Monkeying Around

So, the Food Pimp has been working a lot ever since I ..... stopped working.  So, that combined with me not really bringing in income, means we haven't been going out so much.  Last Thursday though, the FP finally had a day off.  A good day, to go to the bar.  So, our go to bar is the Bluefoot, but we've been eyeing the new bar down the street as it's been remodelled.  It had opened the week before, so we were excited to go there.

Previously, it was the Jewel Box.  We went there once.  We really liked the joint, but for whatever reason we never went back.  But, now it's another one of Scot Blair's bars.  We like Small Bar.  Hamilton's, there's something about the place that never endeared us to that place.  And we've never been to Eleven.  Anyway, the chalkboards give away the fact that it's a Blair bar.  Each bar has the big chalkboard with very similar beer lists and very artistic chalk skills.  And they also have other boards with very elaborate illustrations in chalk.

So, if you like cheap light beers, you might not like the selection, which is all craft and belgian beers.  The alcohol content of most beers is higher than the typical domestic, so this can be good and bad.

Anyhoo, this place has a liquor license too, so we decided to have some cocktails.  The moscow mule was up first.

I don't know why, but I love drinking cocktails in mugs.  It's...homey, like I'm not drinking something alcoholic at all.  The guy who was bartending was from Hamilton's, and he wasn't used to making the cocktails yet, but he did a good job.  Very drinkable.

Then, next up for the FP, of course, he got a rum punch drink.  The name eludes me and I forgot to snap a picture of it.  But it had juices and dark rum and stuff.  This one came in a pint glass, which the FP liked.

After that, we both got the small bar silver surfer.

This one had rum and ginger beer and something cherry.  This one was good, but the first taste was really strong.  Once it settled a little it was pretty damn good, but the moscow mule was better.

So, after a couple hours there (the FP had just wanted a couple drinks before going home to record some music) our friend who we had not seen in several months showed up unexpectedly.  So, the FP switched to Anchor Steam and we stayed a couple more hours.

I started to get hungry, so I ordered the piggyback fries.

This was cheese fries with housemade waffle fries and pulled pork.  The menu said it came with cheddar, but I asked for blue cheese instead.  I just haven't had blue cheese in forever, and it sounded really good.  So, I felt a little annoying, but I asked anyway.  And the girl who was cooking was fine with that.  She brought it out, and it looked delicious. And it was so good.  The pork was nicely seasoned and cooked, and the blue cheese was good, and the waffle fries were nice and crisp so that they didn't get too sogged out with the toppings.  So, we devoured these fries.  We wolfed them down.  And then the fat started to digest and it was time to go home.  But, we would be back to try the cheesesteak and the wings.

So, we went back for lunch yesterday - Labor Day.  I was off the drink, so I just had a water and a diet coke.  The FP kinda made fun of me for it, of course.  He feels uncomfortable to be with someone at a bar who isn't drinking alcohol at all.  He had beers.

I ordered the chicago style cheesesteak.  I don't have a picture though.  :(
So, that means giardiniera, cheese and meat.  And it came with waffle fries.  I don't like that word giardiniera, because it sounds a little too much like giardia, which causes beaver fever!  Ewww.  Anyway, it was packed with meat.  I mean it was heavy.  And it had some of the jus dripping from it, but the FP felt that it could have been jusier.  It did need some seasoning also.  But my big gripe with it was the giardiniera.  We had just watched that show that pits two restaurants against each other, I can't think of the name of it.  But the challenge was the chicago italian beef sandwich.  Beef, giardiniera, bun and jus.  So these sandwiches on TV had a lot of the giardiniera and they were jusy.  This one was not so jusy, and not too much veggies.  And it was made with like precut vegetables or something.  Those wavy cut carrot slices and really big pieces of cauliflower.  And then it wasn't as spicy and tangy as I would have liked.  But, actually, the FP liked it way more than I did.  If I had never seen that food show with the Italian beef sandwiches on it, I would have liked this more.  See how cooking shows can ruin a perfectly fine dining experience?  That's why you have to take yelp reviews with a huge pile of salt, sea salt of course, hawaiian if available.  The waffle fries were delicious.  They were crispy and seasoned with a lot of salt and cracked black pepper.

The FP got the buffalo wings of course.  They were good.  They were good.  They could have been fried a little longer, but they were fine.  And the sauce was good.  Very typical buffalo sauce.  It was a very good showing.  But those piggyback fries are probably the best thing on the menu!

Monkey Paw
805 16th St. 92101
619-358-9901
open every day at 12

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