not a fussy eater. One of the other people with me said their eggs Benedict meal wasn't good either, mainly because it was all cold. Other person was disappointed with the overall taste and presentation of their breakfast too. Perhaps the chef is new or was having an off day, so we'll give it a third chance someday but hopefully things will be better. On a positive note, our waitress Alexis, who had only been on the job four days, was excellent. Very friendly and professional and handled our concerns calmly...

Very disappointed. Have been coming here for several years. There were some glitches here and there reopening after Covid. We were here few months ago and ordered calamari, haddock and shrimp tacos. Calamari was good and the haddock was two good size pieces. We went again two and half weeks ago around 8.30 pm on a Saturday and the place wasn't busy at all. Servers were friendly and attentive. We ordered calamari to share and haddock and fish cakes as main course. Calamari came totally overcooked and was dark brown color. Haddock arrived and was just one piece and the preparation was different from what we had here in the past. My fish cakes were the most disappointing. They were the size of small risotto balls. Nothing like what one would expect fish cakes would be. We are not really into big portions but this was really surprising. And NO, I am not going to tell my disappointments about the food to the server. I worked in the industry and I know how this would change the dynamic between the server and the diner. Server is not responsible for the portion of the food being served and a cook knows if the calamari is over cooked and inedible before put it in the plate and send it to the dining room. I hate to write a bad review and I know the owner does not like anything less than 4 stars and will verbally attack you here below the review. One could see the pattern on the reviews below. I am not sure what happened to this place. Used to be a fun place with good food and...