Two Black Sheep
163 John St. S, 905-525-1001, twoblacksheep.ca
Hours: Open seven days a week from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
What you'll pay: Menu options rotate (including a weekly cask beer). Oysters are $15 for six, $28 for a dozen or buck-a-shuck from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. Charcuterie platters come in combinations of one, three or seven items for $5, $12 and $20.
The bar is wheelchair accessible.
Restaurant review
I have a go-to watering hole in this city (a few actually) for the nights I feel like a pint of something new and interesting, but I hadn't found Hamilton's wine equivalent — until I visited John Street bar Two Black Sheep.
My partner and I dropped by on the eve of a snowstorm and business was booming.
Our server let us settle in before dropping off a bottle of chilled water, taking drink orders — a $14 Jeanneret Grace & Favour Grenache shiraz that I never would have picked on my own, but it was ripe and warm with berry hits — and asking if we were interested in snacks.
It's a carefully phrased question because, while you could make a meal from the oysters and charcuterie platters (the only food the bar offers), it's not really a substitute for dinner (afterward, I wanted pizza; my partner was stuffed).
We gave her creative control of a seven- and a three-item charcuterie, which arrived on wooden platters, the meat and cheese alongside gluten-free polenta crisps, and pickled vegetables.
The veggies (carrots, cauliflower, beans and peas) were fresh, especially the golden beets, which tasted like spring, spiced by vanilla bean and cardamom.
The one-ounce cheese servings from Mickey McGuires in Dundas were enhanced by accompanying dips. The aged goat, a dry hard cheese, went well with Tasmanian honey. The bitter flavour of the chimay was balanced by house-made onion-cabernet jam. A mild stracciatella spread easily on the crisps and the smoked blue — deliciously heavy on the smoke — we ate straight off the knife.
When we ran out of crisps (I wish there had been more), we layered the cheese on thin prosciutto, Rosetta (salami) and wild boar cacciatore (sausage), and spooned up the creamy duck rillette.
My companion confessed he didn't know which bivalves to order, so our server chose a sampling.
My partner liked the Shikoku best. A small oyster with a deep cup, its West Coast origins meant it was briny and fresh with a clean hit of cucumber.
My favourite was the fresh-tasting Mystic, a Connecticut variety with a crisp, clean finish.
We also tried the Kumamoto (a light Washington type, great for the novice), P.E.I.'s Malpeque Premiums, and the ruffle-cupped Beach Angel. Toppings included fresh lemon, horseradish, house-made cucumber and cocktail dressings, and four hot sauces.
For a place with a menu full of items that people love to get pompous about (wine, oysters, craft beer), I was excited by the lack of snoot-itude. Relaxed and friendly staff are knowledgeable and happy to give advice.
The result is a welcoming, unique atmosphere. The bar is cool and casual, and small but not cramped, with large windows, mirrors on each wall and rustic wood fixtures. After dark, bare Edison bulbs give a cosy glow that's helped by the record player spinning a mix of Motown and laconic 1920s jazz.
Different enough for a special night out, yet comfortable enough to be your new local.
Restaurant review
