Beerbistro

Date Visited: Dinner on Tuesday Dec 30, 2014

Company: Reservation for 4 turned into a party for 2.

Amidst the holiday buzz, +Stanley tried to plan a get-together dinner, but after a few last-minute cancellations, I was the only one who was able to make it. Either way, we met up at Beerbistro downtown Toronto to grab a nice dinner with some drinks. Staying true to their name, Beerbistro does have a wide range of beers from various parts of the world. Many of them are limited to either bottles or draught but they have a good variety from what you would normally find. I opted for a Weihenstephan, a light and fruity German beer to start off an easy night. 

I had read on some blog that Beerbistro has one of the best 'cheap' steaks in Toronto so I had to try it since I was there. They also had a variety of mussel and pizza options that looked really good too but in the end I got a steak. +Stanley got some mussels and we ordered some fries to start (Stanley forgot I had fries with my steak already). Our waitress took a while to get to us because she wasn't sure if our 2 extra seats were going to be filled or not. After a while we just called her over to take our orders.


From what I recall, it didn't take very long for our appetizer to arrive. The Belgian Frites were described as blanched in beef and duck fat, served with house made mayo and smoked tomato ketchup. I was surprised at the portion size when it arrived, it was served in a large cone napkin with handy condiment holders on either side. The fries were amazing! They were lightly salted and were crisp on the outside but perfectly tender in the middle. The mayo and ketchup were good but hardly even needed as they tasted fine just alone, very addicting.

The New England Style Mussels had beer bacon, leeks, potatoes, smoked cheddar, parsley, shallots, la fin du monde, a touch of cream and came with sourdough bread. The bowl it came in was pretty large, we weren't sure what to expect but it was a hefty amount of food. We did notice that the mussels were pretty small but the overall flavour was good, especially with the bread to dip.

The Steak Fries was a grilled flat iron steak topped with caramelized onion jus and pommery stout aoli. We weren't even done our fries appetizer and I was getting more fries added to my plate! Even with the excess of fries, I could not stop myself from eating them. The steak was cooked a bit more well-done then I would have preferred for medium-well but there was a still a hint of pink there. The onions added some flavour to the otherwise plain steak. It was a good piece of meat but a bit tough and not much seasoning, slightly disappointed in it.

Food: 3.5/5 Could have been beer but still decent food I enjoyed.
Decor: 4/5 - Very classy and interesting layout, not too loud either.
Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty good until it took forever to get our bill.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Great spot for a fancy dinner with good ambiance.
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.beerbistro.com/