El Camino Real

It doesn’t look like much from the outside. Just a ground floor restaurant in a low-rise condo development and because of the big windows, it could have passed for any retail store with smokers huddling outside the entrance. When you step inside, you might think that you were somewhere just north of the Rio Grande. The décor has a somewhat Texas Wild West feel complete with huge caricatures of cactus on the giant windows. That is if you don’t look beyond the windows and see the modern new condo/commercial development across the street that would put you right back to the still being gentrified NoLib.


All these come after the initial shock from walking into this faux Texas make-believe: The deafening noise from the crowd at the bar trying to talk over the music, other people, and even themselves. I don’t have the best of hearing from years of listening to loud music in confined spaces, but that was even loud for my not so 100% hearing.

The place has done a pretty good job re-creating a Southwest environment doing Tex-Mex food. Interestingly, the menu doesn’t show “Tex-Mex”. It instead has “Tex” and “Mex” with BBQ on one side and typical Mexican peasant food on the other. It even got me all excited when I saw Shiner Bock on the beer list! That’s the official Aiiyah BBQ beer! That had not been available in Philly! Sorry to say, the excitement was dashed when the waiter told me that the only way they could get that beer was to order 40 cases directly but the shipment has not arrived yet. #$%!@^*!

Tourist Tree trying to console the disappointed Aiiyah who didn’t get his Shiner Bock. He had a Laurel Double Bock instead while Tree drank a Dog Fish Brown Ale.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 
Our fried pickle chips arrived at our table sizzling hot. They were so fresh and hot from the fryer that I could not even pick them up but these pickle had a nice taste to them and the spice in the thin batter had given the chips a good spicy after-kick. The caveat was you had to eat them hot. Once they had cooled down, they became soggy and quite greasy. The spicy mayo sauce did not excite me. It was more of a distraction.
 

After some arm twisting, I was able to persuade the Gringo Tree to forgo one of her favorite food groups by skipping the burrito and go up the food chain for the ribs instead. Both the pork and the beef ribs arrived at the table stacked high like wood ready for a bonfire. They also arrived dry with no sauce on them but grilled nicely with some char on the meat.
 
 
 
 

Pork Ribs

Beef Ribs

The pork rib was tender but not falls-off-the-bone tender. The side view showed no pink smoke ring on the meat. Was this Texas rib smoked at all? The rub on the rib tasted decent but there was no character in it. Whatever spices used for the rub did not get carried into the meat which was moist but…, bland.

There were two bottles of BBQ sauces on the table, sweet and spicy. The sweet sauce was, sweet; but it also suffered from a lack of character as with the rib. There was nothing special about it. The spicy version was marginally better with a little more taste in the flavor department but not in the spicy area. It was also a bit too much on the sweeter side.

The beef ribs were big. They were attractive and looked delicious. They were quite tender and juicy but a bit too much on the fatty side, even more so than this cut of meat should had been. The meat was more flavorful than the pork rib but that probably due more to the fact that beef in general has more flavor than pork instead of a well execution of a properly used spice rub to bring the flavor out.

I enjoyed eating the beef ribs more so than the pork ribs; not because they were that good, but because, unfortunately, it was just better than the other.

The cole slaw was in perfect alignment with the rest of our meal; nothing absolutely wrong but just a simple lack of flavor and hence, character. The carrots in this dish did add a very nice and refreshing crunch to the otherwise underperformance of this ensemble.


Something that I did enjoy was the Texas toasts that came with the ribs. Each piece was toasted just right and with the right amount of crunchiness and softness. Perfect for soaking up the grease from the ribs.

 
This restaurant has everything going for it: The concept, the décor, the vibe, and even a rowdy crowd to go with the bar. Unfortunately, the kitchen could not turn out food that would put this place where it should be. It has the potential but it did not seize the opportunity to tap into that potential. At times, it seemed the kitchen purposely had turned its attempt to dial down the food to suit the gringo taste; much like an “authentic” Chinese restaurant making Egg Foo Yong and Chow Mein for the indifferent Gweilo taste.
The same can be said for the service. We sat at the bar for a good many minutes before we were served despite the bartender walking back and forth in front of us during the entire period tending to mundane things. Our waiter was cheerful and helpful when he first came to the table. It did take him a while to come back to take our order and he did return after our main dishes were delivered. That was the last we saw of him until I went searching for him for the check after our meal and had been sitting around for a while with an empty table while the deafening noise was becoming painful. May be, it was this same noise that had turned off my brain function for taste which had made our dinner uneventful.

The lackluster performance of this restaurant was a surprise considering that this place is owned by the same entity who also owns the very well-received Bar Ferdinand across the walkway. So El Camino Real has not been real enough to be a contender for good BBQ in the city. I do not know how the “Mex” side of the menu fares but judging from the “Tex” side, I am not holding out much hope. I would return to this place on a quieter night for a nicely chilled Shiner Bock with some fried pickles before going to dinner somewhere else, with a pair of eye plugs.

 

 

Beer Week Super Blog Pt 8

Day Ten


Local 44

It was the last day of the Beer Week. We returned to Local 44 for a special occasion with seven beers from Russian River Brewery on tap. It was billed as the largest gathering of Russian River beers on the East Coast, and it was probably true. Personally, I had hardly seen any of its beers outside of the West Coast and I definitely had not seen seven of them on draft in Philadelphia at the same place at the same time.

We arrived sometime around 1:30PM and the place was quite crowded. Two of the seven beers had kicked already! We were surprised and impressed to find out that people started lining up outside the bar at 10:30 in the morning for the 11:30AM opening!

While Tourist Tree was deciding which beer to get first after squeezing herself up to the bar, the guy sitting next to her gave her a quick run down on all the beers. He had all seven of them already!


I really wanted to try the Consecration since it is aged in cabernet barrels. Unfortunately, it along with Pliny the Younger were gone already. We started with the Domination and the Rejection. I liked the Belgium style Domination (7% ABV) a lot. It’s creamy and buttery with bits of malt. The Rejection (6.1%) was a Belgium style black beer that was a bit on the bitter side. I was told that it was brewed for the Valentine’s Day. Nice!

We had the Blind Pig (6%) next. It’s hoppy and Toutist Tree liked it. I enjoyed the Salvation very much. It was sweet and very easy tasting. It reminded me of a mild porter even though it was made in Belgium style. I guess you would be saved if you did drink enough of this 9% beer.

The last we had was the double IPA, Pliny the Elder (8%) which was very nice too with its hoppy but sweeter taste. (Picture above: Notice the two Fullers on casks. Yes! )

The crowd thinned out a bit as the afternoon moved on. We managed to get a few seats by the bar so we could relaxingly enjoy our beers and have……


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Breakfast BLT


It’s so simple yet it’s so good. A basic BLT sandwich with the addition of an egg and some seasoned mayo. When you bite into the sandwich, the egg yoke breaks and oozes all over it. The crunchiness of the toasted bread, the crispiness and the salt from the bacon, the refreshing tomato and lettuce, plus the egg yoke…need I say more? This was the perfect item for a late brunch with a beer! The added bonus is the never-too-greasy chips made in-house which are good to have at anytime. I only wish that they would use a more upscale bacon, like thick pieces of applewood smoked bacon, instead of run of the mill variety.

We met Derrick and Erin at the Memphis Tap Room the week before. They are regulars there since they live just around the corner. They are also serious marathon runners. Should I dare to guess that beer is part of their training regimen? Besides being fellow Fat Tire Beer fans with Tourist Tree, we discovered that they are also PTs!

When the conversion turned to Fat Tire Ale again, we found another fan sitting on the other side of us. He was on the way to the sold-out Zythos America Beer Fest at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. He was having a warm-up beer before heading into some serious Belgium beer tasting.

While Aiiyah had a Fuller’s London Pride for his brunch dessert; Tourist Tree needed something a bit more substantial: A truffled chocolate-covered pretzel from Naked Chocolate.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The talented Doctor Professor multi-tasking by walking and enjoying her delight from Naked Chocolate.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Capogiro
 

It would only be appropriate to end the Beer Week with an afternoon snack at Capogiro with one of the beer flavored gelatos. We continued our experimentation pairing the beer gelato with other flavors: Rogue Chocolate Stout with Straccitella, and Rogue Chocolate Stout with Café Mocha. We liked both combinations very much, with each having its own distant taste.

 

 

Mémé

Cured Foie Gras, Dates, Bacon, “Monte Cristo”

We celebrated the Foie Gras Week with this $5.00 special offered just for the occasion. A piece of cured foie gras on top of an ensemble of bread, bacon, and dates, fried Monte Cristo style; topped with balsamic vinegar and with a sprinkle of sea salt. Absolutely delicious with the smoothness of the foie gras, crispiness of the bread and the bacon, sweetness from the dates, saltiness of the bacon and the sea salt, plus the added dimension of the balsamic.

Watercress, Red Cabbage, Grapefruit, Leek

The salad was very nice with the mixture of the fruitiness of the grapefruit and crunchiness of the vegetables. The dressing was very nice and not overwhelming. We particularly liked the crunchy fried leeks in the mix.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Chicken, Roasted Mushroom, Sweet Onion Grits, Maderia


This chicken dish is listed under the “Plate for Two” section of the menu. The chicken was brined overnight (I think). Then the breasts were slow cooked sous-vide while the legs were cooked in duck fat. It was finished off in the oven just before leaving the kitchen.

 
 
 

For somebody who is usually not a chicken eater unless it is fried beyond recognition, I have to say that this chicken was very tasty! The meat was juicy, tender, and full of flavor. I do not like white meat but I even tried a little bit of Tourist Tree’s and agreed that it was very well done and full of the natural taste. We liked the roasted shiitake mushrooms a lot. They were not big but meaty and done with great flavoring with the natural Madeira chicken jus.
 
 
 
 

The sweet onion grits were served on the side. They were very thick in consistency. The sweetness of the onion was a nice counter-balance to the seasoning on the chicken.


The chicken itself was on the small side for me, even as an organic bird. If I were very hungry, I would have no problem eating the whole plate by myself. I am not a big fan of restaurants who promote “for two” or “for sharing” dishes. Just be honest with what is on the plate and leave me, the diner, to decide whether it is for one person for two. Regardless, this particular chicken was a solid dish and these two diners enjoyed it very much.


Day Ten Beer Tally: Russian River Domination, Rejection, Blind Pig, Salvation, Pliny the Elder; Fuller’s London Pride.

The Keg is Kicked


The Philly Beer Week came and went in a blink of an eye. Although we could only do a fraction of the organized activities, we did manage to enjoy a lot of different beers, most of which we never had before, plus some of our old favorites; and even some beer flavored gelatos, cheese, and food. We enjoyed all ten days of this week very much. We had a wonderful time going to different places, tasting new beers, participating in activities (silly or not), eating interesting food, and spending quality time with each other. However, what we treasured most was the experiences we had with all the people we met and the fun we had with them over a beer or two. That was unexpected and a nice surprise to us. We met people from all walks of life, backgrounds, ages, sexes…. Some highly educated, some very artistic, some a bit unique, but they were all super friendly and down to earth with no problems striking up a conversation on topics that sometimes even bewildered us. We might have been all different before we walked through the door but once we were inside, everybody shared the common love of good beer.

For everything we had spent during this Beer Week, we could have had a wonderful dinner at an upscale French restaurant with a bottle of Ch. Margaux or Rothschild, or both. But it would never equal the experiences that we had during those 10 days of Beer Week, particularly those interesting interactions with all the wonderful people we had met. That was priceless!

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Benjamin Franklin

Aiiyah finally drinking something healthy: Water

Beer Week plus one day: Off to detox!!!

Beer Week 2009 Super Blog Pt 7

Day Nine

Couch Tomato


The Doctor Professor said, “It’s important to have a good nutritious lunch.” We went to Couch Tomato for a relaxed meal and plan for the day’s festivities. We love this place since it makes everything fresh everyday.

Contrary to our programmed behaviors, we did not get any pizza despite the intoxicating aroma of the fresh sizzling pizza pies coming out of the hot oven that kept waving to us and gesturing “come with me…come to me…”

 
 
 
 
 
 

Portabella Salad and Tomato Cilantro Soup
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Blazing Saddles Wrap
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The salad was made with portabella mushroom, goat cheese, sun-dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds. I chose the balsamic vinaigrette with this salad and tossed in the addictive and slightly garlicky croutons. The soup was made with nicely pureed tomatoes and cilantro. I loved the thick consistency of the soup and that little kick of spicy aftertaste. It was great dipping the warm wheat bread in it. The wrap was made with black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, bell peppers, sweet corn, and tortilla chips. It was basically a salad wrapped inside a soft tortilla and came with salsa and sour cream on the side. I do not understand the concept of this food contraption but Tourist Tree loves her wraps.

 

R: It was the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. We ran into a friendly Leprecon in front of McShea’s giving out gold coins.

 

 

L: Totally nothing to do with Beer Week but beer related: Whole Food was doing Irish cheese tasting. This Kerrygold Stout Cheddar is made with Guinness and was delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kite and Key

We could not make it to Kite and Key early enough and missed perhaps one of the most entertaining events for the week. The Throwndown in Franklintown pitted the “slightly heavier” owner of the Yards Brewery against the very much slimmer owner of Kite and Key in a sumo match completed with geisha girls, live music, etc. The entertaining video for this comedic event is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6p-J2KEfkM

Blogger “Brewlounge” has posted the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89461323@N00/show/

We finally arrived at Kite and Key for the Founders beer event in the very late afternoon with the place pretty much overrun by people in various forms of green attire carousing their pseudo Irish bloodline while imbibing the cheapest beer on special.

Luckily, there were a good number of beer geeks there to appreciate the finer selection of the more interesting beers on tap. We didn’t get the chance to talk to the Founders reps but we did get to enjoy some of its extreme beers.


 
 
 
 
L: Beer geek attire complete with a mug on the head.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R: St. Paddy’s attire with flashing lights.

 

 

We loved the Backwoods Bastard. It’s a 10.2% ABV Scottish ale aged in bourbon barrel with distinctive taste of a scotch whisky with sweetness, caramel and nuts. We also had some Breakfast Stout (8.3%) which is one of Aiiyah's favorites with its chocolate and coffee flavors. And as you know, a good breakfast is so important! As a “two-fer”, the caffeine in the beer also would get us going for the rest of the night.

L: Tree rejoices that the Mad Elf is still on tap.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

R: Aiiyah needs one of these green bowties for next year.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

POPE


It’s Ginger Night at the POPE. Ginger beers and gingers! Both Yards and Tröegs were bringing their ginger beers there in firkins. I hadn’t had ginger beer in a long time, so with my own ginger in tow, we headed to there.

It was an interesting change of scenery from our previous stop. There was hardly anybody in green but there sure were a lot of redheads!

The Yards Ginger Beer was, interesting. There might be a hint of ginger in the mix but I didn’t think it was gingerly enough. I like a ginger beer to have enough of a significant kick from its namesake ingredient. That was a bit disappointing. The Trögs was even more, interesting. It was hoppy. It was reddish in color. It was…not a taste of ginger! What’s going on?



 
 
 
 
We ran into Nick from Tröegs later in the night. He revealed to us that there was a production problem at the brewery and they just couldn’t get the ginger beer done to their satisfaction. So the firkin that we were drinking was actually the Hopback. A-ha! I knew it! I knew there was something wrong with that ginger beer! Bait and switch! But Tourist Tree loved it.
 

Ginger drinking: Pose number 1.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ginger drinking: Pose number 2.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ginger drinking: Pose number 3.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

R: Aiiyah found a new friend with a panda bear tattoo on her arm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

L: Tree found her tree house outside the bar.

 
 
 
 Le Virtù


After a nice amount of beer enjoyment (Nick insisted on buying us a few extra rounds of Trögs even though he was drinking Yards himself. Hum…), we were in desperate need of dinner. We took a pass on Izumi up the street since the place was still pretty crowded plus we didn’t feel like sushi that night. We walked into Los Caballitos but there was a 45 minutes wait even at way past 9:300PM! We had a decent meal at Le Virtù last summer followed by a disastrous one. I was very hesitant when we walked in this time but it was getting late and they could seat us immediately.

We were greeted by the warmed cheese bread while we were waiting for the dinner. These soft and airy little snacks tasted so good after several hours of tasting beer. They re-energized our taste buds.

The antipasto platter was impressive. There were frittata, crostini with roasted pepper, grilled eggplant, grilled artichoke, mozzarella, cheeses, olives, prosciutto and various other cured meats, olive paste, plus a few other items. I could just have that as a meal.

 

 

 

Scrippelle M’Busse

The soup contained several “crepes” holding pecorino in a chicken broth. The crepes were soft and tender but filling. The soup was excellently done with chicken pieces in it.

 

 

 

Waiting for the main course.

Fazzoletti al Ragu d’Anatra


“Handkerchief” pasta in braised duck and beef ragù with shaved parmigiano. The pasta was very tasty and satisfying but the duck was the dominant taste in this dish.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Timballo di Scrippelle


Seven pecorino crepes layered with tiny meatballs, tomato sauce, spinach, mozzarella and parmigiano. This dish reminded me of a lasagna. I believe it was the same type of crepes used in the soup. They were puffy and fluffy in this dish. The “tiny meatballs” were indeed tiny! They were the size of something you pick out of a nose! Aside from the disappointment with the size of the meatballs, the dish was indeed quite palatable. Although I would like to see a bit more sauce in it.

We realized that it was the newly minted billionaire and Eagles owner, Jeff Lurie, sitting at the table next to us.

Le Virtù delivered a pretty solid meal. The antipasto was quite awesome. The soup was a good comfort food item with a nice home-made touch. We enjoyed both pasta dishes but I much preferred the handkerchief with the braised duck and beef ragù over the seven layered crepes. The service was quite nice but not in the outstanding category. We were a bit surprised to find that the absolutely horrible waiter who contributed greatly in ruining our experience there the time before was still working at the restaurant, although as a runner on this night. He must be related to the owner!


Day Nine Beer Tally: Founders Backwoods Bastard, Breakfast Stout; Yards Ginger Beer, Tröegs Hopback (multiple rounds thanks to Nick).

Beer Week 2009 Super Blog Pt 6

Day Eight


It’s Friday the 13th! With so many great events being held on this day, we had problems deciding which ones to attend without losing our sanity. I wanted to go to the Grey Lodge for the “Friday the Firkinteenth” but the thought of fighting the potential mob in order to get near a firkin greatly diminished my enthusiasm even though all those firkins (last heard was 30 and counting) were calling my name. I could have gone at 9:00AM when the event started, but I just couldn’t be one of those” he-men” to have beer for breakfast and certainly did not want to be drunk by noon (or at anytime) as reported in the Houston Chronicle*. Plus, we all had more important things to do during the day…until Tourist Tree read the “Smok’Em If You’ve Got ‘Em” event description. “Well..., I could possibly get my work done sooner so we can go after lunchtime, “ said the Doctor Professor.

Yards Brewery

The promise of over 20 smoked beers, 3 BBQ venders, an amateur BBQ smoke-off, and even Holts cigars had successfully lured us out in the middle of an afternoon even though we had tried to avoid any events that had the potential for having a large crowd.

 
 

We showed up slightly after 2:00PM. We could only find Tommy Gunns there but it already had run out of meats. No sight of Sweet Lucy’s or El Camino Real but there were an ample number of amateur competitors there eagerly giving out their creations for the masses to taste. There were ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, chili, meatballs….
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, the mob was there but the 17 beers on taps and the 5 in bottles were keeping everybody happy and moving. Even with the amount of people there, the place was not unbearably jam packed.

We tried the New Holland Brewing Smoking Jacket Stout – smoky, sweet, taste of BBQ; Flying Dog Dog Schwarz (7.5%ABV) – dark and malty; Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier (5.5%) – interesting; Trackside Brewing Smoked .45 (7%) – sweet, citrus, good with BBQ; Stewart’s Brewing Smoked Porter (5.4%) – a bit bitter and malty; Stouts Brett’s Scotch Ale (6.5%) – light tasting and a bit sour; Bethlehem Brew Work Rauch Bock (6.8%) – taste of caramel; Roy Pitz Brewing Ludwig’s Revenge (5%) – taste of coffee, slightly sour note; Sierra Nevada Smoked Imperial Porter (7.8%) – good smoky taste; Yards/Iron Hill Smoked Pol (5.8%) – nothing special; Stone Brewing Smoked Porter (5.9%) – very good; plus a home-brewed hefeweizen that was handled to us by a BBQ competitor which was very good.

An ingenious way of serving a pulled pork sandwich.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Entertainment.
 
We didn’t do the rest of the offering since we either had them before, the kegs were kicked as the afternoon was going by or we just didn’t get to them: Triumph Brewing Scotch Ale (8%); Iron Hill Rauch Bier (5%); Sly Fox Rauch Bier (5.2%); Oskar Blues Smoked On The Water (7%); Left Hand Smokejumper Imperial Porter (9.2%); Home Sweet Homebrew Smokin” Hole (5%); Sly Fox Smoked Imperial Porter (8.2%); Spezial Rauch Bier (5%); Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock (6.5%); Aecht Schlenkerla Weisse (5.2%).
 

It was a busy place with people coming and going. There was even a shuttle bus running between the brewery and The Grey Lodge.

Baby mama brought the family out.

Blogger Bryan Kolesar aka “Brewlounge” captured us in one of his pictures.

 

Tree and Suz, aka blogger “Beerlass”. She has a picture of us on her site too. Cool!

Announcing the results for the BBQ smoke-off.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!

Capogiro

Rogue Chocolate Stout and Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic gelato.

Tourist Tree’s two favorite food groups: ice cream and beer.

Capogiro had another new flavor for the Beer Week, Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic. I was never a big fan of fruity beers, however, this lambic was brewed with raspberries and made quite an interesting gelato.

A very nice outfit on a cold spring day.

Perfect afternoon snacks after the Smoke‘Em event: Lindeman’s Framboise with Peanut Butter Chocolate on left and Rogue Chocolate Stout and Peanut Butter Chocolate on right.

La Colombe

We had a little intermezzo before the evening festivities. IMHO, La Colombe is the best coffee roaster in town…, or in many towns that we have been.

Tir Na Nog

We took a walk to Tir Na Nog since the Irish Tree would like to meet the Brewmaster from Guinness. However, he was a no-show.

Marathon Bar

We then walked over to Marathon for the Lion Brewery but it was a non-event. The bar only had a few in bottles hidden in the back fridge with the Lion rep sitting in the corner. Nothing on draft, no crowd, nobody paying attention. Lame!!!

Misconduct Tavern

After walking a huge circle half way through town, we were delighted to find Harpoon at Misconduct. I have been a fan of Harpoon for years, unfortunately it is mostly available in bottles only in this area. It was a pleasant sight to see it on tap. Tourist Tree became a fan from drinking the limited release Scottish style ale Firth of Forth last year.

We did the tasting flight and started with the Apple Cider (4.1%). Very light, very easy drinking, perfect for quenching our thirst from all the walking. The Catamount Maple Wheat (6.8%) was a limited release from February. It was slight sweet with hints of maple from the brewing. We liked it very much. The Quad was a hoppy Belgian style Dubbel packing an 11.75% ABV. It was a bit on the intense side but not too overwhelmingly. Pretty awesome! There was also the limited release Rauchfetzen Smoked Ale which was pretty impossible to find anywhere, but we didn’t want to do the 22oz bottle since we still had another stop or two to make. We did score some freebie handouts from the rep after doing some beer talking with him.

Good Dog

It’s the Sly Fox vs. Southampton Firkin Beer-Off. Whoever kicks its firkin first won.

The bar was pretty packed when we got there. Tourist Tree was trying to get a Sly Fox Seamus Red from the firkin set up in the front by the entrance, while I slowly tried to get through the crowd to get a Southampton Irish Red set up at the back. I almost made it when a big cheer went off. The Irish Red firkin was kicked! It only took 22 minutes! Three minutes later, the Seamus Red was kicked too, right after Tourist Tree got herself a mug. (Picture right: The guy from Southampton accepting his trophy.)

The place was crowded but festive.

No Irish Red but we had the Seamus Red.

Tourist Tree got a freebie Southampton shirt.

Running into familiar faces.

Ladies posing with their new fashion accessories

No idea how this trend was started.

With both firkins kicked, Tourist Tree switched to the Flying Fish Good Fish which Flying Fish brews just for the Good Dog, while I had a Southampton Barton Pale Ale. The Good Fish has been one of Tourist Tree's favorite beverages at Good Dog. I liked the Barton Pale Ale. It would be a good beer with BBQ.

10 Arts

We have had several very nice fine dining experiences at 10 Arts. I have enjoyed many dishes there like the tuna carpaccio, bouillabaisse, short ribs, etc. Chef Carroll also makes a killer mac n’ cheese. Ever since that restaurant opened, I have been wondering what her burger would be like? With all her experience at the Le Bernardin kitchen, could she do a simple American comfort food right?

After having “a few” beers this day, a burger sounded like a very logical choice for a late dinner!

 
 
 
 
 
 

The meat was nicely packed together and grilled to our request with cheddar melted nicely on top. The onion was sliced razor thin and the lettuce was sliced into thin strips and piled on the tomato and the slightly pickled cucumber slices. We were intrigued by cucumber slices since it tasted very fresh and crunchy but had only a very slight hint of pickle. I thought it was fresh cucumber until Tourist Tree pointed out the slightly pickled touch. There was also a light touch of a mild horseradish sauce on the bun which worked quite nicely with the vegetables. We both liked our juicy burgers very much and I particularly like the fine dining touch on them. The fries were nicely done but there was a bit too much salt in it for my taste.

I want to point out that the service was absolutely superb. Attentive yet not intrusive, friendly yet professional and the attention to details were excellent. We enjoyed our burger meal at 10 Arts very much.

Running into old friends after dinner.

Day Eight beer tally: New Holland Brewing Smoking Jacket Stout; Flying Dog Dog Schwarz; Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier; Trackside Brewing Smoked .45; Stewart’s Brewing Smoked Porter; Stouts Brett’s Scotch Ale; Bethlehem Brew Work Rauch Bock; Roy Pitz Brewing Ludwig’s Revenge; Sierra Nevada Smoked Imperial Porter; Yards/Iron Hill Smoked Pol; Stone Brewing Smoked Porter; a home-brewed hefeweizen; Harpoon Apple Cider, Catamount Maple Wheat, Quad; Sly Fox Seamus Red; Flying Fish Good Fish; Southampton Barton Pale Ale.


*“Drunk by noon? Perfectly acceptable in Philly” Houston Chronicle, March 6, 2009.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6298546.html