Butcher and the Boar

We tried the Butcher and the Boar (http://butcherandtheboar.com/) Sunday night for my birthday. Overall, I would say some parts of the meal were fabulous, some parts were good, and a few just okay.

The bourbon selection was excellent and the cocktails were really good. I had a delicious old-fashioned made with their house single barrel bourbon.

We started with wild boar ham and their version of a shrimp cocktail. Both of these dishes were excellent. The ham was flavorful and tender. I liked the bread and butter pickles on the side too. The shrimp were cooked in a mix of lemons and herbs and were perfectly tender. The cocktail sauce served with them had a nice horseradish kick. It was a nice update on a classic and was a good mix of flavors.

We next split a “Sausage for the Table” plate. The wild boar hot link was nice and juicy. It was served with pickled vegetables, which I thought were fine, but not particularly interesting. The plate also had a pork cheddarwurst. It was also nice and juicy and had a lot of melted cheese. The final sausage was a beef sausage served with a chili sauce and slaw. I thought this sausage was fabulous. I loved the sauce and slaw as complements to the sausage, which was nicely spiced on its own.

We then moved on to the turkey roulade with bacon and cheesy grits. The turkey roulade was okay. It tasted good, but the texture was oddly mushy. My husband liked it more than I did, but compared to the other things we had eaten so far, it just did not measure up. It was served with more of the same pickled veggies as the boar sausage. This course was, however, redeemed by the cheesy grits. They were very creamy.

For dessert, my husband had the homemade s’mores. They were quite good. I had the grasshopper pie. Ice cream sounded really good on such a warm evening and it satisfied that craving. However, it just was a bit flat – it needed either more chocolate or more mint (or maybe both?) – as it was it tasted more like cream than like minty chocolate goodness.

I would recommend it and plan to go back, but would probably order mainly cured meats, sausages and sides.