Canada’s Best Beefed-Up Comfort Foods
With winter beginning to encroach and a chill in the air, it’s the perfect time of year to release the best beefed-up dishes this country has to offer. From comfort food classics to refined dining, this list will make sure your tummy is warm and happy throughout the coldest time of the year.
Here’s what you need to eat and where to go to satisfy your inner carnivore.
Beef and Barley Soup – Chuckwagon Café (Turner Valley, Alberta)
To start this list off, we wanted to pay homage to one of the most famous beef comfort foods, the always delicious and simplistic Beef and Barley Soup. You can find this soul-warming bowl of succulent beef at most sandwich shops across the country, but there’s only one place we knew could be placed on this list, and that’s the Chuckwagon Café. Chuckwagon Café has been serving up some of the best homemade Beef and Barley Soup since 1998. With its simplistic recipe containing tender pieces of 100 percent Canadian beef chuck roast and a base of mirepoix, pearl barley, and rich broth, it’s the attention to all things local and fresh that makes this Beef and Barley soup stand out from the rest. Oh, and with a price tag of just $5, you can get the whole herd together for a bowl of this comforting classic.
105 Sunset Blvd NW, Turner Valley, AB T0L 2A0
Bayou BBQ Beef Brisket Po Boy – Bon Temps Café (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Nothing says comfort classic like a homemade sammy, and at Bon Temps Café, they’ve been serving up some of the best Po Boy sandwiches the people of Saskatoon have ever tried. The menu features various delectable options, but the Bayou BBQ Beef Brisket Po Boy has earned our stamp of approval. Slow roasted brisket is tossed in homemade New Orleans BBQ Sauce and topped with lettuce, tomato, fried onion, pickle, and a thick slice of Monterey Jack Cheese. The perfectly roasted and tender brisket tossed in tangy homemade New Orleans BBQ Sauce is a combination made in heaven that you need to try! It’s the distant cousin to the pulled pork sandwich you never knew you needed in your life.
223 2 Ave S, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1K8
Shepherd’s Pie – The Blarney Stone (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Keeping on the theme of comfort classics, it would be offensive not to include a good ole dish of Shepherd’s Pie on this list, and we know just where to find the best! Even though Shepherd’s pie is a staple at most pubs across the country, no one is doing it quite like The Blarney Stone. This alehouse’s recipe starts with a customary and not unusual base of fresh 100 percent Canadian ground beef and sauteed mixed vegetables. But it’s the traditional Irish potato topping “Colcannon” that reserved this dish’s spot on this list. Colcannon is a delicious mixture of fluffy mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage and can be found cascading over the borders of The Blarney Stone’s Shepherd’s pie. The Colcannon provides a truly authentic Irish flavour to the dish and adds an extra element of texture you never knew you were missing. Once you’ve tried The Blarney Stone’s version of Shepherd’s Pie, you will never be satisfied by any other version of arguably one of the best comfort foods again!
216 Carrall St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2J1
Brisket Tagliatelle – 2 Doors Down (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Heading on down to the East Coast, 2 Doors Down is an urban bar offering casual and seasonal eats along with an abundance of local craft beers. Although a refreshing beverage is always an enticing invitation, it was the Beef Brisket Tagliatelle that caught our attention. With its use of shredded beef brisket, creamed gravy, cremini mushrooms, asparagus, cherry tomato, parmesan bread crumbs, and house-made focaccia, this dish makes for a decadent and indulgent experience reminiscent of Italian flavours with a distinctly Canadian twist.
There’s just something about creamy homemade pasta on a chilly winter night that warms the soul. Definitely, a comfort food classic everyone should add to their list.
1533 Barrington St, Halifax, NS B3J 1Z6
Filet Mignon of Beef Wellington – 529 Wellington (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
If you are looking for something a bit more upscale to cure that beef hankering while still warming your heart, then 529 Wellington is the spot for you. 529 Wellington combines refined elegance with mid-century comfort to provide an unforgettable and exceptional dining experience. Although this reputable restaurant is well-known for its high-grade steaks, the Fillet Mignon of Beef Wellington had us salivating. The combination of tender medium-rare fillet mignon and mushroom duxelles all wrapped up in puff pastry is simply divine. The puff pastry’s buttery and flakey exterior soaks up all those tantalizing juices from the perfectly cooked fillet so that nothing goes to waste. While at the same time, the duxelles’ deep and earthy flavour beautifully compliments the cut of meat by cutting through the richness of both the filet and pastry. But who are we kidding? Although this dish may represent a staple in upscale cuisine, buttery puff pastry and perfectly cooked beef are about as comforting as it gets. This is genuinely one exquisite bite worth splurging a little extra for!
529 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3M 0A1
Roast Bone Marrow – Bar Isabel (Toronto, Ontario)
Still in the mood for something a bit more refined and decadent but live in the GTA? Then we have the perfect place for you! Specializing in creative Spanish-inspired upscale cuisine, Bar Isabel innovates and enhances the beef experience one cut at a time. If refined comfort food is what you crave, we recommend you try the Roast Bone Marrow. Served with grilled bread and house-made chimichurri, this bone marrow dish is nothing less than spectacular. The contrast between the vibrant chimichurri and roasted buttery veal marrow is the perfect combination to satisfy your comfort needs and elegant wants. But beware, this dish tends to attract unwanted samplers.
797 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1C7
Stick to your chops with these recommendations and try some of the best beef comfort foods this nation has to offer. Should you want to enjoy some other beefed-up content, head on over to https://canadabeef.ca