DOSC STRIKES AN INTERESTING BALANCE
A piece of prime real estate on downtown’s 104th Street is now home to a trendy new restaurant offering fancy coffees by day and decadent meals by night.
That’s the clever concept behind DOSC — Drunken Ox at Night/Sober Cat in the Morning. It’s another restaurant in a seeming new trend that’s made its way to Edmonton recently: a combination cafe/restaurant, with the spaces clearly divided: comfy seats, wide windows and all the fancy Rogue Wave coffee up front, and hip artisanal restaurant in the back of the house. In this case, DOSC is a tongueto-tail craft steak house, where the kitchen finds novel ways to serve up every bit of the animal — butchered in house, no less.
The space, on the corner of 104th Street and 102nd Avenue has been beautifully refinished, offering plenty of seating area both in the cafe section and in the back.
That Thursday night the restaurant was bustling with people out to enjoy a nice meal and delicious cocktails. Recent ventures in this space haven’t proved successful, but DOSC is poised to change that now.
From the moment my friend and I arrived at DOSC for our reservation, we were treated with the care one would expect from a top-tier establishment. Though the restaurant was still in its “soft opening ” phase, the staff seemed to pull off a choreographed dance effortlessly, as we were attended to throughout our meal.
And what a meal it was. The menu itself offers 12 carefully cut and cooked proteins — from tongue to brisket, to tomahawk, strip loin and rib-eye, and several wagyu options that will set you back a pretty penny. Each is offered in varying portions, mainly ranging from three ounces up to 16 ounces. If beef isn’t your thing there’s one chicken option on the menu, too. My friend and I opted to share several plates, starting with the oxtail croquettes ($9 for 3 pieces), six ounces of the espresso and cocoa dry rubbed skirt steak ($14), and six ounces of the sous vide strip loin ($13).
The croquettes were delicious, though not particularly beautiful to look at. Three perfectly fried balls of pureed oxtail and potato, served with a dollop of local jam sourced from the 104th Street Farmers Market. We were treated to an onion-garlic jam, but the offering will change depending on what’s available that week.
The menu also offers a choice of several veg dishes, such as pan-roasted carrots, crispy Brussels sprouts and an asparagus gribiche — all excellent pairings with a nicely cooked piece of meat. We ultimately went with the arugula salad ($7), a generous portion of the peppery green, piled high with shaved Parmesan reggiano and accompanied by an inspired fried frisee that offered a nice crispiness to the salad.
If you’re looking for a more carb-heavy side there are several more choices available. Not wanting to overload on the carbs, though, we went for the spaetzle (a German specialty of soft egg noodles), with the noodles dotting the top of a generous portion of thick pieces of smoked bacon and tomato lentil ragu ($9). A hint of paprika throughout the dish brought out some heat and smokiness — flavours that kept us coming back for more.
And about that steak: Each cut
is clearly handled with care, seasoned to perfection and cooked with the diligence it deserves. The skirt, rubbed with a hefty portion of the espresso-cocoa rub, was served atop a smoked piece of juniper, which offered a noticeable but not overpowering smokiness. Unfortunately, however, we did find the rub to be a bit too thick and overpowering, and ultimately left a few pieces of it on the plate.
The strip loin, however, was a smashing success, perfectly cooked to medium rare thanks to the sous vide process. The simplicity of the seasoning allowed the quality of the meat to shine through, and the generous portion of the house-made “Horse with a Rash” — a combination of freshly grated horseradish with purple cabbage and sherry wine — was a bit tart and a bit spicy, and made for the perfect accompaniment.
Throughout our meal we sipped on a few craft cocktails the restaurant also specializes in, allowing them to warm us as Edmonton’s autumn seemed to slip away into winter outside. Having the option to try a variety of cuts and flavours on a menu that makes sharing easy, if not preferred, will have diners back again and again to try different combinations of dishes. Soft opening or not, DOSC has made a serious impression on the city’s foodies already and my bet is it’s here to stay.