WVRST

Tuesday was kind of a sausage fest.

And by that, I mean a lotttt of sausages were consumed. Along with some unnecessarily large jugs of beer. Followed by me falling into a deep food coma on the couch and missing most of the Victoria's Secret Fashion show.

Cheers to... uh, that?

Some chickies and I headed down to WVRST to get exactly what we'd been craving for the night: a semi-cheap, different meal in a casual atmosphere that served, you guessed it, beer.

(photo courtesy of Lo's Twitter.)

WVRST was exactly what we were looking for. The beer-hall style seating and cool, pared-down decor with exposed lightbulbs strung all over the ceiling gave the place a chill vibe and the beer list was extensive (although I cheaped it out and went with PBR) and offered gigantic sizes. Perrrfect.

The menu is quite simple, and you have to march on up to the counter to order food for yourself. Basically, you choose a sausage. Then you decide whether you want it currywurst style, served with country bread and tomato curry sauce, or on a toasted white bun. If you go the bun route, which we all did, you then have a choice of two of four toppings: sweet sauteed onions, sauerkraut, sauteed jalapenos or sweet peppers. Easy, right?

Wrong!

Just check out all those weiners! Kangaroo, you say? Wild boar? How on earth does one even begin to choose?

WVRST keeps their sausages on display by the counter, which is kinda cool if you like the look of raw sausages. It also helped us weed out the skinny, dinky-looking variety (a huge help when it came to decision-making time).

The duck fat fries were an easy call. WVRST fries em up in leftover  fat from the duck sausages. I read in a Toronto Life article that the owner had been originally looking for horse fat to make his fries with, since that's how they're often found in the birthplace of fries, Belgium, but couldn't find a consistent source for it in Canada. I'm kinda glad he couldn't. Duck fat, I can deal with. Horse fat, a bit too much.


Anyways. Vanessa and I split a large order of fries (which was more than enough for the two of us) and ordered a maple rosemary and a chive and garlic mayo. While I had expected an extremely distinct and unique taste from the duck fat, I didn't notice a huge difference. Maybe a bit of added richness. Nonetheless, yummy fries, and really yummy dipping sauces (love the variety!)

And then there were the sausages.

While none of us went with anything too crazy, I couldn't get my mind off the duck sausage with maple and foie gras. Yup, you heard me. Foie gras.

I had to get it.

(Worst enemy of ducks everywhere I was on Tuesday night.)

Usually in restaurant situations where the combination of components of a meal is up to me, I get completely overwhelmed, panic, and end up with the worst combo of ingredients anyone could possibly order from the facility.

Not the case at WVRST.

Among the flavourful calabreses (pork with spicy chili paste), bratwvrsts, and even the blueberry-maple bison sausage I sampled at our table, the duck sausage remained my clear favourite. It was the best sausage I can remember having in a long time.

Tender, moist and decadent, the flavours of foie gras and maple were subtle yet distinct. The sauerkraut I ordered it with added a great light crunch and hint of sour, and the caramelized onions complemented the sweet undertones of the sausage beautifully. Obv, I also ordered it with a side of maple rosemary mayo, which I added generously to the bun (highly recommended to make a fatty and delicious treat treat even fattier and more delicious.)

I was occasionally confused when I opened my eyes (I tend to enjoy really yummy treats with my eyes closed) and saw the red and white checkered paper wax paper because my meal tasted and felt so luxe. No matter. It was a fun juxtaposition, and it washed down well with cold beer.

The lighting at WVRST sucked for capturing pics. The atmosphere didn't suck for having some laughs over a good meal and beer. And my foie gras sausage will linger on my mind until we meet again. And, oh, that will be a beautiful day.

WVRST

609 King Street West

Toronto, ON

416-703-7775

www.wvrst.com