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Photo by Postmedia / OTTwp

Photo by Postmedia / OTTwp

Photo by Postmedia / OTTwp

It was a nice surprise to see homemade Japanese cheesecake ($3.50) as the menu’s only dessert, but our slice’s merits were muted because it was too cold.

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At the south end of Elgin Street, the Elgin Beer Project last year replaced Slice & Co. At this 40-seat place that’s almost a year old the list of craft beers and ciders verges on 100 items, while a menu of a dozen or so small plates and snacks hints at some interesting eating for not much cash. However, the kitchen’s work was too often lacking.

Best here was a banh mi-based burger ($15) created on a whim and blessed with a runny fried egg. But during my two visits, other dishes came with significant problems, from the heaviness and blandness of an insufficiently sauced bánh xèo (Vietnamese crepe, $8) to the underseasoned egg rolls ($7) to the stodgy batter on the kung pao cauliflower ($7) that would have been better roasted. Brussel sprouts ($7) came with an off-putting cheese-y sauce and they, too, would have been better after a good roasting. Mushrooms on toast ($8) registered as oily, brisket sliders ($9) were dry and Nashville hot chicken ($8) was meagerly spiced and curiously perched on an almost cake-y brioche.

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“We’re not really about desserts, we’re about beer and small plates,” our server said, before he brought us a slab of carrot cake loaf, the venue’s only dessert. It was a good thing that our expectations had been lowered.

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And then there’s Flora Hall Brewing, the two-floor, 120-seat place that opened in late October last year, having converted a one-time garage into an industrial-chic gathering place that can be packed and very loud on weekend evenings. About a dozen beers are brewed on site, a few other craft beers and ciders are also available, and the concise, frequently changing menus by former Moonroom chef Linette Edmonds roam globally and aspire to deliver from-scratch small plates with punchy flavours.