Filed under: Drink, Events, Restaurant Reviews | Tags: Little 5 Points, The Porter
In a previous post I mentioned the Terrapin/Dogfish Head beer dinner at The Porter Beer Bar in Little 5 Points. I had never been to a beer dinner, love both of those beer companies, and had heard great things about The Porter – of course I had to go.
In case you are wondering, a beer dinner is where courses of food are paired with beers that will match their flavors. At this particular dinner, we enjoyed 6 beers and 4 courses as follows:
Apertif: Terrapin’s 90 Shelling Firkin
A special preview of their next “side project” – a delicious Scotch Ale aged in oak.
First Course: Chilled Corn Soup-lump crab-pickled ramps & Terrapin’s Sunray Wheat
The soup itself was good. It proved to be the best thing we would eat all night, but still wasn’t anything I would go back for. It was smoooth and creamy, and the crab and ramps (like an onion or leek) added great flavor and texture. It was just a little too sweet for my taste, I didn’t really want to finish the whole bowl. The flavor profiles of the beer and soup went very well together.
The main problem with this course was in its service. They had a great idea to first give the crab and ramps with some parsley in the bowl. Then, they brought out the soup in large beer glasses and poured it over the crab and ramps. I great idea in theory… I’m down with the tableside presentations, but not when you’re trying to serve 30-40 people at the same time. Many patrons were almost finished with their beer before their soup finally arrived.
Second Course: Roasted Berkshire Pork Loin-plum jam-braised swiss chard & Terrapin’s Monk’s Revenge.
Naturally, this is the dish I was most looking forward to, and it was a huge disappointment. It had great potential – the swiss chard and plum jam were good – but the pork was horrible. This was something I would expect more from a national chain like Applebee’s or Friday’s on their 2 for $20 menu. They tried to mask the poor quality of the pork by wrapping it in bacon and topping it with the plum jam. Once again, I found myself leaving a significant portion on the plate. It still went well with the beer though, a Belgian style IPA.
Third Course: Asparagus Salad-shaved gruyere-hazelnuts & Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch
Hmmm… cold asparagus with cheese and hazelnuts. Unappealing, unexciting, unimaginative, BORING. At this point I’ve given up hope. I don’t know how it was supposed to pair with the beer either. You should try this beer if you get the chance, its recipe is based on one found on ancient Egyptian tablets.
**I need to mention that at this point in my meal, someone was passing around a basket of Porter’s garlic fries. This is something they’ve become known for, and they were AWESOME.
Fourth Course: Local Rhubarb Tart-jasmine cream-ginger & Dogfish Head’s Black and Blue
… Another boring dish that could have been easily improved. The crust was thick and dry, and the cream was pretty boring. Also, it’s hard to cut rhubarb with a fork – if you are going to put it in a tart you should chop it up a little more so you can get that flavor with each bite! Once again a decent pairing with the beer.
Digestif: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
An American Brown Ale aged in Palo Santo wood. Very nice!
The beer dinner experience itself was very nice, mostly thanks to Terrapin and Dogfish Head. Throughout the dinner they had pre-arranged toasts where people would stand up and express their love of beer in a little poem. The main theme was support of the craft beer movement, something I really enjoy. I’ll go back to The Porter for a review of items from their regular menu, but they better impress after the food I had tonight.
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TONGUE SAUSAGE 
Ditto on the garlic fries!!!
Comment by gloria May 2, 2009 @ 5:48 pmI have been to several beer dinners and I will have to say that overall this one was the worst. The beer was fantastic as always with these two breweries; however, I completely agree that the food and the service were well below average. The soup was great but I had to nurse my beer for 15 minutes before I got it (isn’t a beer dinner supposed to be about the pairings). The salad was basically asparagus with cheese shreddings. All in all, definitely not worth the price tag of the dinner (again besides the beer which was outstanding.
To give Porter the benefit of the doubt, they are fairly new and they are still trying to get everything worked out. They probably have not had too many beer dinners prior to this one either. I keep trying to give Porter a second (third, fourth, etc) chance, but so far I have been thoroughly disappointed in the food every time.
I love to see this type of beer bar in Little 5 Points, but I question how much they actually know about beer. They don’t seem to have the same passion for craft beer that Brickstore Pub and Trapeze (Athens’ best beer bar) have. Don’t get me wrong, the beer selection is better than most bars, but it just feels like a complete knock off of Brickstore.
I will try Porter again and hopefully my next visit will be better than the first four.
Comment by St Francis May 5, 2009 @ 1:16 pmThat asparagus salad does look pretty gross!
Comment by Joe Preezy May 27, 2009 @ 6:27 pm