Medieval Feast - Bistro Europa

I am not a stranger to Bistro Europa. Located on Elmwood, Bistro Europa is a small restaurant (Sits about 20 people) which offers a modern spin on traditional eastern European dishes. While there is a "default" menu, i strongly advise to avoid it, and go for the specials menu (posted on their website).

This menu will typically list the daily offering of four items from the default menu: Charcuterie board, Cheese board, Soup, and Pierogi. Beyond these four items the rest changes every day, and anything from fish, to more exotic items such as innards (Jan 29: Pork Kidneys), hearts, bellies, tongues, and many more items you will not usually find in most restaurants.

After many visits i was under the assumption that nothing i will find there is going to surprise me

This was all until one night when i walked in, and noticed a large group of people feasting on an item more barbaric, and exotic than anything I had ever seen on the menu before. The first image that popped in my head is one from a typical medieval movie. They were surrounded by beer, 6 very large plates with different sides, and in the middle of all, the main item of the feast; a large roasted pig head. At that moment i knew i had to try it.

After asking the chef/manager about it, he told me it is a special order, and needs to be booked two weeks in advance. There’s a minimum of 5 people, at a price range of 35$-60$ per person. I gathered 4 of my friends and called in to reserve. We decided to go for the 45$ a person which offered a few more side dishes than the basic. I do want to note that the extra options change from time to time, so the price ceiling may be different.

From the moment we set down we were bombarded with food and beer. It started with the excellent bread basket which comes with homemade spreadable lard (pork fat). This was followed by cream of broccoli, sour apples and cabbage, roasted cauliflower with candied yams, oyster mushrooms and roasted spinach. There was another side dish of some potatoes, but at that point we were all too hammered and excited from the sight of the main course to care for it.

The chef brings out the head to the table followed by the waitress who brought him a large fork and even a larger knife. He then starts to carve the head, removing the crispy ears, slices the cheeks and neck, and shaves off pieces of skin. The result was delicious.

I am not going to lie. This is not a dish for the more conservative eaters. Once the head is carved he offered us to try the nose, eyes and brain. The pig head in general is very fatty, yet delicious meat. Its roasted for few hours so the skin becomes very crispy. The nose was pretty terrible. The eyes were bitter with a strong iron-metallic flavor, with a very sticky texture. The brain is like a custardy-cream cheese. Alone it is a little intense, but on bread it is not bad at all.

The overall experience was great. We left very full and happy, as it is a once in a lifetime kind of experience. I am not sure if I would do it again, but the overall experience of a lot of beer, large colorful side dishes with their mixed flavors, the tenderness, smoky-roasted flavor of the juicy meat, and the unusual sight of the roasted head, left many memories in my head.

On a second thought…I definitely would do it again.

their website:

http://europabuffalo.com/

*I unfortunately do not have any pictures of the side dishes