A beer week just isn’t quite the same without a food and beer event. Restaurants in Toronto are slowly coming around to the fact that good food deserves fine beers, not just wine. Cowbell is a restaurant that has been on my list of places to try for a while and so it seemed like a gift that they had a $25 prix fixe menu when that price is probably the average for one of their mains. The fact that they also had bottles of one of the Beau’s Bourbon Barrel aged beers was an extra bonus.
Cowbell isn’t a restaurant known for beer and it showed at times during their tasting. The first course was beer battered smelt with the Beau’s Bourbon Barrel beer (most likely either the Matt’s Sleepytime or Festival version). This was odd on a number of levels, one being that I wouldn’t pair such an intense beer with a battered white fish. The course was a little on the greasy side and I would have liked a palate cleansing beer like the Lug-Tread. The beer was also one that I would have liked to slowly sip at after my meal, not feel rushed to finish before my next course came out. It wasn’t a large serving (3 or 4oz), but not something you want to finish in one big gulp.
The next course was absolutely perfect and fairly simple. The Duggan’s #9 IPA (one of their three taps) was paired with a fair-sized pot pie. Everything about the pot pie was spot on – great gravy, amazingly tender meat, nice crust – and it had a nice kick of spicy heat that worked perfectly with the #9. The dessert course was another odd pairing, especially because I would have used the Muskoka Cream Ale to pair with the first course. The cookie dough ice cream was not exactly what I was expecting with the cookie being a piece of brioche heavily spiced with cinnamon. There was a sauce around the ice cream that tasted like apple and a mysterious floral element that couldn’t be placed. A relatively lighter dessert after two heavier courses, it was a nice finish. The disappointing element was the Cream Ale, which did nothing for the pairing.
While the prix fixe menu and pairings were confusing at times, it was still great value. I did start with a salad at the suggestion of our waitress, but the cost was still substantially less than a normal night at Cowbell would have been.
Then it was off to the Burger Bar for a quick pint of the Indie Alehouse Instigator Pale Ale. With a rash of super-hoppy IPAs lately it might seem like we’ve quickly reached a saturation point, but this is a balanced yet tasty alternative. A beer that I wanted another of. I got to chat with the owner and was impressed by the kinds of beers he wants to make. Construction is still ongoing and final inspections will have to be made, but they are ready to get going once that is done. Get ready to make a lot of trips to the Junction.
