Tuesdays with TT: Waterfront Ale House

Waterfront Ale House is one of my favorite bars in the neighborhood. Not only do they have a great rotation of taps, their menu is fantastic. Even better is their specials board which usually has a couple different presentations of various wild game. With the Kips Bay movie theatre across the street, Waterfront is a great choice before or after a movie. CT & I decided to stop in for a quick bite and a beer before going to see Limitless.

CT is a wheat beer girl and with only one option on tap, she got the Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier.

CT says: It was exactly what I like to drink in a beer – not too heavy but full of flavor. However, as I’m not the Beer Boor, I’ll have to leave it at that.

I went with a pint of Brooklyn Main Engine Start. This is the first offering out of the recently expanded Brooklyn Brewery. It was quite a drinkable Belgian Pale Ale.

Since we were in a little bit of a rush, we decided to forgo any appetizers. Be sure to check out the nachos though.

This time we both stuck to the specials board and decided to share two dishes.

Chorizo with Manchengo Cheese Panini. It came with a side of whole grain mustard cole slaw. Chorizo on a sandwich? Of course! Once it came to the table, I realized that I had this on a previous visit. Delicious as ever. The spicy chorizo paired perfectly with the mild Manchengo. It was one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I ever had. The cole slaw was very good too. The whole grain mustard gave the cabbage a good amount of kick.

CT says: Agreed. It had a great chorizo-to-cheese ratio and was delicious. I liked the mustard in the cole slaw and would happily eat it again, but overall I thought it was forgettable with all the other good food on the table.

We also ordered the burger special. What made this burger so special? It was kangaroo meat! I am a huge fan of wild game; venison, boar, alligator. You name it, I’ll try it (and hopefully like it). Wild game is usually much leaner than plain old beef, so it is a lot healthier. Although leaner means that it is a lot less forgiving on the grill and can overcook quickly. We went with the waitress’ suggestion of medium-rare.

After we ordered, one of the other waitresses came by and changed the specials board to replace kangaroo with bison. CT and I got a little worried that we would miss out on our first taste of kangaroo. Would they pass off bison as kangaroo? Hmm…

After the burger arrived, the first thing I noticed was the poor bun to meat ratio. I wrote this off to the fact that it was a special wild game burger that would be smaller than a beef burger mostly due to cost. The burger was cooked perfectly; plenty juicy. The flavor was definitely gamey and more so than bison, so we got the last of kangaroo. Although I enjoyed the flavor, the side of homemade ketchup took away some of the gaminess. Any restaurant, let alone a pub gets major bonus points for making their own ketchup. We forgot to ask for the waffle fries to be cooked well done and paid the price. They were limp and forgettable. On previous visits they were super crunchy and tasty, so it was just an off night for fries.

CT says: I really enjoyed this burger. I’m always up for trying new meats and this one did not disappoint!! The flavor, though gamey, was delicious and it was cooked very well! What I like about leaner meats is that even when you order them rare or medium-rare, you don’t feel like your eating raw meat. However, as TT mentioned, the downside of leaner meats is that they are also very easy to overcook and become dry. I’ve never seen kangaroo on a menu before, ever, but I would definitely order it again. If anyone knows where to find kangaroo, or any other interesting meats, please share!!

All in all, Waterfront Ale House is a fantastic pub with great beers and delicious gourmet food. It definitely falls under the term gastro-pub except the prices were very reasonable. If you only stop in for a quick beer, don’t forget to grab yourself a basket of free popcorn.