REVIEW | DOSC | EDMONTON

DOSC. Is that some new Internet slang teens are using nowadays? Well, no, but it's certainly what's hip and trendy in Edmonton these days.

DOSC, shorthand for Drunken Ox, Sober Cat, is the latest restaurant to anchor the Metals Ltd. building on the corner of 104th St and 102nd Ave. This particular location hasn't been so kind to previous tenants, with what seems like a revolving door of restaurants coming and going. Seeking to reverse the trend is a strong team that's already seen great success in the industry (eg. Seoul Fried Chicken, Japonais Bistro, and Dorinku).

Photo credit: KN

So why the name? DOSC is meant to characterize the duality of the restaurant's concept. Part cafe, part steakhouse and cocktail bar. It's a one stop shop; grab your cup of coffee in the morning and then slide in for dinner and a drink later that night.

I haven't been inside the building since it was formerly The Burg, but it's obvious that DOSC has invested a lot into the design of the restaurant ($$$). The cafe is immediate when you walk in, with a barista bar, comfy chairs, and natural light pouring in through the windows. (Note: because it's a historic building, there's not very many outlets around if you wanted to camp inside with your laptop). To the right of the entrance is the actual restaurant, decorated in darker tones with leather and reclaimed woods. There's a second bar on this side (this one devoted to crafting cocktails), and a semi-open back kitchen.    

From a food standpoint, I've seen a bunch of menus (brunch, lunch, dinner, late-night) and even different iterations of them posted online. I think they're still experimenting and fine-tuning as they go, figuring out what works and what doesn't. One constant is their tongue to tail philosophy, which is utilizing all parts of the animal. During dinner, different proteins are served a la carte style, in different portion sizes (3 oz, 6 oz, 9 oz) of your choosing. You can also order a selection of vegetables or carbs as sides. It's a unique menu concept that I really like. Tailor it to your needs -- whether that's solo dining or sharing a meal with a group of friends.

We visited on a Sunday afternoon, so we opted for a couple of drinks from the cafe side. For those interested, they source their beans from Rogue Wave Coffee, a local coffee roaster. I would say prices are on par with other specialty coffee shops, but seeing as we're not huge coffee people, KN got a London fog ($5.00) while I ordered a matcha latte ($5.00). I don't think they sweeten their matcha latte so it definitely has a stronger and more bitter profile.

From the "brunch" menu, we opted to get three dishes to share. Prices were actually quite decent, but portions do lean on the smaller side.

This is possibly the nicest steak and eggs ($15.00) presentation ever. 3 oz striploin (requested medium rare), onion rings, housemade HP sauce, arugula, and a poached egg. Although the portion is small, I thought the steak was quite good. I'm not sure if a poached egg is the right call in this case (fried or sunny side up seems better suited) but I did enjoy dipping the onion rings and steak into the runny yolk.

The next dish was another meaty one -- the prime rib hash ($14) with mashed potato, brandy demi, and brussels sprout petals. The chunks of prime rib had a good sear on the outside and the brussels sprouts too had a nice crisp around the edges. KN didn't care for them but I love brussels sprouts when they're prepared well. Also, I'm not sure if the mashed potato is the same marrow mash served at dinner, but the entire dish had a nice aroma to it.

We saved the buttermilk stack pancakes ($7.00) for last, to end things on a sweet note. The buttermilk pancakes come adorned with wild berry syrup, coconut creme, coconut crumb, and fresh berries.

First off, presentation is gorgeous. If you pieced all the quarters together, I'm not sure how many pancakes you actually get (I'm guessing 3?), but it's a significant portion for the price. The pancakes are on the denser side, but eating all the components together helped alleviate some of the dryness.



Based on first impressions, I would be interested in coming back to give their dinner menu a try. It's still early to tell, but by the looks of the busy room and multiple people coming in to grab coffee, it seems like DOSC is well on their way to stay.

DOSC

dosc.ca

10190 104 St NW

Edmonton, AB 

(780) 540-0606

- CT