J and I went out to Abbotsford to watch the Abbotsford Heat play against Manitoba Moose. To those of you who have no idea what I am talking about it’s the Calgary Flames farm team vs. Vancouver Canucks farm team.  We went last year and I remembered that the traffic was absolutely horrendous so this time we went super early and walked over Finnegan’s pub next to the stadium for dinner at 33780 King Road.

When we arrived at the pub we were stopped by a doorman who said that they were at full capacity and we would have to wait until there was an available table. I guess everyone going to the game had the same idea we did. J and I decided to stick it out even though we started seeing the snow come down. While waiting a lot of people were also told the same thing but most people we’re very responsive to having to wait. We only waited about 5-10 min and were let in right away.

The pub was pretty big inside and packed. I could see why they had to put a doorman out because there wasn’t an empty seat anywhere.  We put in our food orders right away and waited patiently while watching sports on the many huge TV’s around the room.

The server came over a few times to check on us but after about 45 min we realized that if we were to wait any longer we would miss the start of the Heat game. We understood that it was extremely busy and the kitchen was probably backed up but 45 is way too long for a pub. We decided to cancel our orders and it just so happened our food was ready.

I ordered the steak sandwich that came with sea salted fries and salad. Maybe it was because I was starving but it was amazing. The steak looked a little small but it was pretty thick and cooked perfectly. It sat on top of a herbed ciabatta bun with 3 onion rings stacked on top. The house dressing was a pomegranate ginger dressing and also very good, a little sweet, but flavourful. I had no complaints on the food other than having to eat it so fast.

J ordered a braised short rib beef dip with a salad. He thought the sandwich was one of the best beef dips he has ever had. It had the right amount of braising liquid on the tender beef. It was also served on a ciabatta bun with a very flavourful au jus that had a nice stock flavour without being salty.

I read some other reviews on Finnegan’s and most of the complaints were the waits and the patrons. When you have a pub that is full then you can’t expect not to wait for a table. I have waited up to an hour to eat at places like Milestones or The Keg. As for the patrons, let’s be honest, it’s Abbotsford, the capital of bedazzled Ed Hardy.  I do however have a problem waiting 45 min for steak that takes about 6 minutes to cook.  There should be no reason that the kitchen shouldn’t be equipped to handle the orders for the amount of tables they have, especially when they know it’s going to be busy. That was a huge disappointment.