Out & About #125 | The Wilcox Gastropub

The restaurant first caught my attention when it made its way to insauga.

"The Wilcox Gastropub" is relatively unique name. The hybrid word of gastronomy, the study of food and culture (according to Wikipedia), and pub, British-coined term "gastropub" refers to an establishment that serves high-quality food in addition to beer and basic finger food. And with a name like "Wilcox", it's hard to deny that the restaurant is heavily influenced and inspired by aspects of English culture.

The gastropub was divided into three levels: a lower level with bar and game-watching access, a main dining level with a cohesive wooden theme, and an upstairs floor presumably reserved for Wilcox VIPs. While the lower level was a spacious area that consisted of large, black booths, and had few light sources besides the overhead windows, the main dining area was much cozier, with harsher incandescent lights and only one tall window. The furniture setup also varied greatly. 

We ordered a trio of Fish Tacos to start. Tacos tend to be a messy item to devour, and not at all visually appealing when simply plated as is. The Wilcox did an unexpectedly great job of serving them in such a way that enabled them to maintain their shape and have their individual components on display.
As far as tacos go, the taste was on a whole new level: the lightly battered basa and garlicy salsa created multitude of textures, while the creamy guacamole complimented the thin layer of cheese formidably. The taco shell were small pita-like circles that were thick enough to contain all the ingredients without spilling or leaking, yet they managed to also be surprisingly soft and fluffy at the same time, contributing to the texture pool once more.

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For our choices of entrées, we opted for the Catch of the Day, California Burger, and Seafood Fettuccine.
The Catch of the Day, as told by our server, was grouper steamed in a banana leaf, accompanied by a colourful, tangy vegetable slaw. I was informed that the fish tasted a bit too heavily of ginger, as the taste of the root had overpowered the other flavours used in the dish. The slaw, on the hand, was a great side, despite the raw strips of carrot being a bit hard on the stomach.

The California Burger was a complete stunner: layers of crisp lettuce, savoury bacon, stringy white cheddar, sweet corn, and a succulent patty were deftly combined between two toasted, sesame-sprinkled buns and further topped with a baby pickle. The modification of side fries to a Pomegranate Salad made the dish even more immense .The salad was initially supposed to be a Pomegranate Chicken Salad, though I had failed to locate any morsels of chicken in the heap of overly saturated greens. Instead, there were small pieces of, again heavily-dressed, orange sections. As much as I would have liked to enjoy the salad in its entirety, I must express that too much dressing had been drizzled on top. And having been tossed thoroughly, each individual component was essentially coated in the flavoured oil, leaving little to no unstained leafiness for me to munch on.
But let's go back to addressing the star of the dish: the burger. The creation was massive for my dietary standards, but I took to enjoying every part of it. Regardless of whether it was eaten by means of simply grabbing the burger and biting into it, or by dissecting each layer using the utensils of a civilized human being (read: fork and knife), the burger was delicious. It was superb, it was phenomenal; writing this post has just made me want to enjoy a taste of it once again.

Unfortunately, the Seafood Fettuccine was quite mediocre compared to the other dishes. It contained the standard flavours of a tomato-enhanced cream sauce, and also lacked distinctively in presentation.

Towards the end of the meal, we also agreed to try one of their desserts, despite being extremely full. While debating between the Crème Brûlée and Baked Alaska, we were informed that the former was unmistakably the more popular of the two selections, ultimately convincing us to go through with that choice. Emerging not even five minutes after having been ordered, the dessert was seemingly plain at first glance. Cracking open an outstandingly thin torched layer of sugar, we were delighted to be enveloped in a wonderfully creamy custard with notes of vanilla bean. In fact, the dessert was so delectable, we ended up scraping the edges of the dishes to ensure that not a spoonful would remain.
We then moved on to the Rosemary and Thyme Shortbread Cookies: they did not harness the heavy buttery taste common to most major cafes, but had a prominent rosemary aroma that had been further enhanced by the light dusting of icing sugar. Alternatively, we later realized that both components of the dessert could be enjoyed at the same time by dipping the cookies into the custard.

Conclusively, The Wilcox Gastropub was a great experience: our server was pleasant, and the environment serene (but in no ways dull). Perhaps it may have been our selection of dishes, but they honestly proved to be hit-or-misses in my opinion. Small details result in large impacts: a simple, thorough wiping of a plate would have elevated the dishes' individual potentials, while a little less ginger on the Catch of the Day would have produced a more uniformly flavourful dish. There is definite room for improvement in those aspects.
That being said, I can honestly ceritfy that The Wilcox Gastropub indeed deserves the hype that it receives, and that I will definitely be returning to try more of their distinctive creations.

My last word of note would be in reference to their bathrooms, located at the bottom of a flight of stairs. In contrast to the polished atmospheres of the three levels of dining, the state of the washroom stalls were no different from that of a regular pub. Unthinkably sticky floors, rickety plastic-coated doors, and harsh, vividly-coloured hand soap are not wins in my book. The steep staircase also means that the bathroom is not accessible, defeating the purpose of installing a ramp at the entrance of the restaurant in the first place.

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