Weslodge

[akhorasanee]

My husband and I had a wonderful meal at Weslodge this weekend. For starters, we ordered the fluke ceviche and seared bonito, for mains bison bavette and fried bourbon cornish hen and for dessert the instant chocolate cake and pistachio, cocnut panacotta.
We really loved each of our dishes, the weakest which was still pretty good was the seared bonito. The fluke ceviche and bison were boths tand out dishes for me. The ambience is lively and fun, not pretentious like some King west spots can be, service was very attentive and for a new restaurant I would say pretty good.
Our bill was $110 (witha galss of wine included and excluding tip).
I will definately eb returning, I think it is a great addition to the Toronto dining scene.

[jlunar]

Went to Weslodge for dinner recently and had these very good sides/snacks. Wouldn’t hesitate to return for these guys at some point!

- The Scotch Egg. Good, but the exterior tastes a lot like a falafel. Nice with the tomato chutney/jam.
- Asparagus on puff pastry with ricotta and baby arugula. Really light and flaky pastry and simply delicious.
- Bacon and sprouts. Especially loved the bacon. Not too salty yet really flavourful. House cured.

photos: http://www.foodpr0n.com/2012/10/12/we...

Oh, drinks are nice, but their classics seem almost too mellow for me. I was missing that fiery punch I'd come to expect.

[TorontoJo]

Went to Weslodge early last night with some friends to check it out. The barrel aged cocktails are quite nice -- my negroni was very good, with the normally sharp edges of the campari and bitters softened and rounded off.

My table shared the following small plates and sides: seared bonito, scotch eggs, brandade, asparagus and ricotta in puff pastry, roasted brussels sprouts w/bacon, and duck bacon + egg + fingerling potatoes. I must say that really enjoyed all of these dishes. There wasn't a bad item in the lot. The scotch eggs could have been more sausage-y, but I enjoyed how the spices and coating made them taste an awful lot like falafel (this is not a bad thing). The brussels and bacon were particularly good (we ordered a second!), with the house-cured bacon adding just the right amount of richness to the dish. The asparagus was really a small tart -- really delicious.

The mains were less successful. Our table had a burger, the cornmeal crusted skate, and the 5-lb lamb shoulder (which is meant to be shared amongst several). The burger was declared to be "ok, but better burgers elsewhere". The skate was also just "ok" -- I love skate, but I found this piece to be mushier than I've had before. The lamb platter was impressive and HUGE. It was served with braised red cabbage and an Israeli couscous dish. The couscous was slightly overcooked, but the cabbage was very good. My friends said the lamb was prepared well, but was not terribly interesting.

So as with so many places I've eaten at lately, I would happily return to Weslodge for the drinks and make a meal of the small plates and the sides and pass on the mains. Note that the mains were not bad, just not that interesting.

Great atmosphere and design (despite the animal heads high up on the wall) and a really interesting mix of people. The service was friendly and totally non-pretentious, which I appreciated.

[hungryabbey]

Thanks Jo! This place is on my list.

www.abbeyskitchen.com

[rstuart]

Thanks for review TorontoJo. I had read good things about it (I think in the G&M and Now?), but thought that it looked like more a club/bar. Glad to hear that there are good eats and drinks...

[ComerDemonio]

Can you remember what their wine list was like? They only list cocktails on their web site.