The Barley Mow

Regrettably, a favourite local pub has closed this August 2015. While it weathered the past few years when the 67s were in Kanata when Lansdowne was being redeveloped, it appears that the abundance of restaurants at the new TD Place has sealed its fate. We will miss the terrific staff and hope that they land on their feet somewhere else close by. The Barley Mow had been an Old Ottawa South icon for 20 years and will be sorely missed.
Good news! The Mow reopened in October 2015 under new ownership/​management, possibly the original owner. The place looks good and has more inside space due to a rearrangement of the bar. They only have a limited menu as they have only been open for a week. Looking forward to their new «Fine Dining» menu.
Posted 16 Oct 2015

Pub food, but quite decent pub food. Their Crispy Chicken Wrap, Burger, and Fish and Chips are all good.

Fish and Chips weren’t bad at all, I just didn’t like the breading (my fish & chips must have been breeding earlier evidently… stupid spellcheck!!) as much as I’ve had in other places.
The atmosphere and décor are very nice. The latrine had a wall of quotes and differing tidbits of information. I’d go back and try another dish.

It wasn’t the worst ever, but you’d have a hard time getting me back in those doors unless someone was treating me.
The waitresses were nice, but oddly it seemed that 2 or more waitresses were attending our table which was a little confusing when they were both trying to bring us our cheques/​change. The seating is also uncomfortable. The tables are very small (fair enough for a pub, I guess), but the chairs were also tiny, low, and slippery. I have a fairly generous caboose but it’s not like THE BIGGEST and I can’t imagine anything bigger than a tiny butt could sit on those chairs without constantly slipping forward. Unless they were wearing leather pants, maybe.
On the menu, there is an arugula steak salad with goat cheese and stuff for $ 14. What I wanted was a side version of that salad with no meat (so I could have the perogies). Two of their other salads have this option for $ 4-​$ 6 so I asked the waitress, who said she would check with the kitchen. I didn’t think it would be a problem, it wasn’t busy, but I was told no. Fair enough, I guess, but considering the price structure and ingredients already exist, I didn’t see why they refused.
So I ordered a poutine. Bleh. I should have asked about it first. But it doesn’t occur to me to ask if a poutine is made with real cheese curd when I’m in a reputable place in Ottawa. But no. I was dismayed to see that my EIGHT DOLLAR poutine was just fries, gravy and shredded mozzarella.
It offends me on principle but it also wasn’t particularly good. Pass on this place.

Bar none worst pub food EVER! Started with the coconut shrimp starter. And the fish was rotten and stale. I had the fish and chips & the batter was severely undercooked and slimy. My g/​f had a basic chicken salad which was served on a dirty plate. Stay clear of tips place. I could only imagine what their kitchen looks like.

I hadn’t been here in years and popped in with some friends. The thing I like most about the Barley Mow is that the menu goes above and beyond the usual pub fare. I think the quality and variety could stand up against most «regular» restaurants as opposed to just being pub fare. The biggest downside in my opinion is that is a pretty small place. Warning: I had the Malaysian chicken and it was spicy. Really spicy. And I can handle a lot.
On a side note, when I started coming here a few years back, the credit card receipts always «649 Pub». I had heard it was because the owner had won the lottery and used the money to start the business. Doesn’t have any bearing on the food, but it makes for a nice story.

Good atmosphere but the service was a little slow.

Bar none, no pun intended, the best Fish N’ Chips in Ottawa. Flaky battered Haddock with a side of tangy tartar sauce and real fries the Barley goes head-​head with any speciality Fish N’ Chip eatery and this isn’t even their speciality. A very eclectic menu with green beer and ketchup to boot on St. patty’s day separates the Barley Mow from other Brewpubs that try and utterly fail to make any advances in offering this British staple with any significance.
In the summer there is also a great front patio that over looks the trendy Bank St. in the Glebe section of Ottawa. I used to frequent the Barley as a student and have spent many a night on this infamous patio.

My friend flew into town and I devised a bar-​crawl tour to show him how great Ottawa is. There are a million pubs in town, but I decided to choose a few on Bank Street — mostly because they are fun and they are within a short walk of each other, which is handy in the chilly weather. We got to Barley Mow at around eight on a Monday night. We assumed it would be dead, being a Monday and all. Au contrare — Barley Mow was full. On Mondays they have a pub quiz night and the place was packed with participants. It was a great scene — we snuggled up next to the bar and enjoyed some snacks and pints and watched the teams fight it out for quiz supremacy. The food is a little different from your local pub — the old standbys yes, but also filet mignon and butter chicken??? So, it has the best of the pub scene plus more. I totally recommend the Barley Mow.