Bowling!!!

Femi and I met up with Maddy at Brooklyn Bowl last Wednesday. Maddy was running late, so Femi and I decided to check out the restaurant.  I was not impressed.  I will cut them some slack though because it had only been open for 2 nights.  

 

We shared the Cajun Shrimp Cocktail with Spicy Mayo which was $12.  The dish came out and I laughed.  The shrimps were super tiny.  I could have made this from the frozen shrimp they sell at C Town.  There was no cajun seasoning on the shrimp.  They were cooked and chilled.  They were served on a bed of lettuce.  The "spicy mayo" was mayo with some old bay and ground up chile pepper on top.  

I got the plate of Iceberg, Blue Cheese, and Bacon salad which was $8.  I also laughed when this came out.  It was a wedge of iceberg, blue cheese dressing all over it, and bacon bits.  There were some tomato slices on the side too.  The dressing was good because it wasn't strong like other blue cheese can be.  But seriously!? Bacon bits?  C'mon give me a thick, crispy slice of bacon or two?  And can't you chop the iceberg?  Again, I could have totally made this at home for half the price.  Not impressed.

Femi got the "Really" Sloppy Joe which was $8 bucks.  Finally, something worth the money!  This was a damn good sandwich.  The sloppy joe was sweet and spicy.  It came with a bed of lettuce (a choice of fries would have been nice, especially for Femi).  This is definitely what you should get if you come to eat at Brooklyn Bowl.  Don't even attempt to be healthy here.  Just go straight for the good stuff.  The other stuff is a waste of time

Now to the goods, the bowling!  $40 for an hour and 4 bucks for shoes.  Not bad.  You can have a max of 8 people to a lane and they knock $10 off during happy hour.  The lanes are great and they have all new technology.  The selection of balls was mediocre.  I couldn't find a small 8 lb ball anywhere but I found a medium and that worked out.

What is weird, is they have you pay for your bowling and shoes at the end, along with drinks and whatever you order.  I am used to paying for bowling and shoes in the beginning and then at the end settling whatever drinks/food I ordered.  I wonder if this is so they can get a bigger tip when drunk people don't notice the bowling and shoes and just tip on everything.  Hmmmm.

The drink menu is muy expensive!!!  They don't have a very good selection of beers.  It is all Brooklyn beer and other local brands.  The cheapest beer is 5 bucks.  They should have a beer and a shot special or a 3 dollar beer or something.  I had a Strawberry Maragarita which was yummy but was also $9 bucks and not much strawberry.

On a positive note, the atmostphere is COOL!  They have a huge stage for possible shows.  The place is ginourmous.  I think they should add in some pool tables somewhere as well.

My suggestion is come here for the bowling.  Skip the dinner and if you must eat go straight for the unhealthy snack foods.  I hope that they improve the menu and drink prices with time.

Legion: Fun Bar With Good Choices

So maybe I am biased towards Legion because my boyfriend works there but I really like this bar a lot! They have something for everyone: a good selection of tap, bottle, and can beers. They have a few beer and a shot specials for the recession-friendly. They also have an abundance of scotch and bourbons. They have a great outdoor space where there are frequent bbqs on Sunday afternoons.

I like the fact that this is a regular bar catered towards patrons of the beer and whiskey drinking type, but they actually give you a choice of wine that goes beyond "red or white?" Just to be clear, this is definitely not a wine bar. But they do carry 4 types of wines and 2 types of ports. They have: Protocolo White, Nathanson Creek Chardonnay, Trapiche Malbec, and Luzon Verde Monastrell. The ports that they serve are Sandeman Fine Ruby and Cockburns Special Reserve.



I had the pleasure of tasting both of the white wines last night. The Protocolo White is a Spanish vino that is made of 100% White Tempranillo grapes and comes from mainly the Rioja and Penedes regions. My first impression was the strong fruity smell and when I tasted it I got a light-medium body. It is more dry than sweet but still has fruit aromas. When I looked this up on my phone, I read that it is composed of strawberry, raspberry, black pepper hints, black cherry, mint, and earthy tones. I wasn't too too far off.

The Nathanson Creek Chardonnay is from California. When I first tried this i got fruity again with a light bodied and sweeter than the Protocolo, less dry. I looked it up and it says that this wine is smooth with apple flavors with oak notes. Again, I was close! I need to work on picking out the specific fruits though. That is my mission!