Black Dog Tavern

The dining room on Brock Street calls itself a tavern and cooks like a French brasserie. Le Chien Noir opened there in 2000 and ran as a downtown Kingston French bistro for two decades; in June of 2020 it reopened in English as Black Dog Tavern, the meaning of the name held while the frame loosened. Escargots, a French Onion Soup, Poulet Grenobloise, Moules Mariniere & Frites, and a Cote de Boeuf for Two share the list with a Tavern Deluxe Burger and weekend brunch — brasserie repertoire delivered without the tie-and-jacket frame the bistro version carried.

Duck shows up in three places on the current menu and the kitchen treats them differently. Duck Confit Poutine is a fixture across lunch, dinner, and brunch — crisp fries, slow-cooked leg, and gravy in a Canadian comfort frame that doesn't bury the technique. The dinner list adds a Pan-Seared Quebec Duck Breast with Lyonnaise potatoes, pear, black cherry glaze, and candied walnut dust. Steaks are chargrilled and hand-cut, running on the list as House Steaks, Steak Frites, and the Cote de Boeuf for Two; the kitchen pairs them with a Crispy Fried Halibut whose cider batter is gluten-free. Caviar with Prosecco and Fresh Shucked Oysters open the raw bar, and a Tavern Greens and a Tagliatelle keep plant-forward orders on the same list without treating them as concessions.