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Brockton General
Category: Restaurants Canadian (New) Canadian (New) [Edit]
1321 Dundas Street WToronto, ON M6J 1Y1
Neighbourhoods: Little Portugal, Beaconsfield Village
(647) 342-6104
- Hours:
Wed-Sun 6 pm - 2 am
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
19 reviews for Brockton General
19 reviews in English
-
Review from Stephanie C.
Toronto, ON
3/1/2012 1 Check-in Here
It's good to keep in mind that every Wednesday, Brockton General features their Prix Fixe menu. For $28, you can enjoy a starter (I recommend the crispy pork belly with salad), a main (pappadella pasta with sausage and goat cheese or pulled chicken stew), and a dessert (lemon panna cotta).
At first, I didn't mind that the restaurant was quiet because it was a week night but it soon quickly filled up. The prix fixe idea is a great deal to take advantage of; I guess word got around.
Their menu changes so what I've listed above may not be available when you visit. But all of the dishes were satisfying, delicious and filling.
I'll revisit for sure. -
Review from Carly H.
Toronto, ON
5/11/2012
When the ice cream came it was completely melted. Even though we had been waiting 20 minutes, the server didn't "hear the bell."
Did I just happen to go on a bad day? I don't undertand why Toronto LIfe gave such rave reviews, or why it's always packed when I walk by. Yes, the food was good. But the service was SLOW. Painfully slow. Both my fiancee and I left hungry and vowed we'd never go back.Comment from Brie R. of Brockton General 5/18/2012
Our sincere apologies for the slow service and a melted… More » -
Review from Alysse R.
Toronto, ON
2/8/2012
I loved the atmosphere of this place. I love the changing menu, the friendly staff, the wine....
I really wanted to love the food. And I did. But I didn't love that I left hungry. There were four of us in my group. We shared some beets, some starters, and each bought a main. But this wasn't really enough food. If I went again, I would make sure I had a starter, main, and dessert all for myself! But that can get a bit expensive, especially considering the small portion size.
I would come here again - and order more food - but only for a special evening out! -
Review from Martin W.
1/17/2012 1 Check-in Here
I really enjoyed my meal here with my family. I ordered the roasted chicken and the flavours really jumped out at you. I tried a little bit of what was ordered and everything had quite distinguished tastes. Good stuff if you are looking for some interesting flavours.
The place is small as well as the menu. I guess it rotates on the regular so they keep things fresh and mix it up. If you are one of those peeps who orders the same thing on the menu every time you probably won't become a regular here.
Service was very good and the wait staff pretty knowledgeable about what they were serving. A nice little spot on the west end worth visiting. -
Review from Vivek S.
Here's what you need to know about Brockton General. It's a small space, subtly illuminated with only about 10 or so tables. Though I've heard it can get rammed, on my first visit it was very easy to find a table. The menu du jour is hand-written on a paper scroll against their east-most wall. I would like to ascribe this choice to feng shui, but that might be presumptuous.
The menu changes daily and is very limited. Perfect for those who hate too many options, but this could be limiting for some. Since I was given the option I obviously ordered the pork terrine served with sour cherries. What can I say, I'm a sucker for terrine. It was soft and savoury and the sour cherries added a nice tartness to it. Their bourbonnade is like a bourbon sour but a little sweeter, and not a bad way to wash down this appetizer.
For my main I went with the papardelle with bacon and an egg york on top. This was a winner. I pretty much devoured it in seconds. This is an excellent spot for a date or quiet dinner with friends. I recommend.
Obligatory Title Pun: For those about to BROCK, we salute you.
Menu Readability: The menu is featured in spectacular penmanship on a brown paper scroll on the wall of the restaurant.
Need to mention: There's a nice little patio out front too.
What this place teaches me about myself: I like my meat FORCED. -
Review from Coy W.
12/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came by for my birthday dinner last night after seeing the great reviews. Yelp did not steer me wrong as this is the type of restaurant I love. Regular changed menu for what is fresh and available? YES PLEASE.
They had a set price menu for $28, starter, main and dessert. There were 3 starts to choose from, 3 mains and a desert so there was choice for someone to mix and match. I opted out of this as I didn't feel like having a dessert last night.
I ordered a bean dip and bread, pickled beets and pappardelle with maple smoked trout.
The bean dip and bread was very good. The dip came warm with some oil on top and had a great texture and consistency. The flavour was very subtle but very nice. The pickled beets were awesome. I don't like beets but I've been slowly growing on them so decided to try these. They are not like pickled beets you would get at a shawarma joint, rather large slices of beets (like sliced apples) that were pickled but they weren't sour and a bit sweet. I really like them and need to figure out how to make these on my own.
The main was what knocked a star off. The pasta was really good, the things I did not like about this dish was that I couldn't really taste any maple on the trout until the last 2 bites. This might have been caused by something that was extremely bitter in the dish. I couldn't make out what it was but the flavours in the dish could have been very interesting. I mean maple and trout, licorice/fennel/anise but whatever was extremely bitter (not just slightly) might have thrown the flavour off from the rest of the dish.
Will I try this place again? Most definitely but I'm going to try to avoid food with those flavours in the future. -
Review from Lisa A.
Toronto, ON
12/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
My first brunch at Brockton General! I've been there for dinner and drinks a few times prior and always enjoyed myself...so on a rainy Sunday we thought we'd check out what Chef Alexandra Feswick had in store for our empty tummies:
First off - Prix Fixe for $17 includes Starter, Main and alcoholic bevy of your choosing!
Cappuccino - best I've had in a long time.
Starters: Beet & Goat Cheese Salad and Oats with Maple Syrup. Perfect texture of oats, could eat a pot full if they tasted like this...wish I could replicate at home!
Mains - Eggs Benedict with Bok Choy and Peameal bacon. Best part of this was that it was served on toasted baguette, and the extra ingredient of bok choy added a delightful fresh taste to the dish. Needless to say demolished my main and left the restaurant stuffed and happy.
Will return soon, very soon! -
Review from lauren b.
Toronto, ON
6/17/2011
I had heard mixed reviews about Brockton General and although I often go out for dinner around the neighborhood (and by often I mean every night, as I don't know how to cook) I had yet to visit Brockton. I had tried a couple of times closer to their actual opening but it was so rammed I couldn't even get a table.
Well this past Sunday I finally made my way. I went with a girlfriend who is equally a food critic and we both raved about every aspect.
First of all, the inside (we sat on the patio) smelled like delicious maple syrup for some reason. Heavenly and also hunger-inducing.
We both started with bourbonades which I had heard so much about. They were delicious and strong enough to get the buzz going.
Pam, our waitress and one of the owners was adorable, friendly and so helpful. We shoved the bar menu away (which is great and affordable if you just want some snacks while drinking their awesome cocktails) and went straight for the daily specials. I ordered the pork belly over a bed of chopped eggplant and fennel on the side, topped with some delicious type of mustard. It was delicious. Perfect starter. I then had the daily pasta which was also delectable. The menu was packed with goodness. I was tempted to try it all.
We definitely had a great time and I'm pissed at myself for taking so long to try it. I will most definitely be back. Perfect for you & your friends or a first date. Not to expensive and pretty low key.
Side note: love the mismatched dishes and the unique decor. -
Review from Tonja B.
Toronto, ON
6/22/2011 2 photos
I think Brockton General is Toronto's best kept secret. The entire evening was great from start to finish.
I hadn't heard too much about BG prior to my recent visit, but certainly had no idea they served up such a killer meal. Their new chef, Alexandra Feswick (formerly of Earth up in Rosedale), delivers perfections with each dish that leaves the kitchen.
The place is small but brimming with charm. All of the courses are served on mismatched china plates and the beer is served out of ice cold mason jars. There is a warmth in this space that makes it feel like home.
For dinner I started with the roasted asparagus wrapped in bacon and served with a fried egg sunny-side-up. Wow, the asparagus and egg yolk was superb in texture and taste; adding bacon is a no brainer - it tastes great with everything. For my main I ordered the flank steak. Grilled to perfection, it was incredibly succulent and flavourful. It was served with roasted red peppers, potato salad made with creme fraiche, and a deviled egg. Does anything say summer more than potato salad?! I think not.
The BG would be a great place to go for a good meal with a few friends, or on date night with your lover.
Honourable Mentions:
- Bourbonade! The perfect mix of Maker's and lemonade to sip during the summer months
- daily menu displayed on a large roll of butcher paper
- cute front patio to enjoy a summer cocktail or a whole meal of food... -
Review from Steph L.
6/3/2011
Brockton keeps it simple with a super limited and unique menu using featured ingredients.
Dandelions. That was the ingredient of the day.
At least I know that if there is a zombie apocalypse and I need to live off the land... I can harvest dandelions, toss them with chunks of blue cheese, and charge like 10 bucks for it (I'm not quite sure where I'd find post-apocalyptic blue cheese).
They had a mysterious item... the potted animal. We had to order it!
It sounds cool, you wonder what kind of fun animal ended up in a jar. Our jar had ...
(wait for it....)
...
pork pate.
Not...that exciting... but deliciously rich and creamy.
We ordered something else... I can't ever remember what it was.
It was another form of spreadable meat. It was okay...whatever it was!
The wine list isn't huge, but it's nice to see some less common Niagara region wines offered.
This place is tiny and it was pretty quiet when we were there.
I'm not sure if I would return, but I can see the appeal. The food items are creative, but I just wasn't wowed by my experience.
I was hungry when we got here... and a bit hungry when we left. -
Review from Bloordale M.
Toronto, ON
3/20/2011
They are very nice people and it is a pretty little boite but the food is a bit horrifying.
It is hard to keep a straight face as the server describes dishes that include items such as potted animal, duck yolks and hearts, broken hazelnuts, seared liverwurst and fermented radishes.
We settled on the offal-free pasta but it turned out to be a great glop of gluey sludge. No flavour except for salt. Lots and lots of salt. It was not a huge serving and we were quite hungry but could not finish it. As it cooled it got sludgier and sludgier and became almost impossible to swallow.
The wine list is pretty limited. The whites range from sweet Ontario plonk to sweeter Ontario plonk. We chose one and it was served luke warm.
We decided not to risk dessert and left hungry and a little drunk.
Next time Beetlejuice comes to town, I'll send him on over - but for the rest of us, non merci. -
Review from Liora I.
Toronto, ON
2/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place had a lot of hype to live up to...It's been bookmarked to try since it pretty much opened and I'm glad that my partner reads my bookmarks each time he wants to take me out -- he calls this snooping -- I call it genius.
So anyway, we went, we ate, we drank and we were generally impressed.
We loved the casual decor and the more formal cuisine. We started with an anchovy, garlic white bean dip and continued on with the set four course dinner: vegeteble broth over diced root veggies with a smack of ham... beef tartare with raw yolk and pickled carrots... goose & drake raviloli -- pitched on the menu as the most romantic and unromantic of birds... and then finally a brown butter bread pudding with rosemary infused white chocolate foam and a peach puree.
Also notable was that we watched twice as a couple of locals and then perhaps off duty employees came in to eat. Now if that isn't a good reccomendation I don't know what is... -
Review from Lauren M.
Really nice little spot, perfect for a romantic date. Seating is limited (only 6-7 tables for two and another 2 tables big enough for four people). Room is dark and candlelit. Simply rustic looking decor.
The menu tries to be locavore and there is a vegetarian slant but they did have one (very delicious) meat option.
The menu is very limited with only a selection of 3-4 main dishes each night, a few appetizers, a dessert and a good selection of wine and cheeses available. The cook switches up the menu on a daily basis. Call me a whinger but I wish there were a few more selections on the menu, I felt as if there wasn't much to pick from. (-1 star)
We tried an appetizer with fresh toasted bread served with a white bean spread. It was very garlicy, oily and really quite delicious. Bargain for only $4.
The mains were priced around $12-$16. Portions were not huge but very adequate/reasonable.
I tried pork belly and pulled pork served over sauerkraut. Super awesome. The pork was cooked to perfection and completely drool-worthy.
My companion tried the fresh pasta dish with some kind of pumpkin (the name of the dish complete escapes me right now) but it looked and tasted quite nice.
The food comes served on these old 1970s plates (maybe stolen from some granny's kitchen) which made me laugh. Kind of cheapens the look of the nicely presented food, but it was fun all the same.
We had a good server who was knowledgable about the menu.
This place would be a regular spot for me if it was near my house. Sadly, it is not in my hood. -
Review from Melinda M.
Toronto, ON
9/3/2010 1 Check-in Here
Tiny place, with really nice staff and delicious fresh food.
They have a snack menu every night, and serve dinner Thursday-Saturday. The dinner menu last night was 2 apps and 2 entrees. Basically, the chef goes to farmers markets that day and gets what's fresh and designs a menu.
We had green bean salad with duck confit and it was delicious.
Wine list is small but good choices, and not too expensive. They also have a great bourbon-ade (bourbon and lemonade, my summer drink of 2010!)
I should mention the prices are low - I think the most expensive plate was around $14.
Try this new place out, you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Tara Z.
10/14/2010
Very cute place--my dining partner and I agreed that it felt like someone's kitchen, what with the charmingly mismatched plates and impromptu menu (written up each day on butcher paper and pinned to the wall).
The limited menu has a great local influence (the waitstaff are very good at explaining the provenance of the ingredients), but because it's so small, there's not much selection (the night we went, they served one pork dish, one fish sandwich, and one vegetarian pasta).
I'll probably go back to see how the menu changes as the seasons progress, but the dining room's a bit claustrophobic and I admit, I like going out to eat to be a bit of an event, which this doesn't feel like. -
Review from Brian S.
Toronto, ON
9/30/2010
We found this place when we walked by going to another place - the old location of EAT. The owners weren't open then, but we said we'd come back. So o a few weeks later we did, and it was well worth it.
The dishes are small, with a vegetarian slant. Everything was really fresh and made with local ingredients. They also have a great cocktail menu with quite interesting takes on traditional cocktails.
It was mostly the owners serving the night we were there, and they were welcoming and accommodating. -
Review from Casey T.
Toronto, ON
1/7/2011
A nice addition to the neighborhood. This is a charming, cozy little restaurant with friendly service and unique food offerings. The menu changes frequently. My impressions were that overall the dishes were thoughtful, tasty and original.
I won't say that any one dish blew me away, however. And there were some misjudgments, in our opinion: Dijon overpowered the raclette -- roasted potatoes and cauliflower blanketed in melted cheese. The one dessert was pretty unfocused: smears of chocolate obscured by chocolate and hazelnut crumble and dollops of foam. The server described it as an "explosion" and indeed it looked like a small bomb had deconstructed whatever was there. Not tasty enough to overcome its cleverness.
But these were small complaints. I appreciate originality, and the prices were reasonable ($90 for three courses and wine for two). I will be going back to see what they come up in the future. -
Review from Kellina R.
Toronto, ON
7/3/2011
I have two foodie weaknesses:
1. Restaurants that change their menus daily in order to use the freshest ingredients
2. Brunch
So when one of my favourite restaurants - the Brockton General - announced that they would now be open for Sunday brunches, I was excited. And I was not disappointed.
My friend and I were greeted by the always friendly staff. We were seated on the patio at a light wooden table adored with pretty yellow potted plants. The relaxed and charming atmosphere from inside extended outside
We chose the prix fixe menu - a drink, a salad, a main and a dessert - for $20 and it was delicious. My friend was excited when her caesar came in a mason jar and my first ever mimosa was a great start to a great meal. The salad was perfect. Seasoned but not overly dressed. For our main, we both chose egg white omelettes with goat cheese and asparagus. The omelette was fried in butter. My friend thought it was a little too buttery, but I found it worked well with the goat cheese. The asparagus was cooked to perfection; crisp and seasoned lightly with salt. All the components complimented each other well. For dessert, we had strawberry-rhubarb crumble with whipped cream. I am a huge fan of strawberry rhubarb. HUGE. But I don't like overly sweet things. This dessert was a perfect take on a crumble. It utilized the natural sweetness of the strawberries without adding a lot of extra sugar. It was served with whip cream which complimented the warm crumble nicely. True to the Brockton General's charm, the crumble was not served on a plate but in a mini-jam jar. It was cute and tasty and perfectly proportioned (read: Best. Dessert. Ever.)
As we were leaving, the waitresses told us to have a good time at the AGO (our next stop). They were friendly, accommodating and took the time to develop a good rapport with us. It was another terrific experience at the Brockton General. I can't recommend this place more highly. See you there next Sunday!
PS. Though the food was delicious, skip the espresso and head down to a shop specializing in coffee instead. -
Review from Soobey S.
Toronto, ON
2/26/2011
This place is totally awesome!
Had some of the thinest freshest pasta there, along with excellent ribs. The potted animal app was fantastic and was a real treat. The place was busy but the service was great - very friendly and helpful and they clearly were passionate about the food being served. Can't wait to go back!
