John Barleycorns

While we were passing through Seattle, an acquaintance suggested we visit at least one of the McMenamins establishments. Those who are not familiar with them, they like to purchase historical / interesting buildings and turn them into hotels, pubs, theatres, and other venues. It's an interesting concept. We went to John Barleycorns Pub & Brewery because it was a close walk from our hotel.

To start, we had the house flight of whiskey, which included the hogshead, white dog, and monkey puzzle. The hogshead was the best by default - because it was actually aged a bit. The white dog was never aged at all, hence the clear colour. It was really disgusting - if you've ever had moonshine, this is worse than that. Monkey puzzle was sweetened with honey so it was a bit better than the white dog, but still not very palatable.

We weren't that hungry, so we just had the Holy Mole Burrito with some potato tots. It's bar food, so it was what you'd expect. We did think the tots should've been crispier - i.e. deep fried a bit longer. We did like that they split it into two plates for us.

We had the Salted-Caramel Hazelnut Tart. It was satisfactory.

Great service. Acceptable food. Good atmosphere. Shouldn't be on the top of the list of must visits, by stop by if you're in the area.