The Barley Mow

I was surprised at how empty this place was! Only a few tables were occupied.

The vibe was not all that, service was very slow, our waiter was nice though. We ordered Ceasars salad & calamari for starters, Steak sandwich, chicken wrap & barely burger for main. The food came all at once which was weird! By the time we ate the appetizers our sandwiches were cold! The fries were my least favorite! (As if they were reheated). Sandwiches & burger were OK.

Paid $126.55 including tip.

Long overdue for an updated review. They stepped up during Coronavirus lockdowns with takeout orders and great specials that include cans of craft beer (you can take those to go too, thanks to updated laws in the province). I got to know the manager and his dedicated staff personally. Service is greatly improved now with things back to normal and the menu is always evolving.

Prices are up everywhere but the daily specials and happy hours remain a good value if you are a beer drinker. I can recommend any of the burgers, fish & chips, poutine, pirogies and most of the main courses. Some of the appetizers are also deeply discounted during "appy hour". They offer military discount. Check their web site for details https://barleymow.com/ottawa-restaurant-specials/

I was looking for some local pub eats and decided on The Barley Mow since I haven't had it in awhile. I got a bunless Barley Burger and a small Caesar salad on the side.

The burger had smoked bacon, cheddar and provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, onion straws, and house 1000 Islands amber beer mustard sauce. It looked like a bit of a mess in the container without the bun, as expected, but it was pretty tasty and I appreciated that they didn't skimp on the cheese. I also appreciated that they put the onion straws in a separate mini container to keep them crispy. I definitely ate a few of these on their own and could've eaten more. They were like mini onion rings! I wasn't sure what the sauce would be like, but it wasn't too heavy, too beer-y, too mustardy, or too much. The beef patty was a little overdone so the sauce helped with the dryness.

The Caesar salad also had the dressing in a mini container, which is my preference so I can control the amount. The house garlic dressing is mayo based without raw eggs. It was great - creamy and nice garlic flavour, but not overwhelming and not too salty. What I really enjoyed was the addition of fried capers. Crispy, salty, and different than your regular Caesar. Yum! I liked them so much that I could've actually gone without the bacon and had the capers instead of both. If you're sensitive to salt or trying to cut down, I'd go with one or the other since there's also parmesan in the salad.

I'm still craving a good ol' poutine, though, so I think I'll get that next, or maybe even the chicken pot ale stew that I was also eyeing.

This place gets REAALY busy on a Thursday night, as they have a half price wing special after 8pm. We showed up at 7, thinking we'd beat the rush, plus we were in the mood for burgers. Service was quick, friendly, and attentive. The burgers were AWESOME. I had the Barley Burger. Nice and juicy, with real cheeses, and a nicely spiced bun. Taste was nicely balanced, and the flavor had a bite to it. My wife had the fish burger. It too was cooked nicely with just the right amount of heat.
One thing that we delighted at that many eateries should pay attention too is that the chairs and table were not wobbly. It's one of those things that stick in your subconscious and affects your overall experience.
Looking forward to returning to try the lamb shank. Hopefully I'll have room for dessert!

Food is ok and a little pricey for what it is. Great local spot for drinks. Atmosphere is fun and relaxed. Service is usually good.

Easter Sunday we spent some time here having drinks (great spot for that) and decided to stay for dinner. Again, another disappointing dinner. As a local we keep trying every couple of months, will not be doing that again. Fries were good. Steak, pho and burgers were pretty bad. Cauliflower bites were mushy and tasted like they came from a frozen bag. Yorkie bites that used to be incredible were very bad...like a huge mushy mess with bad flavour.
Very expensive for the quality of food that is served.
On a positive note - great spot for drinks! Skip the food.

I've been here on a few occasions, one for dinner & appies and the other for breakfast with a friend. The time I went at night with about 80 other people the service was alright considering the amount of people at the restaurant but when I went for breakfast the service was absolutely terrible! There was only about 8 customers at any given time yet the waitress only came by 4 times: to take orders, to deliver, to clean up a plate (not all of them as well both weren't done) & for the bill. Never did she ever come by to refill our teas or water. Not impressed at all, especially since she stood by the bar to talk to staff the entire time.
The food was good though. I loved the hash browns but warning: all their meat options taste like ham, lol. They also charge for tea which was a bummer. On the bright side I got a "buy 1, get 1 free" BW breakfast on my receipt so I'll probably return there since $8+tax is pretty decent for 2 filling plates of food despite the bad service.

Sadly the prices don't match the quality if the food or service. Though the placr has a certain vide to it (more adapted to single men or work friends than families or ladies), the food is more pretentious than tasty... a pho that tastes more like hot water than anything else, a chicke. Caesar salad that costs more than a steak at most places, and a waitress that... well i don't know really, haven't seen her much lately... seriously it's been 40 minutes since she last saw us.

A 75 dollar bill for a pho, water, salad and beer simply makes no sense for this humble barrhaven bar.

I have the receipt pic to prove it...

I was extremely disappointed. Service was poor, extremely slow considering there were only a few tables taken... on a Saturday night... we should have known by how empty it was. The burger was overcooked and bland. The sticky fingers were ok, but the garlic sauce had a film on top, like it had been sitting out for a while. We had gone there because we saw they had a brownie on the dessert menu, and we are a sucker for them. It sucked. Dry and gritty. Horrible experience overall.

Worst food ever. My girlfriends took me for a birthday lunch and we started with fried zucchini to share. To our disappointment and shock we were given a plate with 6 zuchinni sticks for $13.00. I asked for some sour cream for mine and they charged $1.00. There wasn't much any of us liked on the menu but I chose fish & chips. When it arrived it didn't look too bad but as I cut into it the grease oozed out. I tried soaking it up with a napkin but that just took off the coating on the fish and left me with a dripping napkin. We had to tell them to take it off the bill and I wasn't even offered something else. We will never go back there and would never recommend this place to anyone else.

The food is good, but the service is exceptionally slow. At lunchtime today, we were in our seats by 12.10. 1 hour later, we still had no food (although the drinks came promptly).
2 weeks ago, it took about 50 minutes to get our lunch food.
The food is tasty, but don't go for lunch unless you have 2-2.5 hours to spend.