Review of WURST Restaurant & Beer Hall

Summary: Looking like it could be a great overall addition to the YYC food scene, Wurst deftly navigates the line between classy and casual while bringing a classic alternative to the traditional watering-holes in Calgary.

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Despite the rain a couple of weekends ago, Kent and I decided to join up with Kiran and head on over to Wurst, the questionably-named, German-inspired restaurant/beer hall that has taken the place of Wildwood in the district of Mission.  I had been meaning to check this place out for some time, though I had mistakenly thought that it had opened in April when it, in fact, was opening the same weekend as Craft – it was like two Hollywood blockbusters going at it for the opening weekend box-office title!

Much like Wildwood, Wurst has both a main floor and a basement with different styling and demeanour – the upper floor is classier with tablecloths and lighted trees (putting the garten into biergarten), while the lower floor is a boisterous beer hall with benches, barrels, and boots of booze.  No joke – for the price of $25 (though the website says $30?), you can have a 2L boot of beer, just like in Beerfest!  As we walked in without a reservation, we were relegated to sitting around a barrel in the basement – not the most comfortable of situations – but we were at least promptly served with some beer!  The waitresses were dressed in mock-Bavarian-beer-girl outfits (they were actually T-shirts), and while the service was quite average, it was a vast improvement over Craft that day (I personally thought it was excellent considering how how packed the place was –Kiran).  Unfortunately, Wurst had the same problems as Craft: of the 20 draft beers that they have on the menu, only three were available!  It was as though there was a mini-prohibition going on in the city or something (good social media marketing, poor planning, or are Calgarians just getting ready for Stampede? –Kiran).

Given the storied history of its chefs (the executive chef has worked at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Drake Hotel, and Bison in Banff amongst other places), I had high expectations for the food at Wurst.  The schweinshaxen (pork knuckle) immediately caught my eye, as it was one of the dishes I associate most with beer halls in Europe.  As Kent had already settled on the knuckle, my aversion to ordering the same dish as someone else at the table caused me to order the pile of bratwurst instead.  The food came out in sizzling cast-iron pans – quite a striking presentation! – and definitely looked delicious (especially the pork knuckle… mmmm, 80% fat!).  Just as our food arrived, a table opened up. However, the table that we moved to was in utter darkness – the light bulb above us emanated only the faint glow of a dying ember (to be fair though, they turned the lights down in the entire beer hall in some misguided attempt to generate ambiance and mystique –Kiran) .  As such, I wasn’t able to see what I was eating – though given that it was just a pan full of bratwurst and beets floating in some sort of potato-ey substance, that wasn’t a huge problem.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the bratwurst, actually – I thought it was too dry and didn’t pack much flavour.  Wurst’s website boldly proclaims “We’re bringing mustard back”, but I could barely taste any on my dish, despite the picture clearly showing it.  Perhaps my taste buds were just numb from the couple pints of beer.  I did try some of Kent’s pork knuckle, though, and it was all I imagined and more!

Kiran’s Observations

I was actually feeling sick that day, but still opted to check out WURST as I was pretty jazzed about the positive reviews it was getting in twitter verse. Twitter was abuzz with mentions of CRAFT and WURST, and it was quite clear from the tweets that most people were pretty unhappy with the level of service at CRAFT. Indeed, @300rwhp confirmed that he had, in fact, been so unimpressed by the poor service at CRAFT that he left 15 min. after he got there.

Walking into WURST, I was pretty taken by the expansive space that the classy main floor took up. This was clearly the restaurant part of the establishment full of families and groups of friends. I quite liked the ambiance and felt the like the designers did a pretty good job of utilizing the existing space and incorporating it into WURST’s vision to be both a restaurant and a beer-hall.

Walking in to the basement, I was immediately struck by the row upon row of beer steins. I didn’t realize it at the time, but according to Calgary Foodies, the steins are for sale for a low $250/year that goes to charity. Although long sold out, this is definitely one of those “cool factors” about WURST that adds to its buzz. Imagine walking into a restaurant and getting served beer in your customized stein! Pretty freakin’ cool…

The basement level is definitely where the debauchery takes place. I was immediately struck by how similar the beer hall was to the ones at Oktoberfest in Munich (there were even people breaking out into random bouts of singing –Richard). The long tables force people in smaller groups to mingle with each other, which can only be a good thing in a conservative city like Calgary where people are generally reserved. I definitely caught myself wishing that we had come in here sooner so we could sit at one of these tables and meet interesting new Calgarians. This place is definitely going to be an absolute gold mine during Stampede…!

I ordered a litre of the only German-sounding beer on the menu that night: Kolsch. It was an alright beer, nothing to get excited about. What I was really excited about was the side of egg noodles (spätzle, $7.99) that I had ordered. It was also pretty much the only vegetarian option on the menu. Digging in, the first thing I noticed was how goddamn salty it was. Having never had a spatzle before, I cannot ascertain whether this is intentional or just a misstep on part of the line cook. Either way, it was nice to have a liter of beer to down what was essentially a German-style macaroni and cheese. The menu items looked expensive at the outset, but once I saw the portions, I was a bit placated – they sure do not skimp out on portion sizes in Germany!

I had the chance to shoot the shit with one of the owner’s of WURST regarding the drastic differences in service quality between the latter and CRAFT. It just seemed like the WURST staff were trained better and had their shit together. I can understand running out of beer, but poor service just reflects badly on any establishment. Research shows that people are more likely to tell their friends of the bad experience or service they received than about a positive experience. I am pretty sure that CRAFT will bounce back from it’s rocky start, but at the same time, why take the chance? Why bother opening and have people turned off by poor service when you can take the time to get your shit together? Maybe, just maybe, this was a soft opening for the Stampede week and the CRAFT management wanted to iron out any kinks before The Greatest Show on Earth began. Let us hope so…

Summary

Wurst is a great alternative to the generic pubs around the city that serve the traditional mainstream brews. While the basement level definitely caters to the rowdy young crowd, older people and families will feel right at home on the classy-yet-casual main level. Wurst made a better first impression on us than Craft, though it wasn’t without troubles itself – the selection of both seating and beer could be improved over what existed during the opening weekend.  If you don’t mind dying early of heart disease, I recommend trying the schweinshaxen. For those who value their health a bit more, there is a good variety of other German-inspired fare as well .

-Richard

Ranking

	Kiran	Richard
Ambiance	5/6	5.5/6
Service	5/6	4/6
Plating	3.5/6	5.5/6
Authenticity	5/6	4/6
Taste	3.5/6	4.5/6
Value	5/6	4.5/6
Overall	27/36 = 75%	27/36 = 75%

The Bottle House Beer Parlour

It was the first nice sunny day of spring and it was hard to turn down Travis’ offer to check out the year-old Bottle House at the corner of 10th St & Memorial Dr NW in Kensington. It was one of those places that had been on my “to check out” list for a long time, and the idea of having a couple of cold beers while the sun was still up was an appealing idea. So, off we went to the cursed corner of the Kensington NW, where 5 different restaurants have tried to make it in the past 9 years without any success. 

The interior was a pleasant mix of sports bar and pub, with several large screen TVs to the left above the bar. The very friendly staff gave us our choice of seating and immediately put down a couple of menus in front of us. The bar itself is an elongated hallway with couches, high tables, and regular tables on the right, with plenty of room on the left to walk around. Overall, the place has a casual yet classy kind of feel to it, and I wouldn’t hesitate to bring a girl here for some pre-dinner drinks.

Being “thirsty,” we immediately gravitated towards the beer menu and ordered a nice cold pint of “What the Huck” from the BC Fernie Brewing Company, which was $5.95 during happy hour. The latter was a huckleberry wheat beer with a nice fruity aroma that went down nicely. It would be my be my beverage of choice on a hot summer day or with spicy Indian food. Note though that the Beer Parlour beer menu is largely Canadian, so if you are looking for a more international beverage menu, you don’t have a broad range of choices.

With the drinks taken care of, we turned our collective attention to the task of ordering some food. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and creativity of the dishes on the menu. Food ranged from pub staples such as Caesar salad, sweet potato fries, and soup to funkier items such as Whiskey Bourbon Pulled Pork. In addition, they had a decent selection of burgers with catchy names like “The Street Fighter Burger” (6 oz. Peruvian street burger) and “Hoser Burger” (Alberta beef + Canadian back bacon). Neither of us were too hungry, so we opted to order nachos instead. That being said, I definitely want to come back to try out some of their mains as well as their brunch offering on the weekends as The Bottle House has all the hallmarks and makings of a “gastro pub.”

The food arrived and we got down to serious business. The most notable item in the whole assemblage had to be the salsa. Being a connoisseur of spicy food, this salsa immediately took me by the balls; my heart and mind had no choice but to follow. It was the most delicious combination of roasted tomatoes, onions, etc. that were simmered together for 24 hrs. to produce a combination of bold taste that wasn’t overwhelmed by the spiciness. This salsa made the dish and I am definitely going to vote for it at Kensington’s Sun & Salsa Festival. My only complaint would have been the relative lack of cheese on the nachos. I like my nachos smothered with cheese so I don’t have to ration it, like I had to on this plate.

The one thing that left an impression on me was the friendliness of the staff. One of the waitresses called over Perry, the owner of the bar, who was kind enough to explain the whole salsa-making process. We also got to talking about how that specific corner was cursed. Many restaurants have tried to make it there over the past 9 years; all of them have failed, which doesn’t make any sense considering the prime location of the spot. The Bottle House itself is going to be a year old pretty soon, and Perry has some big plans for the 1st b’day party….something to do with free booze and live music. Hmmm…

Summary

The Bottle House is the new (er) kid on the block, with plenty of punch to pack. The owner’s got all the basics right: large, eclectic beer selection; friendly staff; prime location; and most importantly, good pub food.

Time and public will tell if it will become a Calgary mainstay, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Meanwhile, don’t be afraid to saunter over to this little gem for some after-work good times. I definitely plan to check it out in the future, especially their brunch offering.

Ranking

Ambiance	5/6
Service	5/6
Taste	5/6
Plating	4/6
Originality	4/6
Value	4/6
Overall	27/36 = 75%