Our first stop was at a great little museum honoring the Saint John Police force which is the oldest organized police department in all of Canada. They have some small cases of memorabilia and also a place where you can snap a picture of yourself in jail.
On our way to our first stop, we noticed some great street art in Saint Brunswick.
Picaroons is a local brewey. Here we tried the DSN (a Dunkelweise) and the Yipee IPA. I preferred the IPA over the Dunkelweise which didn't have enough malt flavor for my taste. The IPA had good amount of hops but still drinkable.
Nest stop was at Big Tide Brewing Company where it was tome for a first lunch as well a a few beers. Here we tried the Low Tide Gose, Blood Orange White IPA, The Dickens New England IPA and Celtic Mist Irish Red. The Gose was my favorite. If you haven't had this style, it is a beer brewed with salt and it will usually be sour, Most are lower in alcohol (between 3.5 and 4.0) so they are great summer beers.
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| Big Tide Brewing Beer List |
Since Saint John promotes themselves as the place for lobster, we decided to split a lobster roll and got a side of something I lad never heard of: Dill Pickle Soup.
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| Lobster Roll and Creamy Dill Pickle Soup |
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| Creamy Dill Pickle Soup |
The lobster roll was simply prepared. Started with a toasted hot dog roll which had a leaf of Boston lettuce. The lobster itself had just enough mayo to hold it together without being overpowering. There were small bits of celery for crunch and a bit of tarragon. I would have preferred some larger chunks of tail or claw meat since the lobster seemed to be a bit too processed. But that is small issue since the flavor was great.
The Dill Pickle Soup was so interesting. They nailed the flavor profile and the consistency one would expect in a soup with this title. It was briny and creamy but still had large slices of pickle for texture. Having a cup of this shared befween two people was plenty since fter awhile the sourness of the pickles tended to overwhelm your pallette. I am glad we ended our meal with this so that we didn't ruin the experience of the great lobster roll.
We kept on heading back toward the water and came upon Britt's Pub. The sign outside promised 24 beers on tap and many were only $5!! I had also found this on Yelp and they had a signature appetizer I just needed to try: Butter Chicken Poutine.
We ended up trying most of the beers on the list you see. My favorite was the Moosehead Cranberry Radler. If you aren't familiar with this style, a Radler is the same as a Shandy. It is a concoction of beer along with a fruit juice or soda making the resulting beer usually much lower in alcohol so they are great for hot days in the summer - but really anytime you want a beer that isn't hoppy but will please your palette.
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| Butter Chicken Poutine at Britt's Pub |
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| Steak Poutine at Britt's Pub |
The poutines here were terrific. The appetizer portion of the Butter Chicken poutine was just enough. The flavorful gravy had all the savory cumin and garam masala flavors you expect in a great butter chicken. Then add in some salty cheese curds and crispy, hand cut fries!! It was a winning dish and didn't disappoint. The Steak Poutine was also so flavorful. I thought the steak they would include on this would some kind of "throwaway" steak of low quality. Instead it was a very flavorful cut of steak which I think was NY Strip. And the gravy was beefy-rich with onions and mushrooms along with the aforementioned cheese curds. A fabulous poutine!!
Our last stop was at the Saint John Ale House. They had outside seating which was perfect for this day. I had thought of getting some oysters here, but instead they had periwinkles on the menu which we had never tried. If you have never tried these, you have probably seen them. If you were a kid who went to the beach alot in coastal Northeast, these are often found on the sand, washed up from the surf. They are sea snails, not unlike escargot in texture, although require a bit more technique and patience to coax them from the shell. At this restaurant they provided you wooden skewers in which to spear the tiny morsel inside the shell. Those worked well the first couple of times, but once the wooden point had worn down, they were essentially useless. Would have been better to have the type of metal pick often served with lobster or crab to pick through the shells. I think we had about a 30% success ratio in retrieving the meaty morsels. When you did, they were very flavorful, having a mild brine to them with the texture of the neck of a steamer clam. They had been steamed with some aromatics which must have included some garlic,For some, the texture itself may be why you don't try them but you should be adventurous at least once and give them a try.
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| Fried Clams at Saint John Ale House |
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| Loaded Mashed Potatoes |
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| Periwinkles |
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| Close Up Look at Periwinkles |
They also had fried clams on the menu. I grew up in Massachusetts and fried clams were a staple of many summers that we spent in Maine. When cooked properly, these delicate mollusks have a thin crispy batter surrounding a savory nugget that should almost melt in your mouth. The bellies of the clam is where all the goodness is. I know some places only offer clams without the bellies. In my opinion, you might as well be eating deep fried pencil erasers since those are just as tasty as clams without the bellies. This place respected the clams and cooked them so well, it really reminded me of days of past eating them at the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport Maine or at Old Orchard Beach. Well done Saint John Ale House!!
They also had a beer style I had never heard of called Peppermint IPA. It was from Moosehead Small Batch. I only have seen the original Moosehead Lager before and it must be the only beer they export to the United States. I learned they have a lot of other styles including this one.
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| Moosehead Small Batch Peppermint IPA |
I am not sure if this style will take off in the United States. It was hoppy, minty with a bit of menthol flavor. As the beer warmed up, it took on more of the menthol flavor which wasn't enjoyable. It reminded me of Vick Vaporub or a Kool Menthol cigarette. I am glad to have been able to try this style but can't see myself ordering it again.
As the sun had started to set, it had gotten quite colder and that seemed like a signal to start heading back to the ship which was only about a ten minute walk. We would have a sea day tomorrow as we headed back to Brooklyn to disembark.
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