The Black Hoof

Raw horse sammich at The Black Hoof

The Black Hoof opened last year in Toronto and instantly set local food enthusiasts abuzz with its meat-centric menu, filled with house-cured charcuterie. A glance at the Chef’s ‘blog revealed such treats as pig snout, raw horse, and lamb headcheese. No small feat to catch attention in a city where an appetizer menu seems naked without a charcuterie board. But we kept hearing encouraging things, so — aided by the fact that the kitchen closes late — we made a trip.

We loved it! In addition to the food being fantastic, I think they’re doing important work. Sure, there are some challenging dishes — as in they might get a response of “ew, gross” — but I’m very glad that there’s a restaurant serving food like this in Toronto. The packed room tells me I’m not the only one.

I’d been struggling with how to articulate just how much I liked the The Black Hoof and how unique it is, but then Jen reminded me that one of our taglines here is “fewer adjectives, more pictures”. So here we go.

The Hoof's succinct menu. (click and hit "all sizes" for a larger version)

Pickled herring salad

Pickled lamb's tongue salad

The Hoof's kitchen. The range is a standard home kitchen 4-burner.

Pork belly pastrami. Tasty, but maybe too large a serving -- too rich by the end.

Raw horse sandwich. Interesting AND tasty, especially nice with the hot sauce.

Black Hoof bone marrow. Incredibly decadent, perfect with the Maldon sea salt.

When (not if) you go, keep in mind that they accept only cash. They also don’t take reservations, so be prepared to wait — but with interesting and unique cocktails mixed from ingredients made in-house, you won’t mind. Maybe we’ll see you there.