RECON: LIBRARY ALEHOUSE (Again)

Santa Monica, CA


The Canuck and I were down on Main Street, and being creatures of habit, when faced with where to eat, we settled on Library Alehouse.  We continued being creatures of habit by ordering our usual beers, a Bitburger for the Canuck and a Lost Coast apricot for me.  I was in a healthy mood, so I ordered the Ahi burger with wasabi coleslaw, daikon sprouts and a side salad, but the Canuck chose the Blue & Bacon (again) which as you might guess has bacon, and stilton bleu cheese with fries of course.


Burgers came out looking good as always, and we took our first bites. The ahi burger tasted very plain, so I stole the mustard off the Canuck's plate and then suddenly the ahi burger was delicious.  I don't know why something that supposedly had wasabi in it was so bland, but the mustard made the burg. Side salad tasted way too healthy and boring, it was more like a little pile of rabbit food than a salad.

This time the Blue & Bacon burg was cooked properly - medium - and the flavor combination is delicious as you'd expect for Kobe beef. The sweetness of the onions balanced the salty-ness of the bacon and cheese.  

The Canuck complained about the fries, but I like them bite size and crisp, tossed with parsley.  I concede that they were well done, but what's not to love?  Overall, the food at Library Alehouse is consistently good, but the service not so much.  I don't know if its because we are usually on the back patio, or if its the same up at the bar, but the bus-ers have better game than the servers. Let's be real though, it won't stop me from returning... 

Mini-Recon: LIBRARY ALEHOUSE

Santa Monica, CA


The Canuck and I continued our burger feast at Library Alehouse on Main. I wanted the tuna tartare as an entree, so I chose to have a slider appetizer with Niman Ranch beef, lettuce, tomato, onion, Tillamook cheddar and their Alehouse thousand island. The onion was diced, which I thought was odd, and I got the slice of tomato that has the little circle where the stem grows which I didn't approve of, however these are aesthetic issues, not taste issues. The slider was satisfying and I would order it again, especially with the amazing Apricot Wheat beer I was drinking from Lost Coast. I do appreciate when a restaurant shreds its lettuce, and the thousand island was a good addition.

The Canuck went all out and had the Blue N Bacon burger with Kobe, double bacon, stilton blue and caramelized onions. Fries too of course and they were natural cut with solid flavor, a perfect compliment to our beers.

The bacon was excellent, and the stilton and caramelized onions were a great flavor combination. That's a side of dijon, which almost had to fight the stilton for flavor power. Sadly, the Canuck ordered this burg medium and it came out well done. Now, I don't know how that chef was raised, but in my world, overcooking kobe beef is a big no-no. Regardless, the flavor was satisfying- better than the Umami Port and Stilton burger? No, but maybe it was just an off day for that chef. There are many other burgers on the menu and you can build your own, so I will come back and give the place another try.