Elija Bandersnatch
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My first choice was closed, so I cast about in a desperate manner, hunger hounding me like a mad and ravening dog. it is a burger, a burger that I desire. Something simple and straightforward, a shot from the hip, a beacon for the weary and I stumble upon the Brothers Cascadia Brewing. Are they really brothers? Is it a trick? I’m afraid I don’t drink, so will I be welcome at an establishment that includes brewing in the name? Will I fit in? An old man with a dubious beard and an ambling gait.
Yes, it’s a bar and ordering is done standing up and because I don’t drink I am often unsure how the custom works at these places. Do I interrupt the locals? do I shout for attention? Or perhaps bang my cane against the bar?
But no, I am greeted immediately in a friendly manner and made to feel welcome.
I will go straight to the food. It is a handsome burger, acquitted well in its presentation and accoutrements. It rests in a sea of french fries, a veritable mountain of potatoeness. I will not go hungry here. The burger is substantial, thick and dripping with juice. A meal unto itself, a song to the concept of burgers. I might perhaps prefer a different bun… Something a little more substantial to bind up the generous portion of moist and savory meat. I suppose it’s OK, But that meat deserves better.
But it is a quibble, a mere soft note in a lovely melody, an unedited page in a long and absorbing book.
The french fries in their profusion were, I’m afraid a bit too salty. As one works through that panoply of potato, the engine slows and the feast cannot be finished. That’s hard, because they are perfect in every other respect. The right texture, the right flavors, and the right amount. Enough there to hold me for a while as I ponder and write of the philosophy of food.
Because the big question is, would I come here again, lost in an afternoon of exhausted wandering? Aimless in the city of my adopted land.
Yes, I would. I would ask for less salt next time.
And why you might ask, because I liked the entryway, and I liked the sense of welcome and the atmosphere of relaxed friendliness. I would come here with a friend, and we would sit and talk of why the world is and the things we seek, and whether pigs have wings.
