The Hog & Penny

The Hog & Penny makes its own bread, cures its own salmon, and honey-roasts the nuts that land on the bar — a downtown Orillia pub that treats comfort food with the discipline of a full kitchen. It calls itself Orillia's Pub, and the claim rests on doing British classics right rather than casually: high-quality ingredients, scratch preparation, and a menu that reads like a proper pub's instead of a generic tavern's. The patio is seasonal, the welcome is built for regulars as much as for visitors, and the cooking is the part that refuses to coast.

The anchors stay in plain sight. The Scotch Egg arrives wrapped in Cumberland pork sausage with piccalilli chutney; the Fish & Chips comes with tartare, coleslaw, and double-cooked British chips set beside house-made ketchup; the Steak & Guinness Pie is the slower order, mash and gravy under a proper crust; and Bangers & Mash holds down the homesick end of the menu. Around those sit small plates that show the kitchen's hand — the Hog's Caesar built with wild boar bacon, Parmesan, and crispy capers; fried Brussels sprouts with tahini, pickled onions, and sumac; salmon gravlax cured in salt, sugar, and dill; honey-roasted Pub Nuts. The Chicken Wings come breaded with blue cheese and a choice of Buffalo, honey, or lemon pepper, the Fried Chicken Sandwich with Sriracha and honey slaw, and the burger leans on red wine onions and more of that wild boar bacon. Beyond the headliners, the kitchen runs a Ploughman's Platter, a chicken liver parfait, a shrimp cocktail with maple dressing, a chilled lobster roll, and pub nachos. Dessert holds the line with Eton Mess and a chocolate pie.