Peekskill Brewery - Peekskill, NY

For last minute dinner plans, I decided to try out the Peekskill Brewery this week for some solid bar food and a solid beer. And PB fit the bill quite nicely.

The place itself, was a typical pub setup with a separate dining room for a more intimate setting. TVs had all the college basketball games on, and the service was friendly and quick.

The beer choices are great. It's a nice mix of local and seasonal beers from Captain Lawrence to Magic Hat (Burlington VT). I decided to try the Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold (awesome beer if you've never tried it), while my date chose to go with one of their red wines.

The menu is also an interesting mix between bar favorites (wings, mac & cheese balls, nachos, sliders, etc.) and other unique items that aren't typically found in your average pub menu (kale tart, chicken liver parfait, mussels, sardines & toast).

We ordered one of their cheese sampler boards for an appetizer, which consisted of a variety of different cheeses, toasted Italian bread, sliced apples and a small side of their homemade pickles. It was pretty tasty. None of the cheeses were unique or different, but you usually can't go wrong with cheese, bread, and homemade pickles!

My date chose the chef's salad for dinner, and it was pretty good. Again, nothing crazy or different, but solid and tasty. I chose their specialty PB burger. For this post and future posts, I should warn the readers: If there is a specialty burger, or if a place is known for its burgers, I'm a sucker. While it might not take much of an advanced pallet to review burgers, I'll try my best to break it down.

The burger was fresh, not frozen, smothered in grilled onions, mushrooms, cheddar, lettuce and tomato. It was served with homecut fries, coleslaw and another one of their homemade pickles.

For comparison, I'll compare this burger to a previous post, The Burger Joint. The chop meat was a higher grade, fries were much tastier (skins still on them) and all the toppings were stacked so high, it was almost like another meal.

All-in-all, the prices won't break your budget, the drink selection is deep, the food is solid and the service is good. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for above-average pub food, or looking for a bar to crash for a game.


My Rating: 4 out of 5

The Burger Joint - Mount Kisco, NY

For the first post of Munching Westchester, I figure it would only be right to review a staple in American food culture - the hamburger. Lucky for me a new spot opened up close to the office on South Moger Avenue in Mount Kisco.

Nom-nom-nom-nom

From looking at their website, I saw it was a chain, so it hedged my expectations a little. Then I saw the trendy "BGR" sign and thought, "Sweet. Another high-priced burger spot that gives you mediocre burgers, soggy french fries and a staff full of annoying hipsters." I apologize, Burger Joint....you proved me wrong.

The menu has some decent range, offering a lot more than just a burger with a list of toppings and sides. Some of the other burger varieties were: cuban burger, greek burger, veggie burger, ahi tuna burger, a southwestern burger, a seasonal lobster burger and a nine pound, $80 burger, appropriately named The 9 Pounder (which I believe was on Man vs. Food).

They also featured a few different variety of fries, thick-cut onion rings and fried asparagus (looked pretty good from the one person I saw who actually ordered it).

I chose to get the burger topped with cheese and their "rosemary infused applewood bacon" with fries. They ask you if you want "the works" when you order, and that includes; lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and "Mojo" sauce (similar to the typical sauce you'd find on a Big Mac). The price was OK, clocking in at $10 and change for the burger, fries and a drink (bacon and cheese are extra).

From the pic, you can see that the burger is pretty decent in size. It was cooked perfectly and the bacon was way thicker, crunchier and tastier than the limp bacon you find getting slapped on your burger at other spots.

Simply put: The burger was damn good. The fries were crispy and not over-salted, and the tomatoes were actually ripe and fresh.

Just looking around, all the other burgers looked pretty good, also. And just from the orders getting barked out by the line cooks, the shakes seem to be a top seller.

One important thing to note - especially if you stop in on a lunch break and don't want to get bogged down the rest of the day - the meal wasn't nearly as greasy as I expected. Between the plate and the food, there was a thin sheet of paper that would usually be soaking up all the filthy goodness. By the end of the meal, there were only a few spots where you could see grease actually set in, and overall, the meal didn't kill productivity the rest of the afternoon. This is a change from other spots, like Five Guys, where a take-out bag almost falls apart when you walk out of the door after they dump 8 lbs of fries in.

This is definitely a good spot to swing by on a lunch break or take a short drive to if you're craving a quick and tasty burger. Not necessarily something to travel for, but good nonetheless.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5