Grand opening Merry Monk

Grand opening at the Merry Monk Good turn out. Free Ommegang until 6:00 and wild boar ribs.  Did anyone about this?

Landman eats Boar Ribs

So how about that, after all the scheming I turn out to be the only one that goes to the Monk yesterday.  I mean that pretty literally, when we got there at around 7:00 they were closing up the shop due to the total lack of customers.  Jeremy agreed to stay open for us though and we had the place to ourselves.  I had a fleeting worry before we got there that we might need to struggle for a table, I sure got that wrong.  Anyway, they treated us great.  The chef had just taken a rack of boar ribs from the oven and man were they good.  They were slathered in some kind of beer glaze, crispy and tender, just awesome.  I had mussels in blue cheese and bacon, a healthy and light snack.  The kids both had steak and frites.  The steaks have some sort of beer based sauce that the kids loved – maybe I ought to worry about that.  We mentioned that we enjoyed the waffles from our last visit and the next thing we knew a plate of steaming waffles, one row spread with a beer and pear reduction and the other a beer and raspberry reduction appeared at our table.  Of course there were some damn fine beers along with all that gluttony.

We rolled out of there and all we could say was Wow.  Hope no one else finds out about Sunday nights at the Monk

City Beer Hall

Table Hopping Eat, drink and be candid By Steve Barnes | E-mail | About Table Hopping

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Brooklyn, Wandering Star beer events at City Beer Hall

December 14, 2011 at 2:55 pm by Steve Barnes, senior writer

The City Beer Hall in Albany is hosting two upcoming brewery events:

• Thursday (12/15): Brooklyn Bonfire Party, featuring $4 per pint of six Brooklyn Brewery beers, chili, s’mores, roasted wienies and a bonfire. From 9 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 22: Wild Game Dinner, featuring four beers from Wandering Star Brewery in Pittsfield, Mass., paired with a wild-game tasting menu (details TBA). $50 per person; advance reservations required and available at City Beer Hall or online.

Lunch at the City Beer Hall

The City Beer Hall has a small but very nice menu.  No pub grub here. There are only 8
items with 2 specials.  The Turducken sandwich with cider bacon mayo is
just great.  When 7 out of a table of  8 order the turducken its enough to get the
chef to your table.  Chef said the turdcken is made in their kitchen.
He pounds the breasts of each bird flat and seasons each one and rolls
them up and puts the duck skin on the outside of the roll.  Then the
whole roll is poached.  He then slices the turducken, puts it on a roll
with cider bacon mayo and serves a side of fries for under $10.00.

You also get a free 8" pizza with every pint ordered at the bar.  You
might think this a cheapo Sysco frozen pizza but its just a nice little
thin crust with sauce and cheese.

The burger, a smallish grass fed beef burger cooked right w/fries, was
reported as very good.


I will be back to try the Mac & Chesse w/ Truffle oil 

The Beer.
A good draft list of ever changing craft beer.
Where else in Albany can you get a four glass sampler that you can do a
Biggie Smalls vs Tupac IPA challenge?

Merry Monk Closer Look

The Club was able to muster 16 for a visit to the Merry Monk on Friday.  With 16 Belgian or Belgian-style craft beers on draft and not a Coors Lite onsite how can you go wrong?  The room is bright--more of a European-cafe look than the dark, American-speakeasy look. The bar is big with lots of room for the staff to work behind.  There are booths and high top tables. There is also a sitting area with leather chairs and a gas fireplace/stove. We had a nice chat with Jerriam who is one of the owners.  He seemed to be happy with the response so far.  He liked the idea of having a MAS meeting there in the near future. The menu looked good.  Mussels and other Belgian-cafe fare.  We only had the frites. The dipping sauces are good but the fries were a little too much like standard pub fries and not Pommes Frites. Garden Bistro 24 and Ommagang have the real frites.  We ate all of them anyway.  The cheese plate was very nice and of a good size.  In conclusion I want to be a regular.

First Look Merry Monk by Landman

Couldn’t resist, had to stop by for a quickie.  Mighty awesome beer. Food seemed ok, kind of average.  The surroundings are simple and pleasant.  Not much of a crowd at 8:30 on opening night.   No bad taps, great bottles too.  They’re really going to need support to keep up with the costs of having such high end beers.  The owners are very friendly, but seem a little worried about whether it will work out.  I’ll do my part.  KJo’s are planning to go tomorrow @4:30

    Cheers,

   Landman

Barnes Says Merry Monk to Wednesday

Table Hopping Eat, drink and be candid By Steve Barnes | E-mail | About Table Hopping Merry Monk to open Wednesday December 6, 2011 at 11:47 am by Steve Barnes, senior writer The Merry Monk, a Belgian-themed bar and restaurant at the corner of North Pearl Street and Sheridan Avenue in downtown Albany, will open with lunch service on Wednesday (12/7). Projected hours are 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Draft beers: Ommegang Abbe, Ommegang Witte, Ommegang Adoration, Ommegang BPA, Ommegang Rare Vos, Liefmans Cuvee Brut, Palm, Maredsous Brune, LaChouffe, Lindemans Frambois, Duvel Single, Unibroue Ephemere Cassis, Chimay triple, Saison Dupont, Monk’s Stout by Dupont and Corsendonk Christmas. The menu looks good: six kinds of mussels for $8.99 for a pound, $15.99 for 2 pounds, plus frites with a dozen mayo-based dipping sauces, steak frites for $15.99, a few fish and chicken entrées, and a page with apps, salads, sandwiches and burgers.