Vincci Tsui
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Cleaver a small restaurant in a former retail space on 17th Avenue S.W. From their name I could guess that it was probably a meat-forward restaurant but the website only shows its address hours and a link to reservations online. Even the sign on its restaurant is simply a picture of a cleaver.
Despite all the mystery it seems like Calgary has caught on — the restaurant was packed when I went for a late dinner a few weekends ago with a friend. Still I felt welcomed by the staff — they took our coats and seated us at the bar and a passing waiter even picked up my bag from the floor and hung it on one of the under-bar hooks that I wasn’t able to find for myself.
This attention to detail translates to the décor and the menu as well. The small space has a rustic industrial vibe with dark wood accents a stainless steel bar and beer taps with cleavers and other cooking implements as handles. All of the food was served on mini butcher blocks with sauces in steel measuring cups. You could see the cooks busily firing dishes in the open galley kitchen while I got a front row seat to watch the bartenders craft various cocktails many prepared with bitters and garnishes made in-house. My smoked old-fashioned ($17) involved using the glass to capture smoke from a log that they lit up right at the bar and came with a tiny basket of assorted nuts clipped onto the side of my glass with the tiniest clothespin.
As predicted Cleaver’s menu is quite meat-forward with all the items meant for sharing. My friend and I decided to forego the 42 oz bone-in rib eye ($75) or roasted chicken for two ($37) and share a few small plates instead which the bartender said he would “course” so that the food would not come out all at once.
The food did come out in waves but not quite in the order we expected. We started with tempura kale ($15) and scallop served with blood pudding on a butternut squash purée dotted with bacon ($25).
The tempura kale featured roughly shredded kale leaves dipped in a light batter before frying; the result was crispy cloud-like clusters with some soft parts in the middle and just a hint of the distinctive bittersweet taste of kale. The tempura was served with a slightly sweet soy-ginger sauce for dipping.
The scallop was definitely our favourite of the evening — the scallops were slightly undercooked leaving them sweet and tender while the butternut squash was earthy with a slight smokiness. We were worried that the blood pudding would be very rich and metallic tasting but it was actually quite light and spiced with nutmeg.
Next came the roasted bone marrow ($19) topped with breadcrumbs and blue cheese and served with thick slices of toast from a round loaf. We were initially unsure about ordering this because neither of us are blue cheese fans but we found the flavour of the cheese to be quite subtle.
The only miss of the evening was the polenta ($11) which unfortunately came on its own when it’s meant to be eaten as a side dish. The flavour combination was pedestrian — heavy on the truffle oil and topped with wild mushroom and cheese. We only ate a few bites.
With help from the bartender we chose the salted caramel fondue ($12) for dessert which came with two giant house-made marshmallows two doughnuts and doughnut holes. The doughnuts were warm and soft sprinkled with sugar so they weren’t too bland by themselves while the marshmallows were light and fluffy. Both were delicious with the decadent dark salted caramel sauce.
Despite the crowds we never felt rushed through our meal and it was a great evening out with good food and good company. Definitely worth making a reservation again.
