I’m gonna be honest – my 2017 came crashing down hard on me in November. I kept to myself for a bit, but continued to dogsit as requested here & there through the holidays before taking a short trip home to help with putting my head on straight.
When I came back to Brooklyn, I was set to watch one of my most-favorite neighborhood good girls, Pickle, a pit bull mix who doesn’t believe in not cuddling or playing or acting as your shadow. She’s the absolute greatest, and I was happy to be asked to watch her.
While on Pickle-duty, I did a lot of walking one afternoon during one of our heavier snow days. A friend and I made plans to catch up at Popeye’s, and then maybe go for drinks afterwards.
By way of where I was staying, where Pickle lives, it was basically a 30-minute walk or a 25-minute subway commute. Being someone that loves winter, and didn’t really see the point in catching the local train and then walking the rest of the way to my destination when it would take just about the same amount of time, I just walked.
On that walk, I stumbled across the newly opened Brooklyn Cider House, located at 1100 Flushing Avenue in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Peering through the windows, I immediately knew I wanted to eventually go on a date there. It had a cool vibe, and I wanted to check it out on my own. Fast-forward to this spring, just this last weekend actually, I finally went with a friend & love interest to celebrate my 30th birthday.
Brooklyn Cider House was founded by Peter Yi, a well known wine retailer in New York City. His knowledge of wines earned him his high praise as his ability to try hundreds of wines and pick the best ones is unmatched.
Ugly Apples Taste Better
The outside is brandished with the phrase, “Ugly Apples Taste Better”, and the inside features beautiful murals throughout the space, a large bar room and dining area filled with wooden tables, chairs and benches in addition to massive casks filled with different kinds of cider — something of which you get to drink freely between each of your meal’s four courses.
Both my date & I ordered the meat offering, which provided the both of us with ‘family-style’ offerings to share of veggies, a Spanish-style omelette/tortilla, a delicious melt-in-your-mouth steak served medium-rare (the chef’s recommendation), and then a cheese and walnuts plate served with quince paste. We each enjoyed the meal and the flowing cider – I paired my meal with a half-sour cider, and she with a kinda dry.
In between each course, your server whisks you away to those oversized casks to try out the different ciders, focusing in on and giving a bit of background on each of the different offerings before you try. The cider flows out of the tap from about 6′ high and can splash onto the floor if the different glasses aren’t totally in sync with one another in changing from one person to the next, so there’s no need to wear your fanciest shoes if you want to dress up like we did. At each cask, you’re welcome to drink as much as you’d like, as many times as you’d like – though they recommended about two-fingers worth of whichever variety you’re at at a time, so the intended flavor and texture is most-present.
The whole experience was fantastic, and I anticipate that this restaurant will be around for some time to come – becoming something of a hot-spot as it becomes warmer outside. For those interested in the dinner & cider catching, the restaurant recommends planning on being there for about two and a half hours.
I’d recommend the Brooklyn Cider House for fancier outings, like anniversaries or maybe even party rentals, but definitely not for something like a first date — as spending about $50 per person with the prix fixe dinner menu while still only getting to know one another may be tough on your bi-weekly budget. That said, they do have standard bar offerings and a brunch menu for more accessible prices.
If you’re in the Brooklyn area, or plan on coming through with one or many loved ones, the Brooklyn Cider House is well-worth a visit, but for now you can start by taking a visit to either their website or Instagram page to check out what’s on the menu and how everything looks.
Visit the Brooklyn Cider House
Spencer is King of the Chill’s music contributor who also happens to live in Brooklyn, NY. Among tasty beers and dog-sitting, Spencer oddly likes orange juice with his pizza.
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