| rev:text
| - I went here for the first time this weekend and found it generally enjoyable though not incredible, and I'd go again if I wanted a quiet night out with cocktails. It has potential to be excellent.
The strengths: It's got a lot of innovative and interesting cocktails, almost all of which are done in an unusual manner that you don't really see in Toronto. Standouts from our orders included the King of Toronto which came shrouded in a smokey glass container and which contained an orange rind peeled in the shape of a maple leaf frozen in a giant ice cube (seriously order it, you're in for a treat), one whose name I've forgotten but was lit on fire, and the Sakura (yogurt drink/grapefruit juice, vodka). There are also a number of drinks infused with traditional Chinese herbs (red dates etc) that were pretty delicious and interesting as well. Drinks are not particularly cheap, but not particularly expensive either if you normally partake in the craft cocktail scene - about $8-14/beverage. There's also snacks that they bring out for free. Happy Hour is from 5-7PM when the beers and certain well drinks are $5. This is a very welcome addition to Toronto's craft cocktail scene. The music was also pretty fantastic (kudos for playing Rhye and SBTRKT!)
The weaknesses: The room and atmosphere are a little awkward, unsure of whether it wants to be a bar or a board game cafe. I like that they're trying to carve out a space between these two concepts, but it's a little too sedate to be the type of hip bar that you see on West Queen West/Ossington/Bloordale and a little too bar-ish and alcohol-driven to fit into the preconceptions of what a board game cafe are in Toronto (generally well-lit, variety of non-alcoholic drink options, extensive game selection). Further, the interior set up seems to be somewhat ineffective - there's a lot of space between the tables in the main section, which makes the entire space feel a little empty. I understand that they're trying to focus on getting live acts in this space as well which may explain the empty space, but it feels a little too exposed if you compare it to say Burdock which also has its own live space and makes its own beer. They also had to kick us out eventually since we stopped ordering drinks and there was a backlog due to the lack of tables, but this was done fairly nicely and we understood the reason.
Overall: I like it and would go again, but I'd like to see it more as a bar and less as a board game space. One way to do that would be to make it more comfortable for people to stand-up in the venue. I understand from other reviewers that this place was originally a board game cafe, so it might be disappointing for existing customers to see it transformed into something else, but for me, its transformation seems half complete. Fix this and it could be a really interesting place in a neighbourhood generally not known for interesting places.
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