Mid-week pause at C'est What

I’ve been drinking, I just haven’t been writing.

A friend had a birthday last night, and a bunch of us crowded into one of my favourite beer places – C’est What.

C’est What is awesome. They have roughly 20-30 taps, all Canadian, mostly from Ontario. A few staples on tap, but there’s a 6-7 beer rotating selection, which is always fun. Also, they have excellent food, with the added bonus that they are very veggie friendly. (I swear by the hummus and tsiziki appetizer. Yum. Plus, they bring you extra pita if you ask for it.)

As always at C’est What, the beer isn’t cheap. Last night, I had a couple of pints (it was a weeknight, what can I say?), and each beer ran about $8.50, tax and tip included. A girl can go broke very easily with those prices, which is probably the only real downside here.

That being said, my two pints were excellent. The first pint was the Hop Head, (brewed by County Durham Brewery in Pickering), which, to the best of my knowledge, is only available at C’est What. The second was the Hazelnut Chocolate ale, which to my mind tastes a bit like Nutella. I usually can’t drink more than a half-pint of this, but a full pint really hit the spot last night.

Even though it was Tuesday night, C’est What was fairly full and bustling, though that might have partly been because twenty of us poured in to celebrate. Anyhoo – I really recommend this place, with the above caveat of the price of beer.

Bonus points:

Twice a year (spring and fall?), C’est What runs a huge tasting event, where every Ontario brewery seems to brew something special, and each tasting costs $1. For a beer drinker, these events are must-dos, though very, very crowded. You really have to appreciate and support a bar that takes the effort to do events like this. (Next one is May 22nd, I think - watch for it.)

Boring details:

C’est What is located at 67 Front Street (Front & Church), in the basement. (According to their website, it is located in the cellar of a historic century old building in the St. Lawrence Market area. Ok then.) It is open from 11.30am to 2.00am. The bar has pool tables and other diversions, if for some reason the beer doesn’t hold your interest. They have live music fairly frequently, and their website has an up-to-date live music list.

Food runs about $15 for mains. Pints of beer run about $8 (tax and tip included.)

Overall rating: 4 out of 5, but this is a personal preference. Rebel House does better in my book because it is smaller and more intimate. C’est What has better and more beer.