I've been laid up for a little while for medical resons so I've missed a few weekends. Sir T-Hawk has found an excellent Chinese/Japanses Hibachi style restarurant on the East side of Greensboro. The name escapes me at the moment, but I will make sure we visit so I can do a full revew. Sir T-Hawk brought me take out, but it's never as good re-heated.
This past weekend, we finished up an after class clinic a little after 5. I was going to try and get T to go to the Indian Restuarant, but the only other person who stayed is rather a straight forward "meat and potatos" kinda guy and doesn't do Indian. He said he wanted beef, so I managed to persuade them to hit Cooper's Ale House. I'd never been, but it is so close, and I've driven past so many times, it peaked my curiosity. I also wanted to see if it would be approprate for some of my younger students. After all, it is a bar.
Despite the huge TVs everywhere, the game room (pool and videos) and the bar seating (primarily high top tables and stools, with some booths and regular tables), I think it would be fine for a lunch with teens. They had a kids menu, so they can't be 21 and over only. I admit, I was not fond of the TVs. There was nowhere to sit without being able to see at least one, and my ADD is not up to fighting that much distraction. They had several different games and races going, and several times there were bursts of cheers ... what you would expect from a sports bar. I don't think I would have enjoyed it at dinner time, and it isn't somewhere I'd go on my own, but we were still a little early for a big crowd and there was not so much noise as to drown out our conversation.
Everything on the menu looked amazing. I ordered their cheese fries (with bacon) as an appetizer to share, and for their Philly Cheese Steak (with queso dip) and mac&cheese for the side. Both the guys got burgers made with bison, one with a side of beer cheese potato soup, one with homemade chips. Alas, the cheese fries killed us! It was a HUGE plate, and was wonderful. One of the only times the chips didn't get soggy, I think they were batter dipped or something because they were very crispy and delicious and stood up to the massive amounts of cheese and bacon surprisingly well. By the time our sandwiches came, we were already half stuffed! The Philly Cheese Steak was ok - onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. The queso was overkill - standard orange melty cheese and I think it killed the flavor of the shaved rib eye. The mac & cheese was amazing, they use Goldfish crackers crumbled on top! With one whole fish smiling up at me. So cool. It looked good, and had great flavor. The pasta was al dente and didn't go mushy or weak. I had half of it as lunch on Monday and it was just as good.
Sir T wasn't impressed with the soup. Not bad, but didn't live up to the standard set by the cheese fries. Both guys raved about their burgers. One was med, one med rare, and I could tell the difference just looking at the burgers. Very well cooked. And both mentioned the flavor of the Bison and how much lighter it was than beef. I think we all got to the point of - "I'm stuffed but this is so good I am NOT going to waste it by stopping now!"
Cooper's Ale House is definately a "go back again"! SO much more on the menu to try ...
