Bright lights chard, gaeta olives, mozzarella. Happy hour $8
Stoneburner, Seattle WA
Omg, only eight bucks for this amazing pizza during happy hour?! Count me in!! Honestly, this pizza was frickin’ great. The ingredients were top notch and the crust was heavenly. I think Stoneburner definitely has one of the best happy hours in Ballard!
Bourbon Old Fashioned: bourbon, gum syrup, bitters, orange zest. Happy hour $7
Parmesan, oregano, and dried chilies.
Steamed rice, sherry herb gravy, buttermilk biscuits, squash casserole. Per person $20
Hutch Bar & Kitchen, Oakland CA
Omg, talk about value – there was so much food on this plate for 2 people! We definitely took a lot of this home. The chicken was really good, and I was really happy about the steamed rice. It had a soft consistency almost liked mashed potatoes and tasted great with the sherry herb gravy. The squash casserole was really salty so it wasn’t my favorite. The biscuit tasted good, but were on the hard, dense side.
The Boulevardier: Bulleit bourbon, gran classic, aperol, orange twist. $11
Fresh pomelo chunks with grated coconut and house dressing. 250 PHP
Mesa, Boracay PHILIPPINES
This was a very different dish for me. I liked the pomelo wedges and the toasted coconut was good, but I’m still on the fence regarding the milky dressing. It didn’t taste bad, but I’m not sure that it added to the flavors of the salad. Latik refers to solid coconut curds, by the way, but I had difficulty differentiating them from the toasted shaved coconut. I did like the presentation in the banana leaf!
Manhattan. 180 PHP
Sailing around the island.
Country Lawyer: Knob Creek bourbon, Zucca amaro, vermouth and bitters. $13
Park Tavern, San Francisco CA
Mmm, the cocktails at Park Tavern are pretty delicious! I have mixed feelings about my overall experience here though. Although the service was friendly and professional, they made some stupid mistakes that really detracted from the overall experience. Namely, they never brought us a dish even after I specifically asked if it was ever coming out. Our server ensured us it was on its way, but it never did and we were charged for it anyway! FAIL!
Alcatraz: Templeton rye, Averna amaro, and port. $13
Bulleit Manhattan: bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters. $10
Sankey Sour: bourbon, aperol, fresh orange juice, egg whites, angostura bitters and house made sour mix. Happy hour $8
Percy’s & Co., Seattle WA
The cocktails at Percy’s and Co. are pretty frickin’ amazing! They make all their tinctures, purees, and sour mix in house so they’re not your generic mixers. The combination of flavors in each cocktail tastes great and they’re all expertly made.
Herrick Helper: sage infused bourbon, grapefruit juice, house made sour mix and topped with soda and fresh sage. Happy hour $6
The Eagle, 1971, painted steel, Alexander Calder, Olympic Sculpture Park.
Buffalo style with ranch dressing. One pound $11
Belltown Pub, Seattle WA
I’m usually a big fan of wings, but these were super small so they were pretty much all bones and sauce. Lame! A pound of wings also doesn’t get you very much so you’re left hungry and unsatisfied.
Bourbon Basil: bourbon, muddled basil, limes, simple and soda. $7
This drink was just OK – a bit on the sour side and very little alcohol.
Seattle Cloud Cover glass bridge, Teresita Fernandez, Olympic Sculpture Park.
Bourbon caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, candied pecans. $9
Town Hall, San Francisco CA
Mmm, this dessert was very tasty and the peaches were great. The sticky bun was a bit too caramelized on the bottom and hard to cut through, but all the flavors were there and the vanilla ice cream helped to soften up everything.
View of Twin Peaks from Noe Valley.
Stone Sour: Knob Creek bourbon, fresh lemon and blood orange juice, shaken with barrel-aged syrup and served tall on the rocks with brandied cherries. $12
Luce, San Francisco CA
The cocktails at Luce were really fun and delicious. Each one had several ingredients and they all generally worked well together. The Stone Sour was probably my favorite because it had bourbon, but the Moscone Pear was tasty in its own way.
Moscone Pear: Dimmi herbal grappa liqueur, shaken with fresh pear puree, fresh squeezed lime and lemon, served up. $12
Noe Valley.
A Taste of Yauatcha menu £28.88 for 2 people
Yauatcha, London ENGLAND
These were more your typical dim sum dumpling items so this steam tray was more familiar than the others (and maybe a little more boring). The two kinds of dumplings were actually really good though. The har gow is a tried and true standard. I’m not completely sure what all was in the fen guo dumpling, but I would guess it was a mixture of pork, shrimp, garlic chives, mushrooms and peanuts.
Golden aster martini: Buffalo Trace bourbon, Antica forumula sweet vermouth, Aperol, saffron, lemon and chilli syrup. £9.80
Aged Vesper martini: Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Belvedere vodka and Lillet Blanc vermouth. £9.90
These cocktails were nicely made and delicious!
Oxford Circus with cute London cabs.
With Bulleit bourbon. $9.50
Oswald, Santa Cruz CA
Wow, this cocktail had SO much bitters in it – definitely not very balanced. That was my single major complaint about this place. There wasn’t a lot of finesse in making these standard cocktails.
Yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus, Fabaceae), Pigeon Point, Pescadero.
With Bulleit bourbon. We came here randomly one evening and it was pretty dead. The lady bartender was REALLY nice and accommodating though and she did a good job on the Manhattans. We had arrived pretty early so towards the end of our visit the nightly DJ had begun setting up his station. Playing a few games of pool was fun, but their table was on a slant so the balls never really did want you wanted them to do.
The Blue Lounge, Santa Cruz CA
Train tracks toward the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
Bourbon whiskey, vermouth, bitters. $8
Mission Bowling Club, San Francisco CA
I think Manhattans go with any food! Maybe that’s the alcoholic in me postulating that, hehe.
Benjamin Franklin statue, Washington Square Park.
Vittle Monster 