Bellwoods Brewery

Bellwoods Brewery (@bellwoodsbeer), an Ossington Ave. microbrewery, opened its doors earlier this month. Bellwoods Brewery joins The Saint Tavern and Hawker Bar in a slew of restaurant and bars to open up on the Ossington strip in April. Yes. All in one month.

Chef Guy Rawlings (@guy_rawlings) (formerly Lucien, Brockton General) is in charge of the snack menu at the brewpub. Categorized as "bar snacks", "sticks" (or skewers) and "plates", everything on their snack menu is meant for sharing. I went with three friends and we pretty much tried everything on the menu, thus turning "snacks" into a full-out "dinner".

Located at an old garage, you may miss Bellwoods if you're unfamiliar with the neighbourhood (as I didn't see any signage). They will be opening the front door to a spacious patio in the summer. Awesome.

We went last Wednesday and the place was already packed at 5:30pm. Lucky we got the last table.

The kitchen. 

Still a lot of seats available upstairs at the time.

The bar seats overlook the scene on the ground floor.

As well as the large fermenting tanks on the right.

Besides cheese and salumi, we tried everything on Bellwoods' menu.

BAR SNACKS

Pork Rinds with Bosc Vinegar ($6)

Fermented Salted Veg ($5) 

Woodlot Bread with Wild Garlic Butter, Citrus and Maldon Salt

STICKS

Sunchoke - Horseradish Cream and Bonito Flakes ($3)

Duck Gizzard - Lemon Dill Creme Fraiche with Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips ($4)

Potato - Warm Anchovy Mayo & Paprika ($3)

Chicken Hearts - Charred Jalapeno Oil ($4)

PLATES

Broth - Rare Beef, Fermented Bean Sprout, Thorny Coriander ($9)

Crispy Pork, Pea Shoots, Rehydrated Peanuts, Mustard Sauce ($9)

Rye Kernel, Hen of the Woods, Chickweed & Stinging Nettle ($9)

Dessert - Malt, Banana, Ginger ($4)

Chef Rawlings is putting out some really unique bar snacks at Bellwoods. Inexpensive and economical, the snacks are excellent. The pork rinds were exceptionally light and crispy, a perfect start. The unconventional skewers were a highlight for me; sunchoke + horseradish cream + bonito? Duck gizzard + dill + potato chips? Such interesting combinations but they totally work. The crowd favourite was the chicken hearts with charred jalapeno; meaty, slightly chewy with a "metallic" taste, the chicken hearts and the spicy jalapeno oil was a delight. There were mixed feelings about the broth at the table as it had a slight sour taste to it (from the fermented bean sprout), however, we all loved the tender rare beef. The crispy pork with rehydrated peanuts and mustard sauce was my favourite for the "plates". As for dessert...well...lets just say we all wanted it to be triple the size =)