During our recent foray into the lovely burg of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, we finally got a chance to eat a pub that I have been longing to visit for awhile.
To be honest, we don't eat out tons. It's sorta expensive for a family, especially one that possesses a parent as frugal as yours truly, and most of the time I don't want to spend money on food when I have superior quality foodstuffs to partake in at home. You know, cause I am a homesteader and all.
That said, I love, love, love to eat out! And maybe that sentiment is so strong because I save dining out for the occasional treat or special occasions. And I quadruple love world cuisines. Give me food truck street tacos over corporate fast food any day!
Okay, enough blathering. Aside from the fact that I would love to spend a good chunk of my year eating at local joints and blogging about it (my not so secret dream), I shall now return to the point of this post, The Crown and Thistle Pub.
Tucked in a building on the main drag in downtown CDA, The Crown and Thistle exudes pub charm. Well, at least I think it does, I have yet to travel to England (a place I have desired to go since I was youngling). There was not a lot of unadorned space on the brick walls. The warm red bricks were covered with all manner of English accoutrement, from soccer (er, football) team banners to taxidermied mounts and everything you could think of that was island-themed in between.
I especially loved the miss matched wood chairs, the original creaky floor, and to my delight, recessed booth alcoves. As it was only about five in the evening and a glorious sunny fall day outside, the place wasn't overly busy yet. A few locals were sipping pints of various lagers and ales. The hubs and I strode up to the bar and ordered some traditional pub grub and a couple of glasses of stuff.
Me, I got a small glass of dry apple cider. Yes, I should have probably gotten a pint of ale or something, but I am not really a huge beer drinker, which is sorta laughable in a way as I a complete northern European mishmash in the genetics department with a ton of German and British Isles blood. That said, I did sip the hub's ale and it was fantastic!
The cider though, yum! I adore cider, the dryer the better, and the Seattle Cider Company hard cider was refreshing with a crisp bite. We slid into our cozy little alcove and enjoyed each other's undivided attention until the very on the ball barman brought us our eats.
Holy yum! I had ordered the hand-dipped, beer-battered fish and chips, because batter is my favorite way to ingest beer! They also included some gloriously fried chips and a side of mushy peas.
Now, I have always wanted to try mushy peas, as I really enjoy peas, but have never eaten them, mushed. Now I see what all the fuss is about. Mine were served slightly chilled and I really enjoyed the buttery yumminess, especially after eating a few chips that were doused in malt vinegar.
Being as close to Canada as we are, many times throughout my childhood did I enjoy the sublime thing that is fries doused with malt vinegar, and eating some perfectly fried chips dressed in that manner was a nostalgic flashback.
But the star of my meal was the fish. The cod was flaky and perfectly battered and fried. I love fish and chips, especially when it's executed properly, and The Crown and Thistle nailed it!
The hubs ordered the Guinness short rib pie and we both oohed and ahhed a bit when it arrived. It reminded me of a runaway mushroom with its flaky rounded top, and the inside filling was splendid!
Part of the way through ingesting all the yums, the hubs got up and went to get a glass of another cider we spied while ordering our first round. I had pointed out that the other cider on tap was Finnriver Forest Ginger Botanical Cider, and that it had fir tips in it no less!
As we are both a bit of cider aficionados, the hubs came back with a glass of the cider and we each took a sip. I don't even know how to describe it other than a taste of the forest. Seriously, it was like bathing your taste buds in the best parts of a boreal grove. There was fir, ginger, and an overall dry earthiness that made my whole meal even better.
Did I mention that we plan on brewing a batch of our own? lol! We have loads and loads of fir trees and make tons of apple cider each year, so why not give the fir and ginger a go! To be continued....
Anyway, after enjoying a beyond tasty meal in a place that exuded all sorts of all things Anglo-adoring ambiance, we strolled back down to our hotel with content smiles upon our faces.
You can bet your best biscuits and tea cozy that we'll be making a return visit!
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's not at all mushy pea encrusted iPhone.