Shannon R.
Yelp
Okay, Yelp readers - a preface as always. My son who is 30 and very into Viking lore had been wanting to see this place so we stopped in on a Friday night at 6pm. The crowd was pretty light at that hour and that's probably a good thing because space in the bar area is tight.
On a very tight budget, we lucked into happy hour with 1/2 price on selected apps. He, a lover of sprouting brussels opted for that and it was the perfect small plate size and he said, very delicious. I got the poutine and here, I'll admit... my impressions were probably diminished by the congestion in my head/nose, so bear that in mind. The chicken on the poutine appeared to be hand-pulled, so that's a point. The gravy and overall, it was kind of bland, if peppery. At least that's what I was tasting but again, YMMV as they say. I took most of it home and smashed it into some sort of breakfast hash the next morning and topped it with an egg. There's an idea for ya, LBM.
So far as the Viking element, well... it's not my thing so who am I to judge? There's bllarrrgguuuahhrrraaahhhkkkyammaarrrarrrrr music playing, though thankfully not so loud you can't talk, there are small paintings like runes and the like that you can purchase, swords on the walls and lots of hand-carved insignias in the door frames. Again, at my age, it's not my cup of tea but it might be for you.
One last thing. The bartender said a previous Yelp review had called their drink menu "pretentious". Well, it is but uh, it's a themed bar, duh. Go to an Irish bar, a Scottish bar, etc., and you're bound to find pretentiously named drinks. The ingredients of the LBM drinks are yes, a bit further into the pretentious, make-ourselves-stand-out arena, but it's birdtown Lakewood, burgeoning hipster territory. If you're going to go to a place Viking or not, where there's more than one beard and plaid combo going on, you're going to find pretension to some degree. Love it or leave it I guess.
Overall it's okay in my opinion. I wouldn't go out of my way to return, but I know people who would.