We have been long anticipating the new craft beer bar in the neighborhood, Beer Authority. It’s a large craft beer bar right opposite Port Authority… not exactly a neighborhood with a wealth of good options.
You walk in to a small, intimate bar with a staircase up to the (large) maining dining room on the left and a fantastic elevator on the right. Why a fantastic elevator?
Just check out these quotes…
The elevator arrives in the main dining room with a fine looking logo on the door.
The bar is spacious, well designed, and fastened with large, well positioned TVs. Sadly, their DirecTV choice means that no service makes it way there since it’s surrounded by so many tall buildings… so the channels that were on were all that came in. They made it sound like they were changing out the TVs soon. Let’s hope!
There are 90 taps, and quite friendly bar tenders ready to tell you all about them. Well… that is the ones they have available. I guess they got cleaned out last night (their first Friday) and the first 5 beers we asked for were all out. Poo.
The space itself is quite large, but surprisingly not at all loud. It was pretty full and games were on, but Mike and I didn’t find that we needed to scream our conversation like at most sports bars in the area.
The walls are designed with the logos, emblems, and otherwise fun decorations of craft brews.
Even the bathroom door handles get in on the fun with tap pull handles.
The menu mentioned “Good Craic.” I had no idea what this meant, but thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that it stands in for all around good cheer in the UK.
They brag about 90 taps and 100 bottles (the bottles menu was not yet available) as well as many other features, with “occasional debauchery” being my favorite offering.
We decided to split some food for dinner, and we started with the brisket sandwich, which was listed as braised “bourguignon style” with smoked bacon, portobello mushrooms, sourdough bread, dipping jus, and baked potato fries. This was fair. Each piece tasted decent, but it was lacking in flavor depth. It desperately needed salt, and the bacon just didn’t taste very smoked at all. The brisket was luke warm, bordering on cold, and the fries were pretty bland as well. This whole thing tasted reheated.
But thankfully, we also tried the grilled flat bread, which came with duck confit, fennel, arugula, citrus marmalade, and goat cheese. This has serious depth of flavor, with each piece good on its own but really great in combination. The flat bread was soft without being soggy and it had a nice crisp on the crunch. The duck was really flavorful and the citrus marmalade was just perfect on it.
This was as flavorful as the brisket was bland. Opposite ends of the spectrum.
But in the end, you’re really there for the beer. The initial selection was admirable (despite being out of so much). We tried a Sixpoint Brownstone (nutty but a little too bitter for my taste) and a Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine (which was a rich, tasty beer that went great with food).
Here is their full food menu (including a section on pairing beer with food).
Overall, for a place that just opened, it is obvious that they are still finding their sea legs but they have enough going right for them to prove that their concept is sound and sorely needed in the neighborhood. I look forward to when they have all 190 beers listed so we can try some new stuff and I’m sure we’ll work our way through the menu to hopefully find some other gems.
It’s a bit hard to come up with a Nom Score since the brisket was so average and the flat bread so good. The service was nice even with the missing beers and I see definite potential. For now, I’ll average the average and look to the future.
Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10
Tags: beer authority, bridge and tunnel, brisket sandwich, commuter bar, craft beer, duck flat bread, penn station, port authority, port authority bar, port authority dining, restaurant review, restaurants
