O'CONNOR's IRISH PUB ~ Kanata, On

O'CONNOR's is now CLOSED - RIP

Kanata.



No I'm not misspelling Canada. I'm talking about the city Kanata, 1 minute drive West of Ottawa. This place frightens me. Why? It's what I image what a city would look like if the Nazi's had won the war. You know, without the swastikas.



Ok I'm exaggerating. A little.





The city is one big planned community. There is no real history, no character, and no buildings past the 80's by the look of things. Streets are several lanes wide, plus bike lanes (with no bikes, because this is a commuter city, everyone drives). Lawns are well manicured, SUV's abound and there doesn't seem to be a ghetto or depressed area anywhere. There is no 'down town' or main street.







No, here, it's the KANATA CENTRUM. Box stores. Box restaurants. In the middle is a car free zone of cobblestone streets with shops and restaurants and the AMC 24 theatre. Right outside the theatre is one giant establishment: O'Connor's Irish Pub.





Inside looks like a swanky castle keep. Its cavernous, with a rock and wood motif; 'torch' lights, big barrels, massive fire place and no one in it. It was empty and not a soul was sitting inside the restaurant this week night.

I sat on the giant patio, which was pretty sparse too. On previous visits to the AMC Theatre, the crowd always looked young and rowdy. But on this evening, the crowd was 35+ and looked like they all just came from the office for a beer in their suits. The waitresses on the other hand, were dressed in black short shorts and tight black shirts - a style common to many pubs and 'upscale' casual restaurants I have dubbed "Hooters Classy."

My waitress Kathryn was attentive and polite but I wouldn't describe her as friendly. She did her job, but my dining experience wasn't enhanced by her. Sometimes a staff member can really make your visit. I think I weirded her out by dining alone - no one in Kanata seems to do anything by themselves. But she answered my questions and brought me wings quick.


There is only one size of wings to order from, a pound, which makes sense in some respect because some restaurants will add 2 or 3 pounds, but the price is just doubled. 9 for 1lb or 18 for 2lbs, why bother with the second; but if its cheaper to order more, well, then, there you go.

The wings are breaded (lightly). Actually they refer to them as breaded but I think dusted is more accurate. They had a very crispy coating that was delightful to bite into. And they were nice and saucy, without getting soggy.

The size of the wing was a medium. An average size wing. If these wings were truly breaded, it would have added to the size. The chicken itself was pretty meaty and tender. They might have come from frozen stock, but if they did, they were still a quality chicken product.

There were only 3 wing sauces to choose from: Hot, BBQ and Honey Garlic (so really only 2). I went with hot wings and a side of BBQ to sample.

The Hot sauce was a generic pub-cayenne hot sauce. And hot refers to the genre of sauce, not the heat temperature. They had no bite whatsoever. But they tasted not too shabby.

BBQ was bottle sauced. It was Diana's BBQ for sure. Sweet - no heat, no boldness, no zing. I used it to dunk my carrots and celery in (and where was the blue cheese dip by the way? Veggies with nothing to dip into?).

FINAL SCORE: The chicken was nice, the skin was crispy, the sauce was . . . generic. The place looks nice and there's lots, I mean LOTS of seating options. Vast. Endless. Kanata may be uncomfortably perfect, but I wouldn't mind coming back here. I guess.

O'Connor's Irish Pub
Kanata Centrum, 650 Kanata Ave. Kanata On.

oconnorsirishpub.com