Elite Event at Harbord House

Why didn’t I get to this one earlier instead of being fashionably late? It seems I missed half the food samplers. Based on the two I caught (the fish ‘n’ chips and the chocolate ultra sin in a cup delight), I probably missed some good eats. The HH is well worth a return visit as a paid customer based on the strength of these samplers.
So tip to new Elite event attendees: if it starts at 7, get there at 7. Kat clearly well orchestrates her events. Other observations as a newblite. Everyone is super friendly and approachable. If you’re bellying up to the free booze/​grub tip your bartender/​waitress.

I popped my Unilocal elite party cherry last night and it was well worth it.
Thanks Unilocal for a fabulous get together. I was happy to be putting faces to reviews and figuring out that my trivia sucks.
Harbord house has such fabulous food options and the great lakes pumpkin ale was unbelievable. it will definitely a part of my halloween festivities!
Thanks Kat and the Unilocal crew.

Like the rest of my Unilocalin’ Peeps, I totally give this event, and place, 5 stars. I got there a bit late and missed out on most of the food, but the sticky toffee pudding was hheeaavveenn.
The atmosphere was very relaxed and inviting. I will absolutely be back for dinner.
The staff at Harbord House were great! Very friendly and looked like they were having a good time too.
Oh — they make a pretty good cosmo to boot ;)
As always — Kat rocks — thanks for another great event — can’t wait till next month!

Amazing event! The food was phenomenal, I’ve definitely got to come here and have a full dinner, I’m sure it would be amazing! Besides good food, do I even need to mention how great pumpkin ale is and BigRock Traditional; this place packs killer draught with its top notch food.
And the best part is great Unilocal company! It was so great seeing everybody and I’m really enjoying getting to know the Unilocal community.

This was a great event, had tons of fun and met lots of friendly and fascinating people.
It was my first trip to the Harbord House and I really enjoyed it, the staff was fantastic, and the upstairs looks so much better than when it was Rower’s Pub. :P
Highlights were the Big Rock Traditional Ale, the fish and chips and sticky toffee.
Kat, you know how to throw a good party! Kudos!

I would say still not as good as the first elite event at Salvador Dali’s but it is in the running for top 3! Haha.
This was a humongous upgrade from the last event and the food was spectacular! I’m not a huge beer person (aka I don’t like it at all) so I didn’t order any of the beers. I did try them and didn’t enjoy the taste at all but hey, you can’t win every time.
I loved the food that they served. The best thing was the smoked salmon on potato cake with the crème fraîche… YUM! They had awesome fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding to die for! The servers were great and extremely friendly. The owner John was always keeping a constant watch on everything and served as well as cleaned.
I loved meeting all the new people this time. I guess there was a new round of Elite upgrades since the last event. Loved seeing the old Elites as well.
I also thoroughly enjoyed Degrassi playing on in the background and the trivia questions that I didn’t know the answers to. I’m glad that there was an ice breaker game this time around, I found my match within 5 minutes of being there so I decided to go back for more… I found my match 4 different times!
It was great meeting the NYC CM Jane and of course Kat, it’s always great to see you. Thanks for a great event, can’t wait for the next one!

I had a great time at my first Unilocal Elite Event at the Harbord House. Met lots of cool Unilocalers, got to try a new place, got free food, and finally met Kat F. All in all, a perfect night.
I especially liked the fish (from the fish & chips) and the salmon something or another. Of course free beer is never a bad thing so I can’t forget to mention that as well.
Harbord House looks to be a pretty nice place. it’s cozy and seems like a great place to hang out after a busy night.
Reviewing an event seems a bit weird, but this is more like a big BIG thanks to Kat F for all her hard work.

Perhaps my favorite Elite event yet!
Having never been to Harbord House I was excited to check it out! Side note story? When it first opened my parents wanted to go and went to Harbord Bar by accident. Now I must tell them to give the journey another try! How can I not?! Now that I’ve gone I can’t wait to go back!
Smoked salmon on some potato? Fish and chips? Toffee pudding? I’m still so full! Here’s the things about signing people in at the door THE FOOD PASSES BY YOU SO MUCH! It was yummy. I could not stop. I nearly exploded. It would have been a delicious explosion.
The yummy food mixed with Degrassi and pumpkin local trivia was pretty great. Even better was seeing other Unilocalers! You guys are all the cooooolest.
One bad thing? I lost my beer opener thingy! I wanted to try it out so bad! Has anyone tried it out yet?

Thanks to Kat’s third overwhelmingly successful Elite event, I can finally call myself an expert smizer (smiling with my eyes). I already had the mouth part downpat (smiling AND eating, thank you) but Kat’s rigorous Elite training has provided me with the skills I need to smize with the best.
Harbord House is a wonderful venue for groups — lotsa room to mingle or chill on the sidelines. Top-​notch playlist as always, and BONUS: Degrassi on the big screen. There’s no way to have a lull in conversation when you can always fall back on «remember when» and «omg, Snake looks 40!».
And the best part — the food. Kudos to Harbord House for keeping the snacks in constant flow, skirting around the room with trays of salad rolls, smoked salmon, mini pulled pork sandwiches, fish & chips (!!)… and beer! THIS is how you throw an Elite event.

Oy. Cue the waterworks. I promised myself I wouldn’t get verklempt over my imminent leave but last night’s elite event was really a microcosm of everything that I’ve come to know and love about Unilocal Toronto.
First off props to Kat F for planning perhaps the most fantastic and boisterous elite event yet. Great venue, the owner, a tall friendly fellow was milling about our crowd of discerning reviewers and even stopped to shake hands with a few. As well, the food rocked. How can you say no to fish and chips in newspaper cones and smoked salmon potato croquettes. A+ for effort in that deparment. Beer selection was excellent, I enjoyed my light pumpkin ales. Also no chairs were present unlike the cushions and alcoves at Laide. This ensured more saturation and mingling among those present and the pumpkin card matching games was a nifty conversation starter. Really nice as well to catch up with few old friends and meet some new ones, gosh we have such an awesome crowd here in Unilocal Toronto. I know I’m going to miss these nights!
Thanks again to Kat for pulling off a delightful evening!
P. S. The afta party was good too.

Better late to the party than not at all! The nerve of work actually getting in the way of my Elite Unilocaling activities! I did manage to finally haul my ass over to the Harbord House towards the latter part of the evening and it was definitely worth the effort of high speed driving across the Gardiner. What a great spot for our event. The room really facilitated for mixing and mingling.
I didn’t get to nosh on the snacks with the exception of the sticky, sweet little pudding pots which were fun, gooey and lip smackingly good. Thanks to the brew crew who not only served up some interesting pumpkin brew but also kicked in some bottle opening swag! How fun.
Kat, you outdid yourself and this will be one tough act to follow. It was great to see so many of my Unilocalie pals out and even more great to meet some new faces. A big thank you to the staff and the owner of the Harbord House for being such gracious and generous hosts. This Elite Unilocaler really appreciated it, even if only for my short time there. I’m definitely hitting up the HH in the future.

At first I was a bit scared when I found out the Elite Event would be at the Harbord House… would they recognize my 3 star review of their mediocre service and ignore me at the bar? Luckily it wasn’t so and their service was top notch instead (thanks to all the staff!)!
Thanks to Kat for organizing this and getting all that amazing food to come out (unfortunately I missed all the appetizers!), everything was great and it was nice meeting some new Unilocalers I hadn’t met before!
Oh and just an FYI, Jay and I yet again managed to grab the last two drinks of the night, I do believe we are on a streak! As long as you don’t count the last event (doesn’t count since I wasn’t there!)

Awesome event!
The food was fantastic. I loved the smoked salmon appetizer, and the fish and chips! Got to meet and have interesting conversations with many familiar and new Unilocalers over the course of the night. The venue was definitely a good choice.
Overall an excellent event and fun times! well done Kat!

The best Elite event yet Kat!
I was very impressed by the hospitality of the waitstaff. The owner was around shaking hands and chatting up the Unilocalers who are bound to soon review the restaurant. Big Rock brewing company supplied some great Traditional Ale (My fav) and Pumkin Ale, they also brought these cool cylindrical bottle openers.
Caught up with some old friends and met a lot of new ones. The lack of chairs and places to hide were great as it helped me and others eavesdrop on strangers and subsequently join in on conversations. I think lack of chairs and hiding spots are definitely the way to go when it comes to elite events.
The appetizers were great and props have to go out to Harbord House for their presentation; goat cheese and fig salads served in cucumber cylinders, mini pulled pork sandwiches on challah bread, smoked salmon on potato croquettes, and fish and chips served in newspaper cones (my fav).
This experience has inspired me to come back to Harbord House and have a full meal and experience dining downstairs as everything looked amazing on the way in. The fish and chips kicked the crap out of Harbord Fish and Chips down the street. Harbord House had all the hospitality and service all establishments should… especially if Unilocalers are in!
Overall, a great night and so far my favorite. A constant flow of free drinks really lets the crowd loosen up and get to talking.

I believe that this Elite event was part of Kat F.‘s evil plan to light a fire under the collective asses of all you* slacker Unilocalers and get the word out… so that you** will start reviewing up a storm in Toronto in the hope that one day, you*** will reach Elite status and get invited to these superdope events in the future.
How else to explain:
(i) The clever and beyond delicious chow like pulled pork sliders on mini Challah buns and individual fish & chips in newspaper cones served (piping hot!) by very professional-​looking cater waiters?
(ii) Or the endless supply of primo microbrews, Big Rock Traditional Ale and Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale, on tap?
(iii) Or the adorable «Find Your Pumpkin Card Mate» icebreaker game that helped us meet new people and eventually led me to my match – a Canuck Unilocaler named «Dallas”– AND allowed me to learn all sorts of cool local trivia?
(iv) Or all the hot Unilocal swag like T-​shirts, emery boards, and sticks of lip balm?
Did I mention that all of the above were abso-​f-​cking-​lutely F R E E?
Either:
(A) Kat F. is a brilliant Unilocal strategist; or
(B) Kat F. just knows how to show people a good time.****
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
* Yeah, YOU, Mr. Search-​But-​Never-​Reviewski
** Yeah, YOU, Ms. Don’t-Care-Enough-to-Voteberg
*** Yeah, YOU, over there in the corner with the look that says, «I’m too cool to post on Talk threads except when I want advice on where to have a birthday party»
**** Answer: Both statements are true. So what are YOU waiting for? Start Unilocaling!

A HUGE improvement over the last l33t event.
It was great meeting the Big Rock rep and finally understanding why I can’t find my beloved Honey Brown here in Ontario.
The food was awesome and it was great to see a bunch of new faces.
Thanks Kat for a great event!

We got spoiled tonight!
Smoked salmon on strange toast — awesome!
Pulled pork sliders — fabulous!
Mini fish n chips (in newsprint) — mind-​blowing!
Sticky toffee pudding in tiny teacups — adorable!
Add Big Rock Traditional Ale and Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale on tap, and you can see why this was a spectacular event!
Not yet noted: A great selection of Canadian microbrews on tap. A year-​and-​a-​half-​in owner who has posted some phenomenal photos in the upstairs lounge (you should go just to ckeck them out) and a kitchen committed to serving classics with the kind of flair and personality that is rarely seen even in Toronto.
Harbord House, I’ll be back!

fact: i love free stuff.
pumpkin ale, fish and chips, mini pulled pork, goat cheese salad rolls and yummy smoked salmon appies. and lets not forget that delish sticky toffee pudding.
yes,.i heard many saying they would come back to harbourd house and I’m glad everyone adores this place as much as i do. I just hope they don’t crowd me out! I wanted to keep it my little secret.
Thank you so much to kat for the organizing and swag and I’m a huge fan of the new peeps i had the privilege of hassleing tonight (i.e. under-​age kate and chris’ vodka-​water-​lime wife).
and most wonderfully, got to meet the owner of harb house and i now feel like they should be playing the theme song to cheers whenever I walk in this place.
Still love the HH, and don’t forget to try the cask, people!

I’m reluctant to give an event five stars, if only because I don’t want Kat to get cocky. This, however, was a reason to be. Tasty beer, yummy snacks and Degrassi on a big screen are reason enough to be anywhere — that it’s free is just icing on the cake.
Random thoughts:
–Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale is quite tasty, but best served cold. As my pint warmed up, my enjoyment cooled.
–Trivia questions with answers promised later, lead directly to iPhone usage.
–I got to talk to an Apple dude! *squee*!
–Big Rock Traditional Ale is also quite tasty, and stands up to temperature better
–I will be returning to Harbord House. Pulled Pork and Fish and Chips were very, very tasty, and judging by some of the other reviews, that’s just the beginning.

My first Unilocal event and it was fantastic. Everyone was so easy-​going and sociable. I will definitely be going to the next one knowing that I don’t have to be worried about any socially awkward situations.
Free booze and amazing food. Fish and chips! Classic episodes of Degrassi on the television… Me and my friend reminisced about Bronco and that one hot female bully named Nicole. Downed lots of free drinks (Pumpkin Ale was delicious) and good food (pulled pork burgers and fish & chips to name a few).
I slept on Unilocal events for too long. Will be back in a minute…