by ALICE AND YANKA

Now and then we like to stop by the Dominion Pub on Metcalfe for a nice wholesome meal. You can’t really miss the place, not even from the back lane, because signs, arrows and the pink neon "PIG KNUCKLES" all lead you straight to the front door. So meet me under the coat rack in the corner, Yanka, where the air is fresh and clean.

Yellow and blue tiles cover up a good part of the walls, and old iron shields are hung up high - one for each Canadian province, not including the Territories and Nunavit - and there are at least eight television sets. The Dominion Pub sits tons of happy people, and the regulars know the wooden bar is the place to be heard and not seen.

The menu is an ode to Chef Ferreira who, alas, was in Gaspesia on this freaky Friday, leaving his spatulas in good hands - namely, in Raymond’s. Only Raymond’s head is visible through the kitchen window, a rectangle of stainless steel and neon. What’s he building in there? What?!

Worldly Chef Ferreira knows his brasserie stuff. On his menu, he offers "all you can eat spaghetti with garlic bread" on Mondays, a Chinese plate, de la saucisse, "in season only" Caesar salad, "tendre et savoureuse entrecôte" etc.

We ordered pig knuckles, a tavern staple. Just like potato chips, crackers, pickled eggs, popcorn and tongue, les pattes de porc are designed to leave you begging for beer. D’la bière les filles? Well, Heineken at the Dominion Pub doesn’t fare well with the locals and is therefore pretty expensive. So our waiter hovered over with a small pitcher of domestic beer, and he poured.

Back to the pig then. When the knuckle appeared, it threw us off our guard a little bit. So big and massive, fuming in its envelope of leather-like skin, we figure one portion could feed at least two, especially as la patte is flanked with a mountain of sauerkraut and delicious potatoes. Tastes like salty, tender ham. The best parts about it are its flaky texture and the deep pink colour of the fleshy meat. Also pleasurable is how it melts in your mouth, or rather how in a moment it’s just gone. Sure to entertain the inner man.

For $6.50, we also went for the shish kebab (filet de porc tendre). It comes with rice, quote-inducing lettuce - "J’adore la fraicheur de la salade!" - and a shower of ground-pepper pebbles. Extra saucy, this dish makes a great pool for the super-fresh buns of white bread. Hey, was that wine in the sauce? Yep, it’s boozy. Pretty boozay. Once you’ve ingested all the pig and parsley you can take, don’t even think about dessert or coffee because there’s none here. C’est une taverne!

We love taverns because they’re unpretentious and appear to be impervious to the mainstream. It’s a sad thing that the St-Regis had to bite the dust, as did the age-old Westmount Tavern (it is now just a boring tooth clinic). There you could still come across old men playing pool in their wife-beaters and slippers.

Indeed, the Dominion Pub underwent some revamping recently. We suspect that’s when they brought in all those big screens and the satellite-worthy stream of music which kind of fucks up the vintage atmosphere.

Nonetheless, it still has the feel of la bonne vieille taverne. The regulars come and go and laugh around the bar. There’s a Man in White, all white, from head to pointy toes. Mad singing bouts into tiny tape recorders, rice sandwiches, flashes of growing old, groups of people previously not in the room appearing out of nowhere and leaving through the front door and what the hell is this never-ending pitcher?! Must be all that parsley.

DOMINION PUB
ADDRESS: 1243 Metcalfe
HOURS: Mon–Sat 11AM–midnight; Sun 11AM–7PM
PHONE: 878-6354
CREDIT CARDS: All majors
PRICE: Beer bock @ $2.85, pig knuckle @ $7.50
WHEELCHAIRS: No steps, come on in
BEST FEATURE: Parsley everywhere, ambiance authentique
ALCOHOL: Yes
VEGETARIAN: Caesar salad (seasonal)
TAVERN RATING: *** out of ****