Pour Me: New Belgium's Trippel

 New Belgium. They have beers. Belgian-style beers. Most of them are quite good. Trippel is one of them.

Trippel is a fantastic beer. Normally I am not a fan of fruity Belgian beers, but Trippel does not have excessive fruitiness. Hops are well presented from the first tip of the glass. There is a lot going on after that. There are fruits, and slight malts, a strong alcohol note (Trippel is 7.8%ABV) amongst other flavors. Trippel is quite crisp, and even more refreshing. I do believe Trippel is the best Belgian beer I have had. That may speak to my Belgian beer ignorance, but I stand by my words.

Pour Me: Left Coast Brewing's Hop Juice

For a beer labeled as Hop Juice, one would expect a great deal of hops. Left Coast hits the hop nail on the hop head. This is big, bold and brash, to be sure. I think it was hopped with a million types of different hops. It's good. Really good.

 There is a great deal of complex flavors. Fruits meld with the bitterness, making for some kind of wild fruit punch. There is quite a bit of a flavor I like to call Tang. Hop Juice is quite tangy, and tickles the tongue. There are no discernible malts, and if there are any, they fly way below the radar. For being a very hoppy beer, it is pretty easy drinking. I am glad that the corner store has this offering.

Fish and Chips: Haddington's

It has been quite a while since I last reviewed a place for their fish and chips. Maybe I got burned out. That is possible, but I think it is because of the economy. Times is tough, as the kids are saying, so we have been limiting our weekly excursions in fine dinning, and sticking to places we know are consistent and delicious instead of trying something new that may disappoint. Frankly, we have had way to many of those disappointments lately. Haddington's is one of them.

My lovely assistant and I rarely make it downtown. Parking, traffic, and crowds being the main factor. Parking is my Achilles heel. I do hate the traffic, but parking downtown is terrible. Don't even bother trying to find a spot, I have come to learn. Just park at the closest lot you can find, and pony up the big bucks. You will stress yourself out, and not enjoy yourself otherwise. On the first try, I found a lot across the street from Haddington's. I paid up the $7USD, thanked the attendant, and we walked the short distance into Haddington's.

This was not our first trip to Haddington's. The visit before was met with the unfortunate news that brunch on the weekends lasts until 5 (it was about 2) and that fish and chips are not available until dinner. So we strolled down the street to Opal Divine's and had some of the best fish and chips in Austin. Well, this time, it was after 5, and I had a hankering for some quality fish and chips...

Haddington's does not have fish and chips, however. No, not during the summer, according to the waiter. Boy, and I thought the weekend before Thanksgiving was the season after summer. Oh well. So, sorry to disappoint, dear reader, but I cannot review the fish and chips from Haddington's because they had none to serve us. For shame. The Irish influenced American Tavern is really quite neat. The look and feel of the place is awesome, and I really liked the aesthetics of the place. The service was standard: I was not blown away, but we had waters, and our food came out quickly. Well, I should hope so. There were maybe 10 people inside, and we chose to sit outside, with a gang of 16 loud folks. Loud enough that I called them assholes as they left. Indeed, it was probably uncalled for, but then again, they thought I was absolutely hilarious. Drunk people are odd, but usually are in good spirits.

The food was standard, just like the service. I had a burger with bacon and fries. My lovely assistant had the grilled quail and risotto. Neither blew us away, and both were fairly small potions. Sure, the quail and risotto was from the "small plates" section, but man, that plate was very small. My burger was a double, with a pretzel bun that was terrific. The lack of cheese seemed to really hinder the burger, however. A nice sharp piece of cheddar would have rocked this burger. Oh, I also had a beer. It was good. Price-wise, it was spendy. Our total, including tip, was over $50USD. Add in parking and the time to get downtown, and the value of the meal falls quite a bit.

All in all, I gotta say I won't be going back to Haddington's ever again. Something about being once bitten, then bitten again only worse, and four times shy. Haddington's is not the best place to eat on Sixth in Austin. There are many places on that street, and even Whole Foods would be better, cheaper, and loaded with more assholes.