Sunday, October 3rd, 2010—Bar 266

Day 266—Satruday, October 2nd, 2010
Robert Emmett's
Last night I met bartender Rachel at The Flying Puck bar nearby where I work. She told me her twin brother worked at Robert Emmett’s, which causes me to wonder how much they look alike. I checked the place out online and it’s more of a restaurant than a bar, but I’m sure there’s a bar in there and according to menu they serve cheeseburgers, perfect for Cheeseburger Saturday Night. So let’s go find Rachel’s twin John at Robert Emmet’s and pull him into the 365 bar crawl.

Okay, here we are at 8th and 16th. It's a nice day, so I thought we'd walk, we just go straight up 8th to 44th St. and we're there.

This looks like a wonderful place.

Welcome to New York City!

Okay, ten more blocks to go. I'm starvin' like Marvin and have built up a powerful thirst!

Hey look, a street fair. Let's take a quick look around, this may be the last one of the season.

Mmm...gyros!

New York City t-shirts. Note to vendor, Calvin and Hobbes disappeared off the comic pages about a decade ago.

Nice to see someone taking advantage of the bedbug infestation of the city.

Wow, that Italian sausage looks good.

But these corndogs look even better!

What the hell, a little appetizer before tonight's cheeseburger!

And here we are, let's go in and find John.

A nice wooden bar and plenty of seats. Perfect. I wonder if that's John down there?

Nope, it's Ben. Ben told me that John would be here in a bit. And more importantly he served up the first beer of the evening.

There's tables opposite the bar for dining.

Some colorful bottles behind the bar.

And me above the colorful bottles with the obligatory barroom mirror shot.

Tom and Franci were seated next to me at the bar and decided to put some tunes on the jukebox.

And here he is, the man of the hour, Rachel's twin brother, John! Do you see the resemblance?

They're not identical, but they are twins alright!

The lovely Tracy was the other bartender on duty.

And boom, she delivers the dinner!

To Saturday Night Cheeseburger!

Delicious!

And (literally) a parting shot with Franci and Tom. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The bar/restaurant is named after an Irish rebel, Robert Emmet, but outside of the namesake and some of the items on the menu, that’s about the extent of the Irish themes to be had here. Instead the decor is simple with a long wooden bar and tables off to the side. There’s an upstairs dining area and bar as well. The bar is located in the theater district and close to the Port Authority, so on weekdays there’s a big after-work crowd with commuters having a few post work drinks before climbing a board a bus to come home. On the weekends the crowd gets a little more touristy, with people having a pre or post-theater dinner and drinks.

There’s two full bars here with a large draft beer selection and about a half dozen signature drinks including a mojito and a margarita. It’s only befitting that since the place is named after an Irish rebel that there’s some Irish fare to be had on the menu and they include: Bangers and Mash, Shepherds Pie and Fish and Chips. Some other non-Irish items offered up are: an Eighteen Ounce Porterhouse Steak, Lobster Ravioli, Linguine With Chicken and The Emmett Sandwich which is country bread with slices of smoked turkey, proscuitto, shrimp, fresh mozzarella cheese and topped with the chef's special dressing.

Robert Emmett's
694 8th Ave. (near 44th St.)
212-302-9999

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Bonus Photos
Okay, here’s part II of 365 Aussie commentator’s Tim Clack's photos from his bar crawl at the restaurant that he’s currently working at. Oh, Tim...
The Balcony...The Club and Bistro is a really popular spot any night of the week. I took these pics when they were just about to close for the night. That's why there isn't anyone here.

Chocolate machine. It's like gambling for diabetics.

The Bistro seats something like 150 to 200. I would have taken pics of the food and my work mates but we're just too busy to run around with the camera during dinner service. Maybe next time.

The Bar in all its glory.

This is my Schooner of Carlsberg. I took a photo so it would last longer.

An Aussie ATM for Marty's mate Joey D.

Great work! Thanks Tim, a great bar crawl from down under!

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Bonus Jaws Art

365 commentator just sent in an interpetive piece of art of what he imagine's Fitzy' Koala bear buddy, Barry to be like. Thanks Jaws!

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010—Bar 265

Day 265—Friday, October 1st, 2010
The Flying Puck
Okay, sometimes work kicks my ass and tonight is one of those nights. As I’ve said before, I’m not going to blog about my night job, who wants to get dooced in this economy, but let’s just say tonight sucked monkey lungs on moldy whole wheat toast. It’s going on two in the morning and I’m just getting out of here. Tonight’s the 265th night and I had a special bar all picked out, but sometimes I’ve got to improvise on this crawl and tonight is one of those nights. I’m beat and I’ve only got a couple hours till the bars close, so I’m going to a hockey-themed bar that’s about a block from where I work. We’ll be there before...

You know it. See, here we are at the Flying Puck. Let's go inside and get a well-deserved drink.

Great, it's not too packed in here and plenty of seats at the bar. Only the serious drinkers are out at this hour.

And Paul, the friendly bartender serves up the first beer of the evening. And after learning this was the 265th night on the crawl, he told me it was on the house. Thanks, Paul!

Which can only lead to the age-old traditional "Wearin' of the Guinness."

There's a decent selection of drafts at the Flying Puck.

Hocky art and photos dominate the dark, wooden walls.

And the skylights are also devoted to hockey imagery.

And of course all the latest hockey is on the multiple TV's in the bars.

Wooden tables line the wall opposite the bar.

Australia is a recurring theme here on the bar crawl and who do I meet on this night out? More Australians! Shane and Lorraine were in town from Adelaide, Australia and wished me well on the bar crawl.

And of course Shane was watching the AFL game on the TV.

The center of the bar all wooden and mirrory.

A close-up of some of the lit-up spirits on display.

Seated next to me at the bar was Paul's roommate, Julie.

And speaking of Paul, here he is with co-worker, Rachel. And Shane jumps into the photo at the last minute.

A shot down the long, red bar.

Here's Mindee and Chris who were in from Cortland, New York. Mindee told me that Cortland has some great bars, so if I can figure out how to get there, maybe I'll make it a stop on the crawl.

Rachel's invented her own shot at the bar called, The Blue Ray.

The parting shot. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
If you’re a New York Rangers fan, The Flying Puck is a handy pit stop before you go to the game at the Garden. It’s located about a block away and it’s the new kid on the block, having just opened up its doors about a year ago. The bar is clean, red and lengthy and hockey art dominates the dark wooden walls and there’s stained glass hockey skylights overhead. Overead the lit up bar are plasma TV’s with sporting games and of course the latest hockey matches. The bartenders and staff are friendly and the crowd is a pretty equal mix of locals and tourists.

There’s a full bar and a good selection of bottled and draft beers. There’s also food at the Flying PUck with the usual burgers and sandwiches, but there’s also specialty items on the menu including Irish Nachos and Margherita Pizza.

And make sure to try one of Rachel’s patented Blue Ray shots, but watch out, those things are stronger than they appear! Cheers!

The Flying Puck
364 Seventh Ave. (near 30th St.)
212-736-5353

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Bonus Photos

Australian 365 commentator Tim Clack just got a new gig at a new bar and restaurant way down under in the Land of Oz and he was kind enough to take some photos and take us on an extra bar crawl. Tim snapped a lot of photos, so I thought I’d run it in two parts over the weekend. Here’s part one, Take it away, Tim!

Welcomte to Toronto Bay Bistro @ Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto (Australia, Not Canada!). Some other ways to pronounce Toronto are "Tronn," "Ronno." "Ron" or my personal fave "The Toe."

Whaddaya havin'?

Decisions, decisions. Great selection of tap beers but I don't recommend the Fat Yak.

Obligatory Baroom mirror shot.

Night time view from the balcony.

Nice work, Tim! Stay tuned for part II, tomorrow!

Saturday, early in the morning...

I had to work late last night. It's after three in the morning and I'm going to watch a movie and sleep in, so today's post will be up a little later. Probably around two or three in the afternoon. Till then here's Harry Nilsson singing a song true to my heart. Here comes the dreaded daylight. Aaaachh!