We were on the bar side, or at least the side without the live music, and I was pleased to find that it pretty much looked like Ludwig’s used to. It didn’t have the busty fraus wearing dirndls, but the space was still like the old spot. They’ve got a good number of beers on draft, and then some more in bottles. It’s also an absinthe bar. Weird. There was a wall between the two main areas that was covered completely by jar bottoms. It was pretty impressive.

We had already eaten so we didn’t order food, but J wanted some grub so he ordered up some mussels and fries. The mussels are cooked up in a tomato base, along with some beans, spices, and sausage. B & K also got some kind of chicken on a stick appetizer, but I didn’t get a chance to get photographic evidence of that. They liked em though.

I couldn’t resist tasting some of the fries. And I do have to say that they were awesome. I really liked these! These are some of the better fries I’ve had in Philadelphia. They are a bit on the thicker side, but were nice and crunchy on the outside. I’m not a fan of the soggy thick fry. Service was ok, nothing to rave about.

We looked at the menu beforehand and both agreed that we wanted stew. They have a belgian beef and beer stew made with local grass fed beef, slow cooked in Chimay Grand Reserve with local root vegetables. How can you not love the sound of that? We told them we were going to share it, so they brought it out in separate bowls and gave us strange but tasty rolls each. I can’t really describe the roll, it seemed to have raisins in it, but it wasn’t sweet enough to be raisin. Does anyone know? In any case, the stew was delicious! I wish we’d had a giant vat of it, it was so good.
We also got an order of the pommes frites. You have to! The waiter forgot about them, so we didn’t end up getting them until after the stew, but that was ok. We didn’t mind, we just ate them along with the additional beers. I love these fries, but I just wish they were longer pieces of fry, instead of little tiny stubs. Otherwise, I still love these. It comes with their famous bourbon mayo. Monk’s is definitely a beer place, so get ready to drink. Since I was still sick, I didn’t really drink much, but the little sips I had were certainly tasty.

M took me out to dinner one night in his neck of the woods, Bellevue. What’s in Bellevue? Well, the place is huge. I mean, it’s technically a suburb of Seattle, but it’s not anyone’s suburb. It’s a big ass city on its own. It’s the second largest city center in all of Washington. Its downtown rivals any large city’s downtown. It has a giant mall. Lots of people live there. Anyway, we grabbed a quick bite at the Pumphouse. It’s a bar, and not in a particularly attractive location. But once inside, it’s homey. You wouldn’t expect it to be like that. It’s slightly divey, but not in a bad way, definitely not fancy, and without one ounce of pretense. Anyone can hang out here. I got a french dip sandwich. I always have a soft place in my heart for the french dip. I guess I like anything that comes with something you can dip into, especially au jus. The fries were ok. I also had my first taste of a local brew – Mac & Jacks. It’s a brewery from Redmond, you know, neighbor to Bellevue, and home of Microsoft. Everybody knows Mac & Jacks around here, namely it’s Mac & Jack’s amber ale. Namely, it’s tasty.