I was chatting with a fellow blogger recently, and mentioned to him that I have a ton of half-written reviews waiting to be finished and posted.  He suggested I just post what I have and finish them as I go.  If this is a good idea, he gets the credit.  If this is a bad idea, he was kidding and it's all on me.  Either way, go check out his blog: The GIN is IN.

Blackbirds

41-19 30th Avenue
Astoria, NY 11103

You should know

Chris and I decided to go for a walk in the new neighborhood late one Sunday night and see what kind of dining establishments were still serving dinner.

One little place had drink specials and wing specials during all football games, and since one was on at that moment, we figured, "Why not?"

So?

So of course Chris was nice and distracted by the game, but I expected that.  He got the wings ("1/2 dozen or one dozen.  Hot, medium, sweet & sour, and honey bbq, and I got a Blackbird's Burger("8-oz. burger served with fresh lettuce, tomato, and onion. Add 50¢ for a topping of your choice: bleu cheese, american, cheddar, mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms, sautéed onions, or bacon.  Add 1 dollar for avocado or goat cheeseburger.")  Of course, the game night menu is not as clear as the online menu as to what does or does not count as an additional topping, so I ended up paying a little more than I expected, but it was still good.  The food was good, but not especially impressive.

To drink, I got a Coney Island Lager ("A hybrid mash up of styles between European brewing traditions. Very unusual malt bill and hops that nod strongly at American craft"), which was nice but not amazing, and Chris got a Franziskaner.

The burger was excellent, and Chris enjoyed their wings, though so many places have wing specials that he won't get them unless he's getting the beer included, as well (which is a feature of their late-night menu).

Since then, we've gone back multiple times, usually when we want a late dinner and everyone else has stopped serving food.

Rating

Check it out if you're in the neighborhood
It's definitely worth stopping by if you're around, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to recommend traveling to get there.

The Situation

You know what's great with tapas? Sangria.
For one of my wedding showers, Brian actually made mass amounts of sangria (and mojitos. Go Brian!).

Your Mission

There are a million recipes out there, and while I'm willing to try some, what I want right now is your recommendations of where I can go get the best sangria in Manhattan, Queens, or Nassau County, NY; Philadelphia or Montgomery County; New Jersey; or Dover, DE.
Leave a recommendation in the comments below -- I'll try as many as I can in the weeks ahead, and give you a round-up with the results.

Thanks!

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Image via Wikipedia
Slainte was a disappointment because of the food, but if we had just gone for drinks, it would have been great.

I don't review a lot of bars, because the real appeal is enjoying a beer with my friends. But I have reviewed some -- places with especially great selection or especially bad service, or restaurants whose drinks really impress.

Establishments I've previously reviewed are linked to the appropriate post; in between are some quickie reviews.

Boston Beer Works -- Click to read my previous review.

Cornwall's Restaurant -- Not much of a website, so I'll fill you in. You walk in, and there's a huge bar with a nice draft selection. To your right, a pool hall. To the back, dartboards and a bookshelf crammed with board games. Perfect for chilling with friends.

Crossroads Coffee -- No alcohol, but that doesn't mean you can't hang out over a nice beverage. Click to read my previous review.

Croxley's -- An international beer menu and 10-cent wing nights. The beers can get pricey, so practice moderation and enjoy your chicken.

Derek's -- Click to read my previous review.

Flanigan's Boat House -- Click to read my previous review.

Irish Pub -- No, really, that's the name of the pub. Limited selection of really nice house beers. The everyday menu is not all that remarkable (though there's nothing wrong with it), but their specials are great -- especially the $10 dinners. I got an amazing steak dinner for a Hamilton once!

Kelsey's -- Click to read my previous review.

Kildare's -- A fun experience, but pick your moments; I've been unimpressed with their dinner menu, and on Friday nights it's way too crowded to be fun enough to justify the cover charge. Stopping for a pint between crowds is nice, though, as there are lots of booths and corners for you and your friends to hide in.

Miller's Ale House -- One of Chris's favorites, with good, affordable food; good, affordable drinks; lots of specials; and tons of games on the big-screen TVs. Watch your moments here, too, as different crowds tend to come in waves. Definitely worth learning when the frat boys arrive, whether to attend or avoid.

Old Eagle Tavern -- Within walking distance of my parents' house, it's where I go at the end of an evening with friends. Says Dan: "Great food and beer selection. Reasonable prices. Manayunk atmosphere, Roxborough prices."

Slainte -- Click to read my previous review.

Smokeless Joe's -- Click to read my previous review.

Sunset Grill and Tap -- Click to read my previous review.

Wayne Gretzky's -- Click to read my previous review.


Go forth and drink responsibly -- and have fun!

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Maybe I'm a little bit of a beer snob. I really don't like mass-market beers. And I love microbrews -- and fake microbrews. And there's a lot to be said for brewery tours and tastings if you're looking for something to do in your hometown, or the town you're visiting.

So here is a round-up of some breweries I've toured and microbrews where I've dined.

Allentown Brew Works -- Tasty food, tasty beer, reasonable prices, and they're open on Sunday evenings after everyone else has closed.

Blue Point Brewery -- Chris got me into their Blueberry beer. After the brewery tour, try free samples of most of their beers and cheap samples of the rest -- and buy a jug of your favorites.

Boston Beer Works -- Click for my previous review.

Brooklyn Brewery -- Learn about the history of the brewery and the making of the beer, then settle in their tasting room to try different varieties, order in a pizza, and maybe pet one of the cats if they'll let you.

Iron Hill Brewery -- They have several locations and some great food, and there's typically a real nice dinner special on Sunday nights. Every location I've been to has parking issues, though, so arrive a bit early to look for a spot.

John Harvard's Brew House -- They have good beer and great food. There used to be several locations in the Philadelphia area, but it's probably for the best that there's not anymore -- I could easily get addicted to their lobster bisque. And then there's the burgers and wings and specialty steaks...

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant -- The food is hit-or-miss and the beer is a matter of taste, but it's quite pleasant to sip a sampler while overlooking the Manayunk Canal.

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery -- A tiny bit pricey for dinner, but if you get there while happy Hour is still on, you can fill up on half-price appetizers and inexpensive beers. The King of Prussia location has a brew called Billy Penn's Curse that I love.

Sam Adams Brewery Tour -- A really nice tour, and great tastings -- typically, samples of the Boston Lager, a seasonal, and a specialty brew. The suggested donation of $2 goes toward charity; you get to keep your tasting glass, which costs $2 in the gift shop anyway.

Stoudt's Brewing Company -- If you're lucky, like we were, your tour will be given by Ed Stoudt himself. The man has some very strong opinions about beer. We didn't stay for dinner, but we did snack at the oyster bar, which was very nice.

Steam Whistle Brewing -- A tour and tasting at this Canadian brewery takes place in a historical building in Toronto. They collect, sterilize, and reuse their heavy-duty bottles. Good times.


So, go forth and drink responsibly, and if you're underage or driving, just enjoy the good food.

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Books

Fiction

The Amber Spyglass
Anansi Boys
Bad Twin
Birds Without Wings
Christ the Lord
A Clash of Kings
Dawn
A Game of Thrones
Gilead
The Giver
Gods Behaving Badly
Going Postal
The Golden Compass
The Good Earth
Good Omens
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Imago
The Knitting Circle
Kockroach
Linden Hills
Lonesome Dove
Making Money
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Neverwhere
Parable of the Sower
Practical Demonkeeping
The Road
Silence
The Sparrow
The Subtle Knife
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
A Thread of Grace
The Westing Game
You Suck

Graphic Novels

9-11: Artists Respond Volumes 1 and 2
Gargoyles: Clan Building Volume 1
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Begin
Sluggy Freelance: Little Evils
Watchmen

Nonfiction

The 100 People Who are Ruining America
1776
Abraham: The First Historical Biography
American Bee
Angela's Ashes
As Seen on TV
The Commitment
The Daring Book for Girls
The Devil’s Candy
Everything twitter
Freakonomics
The Gift of Fear
Grayson
I Am America (And So Can You!)
John Adams
Made to Stick
Mark Morris
The Millionaire Next Door
Mommy Grace
My Secret
Night
Offbeat Bride
Please Kill Me
Project Everlasting
Seabiscuit
The Silent Woman
Skipping Towards Gomorrah
Slow Reading
Why Do I Love These People?
Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget

Food

Delaware

The Dog House

Massachusetts

Boston Beer Works
Finale
Sabur
SoulFire
Sunset Grill and Tap
Tasca

New Jersey

Cheeburger Cheeburger
Whitman Diner

New York

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus
Burger Heaven
Cafe Buenos Aires
Grand Lux Café
Hanami Japanese Restaurant
Max Brenner
Peter Luger Steakhouse
Red Lobster
Tio Pepe
Trattoria Lucia

Ontario

Fressen
Groucho’s Gourmet Market
Kelsey’s
Naz’s Falafel House
Richtree Market Restaurant
Smokeless Joe’s
Swiss Chalet
Wayne Gretsky’s

Pennsylvania

Bistro Cassis
California Pizza Kitchen
Crossroads Coffee
Derek's
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Flanigan’s Boat House
Macaroni Grill
Pei Wei Asian Diner
Roller's at Flying Fish
slainte
Sonic
Zake’s Café

Recipes

Wasabi Pea Tuna Salad

Movies

2006

Alpha Dog
Cars
Clerks II
Lady in the Water
Man of the Year
Monster House
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
The Prestige
Snakes on a Plane
Superman Returns
X-Men: The Last Stand

2007

300
Amazing Grace
Ghost Rider
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I am Legend
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
The Simpsons Movie
Spider-Man 3
TMNT
Transformers Wild Hogs

2008

Cloverfield
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Prince Caspian
Wanted

2009

Star Trek
Up
Watchmen

Internet

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Video

Cast Away
Clerks.
Driving Miss Daisy
March of the Penguins
Much Ado About Nothing
Shattered Glass
Sideways
To Kill a Mockingbird

Music

The Dream of Gerontius
Symphony of 1000

To Do and See

New Jersey

Green Room Billiards

New York

American Museum of Natural History
Bronx Zoo
Cooper Station Post Office
Rockefeller Center Tour

Ontario

CN Tower
The Guvernment

Pennsylvania

The Barnes Foundation
Ghost Tour of Philadelphia

Television

West Wing Series Finale

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We need your help, folks.

In this new feature, I'm going to give you a mission: to make recommendations in the comments section.

The situation

Chris and I are going to Italy for our honeymoon.  Pretty sweet, right?

Your mission

Your mission is to recommend places we should go and things we should see.  And I don't want answers like "The Vatican."  I want answers like "In Rome, on the corner of A Street and B Street, there's a cafe.  You absolutely must try their Dish X." 

We'll do as many as we can, and I'll give you a round-up of the results not long after we get back.  Thanks!

slainte

You should know

So?

Rating

The rest of the Internet

Boston Beer Works
61 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Opposite Fenway Park

You should know
Chris had been wanting to take me here for some time, but other things had always come up. Finally, the last time I went up to Boston, we got our chance.

So?
Yes, I understand the Super Bowl is the single greatest annual event in American sports. That doesn’t mean I want to be surrounded by giant plasma TVs showing clips of previous Super Bowls – two or three different ones at once, in fact – while I’m trying to enjoy my meal.

Also, there was a slight chill in the air. I hate sitting in a draft.

I got a Cambridge Burger (“Beer Works® Classic Burger topped with sautéed mushrooms & Swiss cheese, $9.95”) with a Hercules Strong Ale (“The port wine of beers. Barley wine, meaning literally a wine brewed with barley. This beer is quite strong, with a fruity, floral bouquet and a warming, bitter finish. Meant to be sipped as an apéritif, rather than quaffed as a beer”), while Chris got a Dreaded Green Monster (“Grilled chicken breast strips with basil pesto, parmesan & melted mozzarella on a baguette, served with house red sauce & Classic Fries, $9.95”) with a Centennial Alt (“Alt-bier originates from Dusseldorf, and is the German version of a pale ale, with deep amber color and a very malty flavor. Brewed with German malts to provide its signature rich toasted malt flavor, it is lightly hopped with German & American hops”). The food was good – and huge – but not spectacular. I’m not going to veto it next time I’m in a group that wants to go, but I’m probably not going to suggest it, either.

Then again, Chris finds both the food and the beer “awesome.” Boston Beer Works is a microbrewery, and they rotate a good percentage of the beers with the seasons. Every week the selection is different, and each month there are new entrees on special, so it’s possible that any other week I might have had a more positive experience.

Rating
Why not?
While it wasn’t really my thing, there wasn’t anything really wrong with it. If the sports-centric atmosphere (right across from Fenway park and everything) and the food and beers sound appealing to you, by all means check it out. But if your tastes are more like mine, you might not be impressed.

The rest of the Internet
An article on Boston.com.
A write-up at ReelBeer.com.
TableCritic.com offers a non-beer-drinker's perspective.
Lord of the Fries named thirs the Best Fries of 2006.

Sunset Grill and Tap
130 Brighton Ave.
Allston, MA

You should know
Chris invited me, Brian, and Paul to Boston for a weekend. He was excited to take us to this restaurant, because he loves the wide selection of beers they offer.

So?
I had a Kopparbergs Pear Cider to start. It was excellent – sweet and fruity, like a gently sparkling fruit juice. This was dangerous stuff; it didn’t taste hard at all. I highly recommend it. To eat, I had a chicken avocado melt with curly fries (“Golden ale bbq chicken topped with pepper jack cheese, avocado wedges, lettuce and tomatoes on a toasted roll,” $8.50).

Chris had an “interesting” Rapscallion Blessing to drink, and a Cuban Reuben (“Grilled soft loaf bread layered with thinly sliced pickle, ham, pulled pork, imported Swiss cheese, and our ruby-q sauce,” $7.50). He then followed up with a Post Road Pumpkin Ale, which he also described as interesting.

Brian had the steam beer burger (“Our famous ½ lb fresh ground sirloin cooked on our steam grill to preserve its optimal flavor and juices,” $4.89, plus $1.95 for curly fries) and a Vermonter Style Ipswich Harvest Ale that he very much liked.

Paul got a Smuttynose, which he considered “very dry” “no overpowering aftertaste.” His meal was either a special or has been discontinued since then: a T-bone steak with black beans and garlic and scallions.

The waitress also accidentally sent us a pumpkin porter, which was good, but not really my thing. “I hate porters, but this is not bad,” was Chris’s endorsement. Though it’s called a pumpkin porter, it’s really more pumpkin pie spice you can taste, which works pretty nicely. Since no one actually ordered it, she comped it; in other words, the service could have been slightly better, but was pleasant and attentive, and no one was complaining about free beer.

Rating
Check it out
We were all at least satisfied with our meals and drinks; I for one was thrilled with mine. The menu has a lot of variety, though not much for vegetarians, and the beer selection is great.

The rest of the Internet
A review at Boston CityScene.
An article about the Grill at The Man Room.
The restaurant was Beer of the Week at The Oyster.
Beercook tries to replicate the Raspberry Mako Shark Stix.

Wayne Gretzky’s
99 Blue Jays Way
Toronto, Canada
M5V 9G9

You should know
Sorry about last week. I had three papers due over a course of 24 hours, so blogging fell by the wayside. But you know what a skipped week means: not one, not two, but three reviews this week. So stay tuned.

So, another Canadian adventure. We were looking for Second City, and it wasn’t where the guidebook said it would be. So, instead, we went to this neat spots bar owned by The Great One, because hey, it’s Canada. We needed to do something hockey-esque, right? Turns out Second City was attached to Gretzky’s, across the street from where the Fodor's said it would be.

Also, remember that Paul’s girlfriend is a vegan.

So?
We got a plate of nachos. They were good nachos, and huge – Chris, Paul, and I couldn’t finish them between the three of us. Since they weren’t vegan-friendly, Paul’s girlfriend couldn’t eat them, in which case they really could have used some meat. The kitchen was very accommodating, giving us the sour cream and jalapeños on the side since we don’t all like the same things.

The beers were very good, and I was quite happy with my Rickard’s Honey Brown.

The dining room was very nice, and the lounge looked extremely cozy. However, the hallways and bathrooms were on the scary side. To get from the restaurant to the comedy club without leaving the building, you go down a hallway full of memorabilia. Some of this is nice, such as autographed jerseys. Others… less so. Creepy toys and advertising campaigns come to mind, and does anyone really want to be reminded of ProStars?

The bathrooms, though. While you freshen up, Gretzky monologues. I assume it was a book on tape, since he was talking about highlights of his career in what appeared to me, during my quick pit stops, to be a fairly linear manner. Even so – I don’t want anyone, no matter how great a hockey player, offering running commentary of anything while I do my business. Chris found the way Gretzky talked about himself to be downright creepy.

Rating
Fun for hockey fans
The place actually doesn’t alienate the non-sports fans as much as even some supposedly non-sports-bars do. And I was certainly satisfied with the food. Still, it was unmistakably a theme bar, and that might turn some people off. Know what you’re getting into, and then have fun.

The rest of the internet
The Great One's official page.
His Wikipedia entry.
The NHL history page.
Reviews of the restaurant at VirtualTourist.com.

Kelsey’s
4960 Clifton Hill
Niagara Falls , ON

You should know
Remember that Paul’s girlfriend is a vegan; the rest of us are decided omnivores. Oh, right – Paul is the friend Chris and I went to Canada with over the summer. He just recently gave permission to use his name.

Anyway, on our trip, we spent part of the time in Toronto, but before that we went to Niagara Falls.

So?
There wasn’t much available for vegans; she had a salad, hold the cheese, and the salad looked kind of weak, to me. Chris and I both had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, which was very good. While the mixed drinks were good (I had a gin and tonic), the specialty cocktails and beers were watered down. The hard hot chocolate, while very tasty, was pretty weak. The service was adequate; nothing to complain about but not memorably amazing, either.

Also, there was an advertising campaign over the summer that involved overhearing weird conversations. As I recall, they claimed the commercials were based on real conversations overheard in the restaurants. So if you saw a commercial about a bunch ot 20-somethings discussing horses’ civil rights, that was us and I apologize.

Rating
You can do better
While there was nothing wrong with the food, it wasn’t any better than some of the surrounding chain restaurants. Also, if you’re looking for a place to just hang out and have a few drinks, this isn’t the choice.

The rest of the Internet
They have a Wikipedia entry.
The strip where we hung out in Niagara Falls.
Goingwiddershins at L'Heure Verte found a surprise in the salad.

Smokeless Joe’s, bar and restaurant
125 John St.
Toronto, Ontario

You should know
So, more adventures from my trip to Toronto. Our friends picked this place out, and Chris and I were happy to give it a try. There is a bar near Chris that serves beers from all over the world, so he likes variety in a bar.

So?
They didn’t have the first beer I wanted – a maple brown. I’m not a big beer drinker, but I like honey browns, so since I was in Canada, it seemed appropriate to try a maple brown. No such luck. So I had to think fast, and I ordered a Fruli. It was excellent – a strawberry-flavored beer – but it was too small and too weak for the price.

My second drink was a Blackthorn apple cider. It, too, was very good, but a better deal. It came in a can, rather than in a bottle or from the tap, but it tasted great – and was about double both the strength and the size of the Fruli.

Chris, who had tried Leffe Brune in Belgium while on study-abroad, always looks for it when he’s in bars with large, international beer lists. Very few places in the States have it on tap; not many have it at all, in fact. Smokeless Joe’s didn’t have it on tap, but they had plenty of bottles stored in their giant fridge.

No one had anything to eat, so I can’t vouch for the menu, but the oysters certainly looked good, and smelled wonderful. They had a good deal on them, as well. If I'm ever back, I'll definitely have to give them a try.

And, true to the name, the bar was smoke-free. Chris is used to that, since all bars are smoke-free in New York, but in Philadelphia, that’s not the case, so I could really appreciate it.

Rating
Go in prepared
When you’re looking the beer list over, have a second and maybe even a third choice in mind. They don’t always have everything on the list, and if you’re counting on one drink in particular, you might be put on the spot and scrambling to order if they don’t have what you want.

Also, watch your bill. Chris and I got out ok, but our friends spent over C$50 in beer alone. On the plus side, my one friend, who collects pretentious beer bottles, did very nicely for himself.

The rest of the internet
The Bar Towel does a thorough review of the bar.
A profile at BarMeister.com.
Mio at BlogTo was impressed.

Bacon-wrapped asparagus

by Puck Fair
298 Lafayette St, New York, NY.
$5 for four stalks of asparagus.

You should know

It was the last session of class, so we went to a pub afterward to celebrate. I ordered the bacon-wrapped asparagus in a reduction of butter and lime. When it arrived at my table, one of my classmates commented, "Whoever ordered that is a [...] genius."

So?

Yes. Yes, I am. Four stalks of asparagus were displayed on my plate, in two pairs, each tightly bound with either two large or three medium slices of bacon (I couldn't tell). The asparagus was cooked perfectly, tender with not a rough spot to be found. The bacon was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. My only complaint was that I couldn't have both bacon and asparagus in every bite. It was OK, though -- each element picked up the flavor of the other. I couldn’t taste the lime in the sauce, but that was OK, because I don't particularly care for lime anyway.

I also ordered a gin and tonic with lemon. Like I said, I don't much like lime. It was a bit smaller than I've gotten at other places, but a good mix -- strong, but not overpowering.

Rating

Food: Try this. No, now. Drink: No complaints.
Some readers may have food allergies, or despise asparagus, or not eat bacon for religious or personal reasons. This is fine. Those readers get a pass. But everyone who likes, or even tolerates, both bacon and asparagus should make it a point to try this.

The rest of the Internet

According to the Food Network, it's easy to make, besides.
Puck Fair is also an Irish Festival.
George at Bike riding donut guy found that bacon vastly improves asparagus.
Bar Man at 1000 Bars gave Puck Fair good reviews.

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