Monthly Archives: September 2018

This is probably the best place to watch football in Pittsburgh…

So, we’re hanging out at City Works, this funky joint in Market Square, right in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh. Now, since the Steelers were playing on Monday Night Football last week, it meant you could watch any other game on Sunday–and this place was showing pretty much all of them. I mean, they even had the Bills game on, bro!!!!

Not only that, but they’ve got some funky delish dishes, plus over 90 craft beers on tap. Dude, it’s kinda like Real Sports…without all the douchebags. Oh, and they’ve got better beer here, too.

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So, we’re starting off with a Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’, this hoppy pale wheat ale from Lagunitas. Dude, we’re lucky if we get Lagunitas IPA in Toronto, so you know I’m all over this one. It tastes kinda like a strong hefeweizen, but with an apricot aftertaste that explodes all over my face, bro!!!

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Now, you know I love nachos, and I’m also a big fan of duck confit, so when you put ’em together, it’s like bippity, boppity boo, bro! You’ve got some onions, tomato, jalapenos and queso fresco, along with white beans, for that funky fresh Frenchness, all smothered in pepper jack cheese sauce…and served on wonton chips!? Shut the back door!!!

Now, this plate of nachos was actually not that big, so I definitely still had room for  dessert:

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Dude, if this Peanut Butter Snickers Pie was any more rich, it would be throwing dynamite with Maren Morris! You’ve got an Oreo cookie crust, peanut butter mousse, whipped cream and chunks of Snickers, served up on a checkerboard of caramel and chocolate sauce–that’s a checkmate in Flavourtown, bro!!!

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Now what goes better with dessert than another beer? This here’s a nice chocolately cocoa porter called Sweet Baby Jesus from Duclaw Brewing outta Baltimore…and I didn’t even hafta go to Baltimore to get it!

 

This Primanti Bros sando eats like a three-course meal!

So we’re hanging out at Primanti Bros, Pittsburgh’s original gangsta sandwich joint, open since 1933 in the Strip District. This place does one thing, and they do it real well, piling meat, fries and slaw between two pieces of bread, bro! Now, this funky joint is open 24 hours, which means this is my idea of a balanced breakfast:

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What we’ve got is the Roast Beef & Cheese, which is sorta like Pittsburgh’s take on a Philly Cheesesteak. There’s hot, thinly sliced beef, melted provolone, and then a whole pile of fries, coleslaw and some tomatoes on top–y’know, for that one serving of fruit. And this is just half of it…there’s a whole ‘nother side to this sandwich, son!

I can’t say whether I still had room for dessert–they ain’t got no dessert on the menu. But who needs to save room with a sandwich this good? Man, even JuJu Smith-Schuster goes here, bro!!!!

Real-deal Texas BBQ, deep in the heart of…Pittsburgh???

So, we’re crusin’ down Butler Street in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh’s hottest neighbourhood, when I spot this bitchin’ BBQ joint with a massive outdoor patio, picnic tables, and a buncha people playing cornhole out front. You know I spun a U-ie in the Camaro right then and there, bro!!!

Walter’s Southern Kitchen actually just opened at the end of August, and it’s run by the same folks as Morgan’s BBQ in Brooklyn…but when it comes to meat, they’re definitely doing it up Texas-style:

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Dude, that beef brisket is real-deal, Bomb.com, too legit to quit, bro!!!! The meat just falls apart on your fork, melts in your mouth, and explodes all over your face. And then you’ve got the turkey. I’m more of a fried chicken man myself, but when you’ve got it coming straight outta the smoker, all pink and tender, I could eat about five pounds of that…and probably not have room for dessert?

walters_bbq_turkey (1)Mmm, BBQ turkey…

Now, because I happened to be wearing my Franklin BBQ trucker hat, these dudes knew I knew what’s up, so they offered me some ribs for free. (Well that, and they were also all outta sausage). Feast your eyes on this Flavourtown meat popsicle:

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Dude, these ribs were just as tender and flavourful as the brisket, with a simple salt-and-pepper rub. They were all sold outta beef ribs though, otherwise that wouldda been perfect…

Anyways, they’re still ironing out some of the kinks over there, but the food is super-legit, and I don’t know anywhere else in town where you can do yoga in the morning, play some cornhole and drink beers in the afternoon, and then chow down on BBQ at night. If another place like this does exist…then I might be headed back to Pittsburgh sooner than later, son!!!!

Big Trouble in Downtown Chinatown

So, we’re hanging out at Big Trouble, this funky second-floor joint on Dundas, right in the heart of Chinatown. Normally, if I’m in this part of town, it’s for some real-deal dim sum, but when I heard this place had five-dollar beers and cheeseburger dumplings, I was all over that like white on rice, Lo Pan!!!

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They call this the BT Dumpling Tower, and it’s a tower of power in Flavourtown! You’ve got a whole buncha beefy cheeseburger dumplings, topped with muenster cheese, salsa and arugula, and then smothered in gochujang sauce–everybody gochujang-chung tonight!!!

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And not only do they have a buncha Asian beer bottles for five bucks, but during Happy Hour, all the tall cans are five bucks, too! You KNOW I jumped on a few of these Tiger Beers, bro!!!

Beer and nachos for just 10 bucks, bros!!!!

So, we’re hanging out at Squirly’s Bar & Grill, this funky little dive on Queen Street West. Man, this place was playing punk bands on the stereo I’ve never even heard of, bro! And you gotta get there early, cuz from 4 to 7 pm you can get a pint of beer and a plate of nachos for just 10 bucks!

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Now, despite what it says on the glass, this beer is NOT from Great Lakes Brewery. This is Stratford Pilsner, straight outta the home of Justin Bieber. I will never say never to another one of these brewskis, bro!!!

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So, now we’re going nachos. These tri-color chips are topped with cheese, green onions, tomatoes…and green olives, for some reason. OK, so they’re not the best nachos I’ve ever had. Probably not even in my Top 10. But did I mention that all this, plus any pint of craft beer, is just 10 bucks until 7 pm? That’s a Honky-Tonk Redonkadonk Happy Hour Hoedown in Flavourtown, Dean Bro-dy!!!!

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So, now that it’s after 7, we’re sa-sa-switchin to Side Launch Wheat, son! This light, slightly citrusy local craft beer tastes like gold to me–even in a Woodhouse Brewing glass…

Who needs a pumpkin spice latte when you can have a pumpkin spice iced capp?

Is it PSL season yet? No way, Jose! The NFL literally just had its hottest game in 15 years, so it definitely doesn’t feel like fall. And the last time I went to Starbucks, I actually bought me a beer. (That one didn’t work out in the long run, for some reason…) But when yer sweatin’ bullets off yer ballsack, good ol’ Tim Hortons has just the thing for you. Say hello to the Pumpkin Spice Iced Capp, bro!!!

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Now, I know what you’re thinking–this just looks like a regular old iced capp. Well, that’s because my local Timmies was all out of whipped cream already at 10 am. Kinda makes you wonder what they were doing with all that whipped cream last night… Oh, and they didn’t have any of the pumpkin drizzle, either. Someone musta been all Brown Chicken Brown Cow up in this joint, broseph!

Anyways, you can totally taste the pumpkin in this. It pretty much takes like pumpkin pie in icicle form. And I lost count of how many brain freezes I got before I finished–I guess you’re not supposed to chug it through a funnel???

Steamed chicken two ways at Momofuku Kojin

So, we’re hanging out at Momofuku Kojin, this funky David Chang joint two floors above the noodle bar at University and Adelaide. Now, this place looks like a fancy steakhouse, with the red leather booths ‘n alll…but they’ve got The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Clash and Phil freakin’ Collins on the sound system, so you know it’s my kinda place, bro! And while we didn’t sleep on the steak, they’ve got this other dish that’s super-delish… steamed chicken in a pot, served up two ways:

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Now, once the chicken is cooked, they take the white meat, and serve it up with fried rice, crispy chicken skin, some chimichurri and cilantro… It even has a chicken wing!!!

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Man, this chicken is nice and tender, you’ve got a little kick from the chimichurri, some crunch from the chicken skin, and a little sticky rice to bring it all together. But then they take the dark meat and put it in a soup, son!!!

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Now, this right here is winner, winner, chicken soup dinner! And the gang’s all here—corn on the cob, potatoes…I think I even saw a green bean. This is totally a soup that eats like a meal… but you KNOW we still had room for steak, bro!!!

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This 33-oz PEI ribeye came with a whole lotta sauces and seasonings that I couldn’t even keep track of. The meat was definitely on the rare side of medium rare, but it still had a nice chew. Never thought I’d say this, though, but next time I hit up this steakhouse, I might just stick with the chicken…

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Drinking all the beer in Kensington Market

Some people might go to Kensington Market to buy groceries. Me, I go there to drink beer. And in the last few years, a whole buncha funky little joints have opened up that serve up the suds from all over this city. So this past weekend, we headed out to pound some of the best beers from the funkiest joints in the Market–right here, right now on Triple B:

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So, we’re starting our journey at Trinity Common, this funky little beer hall on Augusta, with a Clutch American pale ale from my Barrie bros at Redline Brewhouse. This beer might not be named after Neil Fallon, but I’d still put it on a five note!

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Now, for dessert we’re drinking Glace Noir, this funky black currant ice cream stout from Dominion City. This one totally kicks the funkaliciousness up a notch–you’ve got a nice, rich, fruity taste with a hit of stouty coffee flavour at the end. I don’t know how they do it, but they sure do it good, Ted Bro-gent!!!

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From there, we stumbled across the street to Supermarket, where the craftiest craft beer they had was this Space Invader IPA from Amsterdam Brewery. Dude, I couldda chugged a couple of these when I was actually playing Space Invaders at Get Well the other night…

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And since it was getting to be around snack time, I scarfed down some pineapple chicken at Supermarket, too. You gotta love anything you can eat with a toothpick–and this was only like seven bucks, bro!!!

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Now, if you’re looking for some real-deal, local craft beer, Kensington Market’s got its own craft brewery–Kensington Brewing Co. Their tap room is pretty tiny, but they’re serving up beers with great big flavours, like this Qullqa Gose, with lemon verbana leaves, Himalayan mountain salt and cantaloupe juice. Dude, this is the best thing I’ve ever had with cantaloupe in it!!!!

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From there, we’re headed to Thirsty and Miserable, this little heavy metal dive bar that’s one of my favourite places to get Ozzy Osbourne wasted this side of Hamilton. Dude, they were crankin’ Deep Purple on the stereo as I slammed down this Godspeed Shiranami Hefeweizen. And since they’ve got an open-door, bring your own food policy…say hello to fish tacos, bro!!!!!!!

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(Grabbed this bad boy from the Taco Terminators at Seven Lives, along with dos de cabeza…which you know went straight into mi cabeza, hermanito!!!!)

Mash Up the Jam, muthafucka!!!!

Dude, the MC5 is turning 50 this year, and what better way to celebrate than by drinking beer? Come on and kick ’em out with this dry hopped sour from Collective Arts:

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OK, so the name of this beer is actually Mash Up the Jam, but that’s still closer to the MC5 than this “reunion” tour with dudes from Soundgarden and Fugazi. This brew is equal parts sour and hoppy, with hops from Seattle and New Zealand…and they’re serving it up on tap right now at Get Well, this funky joint on Dundas West that’s equal parts dive bar, pizza place and vintage video arcade. This place might be darker than a nuclear winter, but they’ve got a pretty sweet selection of craft beers on tap….like this one, right here:

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They call this one Hazer Quest, and it’s like a shot to the shoulder target in Flavourtown! This German IPA from Indie Alehouse has just the right amount of hops, and at 6.2%, it packs a pretty decent punch…

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Of course, you can’t expect me to go to a place that has beer and pizza, and not eat pizza, bro! North of Brooklyn is serving up the pies out the back, like this sonic punch to the tastebuds, the Killer Bee. You’ve got mozzarella, calabrese sausage, serrano peppers and pickled red onions, with a drizzle of honey bringing the sweet to beat the heat. But man, for me, pizza is like Lay’s chips–you bet I can’t eat just one, son!!!

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This original Triple B culinary creation has got pepperoni, mushrooms and black olives, some Buffalo mozza and tomato sauce, all on a sesame seed crust. The crust is what makes it, bro!!!

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Of course, a wicked awesome ‘za deserves a wicked awesome brewski–like this Wicked Awesome IPA from Nickel Brook Brewing. This one blasts fastballs like Nomah, and you don’t even hafta pahk yer cahr in Hahvahd Yahd to get it, Beantown bro!!!!

Sam Roberts Beer was born in a flame, bro!

Do you like Sam Roberts? I’ve been a big fan of their 2003 album, We Were Born in a Flame. After that, I really didn’t understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. But Born in a Flame had some great, great songs dude! Brother Down, Don’t Walk Away Eileen, Where Have All the Good People Gone? I’ve definitely opened a few brewskis to those tuneskis back in the day! Well now, the music of Sam Roberts Band is available…in liquid form:

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This balanced pub ale is equal parts English and American, with a dry, zesty finish. It’s a little bit malty, a little bit hoppy and a little bit rock ‘n roll, with just a hint of caramel. This beer is best served at a dingy dive bar like the Black Bull Tavern on Queen West, where a tallboy will set ya back about 10 bucks after tax and tip. Don’t walk away from this one, Eileen!!!!

 

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