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Photo:
Shannon DeCelle
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Welcome
to the Neighborhood
By B.A. Nilsson
The
Ale House
680 River St., Troy, 272-9740. Serving Mon-Sat 11-1, Sun
noon-10. Cash only (ATM on premises).
Cuisine: sandwiches, wings, other pub fare
Entrée price range: $5 (10 chicken wings) to $7 (hot
roast beef sandwich with fries)
Ambience: classic pub
Clientele: Trojans
For a tavern to break out of the standard bar mode, something
extraordinary is needed. Some have turned to brewing their
own beer, with mixed results; others offer dauntingly long
beer-selection lists. Promotional pricing and special-event
nights draw customers, and I’m assured that karaoke actually
serves as an attraction.
Although you’ll find occasional special-event nights at Troy’s
Ale House, they tend to be a little different from the mainstream.
They had an Elvis night last Saturday, with Johnny Rabb among
the featured acts. But what sets this place apart on a night-to-night
basis are the accommodating atmosphere and ambitious menu.
Yes, you’re going to walk in off of chilly River Street and
face a busy bar of people who will turn to look you over,
hoping to recognize a friend, but you’ll breeze past this
gauntlet into the dining room, where you’ll enjoy excellent
wings, a generously sized burger, or one of the unexpected
specials of the day. And by the time you leave, you well may
be enough of a friend to stare at subsequent newcomers.
The Ale House has been a Troy institution for more than 30
years; for the last 13 of them, it has been owned by Brian
Gilchrist, who keeps the menu interesting even as he maintains
the neighborhood-pub spirit of the place.
“I
try to offer something different in the specials,” he says,
noting that Wednesdays regularly feature Mexican fare. “We’ll
also do things like a pork-rib special with chipotles and
apple slices, and I have a smoker that I use for pulled pork
and smoked ribs once or twice a month.”
Although I’ve been in for lunch or dinner a few times a year
for the past couple of years, I feel like too much of an outsider
to insinuate myself at the bar. And I’m usually with a friend
or two, so we head past the bar (and the TVs, the jukebox,
the dartboard, the ATM) to the dining room in the rear, where
a collection of tables salvaged, I’m sure, from a defunct
Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips, are arranged into various
combinations of four-tops and six-tops. Dark wood paneling
on the walls and the easygoing lighting give a nice sense
of intimacy.
Specials are listed on a blackboard, and usually include something
a little fancier than the regular menu offers, such as a fish
preparation or corned beef and cabbage or ribs or the like.
On Wednesdays, look for tacos, burritos, fajitas and such.
The $6 burrito, for example, is available with chicken or
beef; the meat is mixed with beans and cheese and seasoned
to a characteristic, but not too spicy, flavor. Salsa, sour
cream and guacamole decorate one side of the plate, and a
commercial “Spanish rice” preparation is on the other. It’s
a modest, tasty portion that’s only slightly more Mexican
than it is, say, Norwegian; at this point, it’s safe to call
it American fare.
Likewise the chili ($2.50 a bowl), one of the regular appetizers.
Almost any restaurant request for chili in the northeast is
going to get you a bowl of ground beef and kidney bean stew,
but this one was spicier than I expected, a pleasant surprise.
Try it with melted cheese and corn chips for an extra 75 cents.
J-Bombs ($4) are known elsewhere as jalapeño poppers, and
are the same as the poppers served anywhere, although here
they’re enhanced with a side of salsa; deep-fried Spanish
onion chips ($4) turn out to be a diminutive version of a
“blooming onion,” liberated from the core and served with
a horseradish mayo.
Other appetizers include deep-fried mushrooms or mozzarella
sticks ($4 each), a nacho platter ($7) and an array of salads;
the soups include Manhattan clam chowder and a daily special
(split pea is a favorite). The Buffalo-style chicken wings
($5 for 10, $9 for 20) are especially good, and the masochist
in me enjoys what are claimed to be the Capital Region’s hottest.
Much of the rest of the fare consists of sandwiches. Cold
deli-style sandwiches are made with tuna salad, ham, turkey
or roast or corned beef, available in regular ($5) or club
style ($7); hot sandwiches ($6-$7) include turkey or roast
beef in a couple of variations.
The six-ounce burger ($4) nestles unobtrusively on the list,
but it’s a great meal that can be enhanced with any of a number
of topping options. Another favorite is the grilled Reuben
($6), a classic assembly of corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss
cheese on rye bread with Russian dressing.
If fries don’t come with your dish, you can add them for $1.50
or $2.50, with homemade gravy on top for another fifty cents.
Expand your palate with the sweet potato fries ($2.50 or $3.50)
and you’ll be tastily rewarded.
And if, after all that, you’ve got room for a slice of carrot
cake, you’re a better trencherman than I. But I do recommend
the cake.
It wouldn’t be the Ale House without a pint of something substantial
with which to wash down the meal, and with Newcastle Pale
Ale and Guinness Stout on tap, I’m happy. Look for special
beers as well, like the rich, dark Magic Hat from Vermont
that threatens to overthrow my Guinness allegiance. There’s
nothing remotely like this in the town where I live, many
miles from Troy, so I’m adopting it as my own neighborhood
pub.
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