Black Hoof

Photo courtesy of Google Street View

The bar at the Black Hoof (not to be confused with the Cocktail bar across the street at 923 Dundas St. W)

Whoever wrote the menu on the blackboard has the coolest penmanship I've ever seen! I wish I could write like that - unfortunately my chicken scratches are barely legible. 

House Cured Meats (Charcuterie board)

We all loved the grainy mustard with the bread and salted meats. You really can't go wrong with this cured meat board. My favourites were probably their version of the mortadella on the bottom left (I love mortadella in general even though I know how fattening it is), summer sausage (right above the mortadella) and the pancetta. They also had an interesting pork heart meat (the small dark star-shaped meat in the middle), but it was probably our least favourite - very dense and tough in comparison to the other meats. 

Roasted Bone Marrow $7

Delicious! The toast + roasted bone marrow and olive oil + chimicurri (the green herb stuff which is AMAZING) + Maldon sea salt = yummy! The bone marrow had to be scooped up using these small special spoons and it was delightfully fatty and buttery - mmm totally worth it to me!

Spicy Horse Tartare with hickory sticks, hollandaise and fennel

Make sure you get an even amount of the horse meat, hickory sticks and hollandaise because that all together is the jackpot! The texture of it is fantastic: crispy hickory sticks and raw horse meat all held together with the hollandaise and the fennel for aromatic purposes. Definitely one of my favourite dishes of the night and it speaks to the restaurant too - you really just have to take a chance with the menu sometimes!

Pork Carnitas Tacos

They have some really great guacamole! The huge mound of shredded pork was quite a mouthful and there was plenty of juice dripping off the side of the tiny taco when I was eating it. I wasn't really a fan of the crispy chip thing. In total, I thought the dish was nice, but it wasn't really outstanding. 

Duck and black bean 

Asian inspired duck thigh with cabbage and black bean

We were kinda disappointed with this dish considering it was one of the pricier items on the menu and we got a duck thigh (we were expecting half a duck - crazy right? but for $19 we really thought we would get more). It was an ok dish, but when we compared it Chinese duck dishes cooked in black bean sauce, it just didn't measure up in terms of value and quality to dishes we've tried before.

Overall: Great food and the menu really allows you to try out adventurous new dishes - it was really fun picking and choosing and the portions were enough to try a little of each. Eating here is definitely on the pricier side considering what you're really served (but that's the point of tapas I guess). I must say though: it was a really cool experience and with the menu changing frequently, it definitely keeps it interesting.

Website: http://theblackhoof.com/