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| - Carnivores welcome! A decadent tapas-gastro-pub dining experience - and not for the faint of heart! The Black Hoof is among the top 10 restaurants you must eat at, no matter if you're a local or tourist. Difficult to find, it is well worth your time, even though it can be pricey and at times, the dishes can be a tad salty. We ordered the bone marrow, the pork tacos, the charcuterie (meat) platter, and the tongue on Brioche. Each dish was beautifully crafted, both in flavour and in aesthetics.
Menu - 5 stars: Reading the list of scrumptious dishes are enough to make you salivate - and wonder "How on earth did they manage to cook that?" A perfect rating for not only knowing how to cook tongue, horse, or seal, but how to make it taste divine.
Food - 4 stars: All dishes were flavourful and fresh. Minus one star for small portions and for rock-hard bread. Other than that, it was perfectly delicious. The pork tacos were nice, the charcuterie platter was ample, and the tongue was well-presented.
Drink - N/A
Hours - 4 stars: Note the weird hours. Thursday to Saturday from 6:00 pm - 1:00 am, Sunday and Monday 6:00 pm - 11:30 pm, and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Well, you can't eat meat 7 days a week, so go elsewhere on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!
Location - 4 stars: Close enough to downtown (Dundas and Spadina). Simply take the Dundas streetcar westward for about 15-20 minutes. For newbies, you'll need to keep an eye out for the venue. It's on the north side of the street, look for the pig logo.
Wait Time - 5 stars: I hear this is dependent on when you come. We came promptly at 6:30 pm and there was no wait. The back patio was already almost full, so come early if you don't want to wait long for that savoury bone marrow. Yum.
Service - 5 stars: Speedy, smiling, and hipsterish. The service was exemplary and the wait for food was timely. Keep in mind that most of the magic happens in the kitchen and many of these dishes requires hours of prep, so appreciate that mouthful of wow.
Venue/Vibe - 5 star: The back patio was chic and homely, hipster but not pretentious. Built from planks of wood, the patio deck is nicely space - not too cramped, not too airy. There's seating inside too that is cozy and warm, fresh and modern.
Cleanliness - 4 star: The kitchen and dining area is spick and span, no gripes. Bravo for not having the place smell like a huge meat factory with all that cooking!
Washrooms - 4 star: Great, but not perfect. Would have expected higher standards for a place this popular. Go here if you need to, but don't expect a Ritz Carlton type of toilet. Could be stocked with better tissues and cleaned more often. Meh.
House Rules - N/A
Cost - 3 stars: It's a bit steep for each dish, but I can see how much prep and time goes into crafting each meal. The portions can be minuscule too, so the overall price on its own deserves a 3. Prepare to spend at least $70 for 2, not including drinks.
X factor - 5 star: Perhaps the only place in Toronto to serve unique cuts of meat. Horse, seal, quail, goat, beef heart, liver, and more. Not only that, you have the master chefs working to whip these otherwise disgusting body parts into a delicious dish.
The Black Hoof is above all else, a dining experience. Don't expect to be full at the end of your meal, but rather relish in a chance to try a dish you've never experience before. I've been to Chicago and have been to the Purple Pig, which is similar to Black Hoof in terms of quality of food, which suggests to me that The Black Hoof's food standards rivals that of Chicago's. The Black Hoof is for the meat-lovers out there, looking to try something new. Also a favourite spot for Anthony Bourdain when he's in Toronto, it's a culinary delight full of unusual but tasty game meat.
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