Across the Board Game Cafe

It seems like one of the prerequisites for being Asian is a love for board games. Unilaterally it seems that everyone I know from my ethnicity share this passion. Whether be it Uno, Connect 4 or Game of Thrones, it represents a time for fellowship and bonding with close friends (and/or family) to get some respite from the rigors of work responsibility. Thus during a lovely night where all the first year residents were available, I quickly made plans for us to go to Across the Board Game Cafe.

Located downtown in the Exchange District on Albert Street, this eclectic cafe tries to mix good food and board games. They offer two menus, one of small snacks and another of full blown meals. On top of that patrons are able to pay $5 to play from their vast collection of board games. An interesting concept that speaks to two things I love in life. Alright, game on!

The brightly lit cafe was nicely decorated and housed attentive wait staff. We arrived to find a large majority of the other tables taken and full of happy diners and gamers.

Across the Board Game Cafe offers daily food and drink specials and we, by happenstance, arrived on their wine night. At 35% off, it was an easy decision to have a bottle ... or two. The Maltec was a full bodied red with a nutty aftertaste. Sweet enough to be enjoyed as an aperitif but tart enough when paired with a meal. A good start!

Finding myself at the restaurant earlier than some of my dining companions, I ordered two popcorn for the table, Cheddar and Onion and Cinnamon Sugar. The Cheddar and Onion was preferred as it featured a more subtle flavour. The Cinnamon Sugar was too sweet and felt like a candy or dessert than a appetizer.

Always feeling the need to be adventurous, I somehow got the table to agree to this monstrocity of a dish. Called Across the Board, this meat platter features an ever revolving door of local cheeses and cured meats. To list the entire cohort would be too daunting, but the star of the dish was a Cheddar Jalapeno cheese. The spiciness of the Jalapeno mixed in with the sharp cheddar is excellently smoothed out with a fatty piece of cured pork and topped with a salty caper or a pickled cabbage. Mmm, Umami.

A co-resident ordered the Soba Salad Rolls. Two rolls are filled with soba noodles, apple, pickled carrot and cabbage with a walnut vineagrette. These colourful rolls were met with delight as she quickly devoured the offering. The soba noodles here are a nice contrast to the crisp vegetables and nutty sauce. 

Another co-resident ordered the Beet Carpaccio. This is a fun dish that pokes fun at the usual beef version. Here the chef takes thinly sliced beet and tops it with chevre, dill, toasted pecans and finishes it with lemon oil. This fun colorful dish also packs a lot of flavour with the baseline crunch of the beats harmonizing with the smooth cheese and leading into the chorus of lemon oil and arugula.

The England is their take on the traditional beef stew. A creamy base of root vegetables is mixed in with big chunks of beef and served with a bun and garlic butter. I found this dish slightly disappointing as the meat was tough and was slightly bland. The creamy broth, on the other hand, was expertly crafted and sang deep flavourful notes. Pitty about the beef though.

I had the Ukraine. Beet borscht with a kielbasa and a slaw, this dish was tasty. The borscht itself was nice and light with a subtle but noticeable beet flavour. The kielbasa was nicely grilled and the fattiness of the pork product was contrasted nicely with the sharp mustard. Overall a nice dish.

Two other residents ordered the Black Bean Chili and Rice. It features a base of rice topped with a black bean chili (they opted to have chicken in it), cheddar cheese and scallions served with garlic flatbread. The chili was robust and flavourful and added a ton to the deliberately bland rice. Unfortunately the dish was not served warm enough to melt the overlying cheddar cheese.

I hope Across The Board Game Cafe does well. It offers an eclectic concept of board games and good food and should cater to the evergrowing population of board game lovers. Even if you are not interested in playing any games, the food is solid enough to be worthy of a nice meal.