The Black Hoof
928 Dundas Street West
Phone: 416.551.8854
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After opening to rave reviews, this city's newest hit is The Black Hoof, 928 Dundas Street West, and I was dying to pay them a visit. So last night with three companions in tow we descended upon the teeny charcuterie joint with empty stomachs and panache for some straight up meat.
Warning: this restaurant is not suitable for herbivores (unless you're content eating bread and cheese for dinner), the faint at heart (think piggy ears and bone marrow), if you suffer from high cholesterol, if you have no patience (we waited an hour for a table at an unknown bar across the street that had no heat) or if you have no money (cash and debit only).
None of the above pertained to us so we whole heartedly and excitedly ordered a bottle of wine and half the menu - serious. Their menu is confidently small and compact and I admire its' no nonsense approach. First came bread from Thuet's bakery ($4) and olives ($4) avec a cute little pit bowl. It's about time someone clued into the fact that pits on your side plate are not only gross but they compete for space when trying to eat something else off the same plate. Smart.
When she brings the charcuterie ($23) we practically squeal like the little pigs that have graciously blessed the platter. It's a farm on a plate. Horse sausage, foie gras mousse, venison brasaola, duck prosciutto and a rainbow of pork products like pancetta, salami and chorizo. All made in house with the exception of the pancetta. It was a carnivore's dream come true. With each sampling, came an element of pleasant surprise. It was salty and earthy and natural. It went so fast someone almost lost a finger.
A platter of marinated vegetables makes an appearance. They were sweet but bring on the meat.
Next up was the cabbage soup and bone marrow ($6). They were stationed side by side and the soup was good but who cares? The marrow was the best I have ever had. The only word to describe this marrow is outstanding. So outstanding that it got ugly as we gnawed and sucked at these bones till every drop of luscious marrow had been conquered. So outstanding that I woke up this morning thinking about it and have continued to think about it all day. Even more outstanding is it's price tag - do they know how good this stuff is? It was perfectly cooked. It was not hard or mealy but rather gooey and kind of wet.
The duck confit sandwich ($12) that followed was brilliant. The meat was a stringy, juicy, greasy mess and the crunchy bun was hard to cut in half but a best friend to the succulent duck meat.
Oh, the pork belly pastrami ($12). Who in their right mind doesn't like the belly? With its' fatty goodness and tender texture, I have to say that I am a big fan. They serve it up with a mini pickle, a little sauerkraut and the dish makes you smile.
We are happy.
We want meat for dessert and I'm secretly hoping for bison ice cream or some other animal concoction. Instead we are told they don't do coffee and dessert is some sort of tart. Like the vegetables, dessert is useless and we call it a night.
The service was great and the wine list affordable. The only negative is the washrooms. The stalls look like your grandpa made them at his work bench. We love The Black Hoof's "made in house" philosophy but they could've ordered in the bathroom. Oh well.
Overall, the experience was satiating and I can't wait to go back and order the other half of the menu.
Writing by Rita Ricchio. Photos by Rita Ricchio and Tim Shore.
Comments (20)
As a herbivore, I don't know why I read this review but it thoroughly grossed me out!! Luckily I know a few people who this would appeal to and I shall duly pass it on.
There is a cured liver sausage on the menu that smells exactly like a wet horse on a fall morning. Good times, good times.
I've got my own duck prosciutto in the fridge right now.
I would have loved to have tried this place out, but instead the Black Hoof gave me the worst night out I've had in a very very long time. I went with a friend in from out of town who was very excited to go. They don't "do" reservations at the Black Hoof so we showed up somewhat early on a weekend evening and they said "it will be 40 minutes". The hostess was really incredibly rude to us, would turn her back to us and not acknowledge our presence and generally gave the air of not being impressed by us.
After an hour of hanging around the sketchy dundas west/oss area, mostly outside in the cold (friend really wanted that meat platter!), we went back inside to follow up. The hostess again ignored us for 10-15 mins, we noted that 80% of the people inside were the same ones as when we first came, they weren't eating they were just sitting, enjoying being seen someplace "cool". When we finally got the attention of the hostess again, she said "there are still three parties of four ahead of you, we're not even sure we will seat you tonight. We will call you when we're ready for you, our policy is to let people stay as long as they want" so we went to another bar, sat and waited.
Finally we got mad because our other friend had to leave (it was his birthday, even) and we just hopped in a cab and went to a pub in my neighborhood. The Black Hoof then called us about an hour and a half later asking us if we would like to come back and I said, "no thanks." This also applies to my friend who is a restaurant industry journalist, who said it was the worst service she'd seen. As for myself, I understand these situations happen but this one made me mad enough that I will never go back there.
Your loss, cat on. This place is amazing. Try going later... we went last night at midnight and didn't have to wait at all. It was the perfect midnight snack.
Save your money and visit a good quality grocery store. I have everything thats on that meat platter in my fridge right now.
Hey Joe - ever heard of a kill stage? Its the difference between real charcuterie and whats on your plate.
I have been a few times......great Industry hangout! Good beer on Tap and, a great reasonable priced wine list.
Great snacks for after a long day at work......so casual.
I will be back.
keep trucken Black Hoof
R.
Love this spot. Great place for a drink and a snack... sometimes a very large snack. The staff are great and the atmosphere is amazing. I'm a lucky girl to have this resto at the bottom of my street.
WARNING: This is little more than a hipster salami joint with the worst service I've encountered in a long, long time.
Not even sure where to begin here, so if you want the quick version, skip this over-hyped poor attempt at a restaurant and go to Cava. Or Atelier Thuet. Hell, even The Drake does better charcuterie than this place.
However, if you're interested in the worst service you could possibly imagine, coupled with a filthy environment and attitude galore, go ahead and check it out.
I'm with Cat, Joe and Garth... the Black Hoof clearly stepped in the cow-plop. The atmosphere is uncomfortable, slapped-together diner, and the service is slow and snooty.
When leaving, the hostess asked me how our meal was. When I did not reply, she pressed. I commented that I was not as pleased as I had hoped I'd be at which point she got defensive and really pushy. Hoping that she would just let us leave in peace (we were getting our coats on), I told her that the food was tasty. Sadly, this did not satisfy her -she wanted more and pushed for it. So, I told her what I really thought: while the food was good, it was way overpriced; the atmosphere uncomfortable; the service slow and the staff seemed to go out of their way to ignore customers. Overall, I found the place to be pretentious without any real reason for it. The hostess sucked her teeth at us, made a snotty comment about me not understanding "fine dining," turned on her heel and stomped off. The guy on the prep table asked if everything was OK and gave me a look that seemed to suggest that he had seen this sort of behaviour out of the hostess before. I thanked him for the dinner and we left.
Toronto is full of great places to eat; we certainly won't waste our time at the Black Hoof again. Snotty hostess girl might do well to remember that her customer is paying her wage. Further, don't ask your customer about his dining experience if you don't want to hear the answer.
Too bad about the bad experiences. Have been twice with two friends (March and June or early July). Had yummy food both times and good service. Sorry, but you're not going to buy the home-made forced meats from here at your local grocery store.
Some totally awesome dishes: the stuffed pork snout was delirium, truly awesome. The duck confit sandwich -- I had to try to replicate that at home; alas, mine was not up to the quality.
Have found the service honest and humble: three women out for dinner can sometimes not get the best service. We had no service issues either time.
Oh -- it's summer, and they have a patio out back. It's a nice place.
Ate here this weekend and the food, cocktails and service were all top notch -- one of the best restaurant experiences I've had. My friend and I shared the charcuterie, which was great except for the lardo, which I suspect is an acquired taste... kind of like a funky cheese, or tripe at dim sum... I would try it again but it paled beside the chicken liver mousse, the duck prosciutto, and the blueberry bison sausage. Then we had the marrow, which was amazing, and shared the horse tartare sandwich, which also turned out to be amazing. Ruby red, soft and flavourful, served with a spicy sauce -- it reminded us of really good tuna sashimi. The service was very pleasant and attentive. We will definitely come here again.
For the people that don't get it and think you can do this at home by going to the grocery store, you are entitled to your opinion. However, I must state my opinion which is probably worth a bit more than some idiot that thinks he knows food. Try making Salumi or Charcuterie at home... Good Luck! It is one big experiment and getting it right takes years of experience. Torontonians really should embrace this type of culinary passion and be proud of what we can call our own. We have very few note worthy restaurants, compared to NY or Montreal. The Black Hoof is the first step to allowing Torontonians the ability to be proud of its restaurant scene.
The food was good, even very good for some things, but the service and overall attitude was terrible. I've dined in places all around the world and I can say that the service was as bad as I can remember, worse than restaurants in Australia, and that takes effort.
2 Part Comment:
1st - The Service
A good friend of mine has taken me to the Hoof a few times when I had visited Toronto and I do admit that there Hostess is a little rough around the edges when its busy. I would suggest that, if the host/hostess is going to offer a timeline in the future, the host/hostess state an approximate time and then ADD THE CAVEAT "but as we have no control over how long our guests decide to stay, it may be shorter or longer". This would work well for them as they have a phone call on table opening policy, which I have no issue with. I have had to wait up to 2 hours for a table at the hoof before, BUT, it was well worth it in the end.
As for the service itself, I find it excellent. There is one server (Knowledgeable, Tall and Sexy) who has served us each time. She is always smiling, friendly and knows her stuff. Attitude was GREAT as always. Even when errors have occurred (they once forgot one of our dishes - PB and J FOIS!) they have been quickly resolved without question and with great speed.
2nd - The Scrumptious Num Nums (aka The Food)
I have eaten Charcuterie for many many years. As a child I was fed Salami and Corned Beef like many a Jewish Child. As I grew older I have been lucky enough to try many many types of meats in many forms and by many different cultures. I am by no means the King of Meat, but I would like to consider myself knowledgeable on the subject.
The Hoof is producing and serving some of the BEST Charcuterie that can be found in Toronto. There use of ingredients that many people consider "throw away", are prepared skillfully and with artistic regard. The flavor profiles that they put together can sometimes be viewed as crazy, but on the palate work beautifully.
I would stongly suggest the PB and J Fois Gras, Tongue on Brioche, and the very well put together platters of Charcuterie. I have heard people announce that they would leave there spouse for more of the Pork Belly Pastrami. For those of you willing to step further into the land of meat, the fantastic Raw Horse with Hot Sauce was delightful. While my foodie in crime was put off a bit by the texture, I loved the way the raw egg mixed with the meat, forming the wonderful sandwich that I would love to try again and again.
I would strongly suggest that anyone and everyone interested in this style of food give the Hoof a try. This is a Toronto Gem and worth the trip!
Sorry, but The Red Violin on Danforth is a mcuh better restaurant in my opinion especially for the carnivores although they have a nice salad bar too. Best Mojito's in town and a nice dessert that comes with the meal, oh I forgot it is all you can eat and except for the salad bar they come to your table. It is modeled after the Brasilian barbecue house concept.
Another crappy restaurant that the Toronto-West-end deserves! One day Toronto will get serviced by REAL restaurants and not some overpriced Mickey Mouse wanna be places. I mean come on people people!!!! My blind ferret can put together a better 'charcuterie' from the fridge..
Visited last night and agree with the over-priced wannabe description. Pizza Libretto has better sausage on their pizza than what you'll get 3 slices of here for a pretty penny. Build your own charcuterie at home with stuff bought from markets or european butchers.
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