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I haven’t been to Newport since I was in high school. The wife and I decided to take a little overnight trip there and see how much had changed in the [redacted] years it’s been since we’d last seen it. At first glance of the downtown area not much had changed. As we walked Thames Street we realized there was one huge difference. We were 21 and could drink in any of the bars we wanted. Late in the afternoon we started eating our way through downtown.
Our first stop was Busker’s Irish Pub. It was a dark looking place from the street and upon wandering in the front door realized it was pretty dark inside as well. We sat at the bar and ordered a few beers and an order of Irish fries with gravy. What are Irish fries you ask? They are simply thick cut fried potatoes. Some would call them French fries or Freedom fries. But we were in an Irish pub, so…Irish fries.
The fries were freshly cut and twice fried leaving a crispy outside and a soft steamy inside. They were served with a side of beef gravy that was to die or. Made in house (or the absolute best jarred gravy I’ve ever tasted) the gravy was thick enough to hold onto the fries for the trip to my mouth. After one bite I turned to the wife and said “I could only imagine a big beef sandwich smothered in this gravy.” She had hers with some malt vinegar. It took us two rounds of beers to finish the basket.
The second beer I ordered was a Bellhaven Scottish Ale. It was a very creamy beer with a color slightly darker than Killian’s Irish Red but a much smoother and creamier texture.
After we finished up there, we headed further down Thames to Sambar, a Brazilian tapas bar. Here we had to ask several questions about the menu items and ended up with Portuguese Calso Verde (a soup of chicken broth, chorizo, and kale) and some sort of marinated chicken that was then fried and served with a creamy dipping sauce.
The soup was a delicious blend of salty broth, slightly spicy sausage, and earthy kale all mixed into one. There were a few chunks of potatoes in the mix as well. The wife and I sat there trying to figure out what the seasonings were. We came up with sausage. It seems as though the flavor permeated the entire soup but was not over powering.
The chicken was marinated in a blend of spices including garlic (it’s the only one I remember) then deep fried. It was not coated in any kind of batter or bread crumbs and it was still on the bone. Being on the bone it was still very juicy and very flavorful. The sauce seemed to be a seasoned sour cream based sauce and paired very nicely with the slightly sharp marinade on the chicken.
We also ordered a few more beers. This time I went with a local brew Newport Storm. As you can see the wife had a Stella. The Newport Storm was very tasty and had a mild fruit flavor to it. It hinted at apples or even a cider-like flavor. About this time we met a nice local couple, Pat & Maggie, who told us about a few other places we should try. They were nice enough to drive us to the next few locations.
The next stop on our eating tour was Perro Salado, a Mexican place just off the main strip. Here we considered indulging in a pitcher of margaritas. Instead I went with the Brooklyn Lager, a crab and goat cheese empanada, and pork tacos with a habanero salsa (made in house).
I’m not a huge fan of crab. I love crab legs drenched in drawn butter but other crab dishes tend to have a fishy flavor to me. These empanadas did not. They had the slight flavor of the sea paired with the creaminess of the goat cheese in a golden flaky crust pocket. It was like a gourmet Hot Pocket. We had fresh home made guacamole on the table as well. I’m not sure if it was for the empanada or not but I put some on and was happy I did. The freshness of the avocados and tomatoes added nicely to the already layer flavors of the crab and cheese.
The pork tacos were some of the best I’ve ever had. The meat was stewed with seasonings and cooked until it practically fell apart. It was smoky and juicy and full of flavor. Sandwiched in soft taco shells and topped with habanero mango salsa made fresh in house, this was a treat for the taste buds. Next time I’m in Newport, I *will* be getting these again.
Everything after this point in the night is kinda fuzzy. I know we ended up at Cappy’s Hillside Cafe and beat some locals in billiards. I smoked a cigar on the walk back to the hotel and ended up with a half eaten pepperoni pizza in the room.
