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| - There's much better BBQ in Toronto.
Honestly, this city offers better BBQ in other locations. Enjoyed dinner at Barque yesterday. We (2 of us) sat comfortably at the bar, as we didn't have a reservation, and the place was hopping at 6:30 on a Wednesday night. The bartender was friendly and helpful - so service was all good.
The food, on the other hand, is really just ok.
If you're really looking for BBQ choices and excellent grub, this isn't the place. We had wings (hot chipotle), brisket, poutine, mac n cheese, and a half rack of ribs.
First the good news - the ribs were quite good - although I really don't get the idea of offering up sauces on the side. There are 3 choices of sauce available when you order. It's time to commit. When you eat pasta in an Italian restaurant, they don't bring the sauce options on the side, do they? Anyway, the meat came off the bone just the way it should. And they were nice and tender, not fatty at all.
The wings - yich. Gummy, practically uncooked. My fault for not ordering the dusted wings. But really, the wings should still be cooked, regardless of what sauce or spice they're using. Just bad - don't order wings unless you're getting the dusted ones, like the people did next to us. The moment I saw those I realized my mistake. Barque's mistake - offering these wings in their restaurant. Really, anyone can do better at home.
The poutine - sure, it was good, not great, but good.
Mac n Cheese - well, I've upped my personal game on this, so what I ate last night is just average. You can't take basic mac n cheese, toss some panko on it, and dish it up as anything special. You can do that with KD. Kind of seemed like that.
Brisket, somewhat tasty, but fairly dry. Sure, meats can be a little hit and miss, but relying on the squirt bottles of sauce on the counter to boost the flavour and moisture content isn't appropriate.
Notable misses on the menu to really be in the BBQ game: Beef ribs, fried chicken, onion rings.
As for the bar menu itself - yikes - I have more spirit options at home. Seriously, everyone knows that bourbon and BBQ are synonymous. Well, not here, with just 4 average options to choose from. Up your bar game, BARque.
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