Succulent specials, tasty standbys turn Peabody pub into a bar of gold
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Type: American
Good choices: Portobello mushroom appetizer, Buffalo chicken fingers, chili, Caesar salad, sirloin steak, pork chops, steak or lamb tips, sausage, baked haddock.
Hours: Daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Credit cards: None.
Access: Street-level entry; no wheelchair access to restrooms.
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BRODIES PUB & GRILLE
10 Lowell Street, Peabody
(978) 977-9988
Brodies looks more like a bar than a restaurant, a long narrow room with the bar in the front and a few tables squeezed into the back. Appearances can be deceiving. The small kitchen area behind the bar where two people can barely work without bumping into each other turns out food that's definitely a cut above the pub grub you might expect. Brodies was first reviewed in this space in 1986, and since then it has had a series of ups and downs, recently reopening with a new manager, a former employee. It's a theme-and-variations kind of menu with a lot depending on the char-broiler, but regular specials infuse variety into it, and dishes are served with a certain imagination. For example, broiled portobello mushroom slices ($5.25 or $6.95) were fanned out across tomato slices atop a long crostini, an appetizer presentation you don't get in the average pub. Each layer offered its own pleasure, from the meaty mushroom to the tomato and bread, the bottom two absorbing some of the flavors above them. Even the ubiquitous Buffalo wings were slightly different. While Brodies does serve wings, they also serve "fingers," a less fatty alternative. The fingers ($5.50) had an outer crispness you don't get with wings. Served with traditional blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, they were hot but not fiery. Seafood chowder ($2.50 a cup, $3.95 a bowl) was rich with chunks of fish and clams, and chili ($3.50 a cup, $4.95 a bowl) was meaty with a slow-burn spiciness present mostly in the aftertaste. A Caesar salad ($3.50, $4.95 or $2 extra with an entree) deviated from the classic version by including tomatoes, but somebody at Brodies remembers that the classic Caesar dressing contains mustard and garlic. A Greek salad ($3.95, $5.50, or $2 extra with an entree) featured particularly succulent olives and a vinegary house dressing, too much of it in fact; we recommend getting it on the side. Dinners center around the grill and include steak tips ($7.95), lamb tips ($9.95), sausage ($5.95), and chicken ($7.95). Or you can have your choice of three, including portobello mushrooms, in a combo plate for $10.95. Sampling a combo plate, we found the steak tips perfect, the lamb mild and tender though a bit dry, and the sausage sweet, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Baked haddock, a special for $8.95, was a deep plate of moist, flaky fish topped with buttery crumbs. With another nod to presentation, the accompanying lemon wedges were neatly trimmed into little rectangles. We were dubious about another special, teriyaki Black Angus sirloin ($10.95), thinking teriyaki was a waste on such a good piece of meat. But it worked well, the marinade flavoring but not overwhelming the steak. A blackened chicken sandwich ($5.25) was tender and tasty, though barely blackened, and a half-pound cheeseburger ($5.25) was well-seared but still nicely juicy inside. Brodies serves steak fries that are crisp on the outside while retaining a potato essence inside. One more special, pork chops and applesauce ($8.95), turned out to be the most spectacular meal and a carnivore's delight. While most dinners come with fries or rice, the chops, two big ones with bones, were served with a hot pepper and a garnish of lettuce, tomato, and onion. No matter because there were plenty of fries on the table with the other meals. The chops were spectacular, well seared and cooked, but still having plenty of taste and moisture. Brodies does not serve coffee or dessert.
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