Showing posts with label pub. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pub. Show all posts

Saturday, January 6, 2018

The Public House by Evans Brewing Co (Huntington Beach, CA)

by guest blogger Bryan Tsunoda @discovering_LA

The Bella Terra Mall is an outdoor shopping mall in Huntington Beach. Because it is clean and well laid out, it is quite popular with OC residents. Popular retailers like REI and Costco bring in the crowds and their restaurants are good. The PublicHouse by Evans Brewing Company opened last month in the Bella Terra Mall  and nicely filled in a niche for innovative food and craft beer.

Parking in the Bella Terra Mall can be challenging, but I got lucky and found a space only steps away from their establishment. I found The Public House by Evans Brewing Company to be a warm and inviting venue featuring exposed brick and local artwork. Large screen TVs are present, but since they aren’t on each wall, diners can choose whether or not they wish to watch TV.

The Public House made a strategic decision to use their strong craft beer offerings as ingredients for many of their food and craft cocktails. As an example, their sausages are infused with their craft beer, their Moules (mussels) uses Hefeweizen as a key ingredient for the sauce and their caramelized onions are simmered in their KrHOPen IPA.

I was impressed that they had 14 of their craft beers on tap, but I instead veered towards their innovative cocktail list. Affordably priced at $10, each contained between 3-5 ingredients and is topped with a splash with one of their craft beers. An example of this is their Berry Wasted, made with silver tequila, fresh orange juice, lime juice and topped with their Triple Berry Wheat beer. This drink was both fruity and refreshing.

The Dandy Shandy is made with Sobieski Vodka, triple sec, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and fresh blackberries. It was both sweet and sour and I liked enjoyed the fresh blackberries on top - nice touch on the presentation!

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Hey 19: Fun Food and Cheap Drinks in Torrance

There are tons of great Japanese restaurants in Torrance, from oden and yakitori to soba to wonderful pastries, but I wouldn't know where to drink in Torrance. Until now, when Demi Stevens of Ortega 120 opened up Hey 19, a pub with affordable drinks and comfort food - serving until late at night.

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The drinks range from $7-8.25. You can hardly get those prices even at happy hour in LA! Yay for low rent in Torrance. I tried the South Bay Storm (Cruzan rum, Campari, lemon, pineapple, Roy Rogers - that's coke and grenadine, $7) and the Classic Cup (housemade Pimm's #1, lemonade, ginger ale, cucumber, mint, orange - also $7).
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Just like the popular margaritas at Ortega 120, the drinks tends to be strong and sweet, easy to drink. It turns out Demi prefers her own drinks less sweet so she made me another one that's coming on the menu soon. She said people tend to Uber down from LA in groups to drink because of her much cheaper prices!
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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Calivino Wine Pub (Anaheim, CA)

by: guest blogger @btsunoda

Sporting events and concert venues don’t typically serve cutting edge food and so I’m always on the lookout for restaurants that are situated near these types of establishments. Calivino Wine Pub opened its doors in May 2014; located on Katella Ave in Anaheim, they are ideally situated between the Honda Center and Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
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The interior of Calivino Wine Pub resembled a modern cafe: stylish chairs and tables, spot lights from ceiling and single seating by the bar. Colorful wine bottles adorned the wall of the bar area.

 I began with their bacon wrapped dates and a glass of Clayhouse Adobe White Blend.
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The saltiness of the goat cheese combined with the natural sweetness of the dates and honey paired quite nicely. The white blend was a good beginner’s wine.
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 The honey roasted brussel sprouts with pork belly had a crisp exterior and I thought that the sweetness of the honey combined with the salty and smoky nature of the pork belly was an effective way to serve an otherwise bland vegetable. I paired this with an Argentine Malbec: Elsa Bianchi. This soft wine is ideal for the person that isn’t fond of bold complex red wines and is well suited for appetizers.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Beer Dinner at Kings Row Gastropub With Smog City Brewing Co

King Row Gastropub in Old Town Pasadena has launched a monthly beer dinner series, starting with local Smog City Brewing Co earlier this month. The five course dinner, paired with five beers, was quite a deal at $30 per person! The dinners are limited to 30 people and will take place in a communal setting. We had the owners of Smog City coming out to talk to us about the beers as well.

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The theme for the Smog City dinner is Smoke and Beers, in which all the dishes have something smoked in them.

There was an amuse bouche of taro chip topped with salsa crudo of melon, mint, cantalope, and beans - all of which were smoked.
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The first course was a Smoked Gouda with Porter honey, fresh beer bread, cornichons.
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I really liked the beer bread but thought they too thick in proportion to the cheese. I loved the porter honey, though. This course was paired with Lil Bo Pils.
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