New Seasonal Menu at the Steam Whistle Biergarten

Sitting at the foot of the CN Tower, our Biergarten Restaurant and adjoining patio is a must visit destination for Toronto locals and tourists, families, and groups for game-day celebrations, office parties, or group dinners. To kick off the return of warmer temperatures and baseball season, Chef Calvin Lee launched his new seasonal menu last week.

The Summer Menu Highlights

While the Biergarten Restaurant pays homage to the beverage of its namesake, it truly specializes in contemporary Canadian cuisine. Chef Calvin draws from the varied ethnic kitchens that shaped his career, creating a mosaic of flavours that heighten the dining experience. Each dish includes a subtle surprise of flavour, be it a taste of Lebanon, Korea, Serbia, or Italy.

"With this new menu, I've incorporated a range of multicultural influences to appeal to a wide audience," explains Chef Lee. "The variety in flavours, ingredients and portion sizes will entice diners to share dishes and give a reason for regulars to return." 

Fan favourites, such as the 7" Soft Pretzel, House-made Sausage, and the prime rib Roundhouse Burger, remain on the menu. New dishes appeal to cosmopolitan consumers' sensibilities, emphasizing local, light, and vegetarian/vegan options. But there are also some heartier choices for those who wish to indulge. 

The menu includes plenty of starters to share: the Red Pepper Cheddar Dip with charred pita is made with 3-year-old Ontario Cheddar and roasted peppers; Twice-cooked Wings are remarkable with house-made Dill or Hot Sauce; two sizes of Artisanal Deli Boards are always crowd pleasers.

On the lighter side are new fish, pasta, and salad offerings: The Salmon Crudo starter - an Italian take on ceviche - combines fresh, raw salmon with citrus, cherry tomatoes, shallots, and jalapenos and is a delightfully light dish. Pastrami Salmon is Chef Calvin's trophy dish - house-smoked salmon is elevated with fried capers, cream cheese with 'everything' bagel-seasoning and finished with herb-roasted potatoes. Shawarma Salad is a staff favourite with its spiced pulled chicken and delicate Toum garlic drizzle. The Pork Caesar is a classic dish with a new twist, offering savoury pork belly instead of bacon and complemented with a lemony-light dressing. New this season are vegan grilled Eggplant Ghanoush and an Italian-inspired Peas & Mint Rigatoni. 

For those with a big appetite, the new Chicken-fried Pork Chop is so sizable that it works well to share. Pair with that Chef Calvin's elevated side dishes: Grilled Rapini with chilli oil, Deep-fried Cauliflower with sweet & spicy Ssanjang, and Smashed Potatoes with Lebanese Toum sauce. Steak Frites and Pickle-Brined Chicken return for another season, as do the Fish & Chips, all perfect for pairing with the brewery's flagship beer, Steam Whistle Pilsner.  

The Beverage Menu is understandably beer-dominant, featuring our Pilsner in both filtered and non-filtered forms. Also available are our partner brands - Beau's Brewing, Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing, and Vancouver Island's Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. - alongside specialty & beer cocktails, hard seltzers, and Ontario wines & cider.  

Chef Calvin Lee

A Canadian-born Chinese Chef, Calvin Lee studied Culinary Management at Georgian College and worked at a host of renowned restaurants to hone his craft. Over the last 15 years, Calvin has learned from the best at Yorkville's Sassafraz and the Distillery District's Pure Spirits seafood restaurant before a sojourn cooking Thai cuisine in multicultural Melbourne, Australia, and a year in Montreal at the celebrated Joe Beef Group. Lee's culinary adventures eventually led him to Steam Whistle, where he opened the Biergarten Restaurant in 2019.