Oh Crowd, Where Art Thou?

The Pitch

What better way to spend a late-summer Thursday evening than with a drink outdoors in this city?  With fall approaching, we decided to hit up Rufus Rockhead on the busy terrace row of Notre-Dame in Little Burgundy.  We don't remember much of this spot from our first visit a few weeks ago, one of many stops on a bachelor party crawl, asides from it belonging to Jeff Stinco's growing nightlife empire.

tagged:  5 À 7 CATCH SOME SUN

The Mood

Judging from the day's beautiful weather, we were expecting a bit of a crowd at this bar's modern/industrial interior and inviting terrace.  Alas, we were wrong, as the inside was dead (save for staff), while the patio only started filling up later on.  Add the "habitation" across the street, with its wheelchair-bound residents staring right at you from their building porch, and you're not in "happy hour" mood anymore.

tagged:  WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

The Food

Rufus shares its kitchen with the acclaimed Shinji next door (another Stinco asset), so casual Japanese food that's a notch above typical bar grub is to be expected.  We started off with a couple pints of Bromont's West Shefford pale ale (yep, also owned by Stinco), before moving on to cocktails and a couple tapas.  Everything we ordered was generally pleasing, minus the coleslaw lacking some crunch.

Cocktail

Cocktail

$14

$14

Caipirinha

"cachaça, lime, simple syrup"

Cocktail

Cocktail

$14

$14

Bloody Maria

"tequila, lemon juice, lime, olive, worcestershire, tabasco, clamato"

Tapas

Tapas

$10

$10

Panko Breaded Shrimp Tempura

"served with tartar sauce and coleslaw"

Tapas

Tapas

$10

$10

Maki Sushi of the Day

"shrimp maki topped with salmon & avocado"

tagged:  GOOD FOR SHARING

The Service

The two separate waiters that took care of us seemed a little uninformed when it came to the food offering.  They were also a little out-of-sync with our orders, not to mention that they kept coming back overzealously to check on us.

tagged:  DAZED & CONFUSED

The Verdict

We won't pretend to know who Rufus Rockhead was, and we won't bore you with a biographical note (there's Wikipedia for that).  We do believe his namesake drinkery has most of the elements in place for a great neighborhood bar; location, décor, terrace, drinks, food…  The only thing missing is the crowd (and sharper service).  You would think a bar's bread and butter is the Thursday 5a7 shift.

tagged:  PLAN B.

Price per person:  $18.78