Don't tell Jordan, or I, that beer and religion talk don't mix, because we proved it wrong yesterday at the Oyster City Brewing Company at 600 Government Street in Mobile. While he drank a pint of his own creation - a mix of Peanut Butter Porter and Hooter Brown, and I was treated like a king by the totally awesome bartender, with an array of beer tastings that make the wine tasting tours of Northern California look like a throw back to halcyon days. I engaged with this seminary student yesterday as he made one last visit before heading off to Kansas City to attend seminary school. Voices were not raised and agreement was reached on several important religious historical facts, and somehow I feel the spiritual lifting caused by samples of Light Lager, Tate's Helles Lager, White Zombie, Mangrove Pale, Hooter Brown, Sweet Heat and Birthday Cake contributed to our jovial musings on a subject most people, most of the time, avoid like the plague. I am not sure how any in or around Mobile who enjoy the taste and buzz of hop juice, could miss stopping by this state of the art brewery who also sell gift cards that would make a much, much better Christmas gift than a six-pack of white tube socks and two bottles of Old Spice (HINT HINT.) Parking is around back, and I give a shout out to Hooter Brown (rich, dark ale) and Sweet Heat - a slightly biting concoction of mango and habanero...and the bartender's fav, Birthday Cake, whose taste threw me for a delightful loop because it still has the primary flavor of a fine light lager, with an ever so light back-taste of birthday cake. Sounds like a Happy Birthday place to be to me...
Feeling I should wash down that beer with some grub, I headed over to a place whose name intrigued me and piqued my love of ramen as a frequent visitor to Tokyo where ramen grows on trees. When you visit Slurp Society Ramen Shop at 69 St. Michael Street you will find a clean, funky joint teeming with young cool diners and a staff who are on the cutting edge of avant-garde, eclectic Mobile. Eugene Walter would have loved this place. I sat at the counter where you can see the ramen and bao in creation mode. Under the "Noods" section the first dish is the Slurp OG, a mix of "society broth, roasted pork belly, pickled onions, kale, soft egg, scallion and black garlic oil." I asked for a dose of sriracha lime peanuts to also be tossed in and with large spoon and choppy sticks in hand I dove in and really enjoyed this dish. Can't wait to go back and try the Battleship Curry of "society broth, Japanese naval curry, chicken karaage, pickled onions, kale, soft egg, scallion, chili oil." The menu also includes appetizers such as Street Corn Rangoon's, and J.F.C. which are Japanese fried chicken nugs, watermelon sweet and sour, chilis, watermelon chunks, sriracha lime peanuts and herbs, and a bunch of other noodle, bao, and appetizer dishes you won't find anywhere else on this planet. There's sake and a dessert dish to, which I hope to test during the next visit. They have a to-go service and reservations are probably recommended for weekend dinner and holidays...
I've noticed a recent buzz about what might be an only in Mobile "recreational sport" of sorts - it's called Grizzly Axes and yep, the object of the game is to throw axes at a large board that resembles a dart board that measures your accuracy to the bull's eye. I think they should imprint certain faces on the boards and make the nose the bull's eye. I will volunteer my face as a test board, and predict they might have to start requiring reservations if they do to visit this one of a kind establishment at 4325 Downtowner Loop South in Mobile...
I can't believe I have not yet been to what many folks are calling the beautiful and stunning Dauphin's restaurant on the 34th floor of the RSA building...(I'm definitely late to this party.) Think I will stop by for lunch one day soon and maybe try the Gulf Shrimp Chowder or the Soup and Caesar Salad, a concoction of greens and special dressing with croutons invented by the Italian immigrant Cesare Cardini in 1924, and also proving my point this column helps make you more jocular at social gatherings...
Speaking again about the number one topic in Mobile right now, the just-announced Riverwalk Plaza, a mixed-use project on Water Street near the Mobile Convention Center, and set to open in 2025 ( the few usual nay-sayers claim it will be 3025...) I took a walk Friday along the waterfront in that area, near Cooper Riverside Park and as I glanced across the river at the industrial side of our commerce I wondered if there are any things we can do to spruce up the other side of the river. I'm not suggesting hiding our shipyard and industrial beauty, but perhaps some large steel shipyard worker statues, large wrought iron fencing or something to give it a prettier face....it might take a new statute to get this going...yep, read that again...
While I was on the waterfront - not to be confused with the movie On the Waterfront - I saw the gracious floating belle, Perdido Queen River Boat, that offers dinner cruises along our famous Mobile River. They have event cruises, such as the Pirate and Princess Adventure Cruise, and a Mobile Murder Mystery Dinner, and they have my undivided attention to come aboard one evening and experience Mobile from our 45 mile long, 44,000 square foot river...
Looking forward to more staycation fun along downtown Mobile and then as urged by Horace Greeley, a former editor of the New York Tribune, to Go West, Young Man, and check out some of the joints in the ever-growing West Mobile, where I may suggest we begin a high rise boom to expand downtown's westerly sister...I know, don't get yawl started....
And hey, I messed up and was supposed to use a pic of Bienville Souvenirs & Gifts photo yesterday but messaged the incorrect party, so here it is in all it's glory, showing theirs truly in summer get-up in the middle of December because it was nearly 70 degrees...
No comments:
Post a Comment