Although I dread the onset of colder weather, one silver lining for me is that I know my taste buds will start craving certain foods which warm me up! Deciding to keep driving to a minimum the other evening, my companion and I ventured over to one of my favorites – Saigon Time at the southwest corner of the intersection of I-10 and Cassat Avenue. My two favorite things there are the Chicken Noodle Soup and the Grilled Pork Bowl – served over rice vermicelli and includes a sliced Summer Roll. It is such a great value and so delish! … and it provided that source of heat I needed to continue the evening.
Our vehicle seems to know when it is in certain areas, so it carried us on to Intuition Ale Works. I ordered their Equinox Fall Saison. Intuition Ale Works website describes it thus: “Darker saison brewed with our house saison yeast. Ginger, cinnamon and vanilla were added in the kettle. Perfect for a crisp autumn day!” - I must say I agree – it was a great choice for this cooler evening. The cinnamon and vanilla were quite noticeable to me.
My companion was pleased with one of our usual favorites – the Lowdown Porter. The last time we were in, they had run out of this “Nectar of the Gods” about 30 minutes prior.
I wanted just a little more of something on the darker side, so we shared another pint of the Black Rye. This evening, it seemed to have more body to it than when I had it during earlier visits – although it has always been one of my favorites – just even better that evening.
It is always difficult to be in that area and NOT end the evening at Kickback's Gastropub! … our vehicle maneuvered itself for us fairly close by and soon we were enjoying Dogfish Head's Miles Davis Bitches Brew, Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout and an order of Kickback's extremely popular French Mushroom Spread.
The Dogfish Head Miles Davis Bitches Brew I now refer to lovingly as “The Bitch-Slap”. OMG, it is SO full of flavor and paired extremely well with the French Mushroom Spread. Dogfish Head's website describes it partly as “a bold, dark beer that's a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root” … I downed two of them that evening, not realizing the 9.0% ABV (until later!). After a crowd had gathered about the table, we shared a “Snakebite” which is reportedly a Guiness float-over Woodchuck Cider. A little sweet for me as a full glass, but a nice counter to the dark stouts I had – taken in a several smaller sips.
Great food, ale and friends – a consistently pleasant combination I always find at Kickbacks.
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