Restaurants
WVRST
WVRST, a vowel-less wonder pronounced verst, is a sausage party if there ever was one. Owner Aldo Lanzillotta was inspired by the legendary beer halls of Munich and his own family history to create this communal watering hole and gourmet sausage eatery.
I spent a week in Munich this past summer and, with heavy rains the entire week, I became more acquainted with the beer halls than I had planned. The beer halls of Munich are filled with an old world eclectic charm, boisterous oompah bands and communal bench tables filled with hefty old German men sporting giant mustachios and rosy cheeks from the 5 liters of beer they just drank for lunch. At WVRST, the mustachios are of the ironic variety and the decor minimalist but the beer hall charm is maintained with giant plank tables, perfect for spilling into neighboring conversations.
I came to WVRST with my long lost French love who came to visit me for my birthday. It was relatively quiet for a Saturday night, but it was still only 6pm and by the time we left there was a reasonable queue forming at the till. The decor is certainly impressive upon entering from a short flight of stairs. Rows upon rows of exposed light-bulbs are strung to the ceiling creating a glowing toil of lighting perfect for making beautiful people more beautiful.
We were greeted at the door and led over to a counter with a display case of sausages. Customers order at the till then take a number and wait for their food to be served. The idea is to keep the place casual but it felt a little contrived to stand in line and order at a till; it didn't fit the restaurant and is not typical of a beer hall. I didn't appreciate the menu explicitly telling me to tip - it's Canada, I already know that.
The menu is simple with sausages served either currywurst style or on a roll and regular or duck fat (!) fries to choose from. Despite having only one main menu item, the glorious sausage, there's a surprising range of choice from classic pork bratwurst, vegetarian to foie gras and even kangaroo.
French man went for a traditional Italian sausage currywurst style ($6) while I chose a vegetarian bratwurst in a bun ($7) with a large side of duck fat fries ($6.50) to share. The Italian sausage was sliced and smothered in a smooth, curried tomato sauce.The casing, to my liking, wasn't tough or chewy and the meat was perfectly cooked and juicy. It was, however, significantly smaller than the comically large sausages served up in Munich and even French man, who regularly makes a meal out of coffee and cigarettes, was left a little hungry. If you're making it a meal, go for a double portion for an extra $4, or try two different kinds out of the eighteen different sausages available.
My sausage on a roll (white or whole wheat), came with the choice of two toppings from either caramelized onions, sauerkraut, sauteed jalapenos or sweet peppers. I paired onions and sweet peppers which went perfectly with my veggie sausage. Though I didn't get my whole wheat roll (they were out both times I went), I certainly wasn't disappointed with the white roll. The bread was soft and doughy on the inside with a light crunch on the outside. Sourced from Golden Wheat Bakery and Pastry the bun was a glorious addition to my veggie sausage and filled me up more than the currywurst would have.
Our fries were thick and buttery with duck-fat. I shamelessly ate more than half the portion and would have ordered more if I wasn't trying to stay reasonably classy in front of French man. I was impressed with the choice or not one, but two unique dipping sauces included with the fries, an homage to traditional Belgian style frites with mayo dip. The maple/rosemary was our favourite, sweet with a hint of rosemary while the WVRST sauce was creamy with a hot bite.
I came back a couple days later after a Monday night bike ride for a refueling. I settled on a chili chicken sausage on a bun from the eighteen different sausages to choose from. It was again cooked perfectly and juicy with a hint of spice. I topped it with sauerkraut and sautéed jalapenos, both piled on plentifully, which packed a serious bite made even bitty-er with a little hot mustard. It was an all around spicy sausage affair, exactly what I wanted.
Just like any self-respecting Munich beer hall, WVRST is as much about food as it is about beer. From local Toronto brews like Augusta Ale and Denison's, to European and Japanese imports, the sixteen different craft brews on tap and seventeen different bottles and cans are sure to please Toronto's serious beer connoisseurs. Staff come by to check on drinks but I still would have preferred a regular wait service set-up more typical of a beer hall. With sausages and fries being the only two menu options, the range of combination between meats, toppings and dipping sauces is impressive along side the styled decor and friendly staff. And most importantly, they are some mighty fine sausages.
Mon to Wed 11.30 AM to 10.30 PM, Thu to Sat 11.30 AM to 2.30 AM
Discussion
36 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
as an aside, I'm not sure how open the King West crowd is to "spilling into neighboring conversations".
hmm...
we live in the promised land, people, and it's just going to get tastier.
Hahaha!
I am definitely going to check out this place. It seems like something I would enjoy quite a bit.
And Kaela was indeed classy
what really gets me is that my bill came to $22! and that's for a currywurst, fries, mayo and a beer. i haven't felt this ripped off in a while. the beer is super expensive ($9 steigel), but i guess they have to pay for that huge space at that location somehow. i can't imagine a currywurst without a beer, and i guess if i ever go back i'll have to get a cheaper brew, but $22 for a glorified fast food meal just rubbed me the wrong way. it all seems a bit greedy on their part.
but i did hand over my money, and no one made me go, so in the end it is my fault. and i was so excited...
For example, the staff pointed out to me how it's not just a "boar sausage". It's a maple blueberry boar sausage, and the chef worked with the folks raising the boar to get a particular taste profile to fit the recipe.
"I got a veggie stick and didn't finish it so I'd look good for my french man and then he was hungry, lulz" - doesn't do this place justice.
To complete the experience, they should have maß of some german beers, and have some other german dishes besides wurst. Perhaps some hax?
At least the bathroom was nice...
1. Duck-fat fries were tasty but a little soggy and cut too thick. Don't call them Flemish or Belgian fries if you're going to serve people something like that.
2. Also, the large portion of fries gets you two choices of dipping sauce ... served in tiny little plastic cups. People are going to need more than that.
3. No complaints about the sausages themselves, nice selection of beers but some other side dishes would be nice, even if it's just pickles.
3.
The following is an entirely true account of what happened to me at WVRST this past weekend.
I had reserved the "corner table" some 3 weeks in advance of my wife's 30th birthday party this past weekend. Needless to say that we were delighted with the prospects of exposing 25+ of our closest friends and family to the WVRST experience.
We had it booked from 8-11pm...bring on the good times!
Or so I thought.
Upon arrival we had discovered that our table had been given away. The "General Manager", after plenty of denial and deflection informed us that the table had been booked previous to our discussion some 3 weeks earlier. He said that it was HIS mistake.
Why you might ask, had he neglected to contact me to inform me that this was the case? Who knows, but needless to say, I was NOT impressed.
What could I do about it though? Guests were arriving for the birthday party so we all crammed into the table adjacent to the "corner table" that we had reserved. Then, as we hit 20 guests we took another table. (Lots of guests, lots of drinks, lots of food....no doubt reasonably profitable for WVRST.)
At the end of the evening, I went to settle my individual bill of about $75.
In light of the way the "General Manager" responded to my displeasure with the way things worked out, I did NOT leave a tip.
A few moment later, the following discussion took place.
GM - "Jeremy! Did my staff say something to offend you?"
JH - "No"
GM - "Then why didn't you leave a tip?"
JH - "It's at my discretion as to whether or not I tip, and I was not satisfied with my experience tonight - for reasons that should be all too clear."
GM - "You shouldn't take it out on MY staff."
JH - "What recourse do I have? Not to mention, since when is tipping a forgone conclusion? I don't enjoy bypassing the tip function, but you screwed up, denied it, failed to contact me to remedy the matter, and NOT ONCE did you say you were sorry. If you're so concerned about the tip; YOU tip them and say it was from me."
GM - "Actually. I'll have you know I'm taking my staff out for a $2000 dinner tomorrow. I look after my staff."
JH - "I don't care. That has literally nothing to do with me nor with your incompetence this evening."
GM - "That's it!! Get this guy outta here![to the doorman]. You're banned for life!!! [to me]"
JH - "You're banning me from this place forever over $15? I come here every week. In fact, we've chatted at length about Arsenal and Tottenham. We even spoke about my friend who is a food critic for the CBC and how it would be great to get you guys more exposure. I've introduced this place to no fewer to 30 new customers and have personally spent close to $1000 here just myself. You screwed up! Furthermore, to address your errors, instead of apologizing, you approach me in an aggressive fashion over a tip, then boot me out!! [points to whiteboard] It says right there - 'for a good time call ####' - I did that, and I'll never do it again."
GM - "Just get this a$$hole outta here. I'm sick of his snide comments."
I left with the remaining 8 people, as it was after 1am and went to LouDawgs to laugh it up over what had just happened. Banned for not tipping!! That's a new one.
In short, the place is good. Too bad the "General Manager" skipped customer service 101.
I will make a point of telling every single person I have the chance to that I was kicked out of WVRST for not tipping after my table was given away on my wife's 30th birthday.
it's true that it's not really a fair comparison, WURST (calgary) is more of an actual bar and restaurant than this place which is glorified takeout.
On top of that the meat was rather dry, and with the 3 unlabeled mustards on the table I had the misfortune of selecting one that was more like wasabi than dijon. On second thought, maybe the meat wasn't dry, and it was just my taste buds being destroyed by the mustard. A trip to the St. Lawrence Market and the Beer Store would serve me far better next time.