#31 – SHERRY COBBLER at THE BEAGLE

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

I so wanted to like The Beagle. It has been on my radar since it first opened last year. It’s a cocktail focused restaurant in the East Village that does a series of food and cocktail pairings called “boards”, where you get a small dish and a mini cocktail. Sounds like fun. And even more exciting was that this is an import from Portland, Orgeon. Despite all the fun poked at this granola town, I fell in love on my visit out west a few years ago.

Unfortunately, very little about it actually resembled my experiences in Portland. We were no doubt in the oftentimes elitist and overpriced East Village. It started with the hostess who coldly said that without a reservation there was no room for us. She seemed very uninterested and when I suggested an opening at the bar, it was like she never thought of that.

At the bar, our bartender had zero personality and we unfortunately overheard a disagreement between him and one of the managers. When the staff is unhappy, that’s always a turn-off. The other employee behind the bar seemed much more hospitable. It seems like maybe we got stuck with the service bartender who had no time for us because of all the drinks he had to make. We wished we had moved over a few seats.

It’s a shame that the bar was not comfortable or welcoming (maybe that’s why the hostess didn’t think of it) because this is where our list item had to be created. The speakeasy-era cocktail list is pretty massive and promising, but the one Time Out singled out was the Sherry Cobbler. Time Out mentions muddled raspberries, simple syrup, and a complex dry sherry. Included is a photo of a beautiful red tinged cocktail.

So I guess we came at the wrong season or our apathetic bartender left out a few key ingredients. Our Sherry Cobbler was a pale yellow with muddled lemon and limes. It was so tart and acidic that I pushed it aside after a few sips since I could barely get it down. There was a subtle sweetness with some nutty notes at the end, but it was not enough to balance this lemon bomb.

The writers at Time Out do seem to prefer very tart drinks, which is not my cup of tea (or my glass of alcohol, if you will). But this was clearly not the drink they first tasted and raved about. I know raspberries are not technically in season, but something else might have been able to make the drink sing instead of sting.

The other cocktail we tried – the Hersey Highball (rye, sherry, lemon, orange, and champagne) – was much more palatable, but still not worth the $13 price tag in my opinion.

And the same held true for the tiny food that cost so much. We enjoyed the pairing board of lamb nuggets (just like chicken nuggets but with hunks of tender lamb) with a red ale, but again was less than a half beer and two tiny bites worth $14? I think not. The onion soup was delicious with gamey lamb flavors, but it was more like a puddle than a soup. We finished it in four spoonfuls. And for $26, I anticipated a Flat Iron Steak that could at least be measured in ounces. It was certainly more substantial than the other dishes, but left a lot to be desired in terms of size. It was tender, but needed some seasoning or lively sauce to bring it to life.

Everything here (aside from the pitiful cocktail and lackluster service) was almost good. They’re still a relatively new restaurant, so perhaps in due time. But I’m certainly not rushing back for another potentially disappointing experience. I’d rather just book a flight to Portland proper.

Would The Beagle’s Sherry Cobbler make my Top 100 of the year? Um, since I couldn’t finish it, I’d have to say definitely not. It gets a 5 out of 10 for being overly acidic and unpleasant. With only a hint of sweet sherry at the finish, it left me craving some balance.