Flora Hall Brewing
37 Flora St., 613-695-2339, florahallbrewing.ca
Open: Monday to Thursday 3 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday noon to 2 a.m., Sunday noon to midnight
Prices: $8 to $18 for dishes
Access: fully accessible (automated accessible entrance, accessible washroom downstairs)
Elgin Beer Project
399 Elgin St., 613-656-6600, elginbeerproject.com
Open: daily from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Prices: small plates $5 to $15
Access: no steps to front door, washrooms
Beerocracy
340 Somerset St. W., 613-680-2337, beerocracy.ca
Open: Tuesday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., closed Monday
Prices: dishes $6 to $13
Access: steps to front door, washrooms downstairs
For the past few months, I’ve been popping now and again into three newer, craft-brew-based businesses in Centretown, not because I was thirsty but to see how their food stacked up. I ate quite a range of dishes, from a few commendable small plates to items that warranted a pint with which I could drown my sorrows.
On Somerset Street West, the punningly named Beerocracy opened last June where the Centretown Pub, one of Ottawa’s first gay bars, had been for roughly three decades until its closure in early 2017. A massive place with three separate bars plus front and back patios, Beerocracy means to attract customers with more than 30 craft brews in bottles and cans and on tap, while a lighter-side menu puts pub staples and Asian-influenced dishes side by side.
The best thing I can say about Beerocracy’s food is that it won’t excessively gouge a beerocrat’s expense account. The most costly entrée here is $13 and most items are under $10. The no-frills small and larger plates that I’ve sampled were nothing to write home about and were occasionally flawed.
Among several appetizers, best in terms of flavour and execution were the chicken satay skewers ($7), although their peanut sauce was oily and mediocre. Three pork belly slices ($7), topped with stripes of pleasant, if lightly spiced, sauce, were alright. Seafood spring rolls ($6) scarcely tasted of seafood, and their fish sauce was wan and unadorned. Cold rice wraps ($6) were another lacklustre letdown.
Chicken Satay skewers at Beerocracy
Pork Belly at Beerocracy
Spring Rolls at Beerorcracy
Rice wraps at Beerocracy
Of the larger dishes, I’d recommend the burger and fries ($10), even if they were just OK, over any of the slow-cooked meats (plates of oxtail, ribs or brisket, $11 to $13), which were generally short of flavour, blandly sauced and tougher than they should have been. A serving of Singapore noodles ($11) was substantial, but the fried egg on top of it was overcooked.
Burger and fries at Beeorocracy
Oxtail at Beerocracy
Brisket at Beerocracy
Ribs at Beerocracy
Singapore Noodles at Beerocracy
It was a nice surprise to see homemade Japanese cheesecake ($3.50) as the menu’s only dessert, but our slice’s merits were muted because it was too cold.
Japanese cheese cake at Beerocracy
At the south end of Elgin Street, the Elgin Beer Project last year replaced Slice & Co. At this 40-seat place that’s almost a year old the list of craft beers and ciders verges on 100 items, while a menu of a dozen or so small plates and snacks hints at some interesting eating for not much cash. However, the kitchen’s work was too often lacking.
Best here was a banh mi-based burger ($15) created on a whim and blessed with a runny fried egg. But during my two visits, other dishes came with significant problems, from the heaviness and blandness of an insufficiently sauced bánh xèo (Vietnamese crepe, $8) to the underseasoned egg rolls ($7) to the stodgy batter on the kung pao cauliflower ($7) that would have been better roasted. Brussel sprouts ($7) came with an off-putting cheese-y sauce and they, too, would have been better after a good roasting. Mushrooms on toast ($8) registered as oily, brisket sliders ($9) were dry and Nashville hot chicken ($8) was meagerly spiced and curiously perched on an almost cake-y brioche.
Burger at Elgin Beer Project
Egg rolls at Elgin Beer Project
Kung Pao cauliflower at Elgin Beer Project
Brussel sprouts at Elgin Beer Project
Mushrooms on toast at Elgin Beer Project
Brisket sliders at Elgin Beer Project
Nashville chicken at Elgin Beer Project
“We’re not really about desserts, we’re about beer and small plates,” our server said, before he brought us a slab of carrot cake loaf, the venue’s only dessert. It was a good thing that our expectations had been lowered.
Carrot cake loaf at Elgin Beer Project
And then there’s Flora Hall Brewing, the two-floor, 120-seat place that opened in late October last year, having converted a one-time garage into an industrial-chic gathering place that can be packed and very loud on weekend evenings. About a dozen beers are brewed on site, a few other craft beers and ciders are also available, and the concise, frequently changing menus by former Moonroom chef Linette Edmonds roam globally and aspire to deliver from-scratch small plates with punchy flavours.
Lunching here, I’ve had a few somewhat regrettable experiences. A spicy sausage calzone ($16) was very one-note in flavour and its exterior was too crunchy. Some Sichuan chicken wings ($12) tasted neither Sichuan-y nor good. The kitchen can be heavy-handed with salt here and there, notably on its plank-like and otherwise quite commendable fries.
Spicy sausage calzone at Flora Hall Brewing
Sichuan chicken wings at Flora Hall Brewing
Fries at Flora Hall Brewing
But in the main, there were dishes too that I’d happily eat again, such as a perky caponata with grilled bread ($12), a flavourful Moroccan spin on chicken thighs ($17), a jerk tofu wrap ($14) in which the tofu reasonably stood in for chicken and a barley feta salad with a zingy dressing ($10).
Caponata at Flora Hall Brewing
Moroccan chicken at Flora Hall Brewing
Barley salad at Flora Hall Brewing
Jerk Tofu Wrap at Flora Hall Brewing
Bonus: At Flora Hall, it was consistently worth saving room for the house-made desserts ($9), including a Sichuan ice cream sandwich, double chocolate cake and bourbon apple crumble ice cream with toasted oats and apple.
Sichuan Ice Cream sandwich at Flora Hall Brewing
Double chocolate cake at Flora Hall Brewing
Dessert at Flora Hall Brewing
For all of your beer needs, the three venues above do admirable jobs. But if you’re seeking food that will do more for you than simply absorb alcohol, then of these Centretown haunts, Flora Hall was clearly the best option.