FOOD: THE HOOF CAFÉ

Toronto's foodie circle is pretty much abuzz with The Hoof Café, located in the increasingly trendy Dundas West area. Tightly packed, brightly lit and cleanly conceptualized, it is a place to congregate with your partner or no more than three friends.

The Brunch hotspot originally was meant to be a holding area for its busy sister restaurant across the road, The Black Hoof - a Charcouterie with a menu featuring unique cuts of meat. The Café has now taken a life of its own with its unique Pork-centric menu. Case in point, my friends and I were cautioned this morning of a potential 45 minute wait by their staff, though fortunately it wound up being close to a 15 minute wait in the end.

The signature item on their Brunch Menu is French Toast which comes smothered in Maple Syrup. There is also the option of adding their Foie Gras for an additional $14, which is enough to upset collectively PETA and price-conscious meat eaters. I sampled a bit of my friend's order and it was heavenly with its sweet-meets-smokey savouriness, although hardly much value for a grand total of $24, considering its small portion.

I myself tried their Blood Sausage and Crêpes, which also was of meagre portion. With two folded handkerchiefs of Crêpes doused in Maple Syrup, the dish comes with what more seems like a section of a Sausage reminiscent in taste of Chinese Duck Liver Sausage, though much milder in flavour. Enjoyable, but hardly satisfying.

Another of my friends tried their Suckling Pig Eggs Benedict sans Suckling Pig as their friendly server happily was willing to oblige, and she seemed to enjoy her plate immensely.

One thing we could all agree on though was that the $5 bowl of Doughnuts filled with Marrow and Rhubarb Jam were beyond delicious in their sugar-coated goodness. Who would've thought that Marrow could be so delectable with a Coffee?

I applaud The Hoof Café for its fearless menu. Pig Tails & Grits and Tongue Grilled Cheese may sound horrifying to the average Canadian, but intriguing to anyone who has had the experience of tasting these done right. One can appreciate that much delicate labour would go into the preparation of their marquee items, thus warranting buzz perhaps justifying limited portion sizes? Would I return again though? Maybe.