Sheep Station

[Sneakeater]

I recently had dinner with missing eGullet poster H. du Bois at Sheep Station, Lower Park Slope's (or Upper Gawanus's) entry in the Australian Pub boomlet. (I hasten to add that we made plans to go there before this place was reviewed in "$25 and Under". What do you think we are?)

Much has been said about how funny it is to have this niceish bar at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Douglass Street, in the midst of all those car parts shops. It really isn't that funny: I mean, geez, it's a whole block away from the Fifth Avenue restaurant, bar, and boutique strip. Anyway, things are gonna change there.

Sheep Station is a nice enough place to drink. There's a bar/restaurant up front, and a lounge in the back. Have a beer. DO NOT HAVE THE COCKTAILS. The specialty cocktails are sickeningly sweet. Although it must be said that after I ordered one (while waiting at the bar for H. to arrive), all the girls at the bar followed my lead because of how yum-o they apparently thought it looked. The bartender was nice enough to remark, "You really don't drink things like this, I'll bet," when she set my cocktail in front of me.

The food is a mixed bag. The meat pie was truly good. I was expecting something like a pasty, but it was an actual pie filled with minced and spiced meat.

The lamb sandwich would have been good if it didn't have this mayonnaise-y dressing that I found rather repugnant. The fries were soggy -- but that might have been my fault for shaking too much vinegar on them.

I always want to order the Australian burger at one of these Australian pub places, but I just can't wrap my mind around the combination of a meat patty, pineapple, beets, and egg. Maybe if I'd had more of those cocktails.

Of course, talking about the food at a place like this misses the point. This is a place to have a few beers and forget the day's cares hanging out with a friend. In that sense, our visit to Sheep Station was a smashing success.

Edited November 21, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[johnder]

Glad to hear the warning about the cocktails. What did you have by chance?

I have been wanting to try the pies for a week or so now. Going to have to check it out this weekend.

jpd

[H. du Bois]

Sneakeater's assessment is dead-on: stick with the meat pies and the beer, and you'll be a happy camper.

My fries were soggy, too, and that was before I vinegared them. I had the fish and chips, and if fish and chips are what you crave, I sincerely recommend that you walk to Chip Shop on 5th Avenue and get them there instead.

But the beer and the company were very good, and Sneakeater was kind enough to let me taste his meat pie, which was miles beyond the rest of the meal. I had also expected it to be like a Cornish pasty, but the filling is more like the mince used as the base of a cottage pie. Good crust.

And there ain't no amount of liquor that would convince me to eat a burger with pineapple and beets. Sneak, what the hell were you drinking before I got there?

[Sneakeater]

I had something that involved honey-infused vodka. And milk (well, probably it was cream). I'm too embarassed to say what the other 10 or 15 ingredients were. Although one of them was coconut.

Yuck.

Edited November 21, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Actually, with all this talk about the beer, it seems only right to note that they have the Yalumba shiraz/viogner -- a wine I have long enjoyed, if not adored or worshipped or anything like that -- as their cheapest red-by-the-glass. Nice.

[Nathan]

actually, Australian style burgers are superb.

they make good renditions at both Bondi Road and Ruby's in Little Australia.

[Sneakeater]

OK, so I had my first Austrailian "burger with the lot." Not here at Sheep Station, but at Sunburnt Cow in the East Village.

All I can say is that, after getting out of work near midnight, without having yet eaten dinner, when you're in general mourning for your life, a burger with fried pineapple, beets, and egg doesn't seem like such a terrible idea. You just down it, and notice how different each bite tastes as the proportions of the various toppings change.

I'd recommend this only when you're VERY hungry and VERY depressed.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sentiamo]

OK, so I had my first Austrailian "burger with the lot."  Not here at Sheep Station, but at Sunburnt Cow in the East Village.

All I can say is that, after getting out of work near midnight, without having yet eaten dinner, when you're in general mourning for your life, a burger with fried pineapple, beets, and egg doesn't seem like such a terrible idea.  You just down it, and notice how different each bite tastes as the proportions of the various toppings change.

I'd recommend this only when you're VERY hungry and VERY depressed.

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Ahhhhh, one of the finer things in life is a burger with 'beets'. But the Kiwi version, not the Australian.

Gotta have real sweet vinegared beets, fried onions, tomato relish, iceberg lettuce, a NZ lamb pattie, fresh tomato slices and some melted cheese. Oh yeah baby.

Now pineapple and egg have no place on a Lamburger, but go great on a hamsteak burger. Beets too.