The County General

Splendido's co-owners Carlo Catallo and Victor Barry took over Oddfellow's old space at Queen & Shaw late last year and opened up The County General (if you have nothing else better to do you can read my extremely old post on Oddfellows from April 2010 heh). Unlike Splendido, The County General is a casual and laid back restaurant. It also has great hours: you can have lunch there on weekdays, go for brunch on Sundays, dinner seven days a week, late night snacks till 3am from Thursday to Saturday and even takeout!


My friend and I went to The County General (@CountyGeneral) last Sunday night at around 6:30pm. There were only two tables available when we walked in and 5 mins later the other one was taken as well.


Ruby Tuesday - El Dorado 12yr, Cassis, Cranberry juice, Orange zest ($12)

SMALL PLATES FOR STARTING AND SHARING

Roasted Bone Marrow ($5)

It may be surprising, given that the bone looks tiny, that there was actually a lot of bone marrow in it. We both had a very generous layer of delicious bone marrow on our toast. 

Trio of Steamed Pork Buns - Avocado chutney, Green Apple Slaw, Kimchi ($14) 

Served with soft and hot buns (^_*) these were really tasty. My favourite was the avocado chutney. These pork buns  are hard to share though especially if everybody wants to have a bite. The obvious solution would be to have two orders of the pork buns but that may seem excessive, spending $28 for six pork buns lol. Thankfully, my talented friend did a superb job at splitting the three pork buns in perfect halves.

Note: the hot sauce in that bottle is extremely spicy.. and I can take spicy!

BIGGER PLATES FOR EATING YOURSELF


Pork Tacos - Braised Pork Shoulder, Tomatillo Salsa Verde, Smoked Chipotle Creme Fraiche, Coriander, Radish (choice of salad or fries) ($15)


The tender pork shoulder with mildly spicy salsa verde and chipotle creme fraiche was a hit for us both. 

Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich - Buttermilk Chicken, Milk Bun, Avocado Chutney, Corinader, Green Onion (choice of salad or fries) ($14)

I have had numerous people tell me that I must order this sandwich at The County General. After having it I do agree that it is really really good. The buttermilk fried chicken was so unbelievably juicy and tender, not dry at all. And you know how my favourite pork bun was the one with avocado chutney? Well, the avocado makes an appearance here again =)  My only complaint about this sandwich? Way too small...I wanted MORE.

Pork and Beef Sausage with Kim chi, Kozliks Dijon, Homemade Bacon "bits", Ketchup & Pickled Red Onion (choice of salad or fries) ($14)

This was The County General's special that night (which is now on their lunch menu). Interesting combination of toppings, especially with the addition of kimchi, but this was actually our least favourite dish that night. I thought the sausage was on the dry side and a bit salty. My friend thought the combination of kimchi, pickled onions and bacon toppings were overpowering the sausage itself.

DESSERT

Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream ($7.5)

We had a choice of apple pie, lemon tart and cookies for dessert. Good apple pie but I prefer a fluffier, flakier crust as opposed to this thin one. Personal preference, of course.

My friend and I both enjoyed our dinner at The County General and we were happy with everything that we had (except maybe the hot dog). However, you should keep in mind that given their price point, the portions at The County General are on the small side (i.e. fried chicken thigh sandwich and the two tacos, priced at $14 and $15 respectively).