From: wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu (David Wald)
Newsgroups: ne.food,rec.food.drink
Subject: John Harvard's Brew House (was Re: Boston-area brewpubs (was: where is 33 dunster street?))
Date: 2 Sep 92 16:12:37 GMT
Followup-To: ne.food
Distribution: ne
Organization: Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT

Last night I made a second visit to John Harvard's Brew House, at 33
Dunster St.  I can't really decide how to evaluate it.

There's a basic problem in evaluating a new brewpub: beer takes a
while to brew, and a while more for the new brewers to get it right.
So far, out of a menu of six beers, they've had at most three or four
at any given time.  The menu is:

     Cristal Pilner: not yet available

     Bockbier: not yet available

     New Town Light Ale: What was that line about "making love in a
       canoe"?  Actually, this did have some (good) flavor to it, but
       you really had to reach for it.

     John Harvard's Pale Ale: on my first visit, available as "cask
       conditioned" or "cold draught style".  On my second visit they
       only had the "cold".  The cask conditioned was the most
       drinkable of their available beers, being somewhat mild, but
       with a pleasant flavor.  The cold draught was way too cold and
       flavorless.
     
     Irish Export Stout: I'm a little confused here.  On the first
       visit I was served the "Irish Export Stout".  On the second I
       was offered a "Nut Brown Ale", which showed up on the bill as
       the stout.  In any case, the two were very similar, both being
       overly fizzy and very mild.  If it's the same beer, it tastes
       better when you're thinking "nut brown ale" than "stout".

     Occasional special beers: Don't be silly, they don't even have
       all their regulars yet.

I'll agree with Richard Shapiro on the flavors, extending his comment
to all the ales: they're thin, but the flavors are good.  "If they can
add some body, they could have a decent brew here."

(Prices, for the curious, are $3 for an American pint, $2.25 for a
 British half pint, and $9.25 for a 60oz pitcher, or $4.75 for a
 sampler round.)

On to the food.  I found that my standards kept changing while I was
there; it's a whole lot easier to have good food when you're comparing
a place to the local brewpubs than when you think of the general
restaurant population.  At the very least, though, they do pay
attention to presentation; all the food I got came carefully and
creatively assembled.  This doesn't mean that it was universally good,
but there were some nice points.

The Buffalo wings aren't, and there isn't much to the platter, but the
flavors that are there are good.  (Funny, that sounds like the same
thing I said about their beer.)  Also, though I find this a difficult
complaint to make, the blue cheese dressing is too chunky.  You just
can't dip anything into it for the massive pieces of cheese.

The sausage plate ($8.50) consisted of three half-sausages and a pile
of dumplings topped with sweet potato curls.  It was surprisingly
filling, and I liked it, but I suspect that, like German food, it's
not to everyone's taste.

The steak sandwich was very disappointing.  It could be very good, if
the steak was a little less cold, and the bread a little less
stale-tasting, but as it was I'd call it a must-miss.

The "Upside-Down Casserole", a collection of vegetables served over
noodles was tasty, but not particularly distinguished.  I might order
it again, but I wouldn't make a special trip for it.  At least,
though, they have a reasonable vegetarian dish.

(Incidentally, in response to Richard Shapiro's complaint about their
Caesar salad, they do at least call it "Untraditional", or some such,
in its title.)

For desert, I had the maple pecan pie.  It was good, but I can't bring
myself to rave as much as Steven Selick.  This is a place where their
presentation let them down: they put a barely solid piece of pecan pie
in a massive pool of very thick, very sweet maple sauce.  Others may
disagree, but I like there to be some difference in texture between
the pie and the sauce.  They also topped this immensely sweet dish
with sweetened whipped cream, which didn't help a bit.  Oh, well.

The place has a nice feel to it, and could come out well.  On the
other hand, it might not.  I'll be back, but I'm tempted to wait a
while until things stabilize.

-David
--
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David Wald                                           wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu
   "Blessed are the peacocks, for they shall be called sonship of God"
             -- Matt 5:9, from a faulty QuickVerse 2.0
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Newsgroups: ne.food