When I landed back in Boston, it was about that time for dinner, and having taken JetBlue, I was definetly in need of a meal. Katie and Dustin were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and then the debate about where to eat began. I wanted fried food (man, 10 minutes back in the cold weather and it's right back to the heavier food) and suggested Audubon. But Dusty vetoed that pretty quickly, for reasons that Katie and I still don't understand. So instead, Katie suggested that we got the the Publick House, which is a bar in Washington Square. After picking up a couple of Dustin's friends, we headed there.
I had driven by Publick House before, but had never really noticed it. When we stepped in, it looked like the typical Boston pub. The bar and restaurant were pretty full, so we glanced around for open tables. And here's the annoying/vaguely interesting part of Publick House. They have a seat yourself policy. Now, that's ok if you have a big restaurant with lots of open tables and booths, but when you're in a crowded bar with no waiting area, it can get a bit confusing and frustrating, especially when you have a party of 5 ppl. First, you have to attempt to figure out who's in line in front of you. But since there's no real "line" it's pretty much looking around to see who else is standing awakardly in a stair case or between tables. Then, you have to wander around, plotting out which table is about to leave. And then you take you opportunity and pounce, before any one else is able to grab that table. I think this took us about 20 minutes to get a table, but luckily, katie and i had gotten drinks at the bar.
The good thing about the Publick House is that it has a really extensive beer menu, with lots of beers that you don't typically see. I think they had at least 100 choices, lots of them imported. If anyone's from Philly, it reminded me a lot of Monk's. They're menu is also pretty long. I debated getting the mac and cheese, for which they are apparently famous, and you can add different items into the mac and cheese, like peas, spinach, etc. But I was here for fried food. So i got the Battered shrimp dinner. Katie had a late lunch, so she got the cheese board and Dustin got the lobster ravioli.
So here's my shrimp. It's a really generous portion. With fries and a big side of coleslaw. It was pretty good. Not lots of shrimpy flavor, but they were really big and satisfied my fried food craving.
Here' s Katie's cheese board. It came with taleggio cheese, but you could've chosen from like 10 different cheeses. And they give you sides of bread, cornichons, and this funny homemade jam stuff. I think Katie thoroughly enjoyed her cheese.
I didn't photgraphy Dustin's dinner, but i don't think he was a big fan. He kept saying it smelled a little stinky, which i think had to do with the sauce on top of the ravioli. But this is a bar, after all, so i don't think they'll be specializing in pasta.
Prices here are in the medium-high range, considering you're in a bar/pub. Kinda in line with Matt Murphy's, where the entrees are in the mid-high teens. The service was another serious problem. It was super spotty, and it was almost impossible just to flag a waitress down, to order extra drinks and food. All in all, I think the Publick House is more of a place for true beer fans and drinkers. Or if you wanna watch a game, cause they have a big flat screen to watch it on. I was happy with my fried food since that's what I was craving, but if you're just looking for a meal, I would suggest someplace where someone seats you and the waitress make a minimal effort to serve.
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