Alobar Review – With A Grain of Salt

By jessie, on January 13th, 2013

I owe Alobar a debt of sorts. Years ago, when post-college life was as far off as it was abstract, my brother had targeted this very eatery in a bout of exploration. It was during that trip that Long Island City snuggled its way into our hearts and real estate ambitions. Today, I live 10 minutes away; today I make my rounds to pay homage to the pioneers of Long Island City eating.

The space opens, as one would surmise, with its bar. Regretfully, I had come doused with a monstrous serving of antibiotics, and will have nothing to say on the matter. I have no doubt however, that I would have otherwise found this to be the star of the meal. Shuffling past with one last longing look, we are seated in the back dining area, a cozy distance away from the kitchen.

With my sinuses in painful flux, I had ordered the soup to start. The Italian style onion soup had a precious stream of steam, but better yet, had some bread with body. With a more gentle portion of cheese than its French compatriot, this was definitely a good start – but do my dulled taste buds still detect a sodium kick?

There’s duck in there…

For the entrees, there was much excitement for the duck confit sloppy joe. The term confit is fantastically near and dear to my heart, and when it arrived, I had immediately requested my friend part with a bite. Sloppy indeed. And the crispness of the confit definitely suffered in this treatment, but the flavors were there. Again, the salt streak was somewhat alarming. Even though I had pegged the end of my days with the inevitability of kidney failure, this was to a level that made me rethink my timeline.

Alobar’s burger.

Turning back to my burger, medium rare with swiss and onions–I was sated for sure. The skin-on fries were decent, and the burger, solidly and sustainably prepared. I’ll mention here that apparently, Alobar is a place to buy buy into the hipster frou-frou Portlandia craze. Be my guest, but however humanely they were treated prior to joining us for dinner, our ingredients definitely enjoyed now a much brinier treatment.

As the anti-salt mayor Bloomberg had famously done during his visit last year to LIC, I turned down dessert. I however, stayed my hand on the tip line–only the mayor can ball at 30%. All in all, the menu is packed with plates to make you salivate, but go forth drink-in-hand–they’re serious about having you thirsty.

Chow on,

Jessie

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