Sunday, June 13, 2010

Gastropub Review: THE BRC


Checked out this spot over the weekend with the Misses. We've heard tell of a great new gastropub, and sure enough this place delivered. We get in the BRC around 1PM and it kinda packed. Lots of shirts and ties for the late lunch crowd. There were even a couple middle-aged businessmen there with their 19 year old daughters, how sweet. They sat us at the wall couch kinda close up with the other patrons. Lots of red and white colors, smallish bar with a flatscreen off in the cut. You can't see the TV from most of the seats in the restaurant, but we can live.

I did the old three beer thing. First a beer for appetizer and I notice a new one, Twisted Pine.

Beer Log: Last Friday
State: kinda hungry, chilling at the BRC
//Damn you've gotta drink this Sunburn quick, or it goes bad fast.

Twisted Pine Blonde Ale
Since it's hot as balls out there, I felt the need to drink some lighter stuff. Kinda breay and sweet, served muy frio in a frosted glass. I'll allow it since it's a blonde ale and I'm still sweating, even in the AC. Nice hint of fruit, like apricot and noble hops. It's shyte load better than this week-old Widmer Sunburn I'm drinking right now, and with the variety pack of Twisted Pine we just picked up, I have a half a mind to grab another Blonde Ale right now. Low 3 Stars.

The White Wine mussels were on special and I decided to break my rule of never getting "the special" at a restaurant, especially on my first time there. The mussels were very well done with the cream sauce and some andouillie sausage for flavor. But the fries, oh WOW! Just slightly crispy on the outside, and soft in the middle. If these guys did not use the twice-cook method Alton Brown espouses, I would be shocked. I'm thinking they baked these fries first, then QUICKLY seared them in grease. Or just spritzed some olive oil on the baked fries and turned up the flame to broil. But whatever. Everything went great with the North Coast Pranqster. They served it with some sort of a hot sauce syrup for dipping sauce, which was just that, some mixture of hot sauce and maple syrup, which sounds like something we would take shots of at the IHOP in Buckhead at 3AM while in Grad School, but this little sauce was STELLAR with the mussels and fries.

Lastly I got the skillet griddle with the Real Ale Devil's Backbone. Very well done as well. The sandwich was something resembling a patty melt (patty melts are awesome), but the meat was pulled beef bbq, and the cheese was some Oregon cheddar and Pola Moonster. And MORE fries. Hell-f8ck-yeah!

It's creative places like this that will make you want to live in Heights/Midtown/Upper Kirby if you are a foodie and/or beerman. Not to mention it reminds me of one of the old school wrestlers.

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