So named not after the sport but rather its historical location as a shirt factory, we were nevertheless inspired to dine at the Boxing Room after one of our cardio boxing sessions one evening. As much as we eat and drink, the BarFlys are not skinny, but we are not obese either thanks to our gym workouts. We normally eat at the Boxing Room for lunch or brunch for their excellent overstuffed fried seafood Po’ Boys paired with beer, but with a special Blackboard Eats menu available, we thought it was time to try dinner.
The bread service starts off with house-made flatbread crackers with a small crock of Pimento cheese, the southern spread staple:
We started with the Cajun Fritto Misto which featured fried alligator, frog legs, okra, meyer lemon slices and a creole remoulade dipping sauce. What an addictively great Southern interpretation of an Italian dish. Resembling chicken wings, the frog legs ranged in size from tiny to wing-size. The amphibians were tasty as was the fried alligator, which to us almost had the same tender consistency as sweetbreads:
The first course of the special menu was a pan-fried crab cake paired with Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing Company. Topped with more of the slightly spicy creole remoulade and served on top of coleslaw. This might have been one of the best crab cakes we have ever eaten since it featured plenty of crustacean meat. Not normally on the menu, we should start a campaign to make this a regular item (at least during crab season):
The main dish on the special menu featured Mom’s Smothered Chicken served over tender butter beans, bacon, and white rice. Our server told us that this is Chef Justin Simoneaux’s favorite dish that his mother makes. The chicken was comfort food great:
The chicken was paired with a pint of Proving Ground IPA made by Magnolia Brewery. We also ordered a pint of Turbo Dog, a popular dark beer from the Louisiana-based Abita Brewery:
A new menu item just recently introduced is the Suckling Pig which featured the pork 2 ways: as a very tender pulled pork terrine and a slice of the roasted belly (right side of the picture). Chanterelle mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, figs and mizuna leaves completed this excellent dish:
The dessert course was a slice of Sweet Potato Pie with a pecan crust and bourbon ice cream. The beer pairing was a Campfire Stout made by High Water Brewing Co. in Chico. The beer tasted just like a S’More, complete with the aroma and taste of roasted marshmallows. To achieve this effect, they put graham crackers in the mash, used chocolate malt and added a natural toasted marshmallow flavor. It was tasty and unique, but we would be hard pressed to drink more than a half-pint of this dessert beer:
Perhaps we weren’t paying close enough attention during past visits, but it seems that Louisiana-native Chef Justin Simoneaux is branching out of serving the traditional New Orleans food such as Po’ Boys, Fried Chicken and Jambalaya to include more upscale Southern-inspired food. It’s a great combination of the traditional comfort and more upscale type food like he used to cook at the Moss Room a few years back.
BarFlySF 