Good fish times two (and one of them is new).
Red Rock Tavern
3159 Montgomery Road
513-444-4991
Newport Pizza Co.
601 Monmouth St.
Newport, KY 859-261-4900
This month in our hunt for a great piece of fish we found two worthy of mentioning. First, at Red Rock Tavern in Landen. The former 20 Mile house was re-fitted throughout. Aside from a billiards room bar (The Acoustic Room), luxury lounge and a band stage bar (The Main Stage) there is also a casual dining area (The Rabbits Hole). Not too loud but not far from the action it makes for a good place to kill some pub grub before moving over to the rowdy bar for cocktails. We could watch Sonny Moorman from our booth and still converse... cool.
Fresh fried fish is the oldest traditional pub fare known to man and we always put a pub to the test by their fish. Red Rock does in deed chuck out some damn fine crispy fish. Healthy slabs of Grouper to be specific. Lightly breaded in dark beer batter served with fresh cut fries and homemade cole slaw & tartar sauce. It was all cooked just as it should be and that’s a rare find.
We also tried the Halifax Crab cakes. They also appeared homemade but they lacked the overall awesomeness of the grouper. Slightly doughy 1/2” thick patties with strong crab meat. Edible, just not memorable. Not the best we’ve had but a far cry better than the frozen crap. The sauce was decent.
Trips to bathroom from four Arnold Palmers gave me many a peek at the rest of the joint. The big antique pool table looked inviting. A Holiday Inn Suites style lounge with big fat comfy couches sat quietly under dim lights. It was just ripe for a nauseated patron to come sink back into the soft folds and spin in peace. The Acoustic Room bustled like it was a pub unto it’s own. Casual couples, shwag businessmen and a couple hop heads (a plus for good measure and overall pub character no doubt) seemed oblivious to the rest of the bar. They looked happy enough though.
After the grub we took a good seat at The Main Stage and caught the last set. Our dining friend Dean was smiling the whole time because Red Rock did indeed have his coveted Labatt’s Blue, in 22 ounce Tall Boys even! The service was attentive, we had no less than 6 people wait on us in a row. Not sure just what happened but we were never wanting for a thing. You can see the owners and staff are genuinely trying to make certain Red Rock’s customer service is attentive. It’s only been open a few weeks and the stars are going to shine among the staff soon. When they sort out the tigers from the sheeps in the herd we’re sure to see fewer faces but confident ones. Our “last” server did an awesome job even when we gave him sh!t (as you know we always do). He’s shining already to us.
The band list was good and the place had a good crowd. Another cool thing is the kitchen hours, they serve food until close. Couple that with nothing on the menu over 10 bucks for a double dose of alright. All signs point towards a new hot spot in the Montgomery/Landen/Loveland area.
The second place we were fed a fish worth mentioning is The Newport Pizza Co. Opened in 2009 at 601 Monmouth Street in Newport, this place serves pizzas, salads, hoagies and appetizers. The bar is chock full of craft, import beer and good wines are available by the bottle or glass.
Yes the pizza is good. The dough has a crisp and perfect stretch-to-chew ratio, fresh produce toppings and good meats make a difference too. Many of the specialty pizzas sound great. The people’s pick in the blogs is the Zeus ($13.75-$16.75). Baby spinach, feta cheese, Roma tomatoes, roasted garlic, olive oil, and Asiago cheese. We would have went for that but this last lent we were treated to an awesome fish sandwich lent special. The Newport Pizza Company owner said customer response was so good he might keep it on the menu.
Good idea Mr. because you don’t not sell fish sandwiches like this. Two (not one but two) big fat slabs of beer battered cod. I watched him batter it from my bar stool. Two handfuls of hand cut fries (the only good fries) and a real decent cole slaw. Not to mention fresh made tartar sauce too. Awesome, as good as any in the city. And cheap, 6 bucks.
We went back this month and there it was. When people keep spewing compliments in-between mouthfuls of your cod you just go with it and answer their call. Newport Pizza did and it’s a good thing. I guess something good did come from lent after all huh. Other good things are; live concert dvd’s (we’ve seen Phish and Dave Matthews so far), easy going attentive service, late hours (1 am Fri. & Sat.), military cleanliness, delivery and (some) free parking all play parts in the whole of this place. Added altogether with hands on owner attention, it’s arguably a perfect 10 pizza pub. A pizza pub worth going to just for the fish.
The second place we were fed a fish worth mentioning is The Newport Pizza Co. Opened in 2009 at 601 Monmouth Street in Newport, this place serves pizzas, salads, hoagies and appetizers. The bar is chock full of craft, import beer and good wines are available by the bottle or glass.
Yes the pizza is good. The dough has a crisp and perfect stretch-to-chew ratio, fresh produce toppings and good meats make a difference too. Many of the specialty pizzas sound great. The people’s pick in the blogs is the Zeus ($13.75-$16.75). Baby spinach, feta cheese, Roma tomatoes, roasted garlic, olive oil, and Asiago cheese. We would have went for that but this last lent we were treated to an awesome fish sandwich lent special. The Newport Pizza Company owner said customer response was so good he might keep it on the menu.
Good idea Mr. because you don’t not sell fish sandwiches like this. Two (not one but two) big fat slabs of beer battered cod. I watched him batter it from my bar stool. Two handfuls of hand cut fries (the only good fries) and a real decent cole slaw. Not to mention fresh made tartar sauce too. Awesome, as good as any in the city. And cheap, 6 bucks.
We went back this month and there it was. When people keep spewing compliments in-between mouthfuls of your cod you just go with it and answer their call. Newport Pizza did and it’s a good thing. I guess something good did come from lent after all huh. Other good things are; live concert dvd’s (we’ve seen Phish and Dave Matthews so far), easy going attentive service, late hours (1 am Fri. & Sat.), military cleanliness, delivery and (some) free parking all play parts in the whole of this place. Added altogether with hands on owner attention, it’s arguably a perfect 10 pizza pub. A pizza pub worth going to just for the fish.
