Finally, some highlights from our April trip to Downtown Asheville.
I turned in my American Airline Miles to pay for part of our stay at the Hotel Indigo. This is a really interesting hotel within easy walking distance of everything downtown. The mountain view rooms do have a fairly nice view but also look over the highway so we noticed some traffic noise one morning when it was rainy and rush hour was bad. The other side of the hotel looks over the edge of downtown so not as pretty but I think I might prefer that next trip. The hotel has its own parking deck which is a nice perk.
Once again, Barley's Taproom was one of our first stops. This bar was where Highland’s Brewery got started (in the basement) and has a wide selection of local beers. And their pizza is fantastic - so good we never manage to eat anything else when we visit. We shared the All American Pizza with sausage, onion, mushroom, green peppers, and pepperoni. I had the Catawba Valley Brown Beer, which was very good; Green Man Porter, which was like a really good mocha; but my favorite was the Fox Hill Spiced Mead mixed with Original Sin Cider. I tried the Traditional Mead (13%) and found it too be too heavy but did like the Spiced Mead which reminded me of Christmas seasonings. The bartender recommend having it mixed with the cider and I enjoyed it so much we came back to Barley’s numerous times during the trip so I could drink this wonderful concoction. Brad had the Catawba Valley Firewater IPA, which he did not like, and French Broad IPA which was a good “solid 7 out of 10” on his IPA likeability scale. He also had the Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA, which turned out to be his favorite beer of the trip but at 12% he had to limit himself. This is what he chose to have on our repeated returns when I was enjoying my cider/mead.
One of the new to us places we tried for lunch was Lexington Avenue Brewery (LAB). We really liked this bar and think it would be nice to enjoy their "outside area" in pleasant weather. The menu really impressed me as it had interesting versions of bar fare. We split the Beef Sliders with bleu cheese, bacon and truffled frites as well as the Grilled Chicken and Brie sandwich with bacon, brie, ranch, and roasted red pepper jam on house-made focaccia. Both were extremely yummy! To drink I had the Chocolate Stout Nitro, which had a wonderful dark chocolate, bitter but creamy flavor; followed by American Ale Nitro, a pale ale that was hoppy and due to the nitrogen was tight and very creamy. Brad had the Black IPA and was very happy it was the pint special of the day so he stuck with it.
Jack of the Wood was a stopping point so we could continue to try more local beers. It is one of the places to drink Green Man beers, whose main brewery location was not open when we were available, so we stopped into this pub instead. I had the Green Man ESB which actually is not so bitter and I found to be quite nice. Brad had the Green Man IPA and said it was very good. And although we had had a good lunch Brad could not pass up ordering the Scotch Egg as a snack. I think this is one of the Cardinal Rules of pub visits – if they have Scotch Egg we must try it. It did not disappoint.
A funny moment of the trip was at this pub. When Brad was in the men’s room a gentleman came in and sat next to me at the bar. He turns to me and says “Well, HELLLLOOOO there”. Bartender walking by without breaking stride says “She brought her own Sausage”. Anyway, once Brad came back we ended up having a very fun chat with this interesting character.
The Lobster Trap (home of Oysterhouse Brewing Company) was where we ended up for dinner. We started with a dozen oysters on half shell and the fish dip. Brad drank the Oysterhouse IPA, very good, and I had the Oysterhouse Upside Down Brown, also very good. For entrée’s Brad had the special which was trout with pork belly served over lentils and I had the Blue Ridge Shrimp and Grits with side of Lobstah Macaroni and cheese. My food was good but just okay not must order again; however, Brad really liked his. Finally we tried the Espresso Stout but found it to be waxy, peppery, and very bitter so we were not fans.
Going to post next about our Brews Cruise adventures - stay tuned.
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