What’s on the menu at Walrus Pub & Beer Hall, Bay Street’s new multi-level draw for craft drafts, aged martinis and shuffleboard

What’s on the menu at Walrus Pub & Beer Hall, Bay Street’s new multi-level draw for craft drafts, aged martinis and shuffleboard

Name: Walrus Pub & Beer Hall
Contact: 187 Bay St., 416-363-7261, donnellygroup.ca/walrus/, @walruspub
Formerly: Far Niente and Four
Owners: The Donnelly Group (Death & Taxes, Belfast Love)
Culinary director: Chris Stewart (Vancouver’s Hawksworth and Nightingale)
Chef: Rory McGouran (Mascot Eatery, 416 Snack Bar)

The food

Hearty pub food with a modern spin. There are share-friendly starters and salad bowls to go with mains like an eight-ounce striploin with red wine jus, or the Walrus burger made with Ontario chuck and brisket (not any actual walrus), Russian dressing and American cheddar. Gluten-free options are available for sandwiches and pizzas.

Oysters are served on the half shell with with house mignonette and hot sauce. $15 for six.

 

The sesame-avocado slaw contains red pepper, seaweed, carrot and lime zest that’s tossed with a sticky sambal dressing and topped with crispy taro and onions. $11.

 

The crispy cauliflower is tossed in a gluten-free batter and a blend of 14 spices, and served with jalapeño hot sauce. $12.

 

The tuna sashimi salad bowl is filled with avocado, kimchi, black rice, seaweed and spicy mayo. $17.

 

The rotisserie chicken is brined with lemon and bay leaf and served with fingerling potato mash, cole slaw and chicken jus. $24.

 

The crispy chicken sandwich is a 24-hour brined organic chicken breast rolled in a light breading seasoned with hot sauce. It’s topped with shredded lettuce, black pepper mayo and pickles on a Martin’s potato roll—”the same as Shake Shack,” says chef Rory McGouran. $17.

 

The pepperoni pizza, one of five on the menu, is a round of 48-hour fermented dough topped with top-tier Ezzo pepperoni (the little discs curl up really nicely), provolone, fennel seed and chili oil. $16.

 

The chocolate sticky pudding is crowned by a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, toffee crisp crumble and toffee sauce. $12.

 

The drinks

Besides many by-the-glass wines and a few high-roller bottles of champagne, expect to find 20 craft beers on draught, with a live monitor showing the remaining volume of beer in each tank. Beverage director Trevor Kallies is behind the list of cocktails and martinis—including several barrel- and bottle-aged options—that range from classics and house specialties (“ours”) to signatures from other bars (“not ours”).

The Ivory Room Martini is made with Beefeater gin, Lillet Blanc, Tio Pepe fino sherry, St. Germain and lemon zest. $13.

 

The R&R cocktail uses Lot 40 rye whiskey, Aperol, lemon, Peychaud’s bitters, mint and Franklin & Sons apple and rhubarb soda. $13.

 

The space

More beer halls

Ricky Alvarez (Tinto Creative) designed the lofty 13,000-square feet space, dropping the ceilings and outfitting the main floor with light woods, brass finishes and eclectic details, plus 20 large screen TVs and communal tables, with enough space for more than 400 people. The bright and airy Ivory Room seats 40 and is located near the restaurant’s main entrance. There’s also a slightly more private third level with a pool table, shuffle boards and an entrance to a 150-seat patio with its own bar. If that’s not enough, operating partner Scott Rowe there’s a beer hall, private dining room and barber shop planned for the lower level.

 

There’s live music five days a week via live band of from the DJ booth near the entrance staircase.

 

The third floor’s pool table and shuffleboard area.

 

The shuffleboard lane is perched right by the patio entrance.

 

The Ivory Room has high ceilings, walls plastered with framed prints, and shelves stocked with cookbooks, cocktail and architecture books.

 

Replica whale-tooth beer taps can be found in the Ivory Room.

 

The Walrus in its natural habitat at Bay and Wellington.