Schnitzel, Flammkuchen (aka Tarte Flambée on the other side of the Border/ River), Currywurst , Canadianized Cheese Spaetzle (I’m okay with adaptations)
I don’t know if Beisl on St Clair W offers Currywurst.
It’s a sister business to the Black Pony Coffee Shop on Gerrard E, which I like.
As a beer fan I gotta say their selection is pretty boring. Only cask beer availability peaks my interest.
But anyone else think 20% tips for groups of 8 for bar food is pushing it?
Isn’t that pretty much the standard today ?
Damn. It shows how long I haven’t been out with that big a group.
We’ve walked past this place multiple times, but haven’t yet tried it. Will report if we do.
I don’t think a 20 percent autograt is too much for a group of 8 in Toronto, after dealing with groups at pubs in my ski club when I used to organize events and run charter trips to the Rockies and States as a trip leader.
When ppl are drinking and sharing food, there’s almost always a scammer or cheapskate at the table who either doesn’t tip or doesn’t put in their fair share. Some seem to forget to pay for the shared apps, or bottled water that went around the table.
Usually a conscientious person ( like me) ends up topping up the tip when an autograt was not required so the server wouldn’t be under- tipped.
I think large groups are often a pain for the servers, especially if they are drinking.
I’ve also been approached at the end of the night when ppl in the group walked out without paying. They “forgot”. One woman, now 55, forgot so many times, that I suspect that was her gig. Other ppl always were picking up her tab. (university educated, grew up in a posh neighborhood, a complete scammer and mooch)
Groups of 8 or more are harder to manage for both sides of the house. 20% should be a gimme. Darn considerate of management to put that in print for the sake of their staff.
An early evening engagement nearby went later that expected, too late for where we originally intended to go for dinner. So we decided to try Golden Pigeon after ascertaining that the kitchen was still open after 10:00 pm.
I figured I’d go with traditional and ordered their house lager, a helles by Common Good. It’s light, refreshing, and simple. It went well with the food and I could see it being a nice thing to sip on its own if you didn’t want something too strongly flavoured. My wife doesn’t drink beer and went with their Penicillin cocktail (scotch, ginger syrup, lime), which she liked as it had good kick.
I decided to try their Classic Schnitzel, figuring it would be a good index of their kitchen. You get a choice of chicken, pork, or eggplant. I went with pork as the more traditional German choice. The cutlet was not as thin as I expected, but was very tender, moist, and free of gristle. The frying was excellent, with a crisp breaded coating that was not at all oily. It came with a serviceable potato salad (with chopped onions and celery), sauerkraut, sinus-clearing mustard, and lemon wedges.
My wife ordered the Spaetzle Mac n’ Cheese, which was a little odd. It was not exactly a traditional käsespätzle. The cheese was dominated by cheddar, with less of the Emmental. It also tasted of some kind of herb, possibly basil. The advertized caramelized onions were MIA. In the end, not bad, but not what we had been expecting.
The quality of the schnitzel makes us at least hopeful about trying their sausages and meat platters.
The basil is a bit weird for cheese spaetzle.
Parsley or chives would probably be the herbs added, if any were used in Germany or Austria.
I’m guessing the people in the kitchen have not had enough exposure to schnitzel and spaetzle, as they are served in Europe.
A lot of Schnitzel I have eaten in Toronto over the past 5 years has not been pounded flat, the way it would be in Europe. I have had a mallet for schnitzel since I set up my apartment almost 30 years ago. I guess it isn’t a skill that is necessarily passed along at George Brown, Stratford Chef School, or in Toronto working kitchens. LOL
I was not that impressed with the Pork Schnitzel at Cafe Polonez or Prague.
I will try the Serbian Schnitzel at Bonimi in Etobicoke some day.
This is what my North American Schnitzel Ideal looks like, from Spago in Beverly Hills:
Thanks for taking one for the team.
The Schnitzel also is not pounded thin at Burdock.
I used to enjoy the schnitzel at otto bierhall and Schnitzel Queen (both closed sadly)
cheese spaetzle being decent at Otto bierhall as well
