Last time I promised that I would review a new taproom that appeared here on Long Island. The place is called Bobbique and it's been open for only a couple of months. If you live here, then definitely visit this place. We need to support businesses like this that offer such a great beer selection. If you don't live here, make sure that when you visit you stop in for a pint or two. (Shameless self-promotion: If you like reading my Long Island Beer Updates, you might like listening to them also. I'm now producing a biweekly Long Island Beer Update podcast. For details, see my Long Island Beer Update page.)
Bobbique (70 W. Main St. Patchogue, New York) is a new barbecue restaurant just across the street from the Brickhouse Brewery in Patchoque. At the moment, Bobbique has 70 bottled beers to choose from, about a dozen taps---yes, they pour multiple local beers---, and they have two casks. On my first trip they had one cask serving Blue Point's ESB and the other serving Captain Lawrence Double IPA from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Pleasantville, New York (which is what I drank since I never had it before). On my second pilgrimage, Hop Back Summer Lightning from the Hop Back Brewery in the UK was the only cask selection since the Blue Point ESB had just run dry.
The cellarman's name is David and he keeps an ever rotating stock of beers. What's really nice is that David knows his beer. He's tasted everything he stocks and stocks it because he likes it (except for two or three items for the less sophisticated beer palate). David is currently drafting a booklet-sized document that will be available for patrons of Bobbique. The document is a fully annotated beer menu complete with tasting notes and a glossary of terms. David gave me and sneak peek at the beer menu/guide and it's sure to help the adventurous beer enthusiasts who find their way into Bobbique.
David is from the UK so he stocks a lot of interesting beers from England that I hadn't tasted before like Monkman's Slaughter Ale from Cropton Brewery in North Yorkshire, Entire Butt English Porter from Salopian Brewing Company in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and Ridgeway IPA from South Stoke, Oxfordshire (which is on tap).
The restaurant is decent too. They serve an unostentatious menu of barbecue standards. The lunch portions are sized appropriately so you don't accidently hurt yourself while trying to squeeze in a couple of beers. I've had the Pull Pork Sandwich and the Fried Shrimp Poboy. I'd recommend both. My only complaint is that the collard greens were sweetened---I prefer mine spicy. My wife tells me that sweetened collard greens is the authentic way to serve them if you are in the South.
