where jess ate

After hearing about Wvrst when it first opened a few weeks ago, I was really excited to try it! They serve up a large variety of sausages in a beer hall setting with communal tables and a great selection of beers (albeit expensive). Upon entering, we were greeted in a friendly manner and were explained how the restaurant worked. You line up at the cashier to order and pay for your food. After being given a number, you seat yourself at one of the communal tables and a server brings the food to you.

At the cashier, there’s a glass display case of all the different types of sausages they have. You get to choose the style of how your sausage is served. The following two options are available:
a) Currywurst – sliced sausage served with country bread and tomato curry sauce
b) On a fresh roll – served on a regular or whole wheat roll(For this option, you get a choice of two toppings: caramelized onions, sauerkraut, sautéed jalapenos and sweet peppers)

Having been in Germany a few summers ago and had enjoyed the currywurst there, I knew I wanted to try Wvrst’s currywurst. It’s a very popular dish in Germany, which I’d say is the equivalent to our poutine. I ordered the traditional bratwurst sausage for my currywurst as the menu indicated that game meats weren’t recommended for the currywurst style. The sausages are categorized into three types:
1) Traditional – which includes the bratwurst, Italian and Mediterranean to name a few ($6)
2) Poultry ($7)
3) Vegetarian ($7) and
4) Game – which includes meats such as kangaroo, duck (with foie gras!) and rabbit ($9)

Like the menu said, the currywurst came all sliced up into bite-size pieces, was topped with a tomato curry sauce and was served with two pieces of brown bread. The bratwurst itself was pretty good, but not amazing. I enjoyed the curry sauce, which isn’t the typical curry we’re generally used to. It’s more of a ketchup with a curry flavour to it.

Mike ordered the venison sausage – with red pepper and Dijon ($9),served on a regular roll with sweet peppers and caramelized onions. This sausage was amazing! One of the best sausages I’ve ever tried. The meat was really juicy and had such a great flavour to it. It didn’t even need any additional condiments. I highly recommend this!

To go with our sausages we also ordered a side of duck fat fries(small $4.50/large $6.50). For a small order, you get a choice of one dip; for a large order, you get two. They have several mayo-based, tomato-based and yogurt-based dips. Since we ordered a small order (which was sufficient for the two of us), we ordered the onion/black pepper mayo-based dip. Although the dip wasn’t anything special, the fries were great! At first I was a little concerned because they came out a little dark, but they didn’t taste burnt at all. They were perfectly crispy and were quite flavourful. Another hit!

As I mentioned earlier, the beer here is pretty pricey. We ordered the Hacker-Pschorr Dunkel Weisse (from Munich, Germany) for $9. A great complement to our sausage and fries.

Overall, we both really enjoyed our experience at Wvrst. Although you’ll spend a bit more than you’re used to for a sausage and beer, the atmosphere and the food are great. If you’re in the mood for something different, give Wvrst a try!

At a glance:

• I recommend the venison sausage (absolutely amazing!) and duck fat fries
• Communal/cafeteria-like seating
• A great beer selection, but on the pricier side
• Located on King, just a block east of Bathurst
• Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 4 stars
• Atmosphere: 4.5 stars
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