Sociable Kitchen + Tavern — Restaurant in Brantford

Visiting Brantford once more and always wanted to try this place, so three of us decided to take on Sunday brunch.

Large airy sports bar-type environment, with booths on the outside and high rise tables in the middle and lots of TV's. Not a quiet place but not noisy either so all was good. The menu had some nice twists on the standard brunch fare emphasizing interesting combinations and lots of fresh ingredients. They even provide a good selection of gluten free (GF) items for those so inclined.

First was the MACERATED BERRY WAFFLE which is marinated + warmed mixed berries, fresh GF Belgian waffle, vanilla chantilly and maple syrup to topo it off. Berries seemed like they were marinated in oranges which gave them an extra zing (nice)

Then the CHICKEN + WAFFLES consisting of southern fried + buttermilk brined boneless chicken, crisp Belgian waffle, crumbled bacon, toasted almonds, Kentucky bourbon syrup. Chicken as tender and moist and was nicely complimented by all the rest as a flavourful combination.

Finally I had the RANCHEROS BRUNCH BOWL of 2 poached eggs, smoked + pulled chicken, avocado, corn tortilla, rojo rice, pico de gallo, iceberg, cheddar, ancho hollandaise and cilantro. This was a full on big breakfast in a bowl. I love these kinds of offerings as you can either pick through each item individually or do what I do...combine a couple of different items in a couple of different ways as a taste experience until you have finally brought it all together to finish it off. Delicious.

My only downside was the service, seemed a little slow considering they had plenty of staff and they place was not packed. A manger did come around after we mentioned this and the pace picked up some, but this did not dissuade us from giving this meal high praise.

And just for fun...they have an old style picture booth were you can create a four strip on corny...

We used to love this place.. It was a great and reliable date night or family meal option. The service has always been fantastic and we really like the atmosphere. However, at our last couple visits the food has been severely disappointing.

Some of our favorites have been removed from the menu, which is to be expected as restaurants try to keep things fresh and interesting. However dinners choices that have been fantastic in the past have become dry and tasteless.

Our last visit we ordered the southern fried chicken, it was beautifully cooked, juicy, and more chicken than one person could eat. The dill pickle potato salad was fantastic. This time? The chicken was overcooked, a much smaller portion, most of it was hard crunchy batter bits and not much chicken. The dill pickle salad was bland and tasteless. On a previous visit we did the brisket dinner, it was dry and tough, barely edible, I left most of it on the plate.

I'm not sure if we happened to catch the chefs on a bad day... but we feel the care and quality control has gone downhill. We've discussed it with folks sitting in adjacent tables and the opinion seems the same there as well.

Its a 40 minute drive for us to get there.. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble or the risk to try them again. I truly hope they improve and get back to how they used to be! But perhaps there just isn't enough competition in the area to keep...

I truly enjoyed our dinner here. We stopped in on a whim and were not disappointed. Our table had the Sociable Dip, Poutine with brisket, Ultimate Mac & Cheese, and Bacon, Brie and Black Truffle Burger.

The Mac & Cheese was excellent with mushrooms, chicken and a few cherry tomatoes. Sauce was made from scratch, grilled chicken breast was fresh and juicy. Definitely worth it!

The burger was perfectly cooked, very flavourful. Mushrooms, onions, Brie on a grilled bun!

Poutine and brisket had fresh flavourful meat, gravy was homemade, cheese melted perfect. The only suggestion I would make is you ask them to make the fries crispy.

The Sociable Dip! Definitely a sharable! Goat cheese, mushrooms, garlic! With house seasoned chips and warm pita.

Oh and if you are a fan sweet potato fries, trust me and get the sweet potato wedges but ask them to dress them like the Truffle Parm fries! Dip them in the garlic aoli - you can thank me later!! What beats a good crispy sweet potato fry!?!

And for dessert, I strongly suggest the sampler. House made cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding and a homemade brownie.

And I didn't even get a chance to rave about the selection of beer! Honestly if you are someone who appreciates good food and chefs who care about what they send out of the kitchen you have got to stop by and give it a try!!

Everything was on point, even our waitress, Jodi! Thanks for a...