St. Paddy's Day - SingleCut Style

What a fun St. Paddy's Day it was today, as Dan, Jamil, Ball and I went over to SingleCut Beersmiths and tied more than one on.  Having tasted their beers on a few occasions but never visiting the tap room, we all enjoyed the experience very much and unanimously agreed that we'll be back.  Here are some highlights from the experience.

Atmosphere:
It's no secret that SingleCut is more than a ways away from everything, but that's why it made it a fun place to spend St. Paddy's Day, as it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded.  I was happy to walk into a spacious, high-ceiling tap room with a pretty large bar and plenty of communal tables that were almost full.  The best part for me was to see the diversity in the crowd - from really really young (as in babies) to older folks, everyone seemed to be enjoying the vibe.

Part of what made the atmosphere even more festive was the live bluegrass band that played the entire time. Not only were the Homesick Houndogs great, I liked the way SingleCut incorporated an elevated stage in the space that made it seem like you were watching a real concert.  It worked really nicely, especially because it allowed them to maximize the actual tap room space for customers like us.

Food and Drink:
We came for the beer of course - purchasing a growler in the beginning and then refilling it several times throughout the night.  But along with drinks, we couldn't refuse their yummy meat pies either, that I felt made our SingleCut experience complete.

Beer - We sampled three different beers that I haven't yet tried before, including the Eric More Cowbell Milkstout, the Billy 18-Watt IPA, and the Rudy Double Umlant Lagrrr!  Out of those, the IPA was a complete winner, and my friends ended up taking some home in their keepsake growler.  It had an almost floral smell (and taste), the perfect amount of hoppiness that went down real easy with the meat pies.  The IPA was especially tasty with the King and I (Thai curry chicken) pie.

Meat pies - Dan, Jamil and I split two meat pies, including the just mentioned, King and I and the Over the Moon (steak and mushroom).  The latter also came with a side of pickled veggies such as onions, peppers, cauliflower and the like, which we devoured.  The meat pies were fantastic and I preferred the King and I, which was something totally different, as it included a medley of ethnic spices and curry that totally warmed our bones (it was quite chilly in the taproom).  The steak and mushroom was great too but definitely more on the traditional side - I guess it was appropriate for the occasion though.

Cupcakes - While they don't have cupcakes on the menu, we were pleasantly surprised to find this little sweet gem, courtesy of Renee from Single Girl Cookies.  For those of you not familiar with Single Girl, she does a great job of giving back to the community by baking for some of her favorite Astoria establishments.  

The cupcake she made was inspired by the Eric More Cowbell Stout, with which it was actually made.  It was absolutely delightful, the chocolatey interior perfectly moist and tinged with malty goodness from the stout.  Sporting a minty green frosting, for St. Paddy's Day, it made for a great pairing with the rich chocolate - overall, an impressive treat and a much welcome surprise. 

Service and Cost: 
Although I'd love to praise the staff, we weren't overly impressed.  I'm not sure if it was because it was a holiday and it was super busy, but more than on one occasion, they charged us more than they were supposed to for the beer (and we had to correct them).  Once we got to the table, the service was pretty good, as the staff took our cleaned plates after we scarfed down those meat pies, but overall the service doesn't shine.

Costs are a bit expensive for the growlers at $10 per container and then another $7-$12 to fill it with beer.  After you get through that first round, it's a bit more cost effective, and the quality of the beer and the food is so good that it's definitely worth it.

3 Mmmms

SingleCut Beersmiths - 19-33 37th Street, Astoria NY 11105
718.606.0788
N/Q Train to Ditmars Blvd
www.singlecutbeer.com 

Awesome New Eats at the Queens Kickshaw

Even though it's been a couple of months since The Queens Kickshaw expanded their menu to include more than just their specialty grilled cheeses and mac 'n cheese, I just had the opportunity to try it.  Bringing along my new friends Thea and Emily from Eatdrinkjobs, I was able to accomplish two important tasks, including showing off a fabulous Queens venue to my newcomer friends, and at the same time get my hands on some pretty stellar food.  Here are the newbies we tried:

Basket of Knishes - Being a sucker for all things potato, including knishes of course, I couldn't resist this.  Another deciding factor was that these included a blue cheese blend, that I knew would add an interesting element, and it definitely did.  Their size was quite nice too, as they were small and bite sized, which was just perfect for knishes since they tend to be on the heavier side.  Spreading the beer mustard on top of each one added a nice little spicy-sharp tinge of flavor.  

Wild Mushroom Shepherds Pie - Since I really wasn't in the mood for meat that night, I went with the veggie shepherds pie with cauliflower mash on top.  That was actually what really swayed me to get it, as I adore cauliflower and was excited to devour the well done, slightly browned top.  The inside of it was delicious too, and contained a lot of other veggies such as carrots, potatoes, zucchini and of course mushrooms in a red wine reduction.  While I appreciated the veggie medley, I wished that they went heavier on the mushrooms, maybe mixing up different varieties.

Fontina Cheesecake - As soon as we saw this on the menu, we just had to get it, as it screamed of something unique and different.  First off, it looked like ice cream, and we had to prove to ourselves that it was actually made of a cheese custard.  Indeed it was true...it was certainly a cheesecake, with the most unbelievable mousse-like texture, and a hint of that fontina bite at the end.  The deep indigo blackberry sauce added a nice, zingy contrast to each bite, and the cereal crumble made me think of my favorite granola topping.  It felt like a familiar dish, but was far from any kind of cheesecake I've ever had before.

Calamansi and Pistachio Ice-Cream Sandwich - Ben, Kickshaw's co-owner surprised us with this awesome ice cream sandwich, using innovative ingredients such as calamansi (a citrus fruit originating in Southeast Asia) and pistachios.  As the cookie was nicely chilled, it hugged the citrusy ice cream like a glove and each bite brought out elements of sophistication and refreshment.  While it was ice cream in its full force, it didn't feel heavy and we each polished off our portion pretty quickly.

Service and Cost:
As we chose to dine in, we got great service and I loved that our food came out quite quickly. Even though we received our check, we didn't feel pressured to leave and would've hung around even longer if we could have.

Costs are reasonable and include the following for some of the new menu items I just mentioned:

Knishes - $7
Wild Mushroom Shepherds Pie - $12
Dessert - $6

3 Mmmms

The Queens Kickshaw - 40-17 Broadway, Astoria NY 11103
718.777.0913
M/R Train to Steinway Street
www.thequeenskickshaw.com