I have been to three
restaurant-brewpub locations in the John Harvard's Chain: Wayne,
Pennsylvania; Framingham, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island
(which is the Union Station brewery). Living in Rhode Island, I've
obviously visited the Providence location most often. It's the only
location where I've eaten, I've eaten there on many occasions and the food
is always fantastic. I recommend the gourmet pizzas, nachos, catfish,
enchiladas, ribs and chicken. The menu is constantly changing, but I've
never had anything but great food here. The atmosphere at all three is
simply charming.
Union Station usually features brewer's dinners, where food and beer are
matched to perfection. The last one that I attended went like this:
A Mediterranean Sampler consisting of Salmon Pastrami Napoleon with
horseradish créme fraiche, Dayboat Scallop Ceviche, and grilled artichoke
hearts marinated in herb de Provence and finished with black truffles and
cream started the evening rolling along nicely. This was served with
dunkelweizen, malty, estery and subtly smoky, a great beer to accompany
the cream accented dishes.
Next up was seabass roasted with fennel, thyme and essence of lemon, and
accompanied by Oktoberfest beer, very malty and a perfect match for this
spicy course. This could have been the main course in and of itself, but
it wasn’t: that role was reserved for a grilled veal chop stuffed with
wild mushrooms and oven roasted tomatoes, mashed red potatoes, chestnuts,
dried apples, and Oktoberfest demiglace. Union Station’s signature Gold
Spike Ale was served with this course, and it was the perfect
selection: the delicate malt body and hoppiness of the beer cut nicely
through the sweetness of the demiglace and the richness of the grilled
chop and stuffing.
Finally came dessert, passion fruit Bavaroise and Genoise with a
strawberry and mint gazpacho. Absolutely fantastic with a glass of velvet
stout.
A pint of cask Goldspike was blissfully malty and estery, just what I would expect from such a beer. Hats off to brewer Carl Burnham for the great beers poured tonight. The next dinner is November 9, if you'll be in the area it's definitely worth considering, and well worth the $35 price.
At
Union Station, I always go for the cask ale first, there's always
something great on. I recently enjoyed a truly fantastic pint of cask Gold
Spike at Union Station, the crisp, delicate malt palate of this beer
yielded nicely to the impressive hop finish. A cask stout was on the next
time I visited, another delicious brew.
Gold Spike Ale pours to a Rich golden color, good carbonation and
head formation, crisp malt nose. Very crisp, delicious biscuity malt
palate is delicate and very drinkable. Like chewing a handful of fresh
malt. It's the malt here that steals the
show upfront on the palate but an impressive bitterness soon grabs your
attention and lingers on the palate accenting the malt nicely. This is
Union Station's flagship beer, one sip and you'll know why.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft