Archive for category Pub
New World Tavern, Plymouth
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub, Restaurant Review on November 24, 2013
Here in the Dog House we have a policy: If you can’t say anything nice about a restaurant, don’t write a review.
Such was the case a few years back when we visited the New World Tavern. We ordered a couple of classic pub dishes — a Middle Eastern sampler and chicken wings — and found them to be so tampered-with as to be unrecognizable, and terrible. We’ve blocked out the details, but it was something like hummus made with butternut squash instead of chick peas, garnished with peppermint sticks. Something like that.
But during a recent visit to the Waterfront Grille in New Bedford, Brenna, our enthusiastic bartender, told us a new chef has dramatically improved the food at the New World Tavern. The context was that we should stop by the Pillory Pub at the Plymouth waterfront sometime before it closes for the season on December 1, because she works there nights and it’s a cool spot, then head up the hill to the New World Tavern for dinner. Her perspective was a combination of restaurant insider and Chamber of Commerce pitchperson, and we were sold.
So with no other plans for a chilly Saturday evening, we headed over to Plymouth’s waterfront. The Pub is across the street from the state park that houses the famous rock and the Mayflower II, and its expanse of open windows is probably a great vantage point for people-watching on a warm summer evening. Approaching the Pub with November winds whistling across the harbor, we were a little alarmed to see the accordion windows peeled back to expose patrons huddled in blankets. The heat is well managed inside, though, and Brenna served up a Mayflower IPA on tap for the Big Dog and a 14 Hands cabernet for Gina.
We walked up North Street to Court Street to find the New World Tavern packed with people, but with minimal effort we slid into a tall cafe table next to six 20-somethings who were out on the town, and listened for a while to Tom Fey singing folksy music and accompanying himself on a guitar.
The beer is the star of the show here, and the New World Tavern touts its 32 beers on tap and 120 bottles. The Big Dog chose Mayflower’s seasonal, Thanksgiving Ale, and while Kelly our server clearly thought that was a good choice, the Dog found it surprisingly more like a stout and less hoppy than his usual IPA. Gina ordered serviceable cabernet.
The Big Dog ordered a chicken proscuitto sandwich ($12), a salty concoction served on a ciabatta roll, with the slab of proscuitto topped with asiago and a big pile of arrugula. We liked it, and liked the crisp waffle fries that came with it.
Gina is on a quest to find the best fish tacos in New England, and wasn’t disappointed here. Nuggets of fried fish were served with a fresh tomato salsa and topped with a tangy buttermilk sauce. For $14 it was a fairly generous portion of three flour tortillas strung together on a skewer. The menu mentions pineapple and salsa verde, both of which, if present at all, were very subtle. The tacos were very good.
As we ate, crowds were streaming in to see The Sleepeaters in the back room, an intimate venue with a second bar. Up front, we could hear the band open with the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers,” but the volume didn’t preclude normal conversation.
Brenna was right about the New World Tavern, and on our way back to the car we stopped in to tell her so. The menu is weighted towards pub specialties that pair well with beer — pizzettas and burgers each have their own section — with some interesting surprises, like braised rabbit, that we’ll have to return and try. But it was also clear that the days of freeform experimentation are gone. The experience was enough to make us rethink our rule, to say: If you can’t say anything nice about a restaurant, give it another try.
New World Tavern
56 Main Street, Plym0uth, MA
thenewworldtavern.com
Inn on Shipyard Park, Mattapoisett
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub on April 28, 2013
We hardly ever dine at the standard times. The Big Dog is usually working at what others would consider lunch and dinner time, and it just seems weird to be in from the sunshine at noon. The downside to our approach is that we don’t necessarily observe how the waitstaff handles a busy room, and in the case of the Inn on Shipyard Park, our midafternoon lunch/dinner meant we probably missed a rollicking crowd. But what we got was the full attention of Tom, the pleasant bartender, and the skilled kitchen.
You may remember the Inn on Shipyard Park as the Kinsale Inn, an old-timey pub in Mattapoisett’s quaint downtown overlooking the charming Mattapoisett Harbor. They describe themselves as “the oldest seaside inn in the nation,” but the fact is, when you’re deep inside this rustic restaurant, you might as well be in Scottsdale for all the seaside you see.
But so what. We sat at the bar and watched ESPN, and had one of the best late lunches we’ve enjoyed in a long time.
We started with lobster egg rolls ($12). There was the expected kvetching about what the menu called “fresh curry mango chutney” but which tasted like mayonnaise mixed with pineapple juice. We didn’t really care, because the egg rolls were so delicious on their own — crunchy on the outside and meltingly moist on the inside. We think the stuffing was simply cooked julienned carrots and cabbage with enough lobster to get some in every sumptuous bite, without an overwhelming lobster flavor.
With the egg rolls behind us and full glasses of Mayflower Seasonal (Spring Hops) and 14 Hands Cabernet, debate ensued. This is not a good menu for those who find decision-making difficult. Through one half-hour segment of SportsCenter, we came up with dozens of appealing combinations, but finally settled on a cobb salad ($12) for her, and “savory meatloaf” ($11) for him, the latter because of a promise of green beans which never materialized.
In their place was a heavenly melange of flavorful summer squashes and red peppers. The meatloaf was mousselike in its lightness, grounded with dollops of gravy. A hearty scoop of mashed potatoes shared the gravy and a dusting of flavorful dried herbs, maybe parsley.
The cobb salad was simply the best we’ve had. The base was spinach. The toppings included a half avocado, a hard-boiled egg, grilled corn that was a tad spongy in April, nearly half a cup of bacon hunks, some bleu cheese, and halved cherry tomatoes. The garnish was a generous serving of grilled chicken slices. This was the kind of salad that makes one wonder why one can’t lose any weight. In fact, there was so much that we brought half the salad home for our “Dog House” dinner.
In all, The Inn is somewhere that we will frequent throughout this next summer season. Looking forward to sharing the experience with friends who we know will enjoy it as we did.
Inn on Shipyard Park
13 Water Street, Mattap0isett, MA
www.theinnonshipyardpark.com
Rye Tavern, Plymouth, MA
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Outdoor Dining, Pub, Romantic Dining on March 29, 2013
The Rye Tavern is located on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The sooner you get over that, and stop worrying about running out of gas or being eaten by bears, the better off you will be.
The structure was built in 1797 and presumably at that time it was on a busy thoroughfare. Today, one dirt entrance takes you past the golf course community known as The Pinehills, and the other brings you in through bucolic horse farms. These are neighbors who think nothing of shelling out 45 bucks for a bottle of Cabernet, as the folks next to us at the bar did. That’s pretty pricey for us canines, but not inconsistent for the menu.
That said, our total before tip, for two appetizers, two entrees, and a bottle of La Fiera Montepulciano ($25), came to just $91. Not bad for an excellent, ample dinner of fresh ingredients, as local as the bitter March winds would allow, prepared at the direction of an expert chef. We happened to be on duty for the first night of a new menu, and we had difficulty making choices.
Our mild red wine arrived alongside a bread basket that the Big Dog thought was the highlight of the dinner — a sweet, cakelike cinnamon bread and an oatmeal bread that probably contained something like pumpkin.
But surely the actual highlight was the carrot and ginger soup ($7) that the Dog ordered as an appetizer. Topped with a dollop of brie and sprinkled with chopped chives, the puree was thick enough to eat with a fork. The sweet carrots were edged out by the spicy ginger in a concoction that transcended the traditional combination.
But no! The real highlight was Gina’s crispy brussels sprout appetizer ($6). Braised sprout leaves fluttered around a puddle of lemon aioli, anchored by meaty sprout halves and sprinkled with teeny candied sunflower seeds. Kathleen, our able bartender, said a previous seasonal menu had omitted the sprouts appetizer, and regulars were very unhappy.
If our entree selections were any indication, Chef Joanna Farrar’s M.O. is to mix the vegetables and starch together, plate it over a ladle of sauce, position the protein on top, and garnish the dish with something interesting. For people who use a divided dish into adulthood, this is a disconcerting approach, but some of us like it. The Big Dog is on the fence about it, and this affected his view of dinner.
He ordered scallops ($23). Five large scallops were seared to a mahogany color while maintaining their juicy interior. The ladle was a rich balsamic glaze. The veggie/starch mix was quinoa, tomatoes, and olives. The garnish was arrugula in a lemony dressing. Despite the Dog’s reservations about quinoa, apparently an acquired taste or texture, there was nothing left to bring home.
Gina’s dish ($25) was a mix of couscous, mushrooms, and peas, topped by two generous and juicy slabs of swordfish, garnished with a bright salsa verde and a scoop of house-made ricotta. She ultimately agreed with the Dog that the combination of everything was overwhelming, but the Divided Dish gene she inherited, along with the ability to separate ingredients with a fork or knife, revealed the individual elements as delicious.
Now, to offset our whining about the bumpy, bear-lined roads, we should mention one feature that will bring us back, and two others that are really cool. We will definitely find our way back to the Tavern to sit outside on the heated patio around a gas fire. The country setting and charming landscape would make this a great spot for outdoor dining or just a gruner veltliner on a summer night. A secondary feature is what they describe as a 2,100 square foot vegetable garden. And finally, imagine wending your way through a two-century-old tavern, complete with what appear to be original features, into a nicely appointed restrooms complete with wooden sinks. No kidding! They’re new, and they’re beautiful.
Plymouth is full of odd antiquities, and here is one that is well off the beaten path — and well worth visiting. We envy the folks for whom this is a neighborhood tavern.
Rye Tavern
517 Old Sandwich Road, Plymouth
www.ryetavern.com
Bittersweet Farm Tavern, Westport, MA
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Family Dining, Pub, Romantic Dining on February 23, 2013
On a snowy winter night, there’s little more welcoming than a basement tavern with a roaring fireplace, dark wood decor, an attentive bartender, the soft murmur of quiet conversations, and excellent food.
Bittersweet Farm Tavern comes close to all that. On our first visit recently, we enjoyed a very good meal. The soft murmur was somewhat marred by the hubbub of a large party preparing for an event upstairs, and by a howling baby. The bartender may ordinarily have been attentive, but was distracted by computer problems.
But we would have to be pretty cranky to let those details spoil our evening. The food was well prepared using fresh-tasting ingredients, and the varied menu enabled each of us to choose our go-to favorites, the dishes we’re always happy to be able to order and about which we consider ourselves to be near-expert. We had a very enjoyable dinner for $100, including tip, with thanks to the Big Dog’s sister Kelly and her family for the Christmas gift certificate that got us out there in the first place.
The Big Dog started with an order of a half dozen oysters. The bartender gave him a choice of Cuttyhunks and Sakonnets and the Dog opted for three of each, to compare. They were easy to tell apart: the Sakonnets were smaller, sweeter, and maintained their delicate mollusk shape, definitely recommended if you ever get the chance.
Next up: two house salads, a medley of fresh mixed greens and other vegetables, with an excellent balsamic dressing.
The Big Dog ordered fish and chips, shown above, and said it was an excellent rendition, with perfect chunky cole slaw in a clever romaine bowl, and really good fish. Very fresh and very delicious, with a light batter. Those big flat fries are rarely any good, and the Dog would likely order something else next time to avoid them.
Gina’s choice was bernaise sauce. It happened to come with a bacon-wrapped filet, but the sauce was just as good on the accompanying broccoli, baked potato, and fork.
The menu at Bittersweet Farm is really quite impressive, with such a range of dishes that it’s difficult to choose. All the more reason to return.
Bittersweet Farm
438 Main Road, Westport MA
www.bittersweetfarm.com
Cranberry’s Restaurant and Pub, Pocasset
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Pub on December 9, 2012
Ella’s in Wareham is widely regarded as one of the best, poshest restaurants in the area, so when Cranberry’s opened just over the Bourne Bridge in June, 2012, with Ella’s Chef Marc Swierkowski creating the menu, we were eager to give it a try. It took us months to actually get there but we finally made it on a recent Saturday, with friends L and N, who were similarly interested to see how the Ella’s experience would translate in a pub atmosphere.
Like Ella’s, the food at Cranberry’s is very good, and a particularly good value. But unlike Ella’s, where the food is augmented by elegant decor and an experienced waitstaff, Cranberry’s doesn’t convey “special night out.” Our waitress was sweet and cheerful, but gave us the impression that it was her first night on the job — any job. When we arrived, the Big Dog observed that the building used to house a dive. So maybe the interior design transition is occurring slowly. The sound of a very good folk duo in the bar subtly helped to overcome the grimness.
We started with a bottle of Dreaming Tree “Crush” — a merlot-zinfandel blend that we liked but not as much as the Dave Matthews vineyard’s cabernet sauvignon. Upon hearing N’s melancholy tale of the mac and cheese with chorizo that Ella’s no longer serves, then her delight when she saw the dish as an appetizer ($8) on Cranberry’s menu, we had to get an order for the table. We agreed it was good, but apparently it wasn’t the same.
Gina and L both ordered the night’s special steak preparation ($24), a ribeye topped with creamed spinach and accompanied by fingerling potatoes. It was thin but delicious, and perfectly cooked.
The Big Dog ordered something called “sheppard’s pie” ($17), whose preparation was as unconventional as its spelling. Featuring braised lamb shank, roasted root vegetables, and celery root mashed potatoes, the dish was short on shank, and made us wonder whether messing with a classic is a good idea. The Dog also got a spinach salad ($9) with a cranberry pear compote whose greens were superb but the the maple cider vinaigrette was a little too sweet.
N ordered a pulled pork sandwich ($10) and asked that the fries be cooked extra crispy. They arrived in a cute little aluminum bucket, just as she wanted them.
We don’t want to sound negative at all — we enjoyed the food and will definitely go back. But on our next visit, we won’t be expecting Ella’s Lite. Instead of getting dressed up and being disappointed in the atmosphere of the dining room, we’ll wear ballcaps and sneakers and sit at the bar, and be pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the food.
Cranberry’s Restaurant and Pub
618 MacArthur Blvd, Pocasset
www.cranberrysrestaurant.com
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