A Nice Irish Pub

The Fainting Goat
www.thefaintinggoatpub.com
846 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203
303.945.2323

Attendees: Katie, Jen, Ang, Rhonda, Marie
Open Pick by Lara

I was sure this was a pub of some sort, but when I looked up the website I was not sure what to expect. Then, I drove up to it and realized many a bar, restaurant and pub had been in this location before! A fabulous three story building squished between businesses on Broadway creating this tall, slender building with a funky little rooftop patio.

We did not see the patio on this evening, only the bar--a very clean bar I must say being a bartender and a long time bar patron, I was impressed. I arrived to find a nice crowd of happy hour patrons. When I inquired about our reservation (which I knew was a bit tentative) the kind bartender, Mike, said he was unsure but he would be happy to let us have the booth in the back. Then, he poured me my favorite drink, Jameson on the rocks--and a nice pour it was. I was about to sit at a table next to the bar, when the two nice ladies said, "sit next to us & wait for your friends, there's plenty of room at the bar." I knew I was in a good place.

The decor is Celtic Irish, with shots of Powers Irish whisky on special for only 3 bucks and a sign advertising pancakes on at 7am for a Paddy's day Special. The ladies at the bar were friendly and we talked about the menu. They said the Irish nachos are awesome. One of the girls was eating Blarney sliders with a side of the horseradish dijonaise--she looked happy.

The girls arrived and we went to the booth, ordered some whisky, wine and fried pickle spears! Our server, Katie, was very nice and efficient. I'm a bit skeptical about the fried pickles, but when I dived into a bite of one, it was super delicious. Not soggy like I expected, but crunchy. And the ranch (not a ranch fan) was very good.

For dinner I ordered the Blarney sliders with the fun horseradish dijonaise the girl from the bar recommended. It is kind of like a hollandaise and honey mustard with horseradish--but not quite. The mini corned beef sliders have horseradish Havarti and are on a pretzel roll, served with really good french fries. The sauce was a perfect accompaniment to both.

The girls ordered a couple of Rubens, fish and chips and burger. Everyone seemed happy with their selection and we all agreed Rhonda's salad looked big and delicious--she substituted it for fries with her Ruben. All in all a good time.

I love a good clean bar with a good bartender, but I love it even more when it's an Irish pub with yummy food and lots of Irish Whisky!

A Taste of Argentina

Buenos Aires Pizzeria

1319/1307 22nd Street

Denver, Colorado

(303) 296-6710

www.bapizza.com

Attendees: Ang., Jen, Lara, Marie

Marie's Pick

We really didn't know what to expect from this little joint in downtown Denver. What could pizza from Argentina be like, anyway? Well, I'll tell you! It is good - really good - with its own little twist.

My first comment would have to be about the service. There was one gal who was working the entire restaurant and she was awful cute but because she was the only one so service was very slow and sporadic. Fortunately the Dinnergirls are good at entertaining ourselves... I have no idea if this is normal but if you're in a hurry or have someplace to be, you might try BA Pizza another time...

First we tried the Empanadas. They were great - perfectly cooked and flaky. You could easily make a meal out of the empanadas alone if you wanted to.

For the pizza, I tried the Nepolitana, which listed the ingredients as: Mozzarella, Ham, Fresh Tomato, Garlic, Green Olives, Oregano. I substituted shrimp for the ham.

The first thing I noticed when the pizza arrived was the shrimp. I am not sure what I expected but they were the little tiny shrimps. That's fine and everything, just not what I was expecting. I also noticed that my pizza, compared to the slice that Lara ordered, was definitely lacking in ingredients. I had a few olives per slice but Lara's was covered!! This made me jealous. But that is ok. I still really enjoyed it, although next time I think I'd just order slices rather than a pie.

The next thing I noticed was the crust. It was thin, like I like it, but upon taking a bite, I realized how dense it is. It is a very dense crust! This makes the pizza deceiving as it will fill you up much quicker than you might otherwise anticipate. I really like pizza with lots of "stuff" so the sparseness of toppings was a teensy bit disappointing (maybe because I had seen Lara's slice) but not a huge deal as it was really good. I would like to try it again, for sure.

The best part of our meal was dessert, in my opinion. They make their own gelatos and I absolutely could not resist trying the Dulce de Leche ‘n Flan. It was amazing and delicious. I would eat it again and again. Oh the the gelato - yum yum yum!

Though I've never been to Argentina, the atmosphere in Buenos Aires Pizzeria reflects the feel of another place & time. The music, the decor, the photos and the artwork, transform the space to make you feel like you are in Argentina. I enjoyed our wine and pizza alike and look forward to visiting again. Great pick, Marie! xoxo

It Was Meant to Bean

The Squeaky Bean
3301 Tejon St.
Denver, CO 80211
www.thesqueakybean.net
Attendees: Ang., Katie, Jen, Marie
Katie's pick

Looooooved The Squeaky Bean!

When I glanced at the menu online, I was thinking that the selection was a little limited, but interesting, and walked into the place not knowing what else to expect.

Upon entering on our Thursday night, the place was, of course, packed. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long for our table. The atmosphere in The Squeaky Bean is laid back and simple, but interesting in an old building, European, kind of way. The tables are tight so you're kind of back-to-back but once you dive into the food, you don't even notice the others around you. (Except for the kooky girl at the bar with the tiny, tiny hat.)

We started out with the Castelvetrano Olives and the Potato and Gruyere Fonduta "small plates" to share. I was not expecting so much for "small" plates and we had plenty to go around. The olives were not at all what I anticipated. They were mixed with toasted almonds in this amazing, light, curry sauce. While the curry was light, it had enough flavor to entice me to try another one. And another one. And another one. And the fonduta... it was so good. Served with oiled (buttered?) and grilled slices of bread, the fonduta is this amazing potato cheese dip - that stayed smooth and creamy, despite the fact that it was not kept over a flame, like fondue. We even had to ask for more bread and I think I ate ten pieces. For the four of us, it was plenty and filling for a "little" starter.

I almost forgot -- Katie's salad. Katie ordered the beet salad. It came out with the small plates. We all got bites and it was amazingly tasty! There were two kinds of beets and it was drizzled in a basil dressing/sauce. It was a pretty good sized salad, too. The basil dressing added a very interesting flair to the beets that I did not expect. Coupled with the small plates, it would have been a fine meal, I'm sure.

For my "entree" I opted for the Burrata, which was labeled as a small plate, I believe. Marie ordered it too. Our waiter explained that the mozzarella cheese came from a small, special place in California and was handmade. It is two kinds of mozz, the "skin" on the outside and a creamy mozz on the inside, and butternut squash. When the plate arrived, it was not really what I expected. And my first bite was not what I expected either. It was a pretty little circle on the plate, with the cheese sitting on top of the squash. First of all, the mozzarella was cold! But ok, I took a bite and grabbed another piece or two of the squash. I cannot explain the flavor, or the texture, and I could not really figure it out myself, either, but each bite I took after that intrigued me more than the previous bite and I fell in love with the dish. The squash (and I think our waiter also mentioned bread - like croutons - are in it) was so tasty -- kind of cinnamony and crunchy - like it had been fried, but I don't think it actually was. It was super -- by the time I took my last bite, I was in love! I would order the Burrata again. A simply fascinating blend of flavor and texture!

The other girls seemed to enjoy their plates as well. Katie ordered a giant duck sandwich, Ang. ordered the tasty and interesting lasagna, and Marie, like me, the Burrata.

After we finished our dinner and wine, we took the plunge and ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding even though I'm sure we were all pretty stuffed. How can one resist Sticky Toffee Pudding?! I thought it was great too. It was served very hot and was a tasty little cake of sweetness, with hot sticky toffee - just like the name says.

All in all, The Squeaky Bean was a prize of a find and I would absolutely go back anytime. According to their website, they also serve lunch and brunch. Combine that with an ever-changing menu and I doubt one could ever get bored eating the different flavors of The Squeaky Bean. So go! Check it out sometime -- and let us know what you think! xoxo

Chocolate and Cheese

d-Bar desserts
1475 E 17th Ave
Denver, CO

Dinner Date: October 8th, 2009
Attendees: Katie, Ang., Jen, Caroline, Marie

Bittersweet, like chocolate, and that song...is my assessment of Denver's d-bar desserts.

Bitter: The Wai-aaaa-ting Is The Hardest Part.

At the d-bar, you will wait. It seems everyone waits...you could probably go alone and have to wait. There are probably people waiting for the door to be unlocked when they open. The place is small and no matter where you stand you are in the way...of other people wanting to get in to wait, the wait staff or people who are actually lucky enough to be done with their waiting.
Let me reiterate here...this place is small. They have one large table that seats 8, and those 8 people are not usually a group of 8 but several smaller groups. They have a few cafe like tables against the wall, 4 tops and 2 tops, booth seating against the wall and chairs on the outside. Then there is bar seating at the counter and along the window on one side.
Naturally, d-bar does not take reservations because they want you to wait. They want you to be seen by the traffic on 17th to be waiting...it's great advertising and it's all free!

I will point out that we were a party of five and there can be up to 8 of us at any given dinner. I would personally like to thank the girls that didn't make it to dinner or there is no way we would have been seated if all of us had showed. I cannot even imagine what our wait time would have been. At the end of a very slow glass of wine...the 5 of us were seated at the bar, not really an ideal spot for a party of five considering we could not really enjoy conversation with each other, but after our particular wait time, we were happy to be sitting at all.

Sweet: Food, Glorious, Food!

We started our evening with an order of the special appetizer fries. First...these should be on the menu at all times. They were DIVINE!!! In fact, I want them right now. Perfectly cooked skinny fries covered with their signature 4 cheese Mac and Cheese sauce...there was other stuff in there but don't ask me what it was because I was too busy gorging myself on my share of these that I couldn't tell you. Holy moley...I am salivating like Homer Simpson at Lamar's Doughnuts right now just thinking about these fries! My guess is that even though they were a "special" you could probably get these folks to serve them up to you anytime as Mac and Cheese is a staple on their small food menu (I had a bit of Katie's Mac & Cheese and wowsers...you can guess that is a house favorite.)
For my dinner I had the special Flatbread pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Organic Pepperoni...it was simple and perfect and delicious.

Now for the reason this place exists and people will wait:
Dessert, and let's not mince words with their logo...that is dessert with a capital "D". As mentioned above, we were seated at the bar and pretty much got to watch the dessert gal (the I-Do-Not-Smile-And-Being-Engaging-With-Customers-Is-Not-My-Job dessert gal) make everything on the dessert menu was quite the treat. You would think that sort of thing would be of assistance when ordering your dessert, but you would be wrong. I had the hardest time deciding on what to have. I finally went with the Molten-Cake Thing That Everyone Seems To Have...a steamed chocolate cake with a truffle hidden inside, topped with 3 kinds of berries and the most delicious cherry I have ever eaten in my life, with chocolate sauce smear and topped with pistachio ice cream...holy jeez whiz...freakin' amazing!!! I couldn't finish it all but pretty much decimated the little plate so their was no salvaging leftovers there.
As for the other girls they will have to tell you about their dinners and desserts cause I'm having a little trouble typing, what with all the mental drooling I'm doing right now.

Bittersweet: It's Bittersweet, More Sweet Than Bitter, Bitter Than Sweet, It's A Bitter Sweet, Surrender.

I liked the d-bar. I'm glad we went to the d-bar. I probably will never go back to the d-bar. It really is a one-time-only kind of thing. It's just too small, the wait is just too much, the food was awesome but maybe they should just be a coffee and dessert place and skip the dinner thing, that way they can turn over more customers and alleviate some of the waiting. It's a treat place, it's a date-night for dessert place or a dessert before dinner hipster hangout. It's lovely and like I said, I'm glad we went but in the end, I'm just not that hip, and as hard as that is to believe, it's true, really, I'm not.


PS...Helpful Hints or as I like to call 'em, If You Go Notes:
Go early...
Go when it's warm out...they have a nice size patio and can probably accommodate twice as many customers outside as in...

xoang.

Go Veggie!

Watercourse Foods
837 E 17th Ave
Denver, CO 80218-1467

Dinner Date: September 10th, 2009
Attendees: Katie, Jen, Ang., Rhonda, Caroline, Lara, Cat

Watercourse Foods is a Denver institution. They, without dispute, make the most amazing gravy (as in biscuits and gravy) in the world. I am dying to have it sent to some sort of culinary lab to have it decoded so I could make it at home. I have known employees and ex-employees that have sworn they don't know the secret of the gravy. It's also not your typical vegetarian/vegan restaurant...there really is something for everyone, even the most die-hard carnivore that will go on a tirade about not climbing to the top of the food chain to eat tofu can find something that will totally appease and satiate them.

Until Thursday night, I had not been to Watercourse since they moved to their location on 17th Avenue nor had I ever eaten there for dinner. Besides parking being what it is on 17th (not that I remember we had that much of a problem or a walk) the restaurant is very lovely...open and airy, with a long, wrap-around bar and the walls are tastefully colored with artwork everywhere. Which is a good thing because we spent a lot of time at the bar, waiting.

And as far as things go, we spent a lot of time waiting everywhere that evening.

I'll admit, Thursday there were 7 of us girls, an odd number, sure, but it seems doubtful that our wait would have been any less had there only been 6 of us. Looking around there didn't seem to be any tables to accommodate parties more than 4...which is fine, but our wait at the bar had to be on the closer to the 45 minutes to an hour side.

Once we were at the table things didn't seem to move at any quicker a pace. It seemed to me (and I could be wrong about this, if I am I'm hoping one of the other gals will correct me in the comments section) that we had to wait a significant amount of time not only for our order to be taken but for our food to arrive. I just remember having the thought at one point that quite possibly my napkin is made out of some biodegradable stuff that could be fit for human consumption. But, admittedly, I'll just throw in that we could have ordered appetizers at the bar, we didn't and that is our fault, so really, quit with the whining already, eh?

As for the food...no complaints. Everything was delicious and except for the gals that ordered the Portabello steak sandwiches, I tried a little of everyone's dinner. I decided to go with something I had never tried before, seitan. For those, like me, unfamiliar, seitan is sometimes referred to as "wheat meat" as it is made from wheat glutan. I had the Seitan Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes, and smothered with that famous gravy it was fantastic. Here's what I love about Watercourse...just because it's vegetarian and vegan does not necessarily mean it's "healthy" or bland at all...like I mentioned before, there really is something for everyone, you just have to have an open mind, an adventurous spirit and be willing to try something you might not even thought you wanted to try.

Due to our wait time, we were all pretty much starving once our food arrived and our chatter pretty much died away as we ate, quickly. By then it was past nine and some of us were tired and just wanted to go home and go to bed, so we got our bill and divvied it up. And that's where things seemed to take a weird turn. As any restaurant is well within their rights (and I say I approve of this practice) Watercourse Foods adds an 18% gratuity to parties of 6 or more. It all worked out, the bill was sectioned, each of us paid our portion, including all the glasses of wine that were consumed during our wait at the bar before dinner... and then Cat, deciding she just had to have one more glass of wine, got up from the table and went to the bar and purchased another glass of wine. I don't know, maybe it is common practice everywhere but the bartender added 18% gratuity to her glass of wine purchase. It was weird and rubbed me the wrong way considering our server (who's name I cannot recall nor did I write down) did not serve her the glass of wine nor was it ordered at the table. Needless to say it ended the evening on a rather strange and sour note.

But overall and in the end, I had a great dinner in a great restaurant that I will frequent over and over...their menu is just too-too to-die-for! And as long as that gravy exists and that is the only place I can get it, well...wait or no wait, I'll be there.

xoang.

This Side of the Border

The Pioneer
2401 S University Blvd
Denver, CO 80210

Dinner Date: July 9, 2009
Attendees: Jen, Lara, Ang., Rhonda, Caroline, Cat and Marie

(Confession: It's been awhile since our dinner at the Pioneer...the dog days of summer having made us lazy in the old blog department...but I have my notes so here goes!)

Mexican food...give it to me...tortillas, corn or flour, I don't mind...beans, black, pinto, fried, refried, borracho, yeah yeah...chiles, I'm an admitted dead-center medium on the old Scoville scale, but yes, I love me some chiles....and we won't even go into how I have a self-imposed margarita limit, for a good reason.

As for the Pioneer Tacos and Margaritas, I can safely say I remember liking it, but that's about it...it was like, not love.
I had the Al Pastor Tacos...pork with a really yummy garlic and pineapple salsa...but that was it. That was it as in that was all that was on my plate...no beans, no rice, no sides...except for these pink, pickled onions that were okay but I still can't figure out their purpose or why they were pink. Also...my tacos a) not hot and b) not edible by hand as the second I picked up the first one, the bottom fell out and I ended up having to use my fork.

What I should have ordered were the Chile Rellenos...cause Rhonda, sitting next to me ordered them, I had 2 bites. They were really good, deep-fried stuffed poblanos, cheesy and delicious.

That's pretty much all I got on the Pioneer...Joe, our server was very nice, friendly and attentive as I recall, and their patio was lovely and not too bad for being right on University but the margaritas were pretty much middle-of-the-road but at Happy Hour they are $3.00 and throw in an extra shot for 75 cents! so they were worth it, for sure.
Overall, in summation , I liked the Pioneer but there are just too many, non-chain, Mexican restaurants in this town that are far superior that I probably wouldn't go back unless somebody else invited me and then I would be sure to remember to order the rellenos or the beans and rice.

xoang.