Apr. 01, 2009 - Issue #702: Heartless Bastards
The Hat
The Hat a mixed bag
It’s a guideline which can also generally be applied to restaurants. Case in point: my recent dining experiences at the Hat, located on Jasper Ave.
The Hat, located where its namesake the Silk Hat once resided, occupies a piece of long and narrow downtown real estate. The focal point of the “resto-pub” is a 15-metre-long bar of deep mahogany. The warm colours are carried over to the banquette-style seating opposite the bar. Exposed brick and a tin roof speak of the legacy of the space.
My first taste of the Hat was at lunchtime with the whole family on a brisk Saturday, prior to enjoying a show at the Winspear. I ordered a coffee to sip on while I looked at the menu, and was surprised by the limited weekend menu on offer before 3 pm. Five breakfast items, a few salads, and five burgers—this was not the menu I had anticipated. It was so short they hadn’t even bothered to put descriptors of the burgers on the menu, leaving the waiter (who seems a bit grumpy) to explain all five.
After placing our orders, the food arrived, uninspired and overcooked. Because we were pressed for time, my family and I didn’t have the time to send the food back and have it redone to perfection, so we left, disheartened by our lunch.
My second taste was on a Wednesday evening, around 7 pm. Four of us got settled into our seats and started the meal off with some drinks—the guys opting for Amber’s Australian Pepper Berry Lager ($7.50), a locally made brew that we will definitely start buying for home as the flavour and finish was excellent. As for us girls, we examined the short wine list, and selected the Bolla Valpolicella Classico 2006 for $28, which went well with our meaty main courses. The wine list, perhaps reflecting the Hat’s “pub” character, was small but offered up a few major varieties of grapes including merlot and shiraz.
Hoping to get a better idea of what the Hat has to offer, we selected a couple appetizers to start us off, choosing the pork drummy ($11.25), described as being two ham hocks slow cooked until the meat falls off the bone, smothered in a tangy barbeque sauce and served with their house coleslaw. When it arrived the aroma reminded one person at our table of a hot dog cart in the summer—not necessarily a bad aroma, but perhaps unexpected. We dug in and were rewarded with meat that, as promised, fell off the bone while the tangy barbeque sauce and creamy coleslaw complemented each other in flavour.
Our second appetizer was the baked brie ($10.25). It was served with a strawberry sauce, reduced balsamic vinegar and garlic breadsticks. In theory balsamic and strawberry is a classic combination, however, this strawberry sauce was thin, lacked punch, and only watered down the reduced balsamic vinegar. Attention to detail would have helped, as our Brie was simply not cooked long enough either; instead of oozing melted cheese, it was at the halfway point of hot and cold and had a bit of a rubbery texture. For something so simple, it was disappointing the kitchen could not send it out correctly.
For our main courses, we stuck to the Hat’s signature dish—the burgers, which are served up with the prerequisite lettuce and tomatoes, as well as the Hat’s basil garlic mayonnaise. I ordered the mushroom swiss burger ($14.25), but in a 4 oz size—I knew from my previous lunch that the 8 oz burgers were huge, and was glad to see that I could downsize mine. The Hat offers three kinds of fries—shoestring potato, sweet potato and potato thins. Everyone else at my table went with the shoestring fries, so I decided to try the sweet potato—it was an additional $3, which seemed a tad much, but was worth it in the end.
My burger arrived, smothered in freshly fried mushrooms and caramelized onions. I was impressed, as I could not even see the patty through the toppings. I assembled the burger, packing together all the parts, excitedly took a bite ... and discovered to my dismay that my patty was burnt. As my friends dug into their meals (no other problems), I flagged the waiter down and told him of my concern. He whisked the burger off, and within minutes my meal reappeared including freshly made and piping-hot fries. Second time was a charm, with my burger juicy and cooked to perfection. The only condiment on the burger—the basil garlic mayonnaise—did not really stand out flavour-wise, and I was left wishing for a little kick of some sort of saucy goodness to meld everything together.
The sweet potato fries were shoestring thin, and served with a dijon mayonnaise. Crispy and sweet, they definitely rival other restaurants in the city for best sweet potato fries.
Other meals ordered at our table included the blue cheese burger ($14.50) containing blue cheese, avocado and onion strings, as well as the Signature burger ($13.50) which was topped with double-smoked bacon, white cheddar, barbeque sauce, banana peppers and onion strings. I sampled the blue cheese burger and the classic combination of blue cheese and red meat was a definite hit, while the slices of avocado smoothed the whole thing out and the crispy onion strings provided a good textural offset.
I managed to wrestle some shoestring potato fries away from my friends to try, and thoroughly enjoyed them. They were crispy, well salted, and soft on the inside, a perfect shoestring fry. The fries at the Hat are so good I can understand why they offer them as stand-alone appetizers ($6). However, if you want to order the special dips for your fries with your regular meal beware the inevitable added cost.
Overall, I’m glad I went back to the Hat for a second taste. The big question, though, is would I go back for a third filling? Possibly. I enjoyed the décor and atmosphere, but when it comes down to food there are some kinks that need to be worked out. V
Mon - Sat (11 am - 2 am)
The Hat
10251 Jasper Ave, 780.429.4471
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