Restaurants
Bellwoods Brewery
Bellwoods Brewery is one of three new restaurants to open on Ossington in the last month, along with The Saint and Hawker Bar. Still in its first month, the brewpub, which took over the space from Meta Gallery, had a packed house and a lineup out the door by 6 p.m. on Saturday. Owners Luke Pestl and Michael Clark were brewers for Amsterdam beer before opening Bellwoods, so they're no strangers to the craft, but running a restaurant is a first for both of them. So far, they seem to have it down pat.
Tucked back from the sidewalk in what was once an autoshop, the brewpub has an open area in front that will become a patio once the weather warms. The adjacent shop will soon open as their retail store, carrying their selection of drafts (see our review of them here).
The unassuming white exterior opens to an interior that is at once quaint and industrial. The back of the space is lined with towering, 20-foot high stainless steel fermenting tanks--this is where all the beer magic happens. But the intimate seating area has room for only 40 and feels like a pleasant cottage dining room. It's peppered with mismatched tables which are topped with small white candles and little mason jars of wild flowers. Meaty, warm aromas waft from the open kitchen where chef Guy Rawlings (of Brockton General and Lucien) prepares dishes. With Pestl and Clark moving casually between the glassed-in brew area and the front of the house, there's a fun energy to the place.
After waiting in a short line, my friend and I took a spot at the bar. At the bartender's recommendation, we ordered the Farmhouse Saison ($7.50), which was a good starting point. A sunny-coloured beer with fruity notes, the Saison has a lot of flavour without being too hoppy or over-powering.
Our brews were a nice, light accompaniment to the starters we ordered. We opted for a plate of salami ($9) made from lean beef and garlic that melted on the tongue and was a fine repose between sips of beer.
We paired this with a plate of Thunder Oak extra-old gouda ($12) served with fresh bread from Woodlot. The creamy but sharp cheese was tasty enough to eat all on its own, but the bread complemented it well.
We ordered a second round of beers. This time, we chose the caramel-coloured Witchshark Iipa ($8.50) — a hoppy, citrusy drink to awaken our taste buds after our cured and salty appetizers.
Next up, we were tempted by the lamb tongue with walnuts and raisin ($4) or the duck heart, charred with jalapeno oil ($4), but in the interest of our daily vegetable intake, we opted for the slightly less adventurous cucumber with paprika and garlic ($3). This arrived looking beautiful and bright on the plate, but was not a favourite. The cucumber was grilled, which enhanced the flavour and gave it a more tender texture, but we found ourselves craving the cucumber we know and love: served crisp, cold and refreshing.
The star of the evening was the duck leg, topped with shaved strips of asparagus, and a sauce made from apple, tarragon and sorrel ($15). The crisp asparagus balanced the tender duck and the sauce's flavours, although the texture of the meat was a little inconsistent and some bites were tougher than others. But when they got it right, it was so right.
To finish off we tried the Toil and Trouble Dubbel ($8.50), a dark mahogany beer with rich, fruity flavours. We sampled this one after dinner and the memory of dark fruits (maybe currents or berries) lingered pleasantly on my taste buds for the rest of the evening — a satisfying end to a satisfying meal.
Discussion
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Does this place take reservations and can I bring my kids?
Bonus: If his kids are well-behaved, it might be nice to expose them to something other than hamburgers.
This doesn't seem to be a problem in other parts of the world. I have no idea why it's such a big deal in North America.
But the onus is on the parents to raise their kids right. They have to teach them how to behave. A child should be able to talk to the server, not need a separate menu and leave the other diners in peace.
Not all kids need ipads and video games to keep them from whining. Having said that, the place is simply too crammed to reasonably bring kids along and expect them to behave for a couple of hours. Simple common sense. Parents have it, too.
More to the point though: the Witchshark IIPA is the best of its kind in Ontario (almost on par with similar stuff from the West Coast or Garrison in Nova Scotia) and the Baltic Porter gives Trois Mousquetaires a run for its money.
And yes, duck hearts.
Guess what, the kids behave. They were raised right. Look at Italy. Plenty of case examples. Every French family I've ever served has super-obedient kids.
Screaming kids in a restaurant is due to bad parenting, not just because children are there.
I've worked in restaurants and have seen plenty of children behave better than most adults. So it doesn't matter if someone wants to bring in their kid, what does matter is whether or not they are well behaved.
For the record, I was at Bellwoods last week. They actually have a couple high chairs and one couple had a kid. No one seemed to mind. In fact...it gave the place a good community feel. It was early though. Awesome spot.
Unfortunately parents with misbehaven kids obviously don't know their kids are misbehaven because they're the shitty parents who raised them. I don't mind kids if they're respectful, but it's a few bad apple (lf we're being honest, its actually MOST kids unfortunately) that ruin it for the rest of you. If your child is even remotely disruptive, please leave them home.
Re the restaurant, the food portions are tiny, yes, but they're inexpensive enough that you cam try a bunch of different things and not blow your budget. That's the point, its more along the lines of tappas than traditional food menus. Beer is great, and best of all, the service is friendly! Will return.
After recommending me a beer, the server failed to mention the fact that it was a much higher percentage, (also a 1/2 pt due to the higher % alcohol.)I honestly just wanted a regular pint of beer...
or two, so.. that kinda ruined it for me.
We ended up ordering the peanuts and some kind of salami to graze on.. and what they brought us seemed like a joke....
I was completely shocked when the bill came to around $35 plus tip. It seems completely unreasonable to me, and although its a lovely establishment, i definitely don't think i'll be back.
Back in the day, when smoking was allowed in restaurants, you you were asked, smoking or non, my response.. no kids! just saying!
1) Blogto readers are cheap
2) People like large portions
3) People fail to realize the a 9% should be served 12oz at a time
Still love the Bellwoods
(it was super long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I had written and say, I'm
thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I'm still new to the whole thing. Do you have any suggestions for novice blog writers? I'd genuinely appreciate it.
I used to steer clear of the glaringly small-portioned, expensive food; recent menu changes and portion sizes look better, and I want to try the great-smelling braised beef short ribs next time. Though if you depend on a full belly to drink, why depend on them - you can arrive already fed sand then focus on ordering beer (and clamouring for coveted seating space.)