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| - I've been a few times for food and beer over the past month, and have sourced the bottle shop on other occasions.
The beer: Excellent. I prefer IPAs and their Instigator is outstanding. Solid hops with a great blend of citrus and floral combinations. I really like their Imperial, Cockpuncher, but it's a bit more of a commitment at 11% APV. The Carrot Cake harvest brew they had out in the early Fall was surprisingly good. Subtle and unusual. Up there with Bellwoods as one of my favourite breweries.
The food is great.The maple/licorice wings were a revelation and the anchovy pizza with arugula is outstanding. I've had the French Onion soup and the mussels laced with bacon, too. Very good. Lately, they've been offering a spiced bacon appetizer/dessert with a dipping sauce of dark chocolate. It's solid.
Tonight, I tried a pint of one of their collaboration brews, a Granite IPA. I didn't like it. It suffered from lack of carbonation and a soapy foam. I should have asked for a sample before but alas...I mentioned this to the server, and then ordered an Instigator. She whisked away my unfinished pint of the Granite. When the bill came, I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't charge me for it. The service has been consistently attentive and unpretentious.
It is generally pretty busy, even mid-week.
I would gladly give 5 stars if the bottle shop was more consistent. As I understand it, they're in the midst of an equipment upgrade. Having regular supply, with variety, as well as an online bottle shop stock listing, would bump them to 5 stars.
They are a solid 4.5/5. I'm impressed.
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