Brink Lounge

In a word: Skating Brink.

The specs: #00798  
701 E Washington Ave., 53703
Details at
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JM and Nichole ate the crab cakes and the cheese plate with a lemonade and a ginger ale.
The bill was $24, or $12/person, plus tip.
JM gave Brink Lounge a B; Nichole gave Brink Lounge a C (see our grading rubric).

The Brink stands in the same building as High Noon and Brass Ring and seems to have found little room between these two for itself.  If it weren't for the Brink's service as a wedding reception venue (with the option to provide your own catering) we doubt it would see much trade at all. 

On the night we were there, speakers were being set up for a local act who would be performing that night, but the Brink is no High Noon.

So that leaves food to compare against the Brass Ring.  Brink, instead of embracing the bar aesthetic, decided on an Eno Vino-style small plate approach, but they don't quite have the moxy to pull it off.  The crab cakes, which were just fine thank you, were nothing but automatic use of crabmeat with a side sauce that felt more industrial than planned.  The sliced green peppers on the side were fresh and cool - a nice touch.

But the cheese plate, which reckoned as a double digit number of dollars including tip, was far from stellar.  In the first place, the dried cranberries, walnuts, and strawberries, though good, seemed like they were just put on the plate to fill up the middle space rather than pairing particularly well with any of the cheeses.  The crackers included Club(tm) and Toll House(tm) and the cheeses were brie, cheddar and gouda. We'd like to tell you more about them, but that's all we were told too. Maybe we just expect too much from a cheese plate.

So the Brink feels more like it is Limbo.  It does enough business to stay open, but not enough to want to make itself into a draw.   

Comments

[Marsha K]

Not that it matters, but those are Town House, not Toll House, crackers. What a sorry excuse of a cheese plate! They ought to be ashamed of themselves. As far as I'm concerned, the Brink is good for one thing and one thing only - groovin' to Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo when they shake the place. But if I'm desperate enough while enjoying the Hoodoo boys, I will have one of the Brink's nothing special pizzas.