Stout

Last month, CT’s Mom made a special trip into the city late on a Sunday morning mainly to bring the “kids” the latest bounty from her garden because she was going out of the country for a week and didn’t want the veg to spoil. We got some delicious cucumbers, thai basil, zucchini, green beans, and more! What kind of kids would we be if we didn’t also let her take us to lunch first before she got back on the train?

Based on what we were all in the mood for and the proximity to Penn Station, we decided on Stout. It is a better than average sports & beer bar with very good food. I have been a lot over the years and always enjoyed whatever I ate there. It can get pretty packed when there is a big game on or depending what is going on across the street at Madison Square Garden. It doesn’t get especially crowded during lunch, let alone for Sunday lunch.

We were all pretty hungry so we started with the Country Buttermilk Chicken Fingers with Avocado Ranch Dip ($8.95). These were pretty good chicken fingers. Nice and crunchy and tangy with the dip.

CT says: I really enjoyed this chicken fingers. So often they are over-battered too bready, or under-battered and not crunchy enough. These were perfect and I was glad discover them as periodically I get a craving for delicious chicken fingers.

CT’s Mom decided to get the Steak & Mushroom Pie ($13.95). She was going to London afterall, so she had to “prep.” The pastry topping was thick and greasy, but I believe she really enjoyed the innards.

Stout has a handful of speciality burgers on the menu that they actually do quite well. CT & I both believe the saying, “When in Rome…” so we both got burgers. All of the burgers come with a choice of fries(sweet potato or regular) and a choice of dipping sauce(I think they have over 10 flavors).

CT got the Jerk Pork Burger with grilled pineapple salad ($9.95), sweet potato fries and the mango ketchup dipping sauce. She got the grilled pineapple salad on the side in case her Mom, who is allergic to pineapple, wanted to try the burger. Although the burger looks burnt, it wasn’t overcooked and still had plenty of pork flavor with just a hint of jerk seasoning. Stout has some of the best sweet potato fries in the city. They have the happy medium of not too crunchy and not too soft. I believe she said the mango ketchup was way too sweet, but I’m sure she will be able to tell you better.

CT says: As TT said, the burger was juicy and delicious! It wasn’t what I was expecting (for some reason I saw pork burger and assumed pulled pork. No idea why, I just did) but it turned out to be great anyways. The ketchup on the other hand was just way too sweet. I realized after ordering that it probably wasn’t the best pairing for sweet potato fries to begin it, but it it was really more a sweet mango sauce that a “ketchup.” I just used regular ketchup though and all was good!

I went with the Stout Burger ($9.95), regular fries and a dipping sauce that I now forget. The Stout burger is the classic beef burger. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was super juicy. The chef does a good job with crust of all the burgers because they don’t look like much on the outside, but are brimming with juicy goodness on the inside. Sorry, I didn’t take an innards shot as my hands became covered with the aforementioned juice. The fries were salty and crisp, so they didn’t even need a dipping sauce.
All in all, Stout is a solid pub for food and drinks. Prices are quite reasonable, especially for the food. I have never been disappointed by anything I have eaten there, which says a lot. They have a ton of televisions, so you may want to consider it to watch the next game, but be warned it does get pretty busy. If you have your own table, you should be fine as they aren’t super packed together. Thanks again to CT’s Mom to taking us to lunch and all the delicious home grown vegetables.

Stay tuned next time for where we went for dessert.