Brothers Beer Bistro

Ok ... I'm doing my best to get caught up on my bloggings ... I'm only one person!  And it seems that I eat A LOT!!!!  Moving on to the end of August, my two former students Caitlin and Ivana and I made plans to get together one Sunday night.  At the last minute, Ivana decided to bail so that left Caitlin and I.  We decided to check out Brothers Beer Bistro in the market, at the corner of Dalhousie and George Streets.

 

I had driven by a number of times and I loved the look from the outside so I was glad when Caitlin suggested it.  Of course I also love that its a "Beer Bistro" ... I don't exactly know what that means except:  beer goooooood; bistro goooooood!

 

I arrived first and suggested to the hostess that we would like to sit at one of the tables in the front window.  Clearly the place was not packed (being a Sunday night in the market and all) but she did tell me that they had reservations at 9pm (it was only 7pm) so we would have to be gone by then.  Uuuuhhhhmmm ... unless there is some huge back up in the kitchen that shouldn't be a problem ... and really that that's kind of on them!  But alternatively, perhaps we could be seated at one of the other two window tables???!!!?  Seriously.

It's a really nice place.  Hardwood floors and exposed brick wall.  It's warm and inviting and the waitress (who Caitlin knew from UOttawa) was friendly and pleasant.  She gave Caitlin a beer sample when she was unsure what she wanted to order.  Oh, and they don't brew beer at Brothers but virtually everything that they prepare is made with beer.  To start, they brought us some fresh baked bread with house made herbed butter.  OMG ... good good good.

Surprise, surprise Caitlin ordered the mussels.  I told her that if she orders mussels the next time we go out I am never going to go out for dinner with her again!  She just really loves mussels apparently.

 

They had beef tongue in them ... which she delicately picked out and declared they were delicious. Whatever.  I do enjoy the 'take out' container of fries that was served on the side.  The beer that the mussels are made with is Camerons Cream Ale.  They also make beer pairing suggestions ... which neither of us followed!

 

I choose the Kitchesippi fried chicken.  It comes with a cornbread waffle and house made coleslaw.  Obviously, it is cooked with Kitchesippi beer.  The chicken was outrageous.  It was soooo crispy on the outside but so moist and tender inside.  I think this is possibly the best fried chicken I have ever had.  The cornbread waffle was crispy and flavourful.  I loved it.

 

 

The only thing I would have changed was the malted honey that was poured over the waffle.  I found it very sweet and somewhat fruity in flavour.  It wasn't bad, it was just too sweet for me and I've never been a big fan of maple syrup/honey.  If I ever ordered it again, I'd ask for the syrup on the side.  In fact, there is a side of gravy that comes with the fried chicken which was EXCELLENT.  Caitlin dipped some fries and was totally in agreement that it was super tasty.  If there had not been any honey on the waffle, I would have been super happy to just pour the gravy on it!

 

 

We had an excellent meal.  I would definitely go back again ... and I see that they have already changed their menu so there are new choices to try (although it will be really hard to NOT order that chicken again ... mmmmmmm, yum yum yum).  The food is excellent, the beer selection is top-notch, the service was very good and the atmosphere is warm, inviting and friendly.  As we were heading out, Caitlin ran into someone else that she knew, so clearly Brothers has the support of the market neighbourhood residents.

 

Post script:  I have been out for dinner with Caitlin since and she didn't order the mussels so we are all good!