Monday Rant: What to Do?

I have a few days to myself. This came as a surprise last week when I discovered I had today and tomorrow (in accordance with New Year's Day) off from work. Then I thought to myself - when I put the days in I had planned on being somewhere around this time when I requested said days. As life always is even the best laid plans somehow crumble.

Anyways, my problem this week is that I have nothing to do today and into the early portions of tomorrow. I'll follow my usual schedule in the morning. Coffee with either a bagel or toast while taking in some Sirius radio. Then head out for the day. What to do, though?

I kind of want to go on a beer and food adventure. The South Side has many offerings in that department. The Library has it's wing special going on. I'm sure Piper's Pub has something interesting on cask, The food is always a sure bet to be awesome. Pretzels and some Helles Lager at Hofbrauhaus? A sandwich paired with a nice brew at Carson Street Deli? How about just a mini-craw of Carson Street for a few hours? Coffee at the Beehive Coffee House?

Who knows what's in store. I might just end up hanging around Munhall for a few hours. Whatever I do, I want to try to do mostly in the morning hours. After all, there is a certain marathon on AMC.

The Beer Snob Visits Fat Head's Saloon

Other than The Library for the draft and wing specials, the other joint I've frequented the most on Carson Street is Fat Head's Saloon. This place has one of the more numerous and one of the most diverse beer selections (42 brews on-tap at a time) of any bar or pub in the South Side.

When you step up to the bar, you have to make your selection from one of the more creative tap lists in the Pittsburgh area. It's pretty unique and informative. Not only is each beer named on the board, it's style, alcohol-by-volume and its native state are right alongside it to clear up any questions you might have. Each time I've came into Fat Head's, I've also found the beer lists easily accessible. There are many at the bar and appear to be on each table. This comes in handy for people that want to know exactly what they're drinking.

The atmosphere is pretty relaxing. The outside is brick as well as the inside and this gives Fat Head's plenty of character. The brick walls inside have assorted artworks strewn about and make it seem that you're hanging out in a street alley.

If you decide to hang out in the bar area you can see the 42 beers on tap. The wall behind the tap handles appears to be stainless steel. As for the actual bar, its grey color compliments the metal behind the taps and blends the entire area together. One of the more relaxing and aesthetically-pleasing pubs I've come across.

Don't forget that Fat Head's also has a cask system, in which it usually features one beer at a time. From time to time there are assorted wines on the hand pumps as well. The beer selection is fantastic. I've never visited and not found something I didn't want to try. If you're curious as for what to look for, Fat Heads always has brewed some of their own beers and usually features some on tap.

Head Hunter IPA (7.4 percent ABV) and Caveman Keller Bier (5.7 percent ABV) were the only two tapped for this visit. Both were very good brews. I can honestly say that from all of the house brews I've tried, I haven't been disappointed a single time. Keep an eye out for what's on tap.

Fat Head's is arguably more famous for its food. The most notable thing on the menu is the South Side Slopes sandwich which features kielbasa, fried pierogies, onions and horseradish sauce. I didn't get a chance to try it during this trip, but its definitely something on my bucket list. I'm sure it's a lot better than the disappointing pulled pork and fried pierogie sandwich at PNC Park was.

Since Beer Snob Sr. made the trip too, we decided that we couldn't go wrong with the usual delicacy of a bar hopper: chicken wings. My aforementioned friend went with the homemade Fat Head's sauce, which is a regular hot sauce, but with some sweet undertones.

I chose an odd flavor for wing sauce: jalapeno cheddar. It just jumped out at me. I couldn't refuse it. It was one of the oddest, but most intriguing experiences I've had with a chicken wing. The jalapenos added a hot flavor that was pretty damn near perfect. It's not too often that you come across a texture in a wing sauce like this was.

As I said earlier, this place is one of my favorites on the South Side. Always a great brew selection, great and aesthetic atmosphere and some awesome grub. I was able to try four new beers while on this visit. I've mentioned two of them. I plan on reviewing those and the two others in good time.

Make sure you're following the Beer Snob on Twitter! 

The Beer Snob Visits the Cambod-Ican Kitchen

Mine and Beer Snob Sr.'s adventure last Friday night didn't conclude after we left Piper's Pub. Even after all of that dark beer from across the pond and an order of sausage rolls we were still hungry. He knew of some place on the South Side that served chicken on a stick.

The bartender at Piper's overheard our discussion and said to go to the Cambod-Ican Kitchen just down Carson Street. Our hunger needs were definitely satisfied. Beer Snob Sr. posted an interesting description of these events on a social media account of his that went like this:

Oh yes. He enjoyed it.

"There were legs all over the South Side Friday night, but my interest was kept by the breasts. The grilled chicken variety that is, covered in moon sauce and paired with seafood wontons at the Cambo-Ican Kitchen. After a good night of drinking the dark beer (you know the one I mean) with Beer Snob Jr. at Piper's, we found this place down the street. It looked like a live version of Craig's List inside as they were looking to fireplace mantels and looking to buy your used iPhones and iPods. Despite this secondary effort to make an extra buck, the focus was on the food. If it's 1 a.m. and you still haven't found someone to go home with don't go to Jack's. Go here and go home with a full belly and a smile."

I couldn't have crafted this experience into words any more perfectly. I can confirm that there were signs asking for used iPhones and iPods. I felt like I was in Apocalypse Now for a few minutes, but that might have been due to the Guinness I consumed just minutes before.

We initially just wanted the chicken breast with the moon sauce, but the guy at the register insisted that we pay a few more bucks to get it with more moon sauce and with seafood wontons. We agreed to the addition of wonton and moon sauce.

Remember the old SNL skit called "Food, Sex or the Car?"

What we got in return was rocked worlds. If you're the type of person that likes grilled meat with that perfect amount of charring, this is the place to go. The chicken was grilled perfectly for my taste, the seafood wontons were a delicious adventure and the moon sauce was heavenly. It tasted like a perfect combination of sweetness and saltiness. My guess is that it's soy-based.

If you're ever around this place. Stop in and get the moon sauce. It tastes like it can go on pretty much any oriental cuisine out there.