Monarchs Pub

The music makes this place. The servers have gotten better and the bartender makes me so happy I can’t refrain from giving this place 5 stars. My last five experiences have been great. The bands really are fantastic.

Bar juxtaposé au lobby d’un grand hôtel dans le centre de Toronto.
Il a pour particularité d’accueillir des groupes de jazz sur une base hebdomadaire.
Né vous laissez pas décourager par la présence de sans abris traînant devant l’hôtel, le bar en vaut la chandelle.

So — it’s a hotel pub (a PUB, not a BAR), you have to lower the bar a bit on that alone. There’s a bit of a price premium and it’s full of hotel clients. And strangely, it’s probably the liveliest bar in the area on any given night with live bands and many out-​of-​towners partying.
Now… in most other contexts, this should be a happening place. Well… not really. Being the Eaton Chelsea, it serves a middle-​aged crowd — a lot of suburban big-​hair moms and dad-​jeans dads in town for whatever reason (met a lady once that told us she was in town for surgery at nearby Toronto General the next day — I guess her pre-​op instructions were to drink a lot of beer). You’ll often see sports jerseys or attire appropriate for gardening — so if you’re looking distinguished, debonair gentlemen or cougars in party dresses they fit into 5 years ago — you’re in the wrong place.
I live close by the hotel — I sometimes see kids getting drunk on the balconies and engaging in general boisterous revelry (presumably in town for a concert or grad) — but I haven’t seen any at the bar. Then again, boozing in your hotel room and then hitting up Zanzibar or Remingtons nearby is probably the option I would have taken at that age as well. And I guess the crowd that’s matured beyond this stage would probably be at Reds or Duke’s (which does the same thing as Monarch in a much slicker package) across the street.
So, it’s usually been a bar of last resort for us — it’s open late and still relatively lively at the early morning hours. That last spot I pop in for a drink before stumbling home. Been here once at a decent hour, but that’s because Mill Street Brewery had a free beer party celebrating a partnership with the bar.
So, why the 3-​star rating? This place is large and *can be* VERY FUN. The live bands they have are usually good and there’s something fun about dancing and partying with decent folk letting loose for one night. It helps if you’re drunk, obviously. So you’ve drunk enough — ya, this place isn’t bad.

Monarchs Pub is a strange place. They get great blues bands, which is the draw. Once you’re in and listening to the music, the night starts to take a strange turn. It starts when you sit down and wait 15 – 20 mins for your drinks to arrive. It’s not necessarily because the servers are slow, it’s more because they either work inefficiently or are understaffed. We were in for a blues summit, which was hosted at the hotel, with loads of people coming out and music played all night, but only 2 servers on the floor and at least 100 patrons inside.
The offers are also suspect. They had a «special» in the summer — 20 oz of Sleeman for $ 6.00 said the ad. What you got was 16 oz for $ 7.99. I only got the advertised price and size once I called them on it, and this caused a hassle because the bartender had to manually put in my orders. That ain’t right, and it’s a terrible way to run a bar. So why do I go back? The music.
The bits of food we’ve had there are OK. We had nachos and a cheese board. Pretty tough to ruin.

Ugh, this pub has absolutely no atmosphere! I dropped by to see a band play last weekend and couldn’t wait to leave. From the bartenders to the drab furniture, the whole place is depressing. Hotel bars are never the best places to hang out on a Friday night, but this one really takes the biscuit.
The food menu looked OK (complete with quirky names for all of the dishes) but I decided not to bother after reading the other reviews. It seems that every menu item came out of the kitchen accompanied with little mason jars of sauce and on wooden boards instead of plates, which would be fine in a trendy bar but here it just looked out of place.
Since the Aura condo building opened across the street there are tons of better bar/​restaurants to go, and I’d suggest heading there than going to Monarchs Pub.

The reason I have been to Monarchs is to attend shows hosted by the Toronto Blues Society. I find the service awkward and frustrating. On our last visit we gave up on the idea of trying to order food. One server told us that they didn’t have table service, the other told us we would have to wait for our server to come around. We were over an hour before we could figure out how to order food.
As we sat at our table we noticed an ad on the table for a $ 6 20 oz Sleeman. Since my 16 oz Okanogan cost $ 9, I switched. I was then served a Sleeman in a 16 oz glass. We brought this to their attention and they said that it had yo be poured in a Sleeman glass… finally they poured it into a Guiness glass.
Needless to say, next time we will eat before the show and go out for drinks somewhere else!
If you are a guest of the hotel, you are steps from restaurants and pubs. Try something else. Please don’t let this place shape your opinion of Toronto ’ s food and nightlife!

Last thursday’s TD Jazz festival was both a foody and entertainment all-​in-​one package. In the company of great people, food, and the Jack De Kezyer band, our party decided to order their Crisp Coconut Shrimp Tacos, Chicken cesar salad, and All Ontario themed bruschetta.
Crisp coconut shrimp tacos 4/​5, very flavorful, and perfect snack size to munch on whilst having a glass of chianti. With shrimp being typically bland, the coconut really diversified the taste of the dish, and the crispyness was an added surprise. In addition the tortilla wasnt too thick, and perfected sized.
Chicken Cesar salad: 3/​5, chicken was a bit bland, however thankfully the mozareall shavings, and light cesar sauce helped maintain a «3÷5» portion was great! and everything tasted fresh overall.
All Ontario Bruschetta, ²⁄₅: First off, it was very oily, however perfect bit size. All you typical ingredients of a bruschetta, onions, tomatos, pesto, etc. Not to be head over heels for.
The overall service was great, and most of the dishes were presented well, we had 2 bottles their 2012 Chianti to compliment our snacks. However first impression counts, the food was MEH-​ALRIGHT, the service was spectacular, and the ambience was kicking it back with some city-​jazz! i guess im a fan.

The food ranges from barely edible to moderately edible. Friendly service, if and when you can get their attention, which isn’t often.
I don’t hold hotel pubs to the highest of standards, but the poor service, and poor meal can’t allow me to recommend this spot — there are a number of other options close by.
Decent enough for a pint at the bar, but that’s about it.