DOSC — Restaurant in Edmonton

There's no dearth of good eateries in Edmonton; that's one reason I so love my adopted second city. There is a dearth of excellent execution: rarely do front-of-house and back-of-house mesh so seamlessly as to spark joy in the diner. DOSC sparked joy.

Upon entering you've got a choice between the Sober Cat Café to your left and the Drunken Ox dining areas to your right, within which there are tables and booths.

Front-of-house was represented by Megan, the barista-on-duty, and Bianca, the 'leader'. (No, really, that's the title on her business card.) Both women were no-nonsense lovers of their domains, sharing their joy of coffee and cuisine, respectively. Best of all, I heard the wonderfully honest words "I don't know" on occasion, to be followed up by a researched answer. That's refreshing; thank you.

Bianca gave us an unhurried tour of the restaurant, showing off with pride the kitchen (beautiful views are to be had) and the beef dry-ager and the many cuts of meat on display.

The 'bunny did the ordering for us, picking a selection of items to share. (We've been doing this together for a while, all over the world, so there's rarely anything to worry about.) As apps she chose the beef marrow (with gremolata and a chive baguette) and the roasted butternut squash (with hazelnut, tahini, and pesto). Both were very, very satisfying. I could have used twice as much baguette to sop up all the tasty marrow and drippings. I'm rarely all about the veggies but I loved the punch of the pesto as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the squash. Would order again.

Then we selected a steak tartare; damn, it was good! We've discovered there's a lot of ways to make it badly, and only a few ways to do it well, and DOSC does it well. Much joy in the steak tartare, thank you very much.

There were many menu items I would've tried but for budget and belly; we even took home some of the mains to allow for a dessert flight; details later. Also, I've added pix of most things mentioned herein.

What I am all about is the coffee, so much so that the 'bunny rolls her eyes at my glee (but she lovingly indulges me). I went with a compare-and-contrast coffee flight of one bean prepared two ways; AeroPress vs pour-over. It was very impressive, both the differences in the taste and colour. The 'bunny went with a cold brew. She was happy. I believe a caffe Americano and a bit of cream followed a little while later.

The meats are the stars of the show at DOSC. I would have tried each of the "On Bread" items, the brisket, the Wagyu burger, and the "Double DOSC" (which seems like an elevated White Castle burger), but after Bianca brought out a tray with the various types of Wagyu -- seeing the cuts of meat side-by-side was impressive -- and gave us a run-down on their characteristics I was overridden with more serious-minded choices: a shank (on celeriac), a Northern Gold Angus striploin, and some A3 Snake River Wagyu lollipops.

All the meats were satisfying. The 'bunny grooved on the Wagyu lollipops, I swooned over the shank (which I would never have ordered, having suffered my late father's repeated obsessive love for osso buco), and we both liked the striploin. Presentation was spot-on, each item's taste was layered and delightful to discover. A trivial aside: I had way too much fun with the volcanic black salt and the white salt flakes.

There's no dessert flight on the menu, but it's a clever way to show off the versatility and range of the kitchen to enthusiastic diners; kudos on the good idea. We had, if I remember correctly, a deconstructed cheesecake, a bourbon apple pie topped with cream and candied ginger, brownies encrusted with nuts, and an ice cream with berries. I am not the dessert demon but I thought each was delectable and even better for the contrast of the different dishes.

In fact, in the interests of full disclosure, DOSC was so good as to completely turn around our "fight night" into...

My friends and I had a very disappointing experience at DOSC last Friday. We came as a group of 12. On the phone, my friend was told that there would be a minimum spend of $35 each for the group. I was surprised to hear this as I have yet to go to an establishment that required a minimum spend for a group. I've been to DOSC in the past, maybe a year ago, and we had a bigger group then and were not charged any minimum spend. Usually, we would just be charged auto-gratuity. My friends and I were fine with this at first, however, I was shocked when our server informed us that the minimum spend was actually $75 per person-- $900 minimum for our group of 12-- after we had ordered and our drinks and appetizers arrived! Nowhere on DOSC's website is this information mentioned.

I've never heard of such a thing in all the restaurants I've been to in Edmonton. I wanted to leave but felt trapped knowing that we'd be charged regardless of how little food and drink we got-- plus DOSC had our friend's credit card information when he booked the reservation.

On top of this, our server that night- Justice (?), Jestice (?)- was wholly unprofessional and inattentive. She was dropping f-bombs throughout the night and would cheekily mention how much she didn't want to be at work. She admitted she had no idea of the restaurant's wine selection. In the 4 hours we were there-- from 8 pm- midnight-- she came by with water once. Worst of all, the only times she came by was to pressure us into spending more as we needed to hit that 'minimum spend' and were still off by hundreds. My friend ended up paying for 5 bottles of wine to make the difference. To add insult to injury, the auto-gratuity for that night wasn't the standard 18% but 20% for some of the worst service I've experienced dining out.

Lastly, the food. Our server mentioned that the restaurant was under a new head chef, and it shows. For the amount that my husband and I spent, the food was disappointing overall. Their signature brussel sprouts remain one of their best appetizers. The oxtail poutine had little gravy and was watery, and the dish overall tasted too strongly of dill. The tenderloin carpaccio was not good. I couldn't appreciate the flavor of the meat as it was so overpoweringly tangy and sour from the mustard and pickled shallots. The beef ragu rigatoni was good, but didn't blow my mind as I've had better in other establishments. The wine itself was also nothing to write home about and too warm to enjoy sipping on.

In conclusion, I don't think I'll be coming back to DOSC anytime soon and would honestly like...

I visited DOSC in June of 2025 and had a reasonably okay experience. Having done some research online this was my top choice for a 2 day stay in Edmonton and had great expectations.

The restaurant itself is quite tastefully decorated, welcoming, and relaxing inside.

For drinks, we had the house spiced rum with coke and it was quite delicious. I had a few and definitely recommend if you a spiced rum aficionado as am I.

For starters we had the hot stone wagyu and the brussel sprouts. The sprouts were excellent - more than plenty for two. The wagyu was good as well - bit more enjoyable for the novelty of cooking it on the hot stone at the table than for the meat itself.

I ordered the A3 striploin wagyu and noticed that a different steak meal offered a potato pave. A favorite of mine and a side that I rarely find offered, I enquired can I swap the mashed potatoes for the pave, to which the waiter replied somewhat reluctantly "I'll have to check with the kitchen...". I said don't worry about it I'll take the mashed. But ordering a $100+ steak I would expect the waiter to simply say "yes absolutely!" and then come back to me if it wasn't possible. Rather than discouraging the question from the outset. I mean you're earning a substantial "wage" on the tip, you can put in a little effort bro (more on that to come).

So entrees wise I had the A3 wagyu. It was fine/average. Maybe I'm a heathen for having it medium but I've had many steaks in my life and I had hoped it would be more special. Just kinda regular and fine. My father had the bison steak and that was quite enjoyable - very delicious and totally recommend.

When it came time to pay I was rather irritated that the options for tips on the payment machine START at 18%. What is going on with the world - 15% is the tip standard, especially as the price of food is rising drastically in recent years. I strongly recommend to the owner that if he or she cannot afford to pay their waitstaff a proper salary, they reconsider whether putting this burden on their customers is the look they want for their restaurant. I chose instead the "custom" option, wanting to input 15% instead. But lo and behold! It's not possible. I could only enter a dollar amount. WOW what a nice experience, if I want to tip a normal and proper amount I have to pull out my phone and open the calculator app (in front of the waiter no less!) to figure it out.

So I begrudgingly tipped 18% for service that was not worth it. I started this review giving a 4 stars but I am enraged after typing this out and dropping...