This Christmas holiday we were unable to book a quick get-away at a reasonable price so we decided to stay in the city and check out a bunch of restaurants we’ve been hoping to get to. Our first installment in this series is Wvrst (like wurst) on King West. Now Wvrst is in a location that has seen many restaurants and it surprises me somewhat when another replaces the last one, but this time, I do believe they have the right ingredients for the area. It’s what they call a “Sausage Hall”; but wait, there is beer too! 🙂
The menu consists of a variety of home designed sausages (they outsource the actual making to somewhere in Montréal), even vegetarian! There are fries too, and beer; over 15 on tap. The beers were carefully chosen to pair well with the sausages. The restaurant is family style with long wooden communal tables; it is well but not too brightly lit with those cool bulbs I mentioned in the Kennedy Public House Post, hundreds of them! We had lunch on Boxing Day, so it was a little quiet. You go to the sausage bar to order and pay for your food, but the servers bring it to you, reasonably quickly.
We decided to share an Elk and Porchini sausage with sauerkraut and sautéed jalopeño peppers $9 and small Belgian-style fries (regular fries) $3.5 with Wvrst’s own spicey mayo $1. It was plenty of food for us. The sausage was DELICIOUS with my Dead Guy Ale just a slight nuttiness paired perfectly with the rich sausage. JT had the Dieu du Ciel which I found too bitter, but he liked it. The sausage casing had that perfect POP as you bit into each delicious bite! My only comment would be that the Porchini was a bit of a waste as neither of us could taste it in the sausage. The fries were gloriously crispy and fresh tasting; the dipping mayo was indeed spicy, but we both loved it, although it was a bit thick. We could have ordered the fries fried in duck fat, but thought better of it.
The manager was friendly and helpful (we had a bit of an issue which I won’t mention but he took care of it immediately and we were happy with the result). The experience was a bit quick but it was very nice and the food was great and not expensive.
Overall rating (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 3.5/5, food 3.5/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 5/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet). The restaurant was not packed, I would imagine it gets pretty loud at night. Great lunch place.
Disclaimer: We purchased our meal for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
YUM! You described the ‘pop’ of a casing perfectly…which is (to me) the hallmark of a good sausage!
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I had honestly forgotten about that sensation until I bit into that one, Ann. I guess many products use the unnatural casings which don’t give that pop.
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When we get back to Toronto again, I know who I’m going to consult as my city guide. I love reading about Toronto through your eyes Eva. And I love that you’re “vacationing” in your own city. It’s one of my favorite things to do when we can’t get away too. 🙂
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Thanks Kristy, that is very flattering; if you do get back here, pls do let me know. It’s fun to do the extraordinary as we find we usually get stuck in the “same old”.
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The German in me is loving the idea of this place. Too bad the sausages weren’t a homerun.
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They were Jed, we just felt the porcini wasn’t necessary! It’s a very casual place.
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The decor looks interesting. The prices seem very inexpensive. You don’t see anything on a menu marked $1.00 here in Sydney.
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No Charlie Louie, not many places in TO have $1. Items either!
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The place sounds intriguing. I’ve been to casual dining places like this … usually around a city market where there are a lot of people in the area anyway though I don’t know that I’d have driven some distance to get there. I look forward to future reviews. 🙂
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I agree Maria, this area has much like a market vibe!
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Elk sausage, yum. I want.
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I thought you’d like this one 😉 !
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This sounds like a great place to go to with a few friends. It’s nothing fancy but a place to meet up, grab a bite, have a beer or two, and relax. As much as I enjoy fine dining, sometimes a brat and a beer among friends is every bit as satisfying as a meal can be.
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You’re absolutely right John. It had a really comfy vibe to it, plus the food was great — you can’t beat that!
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