For those craft beer connoisseurs out there, I'm sure you've heard of Superflux before. Emerging out of the shadows of Callister and Strathcona Brewing since its inception in 2015, Superflux opened its B&M store back in August 2020 with takeaway sales and limited takeout. As of last week, they are going full-tilt with a dine-in lounge with their full array of beers on tap. Furthermore, Chef Justin Lee (formerly of the Crowbar), is at the helm of the kitchen with a simple menu of 3 gourmet hot dogs and 3 salads to start. Jacqueline and I dropped by for a preview before they went live.
Let's get right to the point of this blog post - the beer! They didn't have actual flights per se, but to get a sample of what they had offer, we got 6 x 6oz tasters. From top left and clockwise, we had the Green Hill Cider, Colour & Shape, Fresh Foam, Happyness, Coconuts and Velvetone. My favourite of the bunch was the happyness, an IPA dry-hopped with mosaic. This was aromatic and light with a pleasant sour finish. As much as the velvetone is a double-IPA hopped with galaxy, citra, mosaic and nelson, it wasn't that intense. In fact, it was balanced with a nice crisp finish. The most surprising was the coconuts as I was expecting something too sweet, but in the end, it was aromatic with a pleasant bite.
Off to the eats, we tried the salads including (from left-to-right) the Purple Queen Turnip "Not" Caesar (with cannellini, parmigiano vinagrette and crispy butter), Castelfranco Radicchio Nahm Jim (with radicchio, green bean, fermented tomato nahm jim, fried shallots and peanuts, Endive Bolzanese (with Belgian endive, Italian egg salad dressing, pickled onion and crispy potato. Don't let the fact these were salads fool you. They were excellent. The turnip in the "Caesar" was crunchy and bright while the butter soaked croutons (aka crispy butter) were sinfully addictive. Absolutely enjoyed the South Asian flavours in the castelfranco that featured tang, aromatics and slight spice. Creamy and eggy, the crunchy endive was also the beneficiary of the added texture of the crunchy and nutty potato bits.
From the 3 salads, we went to the 3 hot dogs including The Mortadella (with a Black Forest Premium Bavarian dog, corn ragout, mortadella, lemon mayo, pistachio, grana padano and olive oil), Beet Ranch (with the same dog, beet and white onion salad, baby cucumber, house ranch, dill, potato crum and olive oil), and The Oscar (with Two Rivers all-natural dry-aged beef dog, oven-dried tomatoes, dressed rock crab, bearnaise sauce, smoked paprika, chives and olive oil). Our favourite was the beet ranch with its combination of textures, dill and sharp onion. In the oscar, the tangy impactful tomatoes really brought the hot dog alive as well as providing a jolt of acidity to the creamy bearnaise. As you can see, the food is limited at the moment, but they really do go with the beer (even the salads!). Nice spot to grab some superflux bevvies to go with your food.
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
The Good:
- Well, the beer!
- Surprisingly good salads
- Solid hot dogs
The Bad:
- Dining space limited due to Covid