By VICTOR GRETO
The Washington Street Ale House is all about booze.
It's an ale house, after all, with lots of beer on tap and an interior ambience enriched by a fine brick and duct-work interior that reminds one of early 20th-century Drunk.
But during Restaurant Week, it offered $15 flat-fee lunches that were both small and problematic tasting. The choices for appetizers varied, from "pale ale cured salmon sliders" -- rubbery and tasteless salmon liberally slathered with sour cream, between two small pancakes (?) -- and an andouille (spelled "andoiulle") sausage corndog, three of which were presented on a lettuce bed of grilled mango.
The fine deep-fried dogs were speared by - the only term for the length of these is "javelin-size" - skewers and rested on a tasty sauce.The entrees included one that a friend unfortunately had to return. This was a "smoked sea salt seared tuna with wasabi lobster tater tots," a great name for a painfully salty, dried out tuna lump, with tots that were all tater and no lobster.
When I bit the tuna, I had a flashback to my former life as an ancient Roman slave working the salt mines. However, my dish, the grilled tequila chicken with Caribbean salsa, was very good. The salsa tasted spicy and fresh, and the chicken was moist and tender. It sat on a bed of great-tasting yellow rice.Alas, the portion was as large as palm of my hand. Although I have a decent-sized guy's hand, I also have a decent-sized hunger, and it wasn't enough.
So, when I asked for a dessert menu, the bartender (we sat near the bar because I'm a guy and didn't make reservations) making the rounds actually looked annoyed with me, holding tight to the check she seemed anxious to present.
In a couple of minutes, she came back around with a small, leather notebook, which she left on the table, and which I quickly opened to find nothing inside. That was it. If I was alone, I would have ordered a Blue Moon draft -- hold the orange slice, please -- and stared at the brick wall and duct work, getting into how both these features metaphorically represented my place in the universe.
Contact Victor Greto at 324-2832 or vgreto@delawareonline.com.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
That's a shocker...bad service at the Cherry Tree Trifecta is apparently not just my imagination. The food isn't all too bad, but the service becomes the pre-meal toothpaste that ruins the chow.
Wow! Sorry to hear your visit was so bad. I went with my family this past weekend, and we were thoroughly impressed. With tastes ranging from kid tastes (read, anything fried) to foodies (who like to try new combinations), everyone was pleased. Feel free to check out the full review.
Post a Comment