What’s on the menu at Sing Sing, the Financial District’s new spot for pizza, pho and beer
Including burgers, banh mi, and pizza topped with brisket and kimchi
Name: Sing Sing Contact: 77 Adelaide St. W., freehouse.co/locations/sing-sing-adelaide Owners: Freehouse Collective Chefs: Zach Barnes, Chris Anderson Accessibility: Lower level is accessible
Sing Sing, a new bar and eatery in the heart of the Financial District, celebrates the unlikely combination of pho, pizza and beer. The concept emerged in Vancouver, when Freehouse Collective hospitality group opened Sing Sing’s first location in the previous site of an Asian restaurant. “We don’t like to strip our spaces of their heritage,” says Trevor MacKenzie, the group’s director of hospitality. “We try to pay homage to the past.” As it happened, one of the partners in the company, who is Vietnamese, mentioned that his grandmother had passed down a secret pho recipe. The team decided to go for it, and beer and pizza (un)naturally followed.
The menu is uncompromising in its dedication to culinary recklessness because, as MacKenzie says, “Everyone just needs to chill.” The result is a casual, nonsensical celebration of food and drink that includes everything from burgers to banh mi. And though the menu items hail from all over the globe, there is one universal truth: everything pairs well with beer.
The food
The prevailing vibe is: Some of these things don’t belong here, but that’s the point. The menu is strictly potluck over pompous, and its star is the unctuous and warmly spiced beef pho. The mix-and-match of cuisines also includes classic smashed cheeseburgers, a beef bulgogi baguette, and a hoisin-based pizza with brisket and kimchi.
The drinks
The beer list includes a substantial selection of local IPAs, fruity sours and old-school pilsners. The cocktails are more overtly playful: the piña coladas are made with tapioca pearls; the chai-spiced rum spritzes are inflected with chili, ginger and curry tincture; and cold-pressed green juices are paired with gin.
The space
While there is a decided freneticism to the food, the two-level space doesn’t overwhelm. Rather, its whitewashed walls, large windows and muted colour palette act as a calming canvas for the meal that is to come. There’s also a separate outdoor bar and patio space.
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Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.
