A restaurant named for Prohibition has an easy version of itself available: low light, a couple of cocktails named after bootleggers, and a theme left to do the work the kitchen would rather do itself. Prohibition Public House points its effort the other way. What the place runs on is a charcuterie board cured in house and a beef brisket smoked for three full days, sent out from a historical house on Somerset Street West in the middle of Ottawa's Centretown. The speakeasy mood is genuine and it sets the tone, but the curing, smoking, and house accompaniments behind it are the actual argument.
Start with the board. The house charcuterie comes with house-made sourdough, crostini, pickles, mustards, and compotes, built from a choice of meats and cheeses in a spread of five or ten. From there the menu keeps finding reasons for the kitchen to do more than fry. The Red Wattle and Venison Burger stacks game meat on a brioche bun with St-Albert cheddar, pork belly, house pickles, house yellow mustard, hickory sticks, and aioli. The seventy-two-hour smoked beef brisket arrives over garlic cheese curd mashed potatoes with a chipotle emulsion. The striploin tartare is cut from Canadian AAA beef and finished with puffed pappadam and grated Louis d'or. There is Nunavut turbot under a mushroom and fennel velouté, a glazed confit duck leg over leek and potato pavé, Thai coconut mussels, and an Argentinian red shrimp ceviche in leche de tigre.
The restaurant's Prohibition-era idea has an actual room to support it: a historical Somerset West house with vintage details and a long-running Centretown presence. That gives the concept more weight than a decorative theme.
The menu has a real centre of gravity in the Charcuterie Board, Red Wattle & Venison Burger, and 72-Hour Smoked Beef Brisket. Those dishes make the kitchen feel specific rather than broadly pub-like.
Prohibition Public House is useful in several modes: cocktails, full dinner, weekend brunch, weekday happy hour, late Friday and Saturday evenings, and private events. That flexibility is one of its strongest practical advantages.
The strongest dishes here are not interchangeable pub staples. The Charcuterie Board, Red Wattle & Venison Burger, and 72-Hour Smoked Beef Brisket give the restaurant three distinct food anchors across sharing, handheld comfort, and slow-smoked depth.
The bar is built into the restaurant's identity. A current list of named cocktails and sangria gives the room a drinks-first path that still pairs naturally with boards, brunch, and late evenings.
Local sourcing gives this gastropub another lane beside the Prohibition theme. Named regional suppliers sit behind the menu, so the charcuterie, burger, and seasonal plates read as more than room design.
Brunch is a real second mode, not a token add-on. The weekend window, Bottomless Mimosas, Prohibition Benny, Brunch-Cuterie Caesar, and a broader brunch menu make it one of the clearest ways to use the restaurant.
The restaurant has a clear group-and-event lane. Private events, larger reservations, corporate functions, and the flexible room setup make it useful beyond a standard two-top dinner.
Share the nuances of your visit to Prohibition Public House in Ottawa — the standout dishes, the room, the service.
Write a review
