Mar 9, 2021

Hogtown Smoke's newest Toronto location has pig's head tacos

H

ogtown Smoke in Toronto is a food truck that just opened a brick and mortar restaurant in the city's Financial District. The 150-seat restaurant is serving BBQ and grilled meat platters out of their open kitchen, as well as Mexican-style pig's head tacos. Find it at 959 Queen St. E., 416-691-9009

Hogtown Smoke, thefood truck turned brick and mortar, is serving up barbecue lunch and dinners to the Financial District crowd.

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Located in the historic Milburn Building – which was designed by the same acclaimed architect who brought us Casa Loma and Old City Hall – Hogtown is endowed with 14-foot ceilings and enough space to fit 150 people.

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Unlike its original location in the Beaches, this Hogtown offers both BBQ and grilled meats. It also has a much bigger alcohol selection: 400 types of whiskey, bourbon, and scotch, plus a fridge of 32 craft beers held in its basement, which transforms into a speakeasy called The Joint at night.

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A must-see piece of equipment is Hogtown's 8,000 pound engine-red smoker. Sourced from Mesquite, Texas, the broiler can fit up to 10 whole pigs or sheep.

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To best sample the power of this Southern machinery, get a platter of meats from the smoker with portions that you can mix-and-match by the pound. While prices vary, a $70 platter should suffice for three people; one person can usually consume 0.5 to 1.5 pounds of meat.

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The tequila-infused chicken ($21 for half) won't get you drunk but will definitely fill your senses with a deep, smokey flavour, and I like the way they charred the chicken skin just right.

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The St. Louis cut side ribs ($18 for half a rack) are tender and easy to piece apart, and the pulled pork ($26 per pound) is locally-sourced and juicy. The accompanying home-made chips have a bit too much black pepper for me but work with the meal sans salt.

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My favourite of the platter is the brisket ($36 per pound). Shipped from Montana, it has a delicious black, crusted bark with slivers of juicy fat right beneath a simple salt and pepper rub.

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Supplement your platter with sides like some sweet root beer baked beans (5), purple slaw ($5) or corn bread with maple bourbon butter ($6).

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Mexican-style pig's head tacos ($70) are not for the faint of heart. Served on a platter with beans, hot sauce, pickles and peppers, the head meat is carved and wrapped in purple corn tortillas.

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Super fatty and juicy, this dish gets its unique flavour thanks to a secret brine. It's not all just meaty flavours: while not spicy, it definitely contains some chilli and an aromatic herb, maybe bay leaf.

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The Argentinian-inspired Tira Di Asado ($32) is the one thing you must order. This strip of beef short ribs comes on a bed of fries and onions and is perfectly accompanied with a chimichurri sauce.

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The blackened catfish ($26) is a recipe taken straight from the South. Super salty and with more kick than expected, this fish is served on a bed of 'dirty' rice, or rice that's been sauteed in the old oils of the catfish.

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Coming in at a hulking three pounds of meat, the jerk pork hock ($26) is a mouthful. It's a little chewy but you can't beat the sauce made of rum, maple and pan jus.

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If you can believe it, Hogtown also a vegetarian plate ($20) that comes with veggies like portabello mushrooms and jack fruit.

hogtown smoke toronto