The Social Bar + Table — Restaurant in Port Hope

We ate dinner at the Social Bar & Table while staying in Port Hope. We were able to walk from our airbnb, which is always nice. The Social Bar & Table is located in the historic downtown area of Port Hope, just off of Walton Street, the historic main street.

We chose to eat outside since it is was a beautiful evening. There is a pergola with tables underneath it and three tables for two, close to the building. There were already several tables taken under the pergola, so we opted to sit at the tables for two close to the building. These tables were very small, especially once our food arrived, and made of wood that had not been treated and were sort of rickety.

The food was amazing! We chose brisket poutine and chicken satay skewers for our appetizers. Both were very good. The brisket poutine had large chunks of brisket and lots of cheese curds with gravy over chips (french fries). We chose the salmon pie (one of the specials for the evening) as our entree, and it was delicious! It was served in a soup bowl with a handle. The flaky crust was delicious and covered the pie, which was seasoned perfectly and contained lots of salmon. We chose to have the sticky toffee pudding for dessert, which we asked to have packed for us to take back to our airbnb as it was threatening rain and we were walking. Our server checked with the kitchen and we were told that since it was baked in a ramekin, they could not pack it up. We're not sure why they could not have taken it out of the ramekin once baked, and placed it in a "to-go" container for us. The sticky toffee pudding was the best sticky toffee pudding that I have ever had, but we rushed to eat it, so that we could get home before the rain.

Our server was friendly, but seemed like a new waiter. He did not clear our appetizer dishes before serving our entree. (since the table was very small, this made it extremely crowded).

All in all, it was a fantastic meal and a pleasant experience. If you are ever in Port Hope, we would suggest you give the Social Bar and...

Staff were on point and attentive to your requests. Started with wine and beer menu, great local selection. Appetizer was bread with duck butter Yummy) with a selection of olives.

Main course was Steak n Frits, great portions; Gourmet burger, thick hand made patty, toppings were fresh. Baked Mac n cheese for the little one, Gourmet style. Everything on the menu is local and fresh.

Dessert was a Peach crumble pie, vanilla ice cream, with carmel drizzle, good presentation. Coffee was strong and had a bold taste (like what Coffee should taste like) with a cappuccino was strong with a well balanced froth. I personally like brown sugar when having a cappuccino but none the less, great night cap. If this place served Affogato, that would be a killer combination and would peak others to try something different.

We were given a fantastic tour of a new addition, very historic with original brick and barn wood combination. There is a cozy area and long bar with various European beers and liquors. There is art work within to add an artistic vibe. At the rear is another outside patio if the front is at capacity.

All I can say is it's all fresh and locally out sourced farm to table. Support local businesses and not the Big Corporations that provide frozen to microwave/deep fried food.

The vibe was pleasant, everyone around was enjoying the atmosphere, perfect...

2.5 stars. Visited twice, once for lunch, once for dinner during the Port Hope Jazz event being put on at restaurants in August 2022. The lunch was pretty good, it was trout in a salad. It was a little small of a portion for the price but tasted nice. Service was good.

When returning for dinner it was a different story. Reservation placed us inside (away from the live music), and placed everyone else outside. Eventually we were able to move outside. 10 minutes to get our drink order in, another 15-20 to make it. Food order was taken 30 minutes after arrival, and took another 20 to arrive (and arrived cold). The restaurant was not terribly busy at all, and seemed to have a lack of servers. There really seemed to be 2, and one was being trained by the other. We ordered brisket and steak, the brisket had good flavour and the steak was a little over cooked. Luckily the music was phenomenal.

The lunch is what brought up the rating. The dinner service was not what I expected. It felt like the servers were kind of annoyed by us, despite barely remembering us. It sort of feels like the restaurant built a bit of a reputation, has a nice interior and fancy food and it built a bit of an ego. Quality at all levels of a restaurant need to be constantly checked for consistency, and it felt like this has slipped. For the steep prices exceptional service and food...