Not the Wvrst lunch you’ll have: Bison and Guinea Fowl Sausages

Wvrst, Wvrst, Wvrst! We still haven’t properly sampled their beers yet, but we’re slowly making the sausage rounds one meaty bite at a time. Though our first visit was pretty lacklustre, I’m happy to recant and report that our second time at the beer and sausage hall was a pleasant surprise. The traditional sausages we had last time, the bratwurst and calabrese, felt too plain and unexceptional to warrant a repeat visit, but they’ve got something good going on with their game meats. Duck with maple and foie gras, pheasant with apple, elk with porcini and cumin…perhaps sausage is where high brow and low brow meet? None of the flavours seem too out there (they’re actually complimentary and traditional to their respective meats), but if you’d like something different that you won’t easily find at your local grocery store or butcher, I say choose the game meat; they tend to be leaner and naturally more flavourful on their own.

Eaten:
Bison Sausage – A maple and blueberry sausage with a dark, rich red colouring and a sweetness similar to honey garlic and breakfast sausage in taste. I topped it with red bell peppers and sauerkraut. ($9) If Wvrst decided to go the brunch route, I would definitely eat this as a side with a big plate of French Toasts!

Guinea Fowl – A cheddar and asparagus sausage with a very distinctive and sharp, but well-rounded taste. Quite savoury. Topped with jalapeño and sauerkraut. ($9)

Duck Fat Fries with a side of maple and rosemary mayo and chipotle mayo – Need I say more? ($6.50)

Comparatively speaking, Wvrst prices are not the lowest, but they’re located on King Street West and cater to a specific crowd…

Canon AE-1 | Lomography 400

Wvrst
609 King Street West | Website | Yelp

w burger bar: bison meat vs. beef

From left to right: regular beef ($6.99), bison meat ($9.99), and angus beef hot dog (lol).

I like W Burger Bar, but it’s nothing spectacular. I’ve only been there at nights and it always has the feel of a classier version of a sports bar. (I don’t think I’ve ever been to a sports bar, but this what I assume it would be like.) The burgers are alright, with a large selection of toppings available, and the fries are plenty. If you have one of those days where you can’t decide what you want or you want everything and feel like spending $15 on mini burgers, you can order their slider sampler, it includes lamb, beef, bison, kobe beef, etc. We didn’t get the sliders, but they are super cute though. If you squint at the upper left corner of the picture you can see the people next to us having them.

In an attempt to be more adventurous, while briefly considering the $18 kobe beef burger, I decided to try the bison meat. Albeit being dry, the bison burger was naturally more flavourful than the regular beef and surprisingly not gamey at all. Plus, according to the internet, bison meat is not only leaner, but also has more nutritional value than regular beef.  So, my burger was a bit more expensive, but I guess it has the value added? (I really need that iron.) Based on taste alone, I’d go with the bison burger again. I bet it’d taste better at a non-burger place though.

The hot dog? I just wanted a triptych and to show you our friend’s wonderfully elegant fingers. He’s going to be a pharmacist. Yes, those beautiful hands will be dispensing drugs