Tomorrow is my birthday and Omar asked where I wanted to go for dinner to celebrate. I wanted something new, somewhere we haven’t been so we could gather new intel for our blog. We have been rather remiss lately writing our blogs. I have about 15 in draft form waiting for us to write. We will get to them all, I promise! It was also suggested to us to start video taping our reviews, so we now have a YouTube channel you can visit HERE. We will also link all videos to these posts for your watching enjoyment.
So we decided to try The Brewery. The Brewery is on Hayes in Clinton Township. The restaurant was established in 1980 (almost 40 years ago, which blew our mind). We have both drove past many times, but never stopped in. I thought it was a brewery, which I assumes average beer since we never heard of it, and mediocre bar food. Burgers, pretzels and other deep fried delicacies.
Well we discovered that The Brewery claims to be an upscale dining experience, with a diverse menu and inviting atmosphere. Well, we though we would be the judge of that!
Upon arriving, the hostess was friendly, but we got our customary “You are early for your reservation, your table is not ready”. They had a nice outside area, as well as an inviting couch area outside to wait. We decided to try and sit at the bar, but the open seats had reserved signs. When the hostess saw us milling about the bar, she told us to go ahead and take the reserved seats. The bartender’s name was Michelle. She was very friendly an knowledgeable about the drinks and the menu. Omar ordered his customary Makers Mark Manhattan with 3 cherries, and I ordered a raspberry Mojito. Unlike Cantoro, who brought me a regular mojito when I ordered raspberry, this restaurant muddled both the raspberries and mint perfectly.
We had planned on just having a drink while we waited for a table but Michelle was so nice and there was a lovely lady sitting next to us and as things usually happen, we started chatting and didn’t want to leave. Not sure what happened to the couple that the seats were reserved for, but we enjoyed them.
Off to the side was some live entertainment. The man singing had basically a prerecorded soundtrack that he sang and played horns to. He sang and played great, but essentially was karaoke, and we felt a bit bad for him as he had a very tiny area to play, right behind a pole. Seemed like he was a second thought and no one really knew quite where to put him.
Michelle brought us a breadbasket to start, with a dense, tasty bread and flavorful garlic breadsticks. The bread was fantastic and once again we began to fill up on that. For an appetizer, Omar ordered Oysters Rockefeller while I ordered French Onion Soup. As you may remember, I like to judge a restaurant based on its French Onion Soup. Michelle and our new bar friend both said the soup was amazing. When it arrived, it looked like it had potential, but upon diving in, I realized the beautiful cheese was melted on top of a slice of fresh baguette. Now friends, the bread in French Onion Soup must be toasted, or dried in order to hold up to the broth. When the bread is fresh, as in this case, it gets gummy and soggy and very unappealing. Now the broth could have saved it, but this broth was weak and under flavored. It was like watered down French Onion Soup, as if the cook realized he forgot to make today’s soup and just stretched yesterday’s leftovers with water. Lots of water. Little onions, and they didn’t have the caramelization that they needed. All in all the soup was forgettable. Omar’s oysters were good, he even made me try a bite. I tried the cheesy spinach topping sans the slimy nub of goo they call an oyster.
For dinner, Omar decided to try the frog legs. The Brewery are famous for them and they are a very popular menu item. Funny, Omar won’t order chicken when we go out because it is too “pedestrian” yet orders Frog Legs. When I inquired what they tasted like he said “chicken”. Interesting…
The braised short rib with horseradish risotto was crying out to me. Even though it was a hot summer night, the creamy comfort of the risotto and the deep rich flavor of the short rib just sounded perfect. My dinner did not disappoint. The short ribs were flavorful and the fat was rendered off perfectly. The risotto was creamy, and slightly al dente as risotto should be. The dish did not look giant when it was served but boy was it filling. I commented to Omar that short ribs was just a glamorized way to serve pot roast. He said that took the allure of short ribs down a notch for him, but it is essentially true. The meat, when fully braised properly has very similar taste and texture.
We did not opt for desert, as we were pretty stuffed from our meal. Our overall take on The Brewery is that is was a nice surprise. We met some nice people and ate some great food. We will definitely go back. Will sit at the bar again. Will NOT order French Onion Soup, but will return. Enjoy our video. Ignore the phone falling at the end. Had a bit of technical difficulty then I got stuck in my seatbelt and couldn’t reach the phone. I left that part in, for no particular reason…
