I can't vouch for this drink, but Tim told me it was pretty decent. It sounds a little shakey, though. But I've had the main two ingredients as a shooter, and it didn't suck. You'll have to imagine the umlauts over the "a"s below.
Jagerita
1 part Jagermeister
2 parts Red Bull
Several lime wedges
Ice
This can be prepared two ways. The first would be the more traditional rita method, which is blend you Jager, lime juice and Red Bull with ice, pour and serve. But apparently in addition to having a mediocre color, it doesn't taste all that good.
The preferred method is to muddle the limes with ice, add the ingredients, shake a bit and strain over ice, thus creating what is apparently a more appealing drink.
I'm told you can now get this fine beverage at Peso's on Queen Anne, so get yourself there if you dare to drink one made the right way. Or just try it at home, with the Jager you no doubt have in the freezer. I do, and I don't even drink the stuff.
In my entry about Jillian's I talked about this strange air hockey master who hung out at the tables and trounced local groups of visitors. He was some sort of Regional Air Hockey champion, but that only made him weirder.
I was talking with one of the bartenders recently (about 6 to 9 months post our visit) and I asked him what happened to the Air Hockey guy who worked for them.
"Air Hockey Guy?" he asked
"You know, the guy who hung out at the Air Hockey Tables."
"Oh him. Actually he never worked here. He just hung around so he could stalk one of the bartenders."
"Oh."
So sometimes, people really are as creepy as they seem.
--B
While I'm not certain what the air date will be at present, Brandon and I are going to be doing an interview for Tech TV's show Unscrewed this coming Tuesday. The segment could air any time thereafer.
Check out the show's website at techtv.com/unscrewed. It's pretty amusing. Should fit rather well with us.
TechTV is available in Seattle on Digital Cable channel 294.
Stay tuned for more info.
The Bahama Mama
Apparently there are numerous varieties of this drink, all made roughly the same. This one was brought back from the Bahamas by my friends Gabe and Heather, and they brought about a quart of it to my last party. It's pretty decent stuff.
1.5 oz Dark Rum
1.5 oz Coconut Rum
2 oz Pineapple Juice
.5 oz Grenadine
Add all the ingredients together, shake or mix very well, pour over ice, and garnish with a wedge of lemon, or failing that, lime.
Not a bad beverage, but it packs a bit of a kick, so be careful with it.
Where there was once Jake's Bar and Grill, there is now Mango's. The new bar is a Tiki themed place, one of a great many that now exist in Seattle. Most recently, prior to Mango's, Culture Club switched over to a tropical/tiki theme, and now yet another bar has fallen to what will likely just be a short trend. They will probably all have to change to something else within a couple of years.
Mango's is almost identical to Jake's. They didn't repaint inside, and they didn't get new furniture. They did put up some bamboo accents around the place, as well as replacing all the staff with new people who wear Hawaiian shirts. A tropical drink menu, a tiki head mug, and hula prints under the glass of the bar-side tables just about complete the changes. Only a few tropical plants, which seemed real, remain to be mentioned.
However, I was never greatly impressed with Jake's in any case, so this change could definitely be for the better. In this case, I don't know that it was. Rather, it's just a lateral switch. Same level of bar quality, different type of bar, barely. The tropical-themed food menu was a bit more expensive than seemed merited, but the drinks, which are really what matter, were well priced. The strength of the drinks was only average, but it suited the price point. A problem arose, which would be easily fixed and is nothing to be concerned about, which was that they had run out of carbonation and needed to change their CO2. My drink was also made with 7 Up instead of Tonic, and flat 7 Up as well, but it tasted fine for that.
The staff was friendly but didn't seem very experienced. It might be that they were all new hires; our waitress seemed very young. The locals seemed like they had been there since Jake's was still in business, and seemed happy to stay, and it definitely has that feel, like you can just stake it out and make it your bar. But not for me.
Jake's wasn't really worth repeat business for someone as far away from it as I am, and Mango's isn't any better, but not any worse, either. It's a new place, though, and it'll likely get better as time goes by and they iron out the kinks.
(bar visited 8/13/3)
We did a Tech TV interview tonight, and it was odd. It's a little room at the Fisher Communication building, with a Seattle backdrop. And there's me, and there's Brandon, and there's a camera. In a room next door are Lilly and Bea and the site producer, Jordan. We can't see them, because they're sitting down. And watching us in San Fransisco are the studio audience and Martin, the host of Unscrewed.
We can't see them at all.
So I kind of forget I'm on camera. It's almost like a radio interview. And I spend a lot of time scratching my nose. At first, I don't even realize I'm doing it. Then I suddenly recall I'm on camera, but my nose itches, and (it seems) there's no one watching, so I scratch again. And I think again. It's like an 8 minute interview, and I scratch my nose like half the time. Not really, but in retrospect it seems like it.
Satellite interviews are rough, that's all I can say. You have no idea what you look like at all. But we got some laughs, and that was good. And the producer said we didn't suck (he actually said we were good) which is nice as well. And mostly, it's over and done with, and the next, if there ever is such a thing, will be easier.
But let's just pretend it does mean I love you, when you watch it.
We're going to be on a wacky program. Unscrewed, which is an interview/variety/features/god only knows what else show on Tech TV, decided to interview us. And so we went. And it went pretty well.
But in any case, the show will air next week. Wednesday the 27th, at 8 pm Pacific time, and again at 11 that same night it should repeat. We're in about the middle of the show, if I'm not mistaken. But you should watch it all, because it's a very odd show indeed.
Tech TV is channel 294 in the greater Seattle area (Comcast Cable) and may or may not be available wherever you are.
Type: Neighborhood
Class: Average
What used to be Jake's bar and grill with the cute irish bartender and the basic restaurant/bar feel has now been Tikified. The place now has a larger older white guy bartending and the whole place now has a strange island feel to it. But this isn't like a cool island theme where they have gone all out. No. This is like the Sims version of a Tiki house. It has all of the same furniture, but you bought it with a Tiki covering and then hung a palm tree on the wall.
They did not repaint it, rather they just put up new pictures and then painted a giant palm tree on the wall. The glass of the tables was lifted and they put a tiki print underneath it, and the glass on the divider wall has been replaced with bamboo.
The drink was the same mediocre drink of the last place and the menu looks fine, but nothing thrilling. As far as I can tell, the only thing that has changed is the menu and scenery. Oh and the cute irish bartender who loved Lord of the Rings. I was in love, very briefly.
A big wOOt goes out to Glen for picking up the sponsorship of this bar. It is only his second in person sponsorship and we are very pleased.
I give Mango's 2 and a half Martini Glasses out of 5
--B
Located only a block away from Bucca di Beppo, the newly constructed Outback Steak House is a two story affair, somewhat different from most Outbacks. However, only somewhat different. Really, they're all pretty much the same.
The doors are opened for you by girls whose only job is to open the doors and say hello, as near as I can tell. Lots of large wooden beams, relatively dim lighting, and enormous spaces, in this case divided between two levels, make up a typical Outback.
The difference here is that the bar is rather small. On Aurora, the Outback has an enormous bar, spread out around a vast horseshoe bar. At South Lake Union, the bar is a typical affair, located against the wall, with perhaps a dozen seats and a half dozen tables.
The waitress was friendly and competent, but more than that, and unusually for an Outback, she was sassy. Attitude is something that is commonly smoothed out by corporate restaurants, but Britney was still possessed of a personality, which was very pleasant.
The drinks were perfectly acceptable, but the real reason for going to Outback is the ice cream. It's incredible, from a company called Blue Bell in Texas, and everyone should have it at least once. Get a specialty drink from the odd drink menu, filled with Australian named drinks that probably would never be drunk in the Southern Hemisphere. But some of them are quite good, and all of them are worth trying.
Outback is Outback, a place with vast portions and Bloomin' Onions, good ice cream and odd specialty drinks. Visit any of them and it's about the same, but at least the South Lake Union spot seemed more like a real bar than most.
(visited 8/13/3)
Taking its name from the old Carnegie Library in which it is set, this rather new restaurant and bar was a curiosity. The building was once, as mentioned, a library, but in layout it looks almost as much like a public school. After passing through a small annex you enter the front room of the restaurant, where there is a hostess station and seating for those waiting for tables. Left and right are large room with semi-circular windows facing out toward the street, while behind the hostess station is the bar area, with several small tables, a four seat bar and the kitchen.
Having just recently opened, and in an odd space as well (another tenant in the building is a kilt company), a crowd was not expected. But Carnegie's was almost dead. It was only an hour before they ostensibly close, and a weeknight, so it was more understandable. But really, it's too bad. The space is attractive, with dark colors, white tables and subtle lighting. The bar is small but fully equipped. And the staff is quick and reasonably friendly.
Sitting at the bar, you can see the entire set up. The well liquors are one step up from the bottom, which would be more than acceptable except that the drinks are in the six dollar range. A bit pricey for the liquor being served. The food menu is nice looking, and the plate of bruschetta ordered turned out to have some interesting options. The bread wasn't very well toasted, though, but that's a minor thing.
Hopefully, this attractive restaurant will be discovered by the local Ballard crowd, because it does have a very nice look, reasonable prices for food and a good looking menu. But I don't think it's worth drinking at, with prices that are higher than expected for the beverages and a small bar area. The bar remains open for an hour or so after the restaurant, business permitting, which it didn't on the night of the visit. I can't see why one would stay longer, but it might happen. The restaurant itself is the attraction here, not the drink.
(bar visited 8/13/3)