Still reeling from our fantastic experience at Lost Abbey, Sammy and I decide it’s time to eat. We ask Terri, Sage and some locals sitting next to us at Lost Abbey where there’s a good place to eat around here. Unanimously, they all recommended Churchills Pub & Grille.
Minutes from Lost Abbey, Churchills is an English-style pub. If the English themed decor didn’t tip you off, maybe the silhouette of Winston Churchill as their logo would. They have a few parking spaces up front and another lot to the left.
When we arrived, the place was fairly empty. There are pool tables, video games, an outdoor patio with three firepits and darts. Normally, Sammy and I sit at the bar. We find that sitting at the bar gives us the opportunity to talk up the bartenders and locals but after being up since 4am, we decide to take a quiet booth for ourselves.
Churchills has the prerequisite English beers on tap such as Boddingtons, Bass, Smithwicks and Newcastle. They have a few others but they also have a great selection of local craft ales. As fairly impressed as I am by their draught offerings, I am further impressed by their bottle list. our waitress brings over about a 5-page list of all their bottled beer. Representing 5 countries and over 200 different beers, I am in awe. Part of me is excited that they have so many beers while the other half wonders about the logistics of storing these beers.
Dechute Twilight, 5.0% ABV
Our waitress takes our drink order. I have the Deschutes Twilight while Sammy orders the brown ale from Black Sheep. The Twilight is a seasonal pale ale from Deshcutes that is brewed with a blend of 4 different types of hops and malts. In the dim light of the pub, Twilight appears to be a pale amber color and clear. What little head looks to be off-white in color but I can’t really gauge it because our bartender poured the beer right to the top. It has a fruity, citrus and piney aroma with a clean malt presence. The beer has a moderately-high level of hop flavor and bitterness with clean malt flavors taking a supporting role. Twilight is medium bodied and medium/medium-high in carbonation. I must say, I didn’t finish this beer. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I was getting beer-ed out by this point. We had some ridiculously flavorful beer at Lost Abbey, some with pretty high alcohol levels, and my body was shutting down. I would like to order this beer again because it was pretty good but I just couldn’t finish it.
Black Sheep Ale, 4.4% ABV
Sammy faired a little better than myself. Her Black Sheep brown ale pour our clear, brown with amber highlights and an off-white head. I was taken back by the very prominent bready aroma coming from the beer. It smelled like toasted wheat bread. I expected more flavor to come throught but this is an Engligh beer and English beers are restrained, if anything. Sweet malt flavors with a toasted wheat bread quality reign with this beer. The hop flavor is moderate, along with the bitterness. The balance definitely leans toward the malt side. This is a medium bodied, medium carbonated beer.
Boasting the best fish and chips (who doesn’t boast that, really?) we take them to task and put in a half-sized order. The fish is beer battered cod. The fish is light and flakey while the batter is appropriately crunchy and slightly sweet. The coleslaw is light on the mayo with citrus notes. I normally don’t like coleslaw but I am enjoying this one. The chips (also knows to us Yanks as french fries) are perfectly fried.
I order the Churchill Pub Steak. It is supposed to be flavored with either a cajun rub or with just cajun spices. I don’t really taste the spices but I do taste the char from the grill. The steak is cooked to order (medium rare) and is flavorful and moist. The waitress gives me the oddest look when I order mushy peas as my side dish, as if she can’t believe someone ordered them. Looking like baby food, mushy peas are like a thick split pea soup. It is creamy and the peas are somewhat crunchy and nutty in their flavor. I also order steamed veggies that are very plain. I am satisfied by entree but not really wowed. It was reasonably priced and after an evening of drinking, it really hit the spot.
Sammy orders corned beef and cabbage with a side of crisps (also known as potato chips. Oh, those crazy Brits! Next thing you know, they’ll be calling cigarettes fags.). The corned beef has been cooked/steamed in Guinness stout. She is really enjoying them but I find them to be just alright. The corned beef is moist yet salty. By contrast the bed of cabbage they’re on are very plain but it’s okay as the flavor from the corned beef seasons them. Her order of crisps are actually pretty good. They taste like they were just cut and fried to order and are seasone with a spiced salt. Normally Sammy doesn’t finish her food but she manages to put this one away. A testament to both her hunger and how well they’re made. As I said, she really like this dish and I thought they were “alright”.
Overall Churchills is a pretty good place to eat. The food is relatively affordable and freshly made. The fish and chips were the best dish of the evening while their draught beers showcase local craft ales as well as the standard English pub favorites. Their bottled beer list is very impressive if none of the draght stuff is to your liking. By the time we left, Churchills was starting to fill up with the locals but we were too beat to make any new friends. Still, I encourage you to stop by and form your own opinions. I’d love to compare notes.
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