On The Town: The Black Hoof

The Black Hoof
938 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON

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Photo borrowed from Blog TO

The Black Hoof has been on my list of restaurants to try for months.  The thing is it’s not the type of place that you can take just any friend.  For example a vegan or even a vegetarian.  There is nothing on the menu to satisfy either (well except for the beverages).  Even your typical omnivore might be put off by the menu.  You need a friend that doesn’t mind trying some “alternative” parts of the animal. You won’t be eating Sirloin.

The Hoof (as many affectionately call it) is on a random stretch of Dundas West.  I’ve lived in Toronto most of my life and had only been on that stretch while whizzing by on the streetcar.  With that said it’s easily accessible by TTC and I can’t imagine parking being too much of a problem.  If you’re looking for a sign that says The Black Hoof you’re screwed.  Instead look out for the brown awning that says charcuterie.  The inside is rustic and small.  The Hoof brings the concept of open kitchen to a new level.  The kitchen is pretty central in the dining room meaning that all patrons have a clear view of the standard stovetop and oven that they use to churn out the food.  I mean standard like Toronto rental apartment kind of standard.

I met up with (who is always ready for some Hoof action) and new friend to finally pop my Hoof cherry.  I was content to let the other whittle down the selections because I know had I gone there by myself I wouldn’t have ordered half of what we ordered.  I likely would have played it safe and ordered the pork belly or something (and yes, at the Hoof the pork belly is playing it safe).  I was more than willing to be “forced into” a few more extreme things.

We started out with the roasted bone marrow.  Imagine a bone about 8 inches long sliced lengthwise to expose the marrow-y goodness on the inside.  The bone is then roasted and served with bread.  The idea is that you scoop out the marrow and spread it along the bread.  The best way to describe it would be meaty butter.  The marrow is smooth, flavourful and delicious.  If you think too hard about it I could see why it would be totally gross but seriously, it was sooo good.

Then it was on to the country fried sweetbreads.  For some reason I always thought sweetbreads were brain but turns out it’s actually the thymus gland.  Whatever it is it was pretty delicious deep-fried.  So it starts with crunch bits of deep-fried sweetbreads sweetbreads layered on top of creamy collard greens, surrounded by hot sauce – all on top of a hunk of cornbread.  The key to enjoying this dish is creating the perfect bite each and every time.  You have to get a bit of each component.  So good.

Then it was on to the tongue sandwich.  Okay tongue is a hard one for me to wrap my head around.  I hate going to the supermarket and seeing tongue in the meat case.  They are always so big and so grey and so … tongue-looking.  But alas this tongue was sliced super thing… like sandwich meat.  You wouldn’t even be able to identify it as tongue as the meat is a lovely vibrant pinky colour. It’s served on a great brioche.

Last but not least was the raw horse sammie.  Nothing about the name was endearing to me.  I mean raw? Knowing that it’s meat, not my fave.  Horse?  All I could think of Black Beauty.  And sammie? Conjures up images of Rachael Ray.  But I forged ahead.  And let me tell you this may well be the sleeper hit.  First off the sandwich doesn’t taste raw at all despite containing not only raw ground horse meat but a raw egg as well.  It’s served heavily spiced and with raw onion AND a fantastic hot sauce.  It was so flavourful and was truly delicious.  I may even say it was my favourite.  I’m not sure if I could eat a whole sandwich in one sitting but dividing it amongst three people was good enough for me.

So clearly the Hoof isn’t a typical dining experience but is truly one of the more unique players on the Toronto dining scene.  Jennifer Agg and Grant Van Gameren really have something special going on here.  So special that they’ve opened a cafe across the street aptly named The Hoof Cafe.  THC is open for brunch/lunch as well as in the evening for dinner and cocktails.  I’ve been there for brunch (fantastic) and ended up over there for dessert after our dinner.  If you wanted to ease yourself into the world of the Hoof then start with the Cafe as they have a few more middle of the road choices as well as some more unique menu items (like pig tails… so good.  Think BBQ ribs).

Now that I’ve tried The Black Hoof I can’t wait to go back.  The menu changes often so you can have a different dining experience there fairly regularly.  I have my eye on their famous charcuterie plate and would also love to try their pork belly. Can’t wait!

Check out the links below to see what others have said…
Blog TO
The Globe and Mail
Toronto Life
The Toronto Star
NOW Magazine