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| - i've wanted to check out beast for a couple months, their initial reviews were decent and i was also interested in seeing the space where canadian culinary god susur lee opened his first restaurant lotus.
we arrived early, about 5:15 on a thursday night. beast hosts the "beast 120" from 5 to 7 wednesday to friday. Think of it as a trendy take on happy hour, they serve $4 beers (3 available right now, st. ambroise oatmeal stout, labatt 50 & flying monkeys pale ale), $5 glasses of wine, and $4 tasting plates.
after ordering a glass of pinot noir, we went straight into the tasting plates. started with a platter of three house-made charcuterie and rachel's bread & butter. the charcuterie available the day of our visit were: goat mortadella, elk & dehydrated blueberry terrine and duck liver with pistachio (i think). the platter came with pickled beets (my personal favourite), baby homemade gherkins, pickled olives and two types of mustard. all three were very tasty, the standout being the elk/blueberry. rachel's bread and butter was two types of mini-loaves, one was an egg bread (a bit dry) the other a multigrain mini baguette (delicious).
while finishing the platter, out came my order of lamb ribs. they were done in a traditional bbq way with a very good sauce and sided by cornbread and coleslaw. the ribs were much gamier than i anticipated, but were delicious. they had a nice crisp exterior, and a soft interior. the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender.
after ordering a second glass of wine our mains arrived, i went with the pig head's pasta whereas my dinner companion had the farmhouse burger. after taking one look at my pasta, she asked if we could share both items. pasta was pappardelle, long thick handmade noodles in a light meat sauce (no tomatoes here). it finished with an egg yolk, pea shoots and parmesan. the creaminess of the egg yolk & cheese counter balanced the acid in the sauce perfectly. it was the perfect dish, so much so that we ordered a second. the farmhouse burger was equally good, the meat was a good balance of chuck and fat, keeping the burger super moist and juicy. it was served medium rare on a hybrid biscuit/english muffin and topped with a flavoured mayo (i forgot to ask what it was but it tasted like it was spiked with truffle oil).
we rounded out dinner with two more plates, the fried green tomatoes and cauliflower pakoras. tomatoes were good, served with buttermilk ranch dressing but i felt like they were missing something. the pakoras were a good take on the indian staple but didn't wow us.
overall, a great meal at an even better price. beast 120 is a great way to sample the restaurant's menu, pick and choose your favourite items and then make plans for a return visit.
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