Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Home of the Brave

Welcome to Home of the Brave, an all-American diner brought to you by the La Carnita folks Andrew Richmond (owner) and chefs Jonathon Hamilton and Nate Middleton. Nestled above Lou Dawgs on 589 King St. West, Home of the Brave dishes out classic American cuisine that "feels different, but also feels like home". In less than a month since the second-floor restaurant opened, Home of the Brave has already become quite the popular spot in the neighbourhood. With modernized American comfort food, creative cocktails and the motto JOIN OR DIE, it appears that Torontonians are happily joining in on the good eats at the new diner.

I went for an early dinner at Home of the Brave (Twitter: @theHOTB, Instagram: @thehotblast Friday with three friends. Since the restaurant only takes reservations for more than 10 people, we thought it's wise to go earlier than later. We arrived at 6pm and snagged one of the large orange booths on the side.



The bar at Home of the Brave features spiked slushies and root beer on tap, as well as a rotating selection of Guest Book cocktails imported from some of America’s finest cocktail creators.


SUMMER IN SAKON ($12)
Thai spiced vodka, pineapple, ginger beer, lime (that's a bottle of water beside the cocktail)


THE WIZARD OF OZ ($12)
Cynar, sherry, lime, orange bitters


KENTUCKY FRIED HANDSHAKE SANDWICH ($13)
Fried chicken, mayo, iceberg lettuce, louisiana hot sauce


SMOKED PORK BELLY SANDWICH ($9)
Smoked pork belly, smoked pork shoulder, ranch cabbage coleslaw, lemon zest 


TATER TOTS ($5)
Crispy potatoes, cheese, gravy, herbs


BONES IN A BUCKET ($18)
Kansas city rubbed beef and pork ribs, ranch dressing, celery, carrot
(thx @natetasty for the cute note ;) btw follow me on instagram! @utsukushiibaby )


BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER ($7)
Beer battered cauliflower, louisiana hot sauce, ranch dressing


RED VELVET FUNNEL CAKE ($7)
Double vanilla bourbon ice cream


SMOKED APPLE PIE
Cinnamon ice cream


BANANA SPLIT ($8)
Corn flake battered banana split with strawberry, vanilla bourbon, chocolate ice cream. Cream cheese icing, caramel and chocolate sauce. Chocolate covered corn flake clusters and a bourbon cherry


What a fun and tasty meal! It should be evident that practically nothing on Home of the Brave's menu is healthy for you but meh, who cares? Everything is so good. In my opinion, in order to live and enjoy life to the fullest you gotta have a balanced lifestyle which includes maintaining a balanced diet. If I had something unhealthy one day I'll eat healthier the next day. What's the big deal? Anyway, I digress...

I enjoyed every single dish at Home of the Brave that night. I especially loved the Kentucky fried handshake sandwich (so cheeky!) and the hot tater tots that were impeccably crispy on the outside with a smooth and creamy inside. Although the pork ribs were delicious the beef ribs were by far our favourite of the two. The Buffalo cauliflower were great too; albeit deep fried it was still somewhat comforting to know that we had vegetables on the table. Having said that, I strongly advise that you go to Home of the Brave with a group, that way you get to try more things (since they are on the heavy side so sharing is best) with a higher probability that your friends will have room for dessert :) You must order dessert...more than one at that 'cause they are that good. I loved all three desserts with my favourite being the apple pie - the smokiness infused in that pie was phenomenal and so fabulous with the cinnamon ice cream. Next time I'm at Home of the Brave I'm gonna get myself the ice cream sandwich, the root beer float and the waffle cone sundae. Call me fatty!

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