What's up, Doc(k)?

If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's good pizza and good beer.  So after hearing great things about Dock Street Brewery, I had no choice but to venture west of Penn and see what all the fuss was about.  After walking eight blocks in the bitter cold, it was a warm relief to walk into the large brick building that houses Dock Street.  

We entered the restaurant and seated ourselves at a booth along the far wall.  For a Wednesday night, the place was pretty crowded.  All of the tables near where we chose to sit were filled and everyone seemed to be enjoying their beer and food, and having great conversations with their parties.  A low-volume soundtrack played throughout the entire brewery, which, paired with the conversations of other patrons, made for a relaxing and comfortable ambiance.  The most noticeable aspect of Dock Street's room is the huge glass wall that separates the southwest side of the restaurant from the actual brewery where beer is made.  For me, this was the coolest part of the whole experience.

After commenting on the huge cauldrons that stood on the other side of the glass wall, we looked at our menus and talked about what to eat.  Just minutes before we left for dinner, a friend recommended that we order the Four Cheese pizza because its caramelized onions made it extra delicious! Always eager to take advise from friends, we ordered the Four Cheese and Vegetarian -- without mushrooms -- pizzas and the Dock Street Battered Fish & Chips with the trio fries (a savory combination of shredded white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leeks).

The pizzas were delicious.  The crust, clearly handmade, had the perfect balance of crunchy and soft consistency.  I was partial to the vegetarian pizza because I generally prefer sauce to sauceless and subsequently ate three slices, but, the Four Cheese was quite delicious as well and the caramelized onions certainly added to the party -- thank you friend! -- and I couldn't resist a second piece, despite my stuffed stomach.  The fish and chips was also very good.  The Pollack tasted fresh and there was a good ratio of fish to breading (a frequent eater of fish and chips, I've learned that attaining this ratio is not always guaranteed).  To my disappointment, though, there were only two pieces of fish, which made the platter perfect for sharing, but not ideal for my stomach, which craved a second piece!

Vegetarian Pizza (without mushrooms)

In addition to our entrees, we couldn't resist ordering the house special beer, also known as the Prince Myshkin (which has an astounding 8% alcohol content!).  I typically don't love stout beers, but our waiter, also named Jesse, urged us to get it because he said it was delicious.  Our glasses of the Prince Myshkin were relatively small, most likely because of the high alcohol content, and the deep brown liquid was served inside goblets.  The beer's description read that it was made with a combination of cocoa and chocolate, which is definitely how the beer tasted and it added a nice sweet element to our otherwise salty palates.

All in all, Dock Street was a huge success.  I certainly did not feel like I exhausted the menu during this first visit and am sure to be back; the in-house brewed beers and reasonable prices only add to the reasons to visit.  Best of all, no reservation required!

Dock Street:
(215) 726-2337
http://www.dockstreetbeer.com/