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Food Food & Drink

Hogtown smackdown

HARDY’S (992 St. Clair West, at Oakwood, 416-901-4100, hardyshogtown.com) Complete dinners for $30 (lunches $15/brunches $22), including tax, tip and a domestic beer. Average main $15/$10. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 am to 3 pm, dinner Tuesday to Sunday 5 to 10 pm. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 3 pm. Closed Monday. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN


Two new restos with “hogtown” in their name have opened of late, one aimed at the carnivore crowd, the other unapologetically vegan. And while their food philosophies may seem polar opposites (to meat or not to meat), they have more in common than either would think.

Subtitled “A Hogtown Brasserie,” month-old Hardy’s makes no bones about its allegiance to barbecued pig, going so far as to label its inaugural Southern U.S. card an “homage to pork.” It begins with greasy-good beer-battered onion rings nipped with fresh tarragon ($6) – shame there are five of them and three of us – and a wedge of jalapeño cornbread ($3) that’s as fiery as a damp squib. More peppers, please.

A sizable plate of smoked free-range chicken ($11 quarter/$15 half, all mains with side) comes slathered with a sticky whiskey glaze, while tonight’s sweet, meaty side ribs ($12 quarter-rack/$18 half-rack) have been marinated overnight in Coca-Cola.

Smoked grass-fed burgers ($10) get stacked with spinach, ripe Roma tomato and red onion caramelized in both balsamic vinegar and maple syrup as well as optional applewood-smoked cheddar ($2) and lean cured pork tenderloin ($3). At weekday lunch, they throw in a free half-pint of local beer with your naturally raised quarter-pounder.

Perhaps the easiest way to get the complete picture, Hardy’s slider trio platter ($17) finds three mini-buns piled with great chunks of smoked boneless chicken breast in a tangy sweet ‘n’ sour sauce, alarmingly yellow pulled pork in honey Dijon mustard, and relatively fat-free brisket. Creamy purple cabbage coleslaw laced with cumin seed adds considerable crunchy contrast.

Sides are more problematic. Twice-cooked shoestring russet fries ($4 à la carte) are sadly soggy, and a so-called “addictive” smoked macaroni and cheese ($6) appears to have been hastily assembled to order instead of baked like a proper gratin. Best to stick with old-school smashed potato salad and sautéed collard greens laced with honey (both $4).

Service up till now has been quick and remarkably smooth for a restaurant this new. But a glacial 30-minute wait for bourbon-laced butterscotch bread pudding ($7) – summer slips into fall, continents drift – is never explained, the evening’s only glaring misstep.

Is Hardy’s the best ‘cue on St. Clair? Not if it’s Tuesday, Friday or Sunday, the only nights Stockyards does barbecued chicken and ribs. The rest of the week, except Mondays when it’s closed, Hardy’s win hands down.

For the other Hogtown restaurant – the one without meat – see here.

stevend@nowtoronto.com

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