Folly Brewpub — Restaurant in Toronto

Tried 3 beers, and enjoyed them all quite a bit. If Folly was just set up as a brewery, I would definitely give it a higher rating. Unfortunately, after going in with high hopes for the food, we left disappointed.

The menu is set up to share a few things with your party, and they even give you a heads up that dishes will come out as they are ready, not all at once. Pretty typical of what a number of Toronto restaurants are doing these days - perfect for a casual bite with a group. For two people, we ordered 4 dishes - arugula & fennel salad, salmon tartare, charred cauliflower, and on the waitress' recommendation, pork belly.

The salmon was OK, and the cauliflower was fine, but calling it charred is a bit of a stretch. Maybe it had been charred at some point, but by them time it made it to our table it was either dressed or steamed or something to take any crispy texture out of it. It was garnished with a few big slices of watermelon radish which looked neat, but didn't taste like much.

Luckily, the pork belly dish was pretty tasty. To our surprise, this too was garnished with watermelon radish (in matchsticks this time), but in this case they added a welcome crunch to the dish.

After finishing up all three of these dishes, we were left waiting for our salad. We knew the dishes would come when they were ready, but salad last, after everything else was finished just seemed odd. To make matters worse, this was not a good dish. Maybe as a side to an entree this would be fine (and that is a big maybe), but what a dud to end our meal.

Having said all that, a lot can be redeemed with good beer. As stated above, the beers we tried were all good, and are a unique balance between North American and European styles. I would go back for the beer if I was in the neighborhood... but I'd eat dinner...

Folly is a fantastic place. The food is incredible. From the flaming chorizo to the incomparable pulled pork nachos to the fried chicken they are next to none. If you're in the area and hungry, there's absolutely nothing better. As for beer, they're in a league of their own. No one in Toronto, except for Halo, comes close in terms of quality of beer. The beer had a huge variety, from pale saison, to coffee porter, to raspberry barrel aged dark sour. There's something for everyone and it's all made flawlessly.

Maybe the best part of Folly is the people. Everyone is really nice, personable, and willing to serve you however you want. Want to be left alone unless your glass is empty? Just ask! Want to chat with the very nice people at the bar and in the open kitchen? Go for it!

Folly has earned, and absolutely deserves, their spot as one of the best places in Toronto for both food and drink. If you're remotely close, run don't walk. If you're planning a trip to Toronto, this should absolutely be...

Beers were awesome, some really unique flavours that were refreshing and exciting to try. We had the Imposter Syndrome (Farmhouse IPA), Dazzling Gleam (Mixed Fermentation Saison in a cognac barrel) and Great Barasway (Imperial Porter aged in a wine barrel). They were all swimming with flavour, a joy to drink and exactly what you're looking for when searching for a craft brewski.

We had the Gnocchi and Curds and the Mussels and Frites. Gnocchi melted in my mouth, mushrooms and sauce were really tastey, I would have ate another bowl. Mussels had a nice texture and the buttery sauce was okay. It would have been nice to soak up the leftovers with a slice of toast. Frites were perfect, nice crunch and good amount of salt.

Can't wait to come back and try some more great...