three boars eatery

wear comfortable shoes. this place is tiny, the restaurant section upstairs seats probably 20 people. since it's so small, you'll be in for a long wait. i arrived around 7pm with 2 friends and we did not get seated until about 8:15pm. luckily, the weather was bearable that night. the food and beer were both splendid. i had the hanger steak poutine. it's just too bad thedishesare mostly "sharesies" and not really full-fledged meals because i definitely would pay for a larger meal.

well worth the wait!. ok, we did have a somewhat lengthy wait, but they do their utmost to ply you with their fabulous beer selection while you wait for a table. the staff was constantly updating us as to the situation with the table, and they did have genuine concern.

once seated we gave our server cart blanche to make the food and beverage selections, and she did not disappoint. thedishescame out perfectly timed so that you were not overwhelmed, but also quick enough that you were waiting overly long. the food was terrific, but we also noticed that most people sitting at the tables were not enjoying the food,but just the occasional beer. people, you don't know what you are missing!

we will definitely be back, even if we have to wait!

it took me three tries to get into three boars eatery but i finally made it. after being foiled by lengthy lineups on two occasions, we got smart and went early on a tuesday at 5 p.m. (an hour after they opened). if you're into craft beer or single malt scotch or bourbon, this is the place to be. you'll have to fight for one of the seats at the bar though; the place is tiny. however, now that summer is here (more or less) the patio out front has lots more seating and its a great place to sit, sip and people watch along 109 street.  upstairs in the old house is where you dine. the decor is simple and rustic and you feel like you're sitting down to a good ol' feast in a country farmhouse. very cool.  the boars are chuck elves,  brayden kozak and brian welch --  three young men with the right stuff: thoughtful libations, anddishesmade from locally sourced food in small plate style to share amongst friends. the menu changes often depending on what they find at the farmers' market or get

if i had to pick a wine/beer bar with small appies, i'd pick this one.. ignoring the super claustrophobic main floor and the highly-priced items, the service is top notch and the food is nothing short of amazing. yes you are paying an arm and a leg for a tiny plate that you can barely share, but so what? it's ok once in a while. just don't come here expecting that you'd be full and that you'd get your money's worth. it is a foodie's paradise in a way. thedishesare unique and full of personality here and if you know how to pair your food with alcohol things can be quite delightful. i can imagine myself drinking here and enjoying good food with a friend to catch up on old times only to find that i broke the bank later.

terrible service at this restaurant. our server was incompetent and messed up on our order. later she proceeded to overcharge us afterwards and claimed that refunds were not possible. the food took incredibly long to arrive despite thedisheswe ordered being small and simple. food tasted decent but not worth getting overcharged for. very disappointed. i will avoid eating here next time.

disappointment. i really wanted to like this place: the atmosphere, the name, the saliva-inducing food descriptions, and of course the high rating on urban spoon. nearly every dish we had was a massive disappointment... whether it be heavy handedness with seasoning or simply too much time in the oven this food was poor in execution.

before i describe where thedisheswent wrong.. i must commend tbe on the roasted cauliflower. i really enjoyed it. good seasoning, perfect tenderness in the cauliflower, and the lentils were divine. my only complaint is the fact that i wanted more despite the massive serving because it was so good.

now that this is done....

we started off with the mexican-flavoured potato bar eats (i forget the exact name). they were topped off with green onion, cilantro, an avocado cream drizzle, and a combination of smokey seasonings. to put it in a slightly exaggerated analogy- if the chef's hand was mt. vesuvius, the lava was salt, and the poor ancient italians were the potatoes... this dish, is the mt vesuvius of the culinary world. (too soon?) even the creaminess of the avocado couldn't taper the saltiness of the potatoes.

next came the okanomiyaki (spelling??) and the brussel sprouts. the okanomiyaki (ok for short lest i keep butchering) is a giant version of a takoyaki but with a mixture of seafood and pork. it is served in a cast iron skillet. if i was to create a ridiculous analogy for my experience with this dish: you know when large dogs are puppies they have these clumsy looking giant paws. for puppies, this disproportion works. in this dish, it doesn't. this dish was simply too much dough and not enough flavour or meat. i was so excited to eat this but i remember taking one bite and feeling bad for getting my fiancé to order it. food simply shouldn't make you feel bad for ordering it. with shopping, buyer's regret helps you save money when you decide to return the item the next day. with eating out.... yeah....

the brussel sprouts. i love roasted brussel sprouts. when done well, the nutty flavour of the sprouts is enhanced by the smokiness of the roasting. the outside leaves are crispy while the insides are tender. perfect balance of texture and flavour. at tbe, these were some of the worst brussel sprouts i've had at a restaurant. they were simply way too sweet, so sweet that there was a puddle of the honey glaze at the bottom of the small bowl they come in. despite this sweetness, you can still taste the acridness of the burnt sprouts. since this review is a stream of horrible analogies, why stop now? it's like when you wake up with a pimple and it just so happens to be your wedding day, the day you take your graduation photo, or the day you agreed to meet with your friend who likes to take selfies. the first thing you think of is covering that pusy bad boy up with makeup. but as you apply more and more makeup, the worse you look all together. with no amount of concealer, capable of concealing it. this is the experience of this dish.

lastly, we ended off with the beef chuck and polenta. this dish was actually not bad. i liked it, but it still missed the marks on perfect execution. the beef was just a little overcooked. it was still juicy and tender, but would have been perfect if it was taken out a tad sooner. the polenta was pretty good too. i can't remember much about it tbh but i remember enjoying it. the roast vegetables that came with the dish were simply way too overcooked. yes they were burnt and mushy. i forget what vegetable it was (it wasn't something that you would find at your basic grocery store ie: peppers, onions etc). i remember when the waitress was describing it i was so pumped to try one (it was so organic food market/exotic sounding). excitedly i grabbed one and put it in my mouth. let's just say i have absolutely no idea what that exotic vegetable is suppose to taste like because it was so burnt that, that is all i tasted. the roasted beets with this dish also had that familiar acrid flavour. beets! a dish rich in sweetness and rootiness tasted burnt. gah.

so as you can tell i was very disappointed. i wanted to like this place so badly. but the execution simply did not match my expectations, the style lf the restaurant, or the high price points. if i am going to spend $40 on a dinner in edmonton, i hope to be blown away or leave happy. unfortunately, i was simply blown away by what went wrong and left very unhappy. so to end off this lengthy review.....

i would compare my experience eating at tbe to when i went to watch the first hobbit. after watching lord of the rings, there is no possible way that the hobbit can go wrong. this movie had the perfect set-up, perfect world, and clearly the technical foundation to be killer. well... as i'm sure we all know... something definitely went wrong.

three boars...costly, but tasty..... blue crab/potato salad...this is a combination of crab, potatoes, avocado, apples and a pea dressing, not bad, but the crab had a off texture...my least favourite dish of the night

country style pork terrine: this is good, lots of flavour and the different pickled mushrooms and vegetables are a great partner with the terrine and the mustard is yummy...the only complaint is that it does not come with enough toast and you have to order more and they charge $1.50 for the extra toast and there is not enough mustard served with this tasty dish...especially since this is a tapas restaurant and it is supposed to be shared...

pork belly with steel oats: this is a great dish...the pork was slightly overcooked and slightly tough, but the flavour combination with the oats and the egg made it a pleasant dish

tomato stew: stewed tomatoes with eggs and onions...this is good as long as you like tomatoes and it is served with toast

dessert: pavlova with berries and cream and a iced goat cheese...so yummy, refreshing and light and great flavours

service: well done and friendly!

price: since the amount of food you get is small and you have to order a number ofdishesto feed your party, the bill adds up quickly, but the ingredients are fresh

ambience: the restaurant is pretty stark, with no art work and not much warmth...

...a good day to dine.... ...at last i was able to make a reservation when i wanted to go.... it would seem the one consistent review with this restaurant is *consistency* ...
...but on this day... we loved every morsel we tried... fourdishesin all... panzanella salad, onion tart & two small plates; can't remember the names but it was a wild blue crab greens & and the duck with risotto ... really, really lovely....
...service; friendly and attentive... pretty perfect actually.
...and while we were told when we sat down, that they were fully booked and we'd have to leave in an hour and a half.... we were disappointed that this was indeed the case.... probably would have had one more dish and another glass of wine....
...our next table neighbours were loud and boorish.. it was obvious they thought they were the only people in the space, can't blame the establishment for that.... but if you are hard of hearing, the acoustics can be challenging.
...we'll be back....

disappointed this visit at 3 boars. 3 out of 7 things we ordered weren't done properly and had to be sent back and taken off our bill . service was ok but funny the server said she had other complaints and the kitchen was off and not to order certain items(lamb). not cool - what happened here? it used to be a great place to eat. overpriced anddishesweren't prepared right and they were out of a fewdishesas well.

not enough bang for your buck... i recently ate at the three boars for the first time and won't be returning, at least not for food. for anyone squeamish about eating the 'awful' of an animal (by this i mean the organs) i would say that 90% of the "bar snacks" and "small plates" that night were things along the lines of chicken hearts and sheep's tongue, and that this is not the restaurant for you.

i must admit that i was pleasantly surprised by the service. my girlfriend and i were seated promptly, even without a reservation, and our water glasses were never empty.

i will just list some problems we had:

- restaurant was so dark, we had to strain to read the menu.
- food that was on the menu, was not actually being served by the kitchen. it seems as though the food changes so frequently, they sometimes forget to change the menu.
- the menu is extremely limited for my vegetarian girlfriend, meaning that we could not share anything outside of the "rabbit food" section. because of this i asked if it would be possible to bring twodishesat once so we wouldn't be eating alone. the waitress didn't even ask the kitchen, she just kept telling me it was served tapas style.
- some of what we ordered, they had run out of. instead of telling us right away, they put in our order and told us afterward. i was about to tell the waitress not to put in our order as we wouldn't be staying but our first dish came to the table as we were getting up to leave.
- the first dish was a salad and the second, the poutine. the salad was pretty big and could easily have been shared between the two of us. however, i didn't eat any of it because i was expecting a similar portion of poutine and my girlfriend wouldn't eat any because of the bacon and gravy. to my disappointment, the poutine was not a size i would consider shareable by any standards. it was the size of an appetizer but cost as much as a meal at any run of the mill restaurant.

bottom line for me is that the food is way too overpriced for what it is: chicken hearts aren't exactly an expensive protein after all. we ended up going to boston pizza down 109th street after for dessert because we were both still hungry and dissatisfied with our meal at three boars. this is the kind of restaurant i would go to solely for drinks with my friends, and honestly both the underground and mkt are much better in my opinion. i would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, unless you're okay wasting money.

i adore this place. i absolutely love three boars. due to the higher price point, it's not an everyday place, but i have been back several times. i love how the menu is always changing. it keeps the restaurant fresh and draws me back to taste the newest creations. i often go with 3 or 4 friends, we each order something and share it. i have sampled manydishesand i can say only 1 did not meet my expectations. as the menu is constantly changing it is difficult to recommend a dish, but a few things seem to be consistent. the brussels sprouts are amazing and enjoyed by my brother who insisted he doesn't and wouldn't like them. the sauteed mushroom, egg yolk, toast, is such a treat. if they have the foir gras bomb (if i recall the name correctly) get it! do not order it to share because you won't want to. they have an ever changing beer menu and a large list of delicious cocktails. my favorite is the banana weiss, a mix of white beer and banana juice. i have no idea why anyone would say the staff are stuck up or rude either. they have always been kind, helpful, and patient with all our questions and always take the time to give recommendations. i love this place and can honestly say it's my favorite in edmonton.

disappointed. i was really prepared for a great dining experience when my (chef) boyfriend and i decided to go here for my birthday as a treat. the service was awful, right from the start - despite having a reservation, we were ignored at the door for several minutes before anyone even asked us if we needed help. then we were seated in their cramped dining space upstairs. the restaurant wasn't terribly busy but still took ages to get us our food. although thedishessounded amazing, i was underwhelmed by most and outright disappointed by some. i can't help but feel that their hipster atmosphere doesn't justify the prices for tapas-sized portions. i doubt i'll be going there again.

9 out of 10. don't get me wrong, i really want to like three boars - it was certainly something different and i take my hat off to them for trying to do something different with local in-season ingredients, which isn't always easy in a place like edmonton (i've tried!). first, let's talk about the good points - the food was really really tasty, well presented and very unique...and there were so many varieties of tasty beers!

we ordered -
smoked pork jowl (very interesting - too much mustard though)
panzanella salad (nothing special really)
carrots & beets (very very good, vegetables were cooked to perfection, loved the goat's cheese foam!)
foie gras (loved the tomato kimchi, but there's not enough of the foie gras to be substantial)
lamb sirloin (the lamb was perfectly cooked, but just not enough of it)
lamb croquette (absolutely loved this dish, great combination of components)
scallop carpaccio (interesting texture, but waaaayyyy too fishy, needed something acidic to cut through the fishiness)
pork belly (loved this, meat was tender, the combo of oats and poached egg really worked)

now, let's move on to the one thing that bothered me about three boars - and it's actually a major thing - my problem is the satisfaction factor. there just wasn't enough on the plates and the food took a looooooong time to arrive. i understand that the concept of the place is for people to share thedishesand food this good takes time to cook, but it really left a bad impression with me because my friends and i left the place hungry, considering how much we paid we expect to be full. i can't remember any time that i went to a restaurant and left hungry, we always joked about going to a nice restaurant and going home to cook instant noodles - saddest thing is that we actually had to do it this time.

did i mention the lamb?. when you go out for supper it should be an event, it should be exciting, maybe thrilling. these guys got that covered. we were given a recommendation from a friend to try it out, i asked what to try. he said don't eat for a week and eat everything.
when we arrived starving, got a place at the bar(super cramped) and started going through the menu. the bartender is truly a competition level mixologist, i appreciated the recommendations and would have drank his drinks until i couldn't see if i wasn't dd that night. as for the food, we ordered 7 of 9 choices, a gallant effort on our part i think. as a whole the meal was very good, the highlights included the house made mustard and pickled veggies, stellar. the foie gras salad with kimchee sauce turned my world upside down, unforgettable. until the next dish i thought the foie gras dish could not be topped. that was until i tried the lamb. one of the bestdishesi've had. sexual would be the closest thing i could say to describe it. i'm not a gastro buff so i won't breakdown what i thought their angles were with these dishes, but i trust their creativity and would follow them any culinary direction they decide to head. fork in hand.

the lowlights of the evening were the bar size, that sucked hunching over a 6" bar on little chairs. worse yet the "entertainment of the evening" was a homeless man drunk out of his mind fighting with some other nefarious characters across the street. kind of funny, but it didn't go down well with the pork belly and steel cut oats. i should mention, a couple people seemed to think the pork belly was underdone. i disagree, done nicely just in a different manner.

it's definitely not a cheap restaurant but i believe it's worth the cash and you can spend a lot more on a meal in the city.(plus you don't get to try as many things)

to summarize, go there and get wildly drunk then eat everything in sight. did i mention the lamb?

after the 6dishesbetween the 4 of us, we left still hungry and unsatisfied. although three boars has very intricatedisheswith a lot of attention to detail, the only dish that impressed our palates was the oyster braised beef chuck. the rest of theirdishesdid not taste special to me. in addition, their service and decor was average. apart from a few beautifully presented dishes, three boars is an average tapas restaurant with nothing special to boast.