Ithaca Ale House

Name: Ithaca Ale House
Location: 111 N. Aurora St., Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone: (607) 256-7977
Cuisine: Burgers/sandwiches/desserts/BEER
Price: Likely around $20+ per person

Review:
The Ithaca Ale House has caught my eye often on my more recent trips to Ithaca, as is the case with most things involving "ale" in the name. Located just off the famous Ithaca Commons on Aurora St., I'd never been before the other day, when Megan and I found ourselves in Ithaca around lunchtime in search of a place to eat. Thankfully, I had recalled a post I'd read on the Big Hungry Shelby blog, which pronounced the Ithaca Ale House 2010's Best Restaurant in the entire area. With such lofty expectations going in, the Ithaca Ale House couldn't possibly live up to such great heights, right?

Wrong. This place is awesome.


One of my main motivations for going was to sample the latest Ithaca Excelsior! Series brew, their Thirteenth Anniversary Ale. This is a beer released only very recently, since the beginning of the new year, and I am a fan of all of Ithaca's Excelsior! offerings. The 12th Anniversary is a nice Belgian-style Abt, while the Brute is probably the brewery's most famed offering, a golden sour ale made with champagne yeasts which is positively delicious. The Thirteen is best described as a wheatwine, an extra-hoppy version of a wheat beer. Imagine a hefeweizen on steroids, brewed with lemony Sorachi Ace hops and Citra hops with slight pineapple notes. DELICIOUS! When it came time for Beer #2, it was time for another carrot-juice lookalike Thirteen. Yum.

But, yeah, on to the items our readers probably care more about than beer. In addition to a solid beverage menu, the Ithaca Ale House has a great menu full of gourmet burgers and sandwiches, each marked with a style of beer that would serve as a tasty complement. Megan ordered the "Perfect" burger, featuring lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, and mayo on a grilled roll. Sounds perfect in theory; hopefully it would stand up to the taste test. I elected to try out (on blogger buddy Shelby's recommendation) the French Dip, shaved prime rib with provolone on toasted French bread with au jus on the side. I had high hopes for this sandwich beforehand but after downing half of my 8.9% ABV wheatwine, expectations were at a fever pitch.


Luckily, these expectations were not just met, but exceeded. This was pretty much a perfect sandwich in every way. There is no way it could be improved upon. Served with fries on the side, I was in foodie heaven throughout the consumption of this delicious sandwich. On the downside, the fries were not bad, but not my favorite style, the crispy golden variety that you find at diners and the like. I like the "homestyle" variety that are more "potato-skin-esque" in flavor and texture. But that's just like, my opinion, man. The bigger deal here was the French Dip, which was amazing.


Megan's burger was equally fantastic, perfectly cooked to order. She got it with their "salad of the day" which she also enjoyed, but she has since commented that she won't be able to eat another burger for a while, since it will almost certainly pale in comparison to this one.


When it came time for dessert, we knew we had to try the Fried Oreos, proclaimed as Best Dessert of 2010 by the aforementioned Shelby. Served with whipped cream, a few smears of caramel on the side, and HOT CHOCOLATE for dipping (I can't make this stuff up, people!), this was a very tasty finish to the meal. Not nearly as good as some of the desserts I've had recently in Binghamton (English Toffee Pudding at Tranquil springs to mind) but for pub food, pretty amazing both in theory and in execution.

If you like great burgers and sandwiches, or if you're a beer connoisseur (some would say "snob," I prefer "geek") like myself, do yourself a favor and check out the Ithaca Ale House. For a restaurant of its ilk, things really don't get any better than this. Thanks, Shelby!

Grade: A

The Galley Tavern

Name: The Galley Tavern
Location: 409 Hooper Rd., Ste. 5, Endwell, NY 13760
Phone: (607) 748-6544
Cuisine: American pub food
Price: Around $10-$15 per person

Review:
One kind of restaurant that has not received a whole lot of fanfare on this blog has been the "bar and grill" variety. I'm not sure if that's because the styles of food normally found at such establishments does not appeal to us as much as others, or if we view these places more as "bars" than as "grills," but whatever the reason, we have yet to visit and offer our opinion on many of these sorts of places. And there are literally dozens to choose from throughout the Triple Cities.

Of the pub food scene, the only ones we've reviewed so far are Kelly's Sports Bar in Endicott (home to popular Wednesday night Team Trivia that we have been known to frequent), Vestal's Ale House (a review which admittedly was more of an excuse for me to talk about snooty beer than about food), and JC's Treaty of Versailles-predating hot-pie haven The Oasis. Oh, and Hurricane Rylie's in Endicott, which I think fancies itself more of a restaurant than a bar anyway. Some places I'd like to try out include Binghamton's South Side Yanni's, Harry Tuft's in Endicott, Tom & Marty's in downtown Binghamton, among others. After all, if we're going to Taste Binghamton, it's not always going to be about fine dining. Sometimes, you just want a half-dozen wings and a good burger, and so we headed to The Galley in Endwell to see if they could fulfill that desire.

The Galley is located on Hooper Road in a small plaza between Watson Blvd. and Country Club Rd. It's really kind of two restaurants in one, a bar to the right and a dining room (cleverly named "Galley Too") to the left. I'd advise opting for a table in the dining room rather than the high-top tables with uncomfortable wooden stools in the bar area where we sat.

The menu has all the usual pub food--burgers, sandwiches, pizza, wings, fried appetizers--which was exactly the kind of thing we were looking for this evening. I opted to go with a half-dozen medium wings and the Black and Bleu burger (peppercorns and crumbly bleu cheese) and Megan ordered the BBQ Burger (BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and bacon) with curly fries. We were given complimentary popcorn (somewhat reminiscent of Tully's on the Vestal Parkway) to start the meal which tied us over until our entrees arrived.

The wings were decent, certainly nothing to get too excited about. They had good flavor but as far as wings go, they were on the small side and overall inferior to those at Kelly's in Endicott. The burger, on the other hand, was much better. With a little A-1 sauce to complement the peppercorns and a healthy portion of crumbled bleu cheese, this was a tasty burger and certainly one I'd order again. Megan was also happy with her burger and fries; I tried the BBQ burger and I think I liked it even more than the one I got.

Since The Galley is a bar also, I should also mention the beer tap selection for those who care about that kind of thing. Mediocre at best. I saw a tap with Smithwick's and one with Sam Adams Winter Lager, but for those seeking a quality microbrew, this isn't the place to find one.

Service at The Galley was friendly, but somewhat spotty. It took us forever to get straws for our drinks, and service toward the end of the meal was a little slow. But overall, I'd have to say that The Galley was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be: a good place to come and have a couple drinks, grab a burger, watch some sports, and hang out with friends. It's not hard to believe that they've been in business since 1972. Don't expect anything transcendent from a culinary perspective, but for pub fare, The Galley generally gets the job done.

Grade: B

Hallo Berlin

Name: Hallo Berlin
Location: 55 Corbettsville Rd., Conklin, NY 13748
Phone: (607) 775-4391
Cuisine: German
Price: Likely around $80 for two

Review:
Hallo Berlin is easily among the area's strangest establishments: a "German Soul Food" joint in the middle of nowhere and a stone's throw from the NY/PA border. Located in the tiny hamlet of Corbettsville, they've been serving authentic German fare and imported German draft beer for years. The sign out front says "since 1840." I don't know if I quite believe that, but needless to say, Hallo Berlin has been a fixture in the area for many years. Trivia question: who was the U.S. President in 1840? Answer to follow.

We arrived at 6:30 on a Friday evening and surprisingly found the restaurant to be nearly empty. I had wondered beforehand if we would need a reservation but in the end I decided not to bother. Definitely a good decision on my part. Upon entering the restaurant you will notice the fantastically old-fashioned bar straight ahead, and all sorts of artifacts lining the walls. Megan and I decided to have a seat at the bar while we waited for our friends Tom and Bryan, who somehow managed to get lost on the way there, and eventually we were greeted by an older German man (we would later learn that his name is Thomas) who was the face of the operation all evening, serving as both bartender and waiter. I believe he is also the owner.

We ordered some drinks and I opted to get a draft of the Koestritzer Black Lager, a beer I'd had before, but never had served to me in a humongous one-liter mug like this one! When our friends arrived, we were promptly seated in the dining room, a fairly small, quaint space.

The menu at Hallo Berlin is obviously one of the most unique in the area, replete with various traditional German dishes and sausages. All entrees are served with soup and bread. Megan, who was a little hesitant about eating German food, decided to go with the Sauerbraten with Spaetzle ($20), and I decided that I had to try out the "Dr. Atkins Diet Special" ($17) which consisted of three different wursts (vealwurst, beefwurst, and porkwurst), a German meatball, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and various dipping sauces--mustard, spicy mustard, and one which may have been a homemade ketchup of some sort.

The soup was a potato and lentil soup that had small pieces of sausage included and was rather tasty. Not amazing or anything, but a good homemade soup. Served with hunks of bread and butter, it was a reasonably good start to the meal.

Soon after, it was time for a beer refill, and being the huge beer geeks that we are, Tom and I opted to try out a Berliner Weisse. This is a somewhat rare style of beer that has a sweet and somewhat sour taste. We decided to try both the red and green varieties that were offered. We thought they were pretty good but were left questioning their beerhood. The best news is that we finally found a beer that Megan liked, who referred to the drink as "really delicious." And Martin van Buren was President in 1840. Yay for non-sequiturs.

Anyhow, the main course was awesome--my meat platter was great, very well-prepared and well-presented. Apologies for the dark pictures that do not do the presentation justice. The sauerkraut and red cabbage were perfect complements to the wursts and the meatball was delicious. Of the wursts, I think I'd have to say that the vealwurst was my favorite. Megan thoroughly enjoyed the sauerbraten (German pot roast) and the spaetzle (German pasta). I tried a couple bites myself and was equally impressed.

No sooner did my meat-coma commence that it was time for dessert. Megan and I split a slice of the German Chocolate Cake. It served as a fine conclusion to the meal, if not an entirely memorable one.

I would be negligent if I didn't take the time to discuss the service at Hallo Berlin. The waiter, Thomas, was incredible in my opinion. An older gentleman, what he lacked somewhat in speed, he more than made up for with his dry, European sense of humor and his conversational style. A job well done indeed.

Hallo Berlin is not without its flaws. We felt the prices were a little outrageous. While the sauerbraten was really good, for example, I guess I didn't really see what made it a $20 plate of food. All this means though is that Hallo Berlin is a place best left for special occasions, or times when you just feel like splurging. Be prepared to pay handsomely--for the four of us, the bill came to a cool $180 including tax and tip.

Overall, our trip to Hallo Berlin was a great success. Where else in the Binghamton area can you get authentic German beer served to you in mugs larger than your head? Where else can you get authentic German food served to you by a subtly hilarious German waiter? Expect to throw down a fair bit of cash, but a visit to Hallo Berlin is definitely an experience the likes of which very few restaurants in the Triple Cities can offer.

Grade: A-

Dillinger's "Celtic Pub" and Eatery

Name: Dillinger's "Celtic Pub" and Eatery
Location: 77 State St., Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 724-7779
Cuisine: Pub fare (Burgers/sandwiches/wings)
Price: Which price? The printed one or the one they charge?

Review:
I absolutely hate Dillinger's. Here are five reasons why:

1. A little history lesson: John Dillinger was born in Indiana. He was mainly of German heritage. What John Dillinger has to do with a Celtic Pub, I have no idea.

2. The place is nearly always crowded, unbearably loud to the point that I could not hear the people across the table from me, and is the veritable meat market of downtown Binghamton, full of phony skanks and fratboys. If that makes me sound like Holden Caulfield, so be it.

3. I've eaten there four times. The first time, I got a burger. It was garbage. The second time, I got hot wings. They had a good level of spiciness, but were fatty and undercooked. I swore I would not get them again. The third time, I had nachos. I also had explosive diarrhea for the ensuing 48 hours. The fourth time, last night, I tried the wings again. After all, they were on special for $4.50/dozen. They were fatty and overcooked, and I was charged $6.75. I should listen to myself more often.

4. They used to have some good beers in bottles, like microbrews from Dogfish Head and Great Lakes. Now they just have signs on the wall advertising that they sell Dogfish Head and Great Lakes WHEN THEY ACTUALLY DO NOT SELL THEM!!! Hey look, we're cool, we sell microbrews!!! Oh wait, we don't. Womp womp.

And the biggie...

5. This is a "Celtic Pub" that DOES NOT SELL BEER ON TAP. Not even a tap for Guinness, in this "Celtic Pub"? Are you kidding me?

As a place to hang out before the crowds hit, Dillinger's is fine. It's a really nice space and there's a covered patio outside. As a place to eat and/or drink, Dillinger's is awful. Feel free to call me a snob all you want, but there's no way you'll convince me that Dillinger's is an establishment worth spending a dime in.

Grade: F

Sabatini's Pizza

Name: Sabatini's Pizza
Location: 1925 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, PA 18643
Phone: (570) 693-2270
Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Price: Around $10/$12 for a pizza. Bring cash!

Review:
One thing I've alluded to a few times throughout this blog adventure is my affinity for good beer. And by "good beer" I don't mean Heineken or Guinness. I prefer high-quality Belgian sour ales, rich coffee stouts, barleywines, hoppy IPAs, and just about everything in between.

Sabatini's, nominally a pizza parlor, plays host to one of the most prodigious selections of beer I have ever seen. They have 12 taps at any given time for draft beer. Usually about half the taps are the usual swill you'd find at most other bars, but the other half consists of selections you aren't likely to find anywhere else. They sell and fill growlers, giving patrons the option of taking 2 liters of draft beer home with them. The bottle collection is phenomenal, with selections from many of the top American craft breweries and from breweries all around the world. And did I mention the pizza? It's certainly different from most pizza I've ever had, but it's strangely addicting and is among my personal favorites.

Megan and I were heading to a concert in Scranton last night and I took that as an opportunity to introduce her to Sabatini's. I'd been a couple times before. Word of warning: this is not an easy place to get to. It is quite a distance from both I-81 and I-476, and you will have to endure many red lights and little suburban towns where the speed limit is 25 MPH. The small borough of Exeter, PA is home to Sabatini's, on the west bank of the Susquehanna River about halfway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Not easy to get to from Binghamton, but if you like pizza and/or beer, it's worth the trip.

The restaurant itself is laid out such that there are two distinct dining areas. The front room is comprised of older, wooden booths with all sorts of memorabilia on the walls from the coal-mining days of yore in the region. The back room has some larger tables. It's a comfortable atmosphere with a sunroof in the front room to provide some natural light to an otherwise dimly-lit restaurant.

I started with a Bell's Oberon wheat ale (draft) and Megan (not a beer drinker) had a Sprite. Note: if you like Blue Moon...try the Oberon and you'll never go back! We ordered a medium pizza (10 small slices and plenty large enough for the two of us) with half meatball.


Now, that probably does not look like the most appetizing pizza you've ever seen. It is definitely an oddball in the pizza universe. The crust is very thin and the toppings extend the whole way out to the edge of the pie. The cheese is an interesting blend that Megan and I both thought was not entirely mozzarella, and the crust has a nice char to it that gives the entire pizza a very smoky flavor. What separates this pizza from the pack is the sauce. This is some of the sauciest pizza I've ever had and it has such a unique sweet taste. It's the kind of pizza where you take your first bite and think it's just OK, but after you've downed a slice or two, it becomes awesome, as if it takes a few minutes for your taste buds to adjust their expectations. That sounds like some kind of backhanded compliment but it really isn't. This is addicting stuff, vaguely similar to the Neapolitan pizza Megan and I had in Italy, and we polished off the whole pie in short order.

I washed it down with another draft, this time a Pretty Things Baby Tree Belgian-style ale, a strong beer brewed with plums and a hint of coffee in the finish. A fine beer indeed, and not one I would readily find anywhere else. I filled a couple growlers to go and then we were off to our show.

If you like pizza, Sabatini's is definitely worth trying out. I don't know that it would be worth the trip for just the pizza alone, but it is consistently rated among the best in the Scranton area, a region well-known for its pizza-making prowess. If you like beer, Sabatini's is a gold mine of amazing brews available at completely reasonable prices, far superior to what you would be able to find at Sam the Beer Man in Binghamton. It is a miracle to me that a place like this with such a world-class selection exists in the small town of Exeter, PA, but I will gladly make more trips to sample both the great beer and their addicting pizza in the future.

Grade: A

The Ale House

Name: The Ale House
Location: 3744 Vestal Parkway E., Vestal, NY 13850
Phone: (607) 729-9053
Cuisine: Bar snacks, sandwiches, pizza
Attire: Casual
Price: Expensive for beer, inexpensive for food

Review:
The Ale House is located near Binghamton University on the Vestal Parkway and offers an alternative to the Bud-and-Coors infested bar scene of downtown Binghamton. At Ale House you can find a good selection of microbrews and European beers, and the clientele is usually comprised of older people (townies and grad students) instead of undergrads, making for a welcome change of pace. They also have decent food, including sandwiches, pizza, and an allegedly famous cheese/cracker/onion appetizer. So is The Ale House "The Beer Joint of Your Dreams" as promised on the sign out front? Not exactly, but it's not bad for the occasional pint or two.

The beer selection is among the best in the area with 36 taps and a regular rotation of quality microbrews. You can regularly find offerings from the likes of Rogue, Ithaca, Southern Tier, Cooperstown, Middle Ages, Great Lakes, Erie, and Brooklyn. Good microbreweries no doubt, but very rarely do they get in anything too rare or too amazing. Compare this with Cyber Cafe West, where they usually have at least one tap with something truly awesome and hard-to-find. A beer nerd like me, I'm looking for something I can't get at Wegman's or Sam the Beer Man.

The Ale House does have the Passport system where you can get your name engraved on the wall if you drink 60 different brews with at least one from each country they offer. A good gimmick and a built-in way to guarantee people will make return visits.

Food is standard bar fare with a couple twists. They have this "famous" cheese and crackers appetizer served with onions and mustard. I'm not sure exactly what makes this famous, but it's passable. The pizza is not bad, though it certainly won't win any awards. Sandwiches are a little hit and miss. I would recommend the steak sandwich. They don't have a fryer, so staples like wings and fries are not a possibility, if you like that sort of thing.

If you're going to go to The Ale House, make sure to go early before the crowds hit. The place is very small, and totally understaffed. When busy, sometimes the simple task of ordering a beer becomes nearly impossible, and the bartenders can be on the snippy side. When it's not busy, the bartenders are pretty helpful and have been known to give good recommendations. I wouldn't classify them as "beer connoisseurs" or anything, but they're knowledgeable about what they serve. Prices also tend to run high, with most beers costing $5 or more per pint. Granted, the quality of what you're getting is much better here than most places in the area, so it's hard to complain too much.

Overall, The Ale House is a decent hangout for beer snobs in the Binghamton area, and can be a nice little place to hang out when it's not too crowded. The beer selection is good, but not mindblowing. Cyber Cafe West's selection is not as extensive, but is better in overall quality. Service is very good at times and very poor at others. The food is better than expected, but not great. It might not be the beer joint of my dreams, but The Ale House is worth the occasional stop if you're in the area.

Grade: C+

Update (7/31/10): I stopped in the Ale House a couple days ago for a drink and found it better than I remembered it. Service was excellent and the bartender, Donna, remembered me and the people I was with by name, even though we hadn't been there in a year! Troeg's JavaHead Stout and Oskar Blues' Old Chub Scotch Ale on draft were worth the $6 apiece. Since we were there early in the evening, it was a nice, relaxed atmosphere that I found highly enjoyable.

Cyber Cafe West

Name: Cyber Cafe West
Location: 176 Main Street, Binghamton, NY 13905
Phone: (607) 723-2456
Cuisine: Wraps/sandwiches/salads
Attire: Casual
Price: $20 for two

Review:
Cyber Cafe West is another place, like Tapatios, that I've been to a hundred times or more. They have Team Trivia on Monday nights, hosted by the inimitable Jeff Kahn, who also happens to own the place. We used to attend the trivia rather regularly (just about every week for a couple years) but these days we don't attend quite as much. There are tons of things to like about the Cyber. It has a unique atmosphere, to say the least, and appeals to a diverse clientele--dyed-in-the-wool hippies and young professionals alike. They've got live music 5 nights a week and try to bring in a wide variety of under-the-radar musicians. They have a game room in the back where people can often be seen playing chess, reading, or just hanging out. They probably have the best overall beer selection in the entire Southern Tier, with a great selection of microbrews and bottles. Their desserts are pretty outstanding, with a good, varied, rotating selection of pies, cakes, and cookies. The problem with Cyber is the rest of the food they make. It's simply not very good.

The cafe has an interesting layout. Upon entering, you can place an order off to the right, where the bar and "kitchen" are located. There's a room with tables to the left, and many more tables in the room beyond the kitchen, where the stage is located. You'll notice all sorts of hippie-ish artwork all over the place, including the tables. The tables are somewhat rickety and in fact the entire place kind of seems like it could crumble to the ground at any time. But the shambolic nature is kind of part of its charm, oddly enough.

Let's talk about the beer selection. Excellent indeed. Where else are you going to find Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence, Dogfish Head's Midas Touch, and Great Divide's Titan IPA (to name a few) on tap in the Southern Tier? You aren't. An added bonus is that you can order either pints or pitchers. A big thumbs-up for a wide selection of about 25 different taps, nearly all of which don't suck, and they're all reasonably priced, unlike the wallet-gouging Ale House out on the Parkway. They also have a reasonable selection of wine. Megan also likes some of the other drinks they make, like the strawberry lemonade. So far, so good.

The food menu offers a wide array of wraps and sandwiches. A good number of these items are either vegetarian or vegan and the place is definitely popular among that demographic. I have gotten many different items on the menu over the years and there are a few things on there that I consider decent. The El Ciber wrap consists of vegetarian chili, jasmine rice, jalapenos, sour cream, and cheese. Served with tortilla chips with a couple wedges of gouda cheese, the El Ciber is pretty good for what it is. Sometimes a little heavy on the sour cream, but you can of course have it made it to order. The Texas Pig-in-a-Blanket is another wrap I've often ordered. Pulled pork barbecue with tomatoes and mozzarella. I've had much better pulled pork, and I usually get this without the tomatoes since I don't understand what they're doing there to begin with. But all told, it's edible. Whatever you do, don't order anything that has chicken in it, which unfortunately comprises pretty much the remainder of their non-vegetarian menu. The chicken has a very off-putting taste most of the time. It's pretty disgusting, in fact. So that knocks the Cyber down a few pegs in my book right there.

For desserts, they've got a very nice selection of coffee drinks (organic fair-trade beans only, thankyouverymuch) and the aforementioned pies/cakes/cookies. They sometimes have a chocolate peanut butter pie that I really like, and the giant chocolate chip cookies are pretty tasty. Thumbs up on the desserts.

Cyber Cafe West is tough for me to assign a grade to. The place has a really unique, comfortable atmosphere that I really like. The beverage selection is nonpareil, and the desserts are really good and are reason enough to stop by. I truly wish I had better things to say about the rest of the menu, but I really don't care for most of it. Don't let that stop you from heading to Cyber for a relaxing night on the town...just think about eating before you go.

Grade: B-