Map Room

Map Room

Somewhat amazingly, despite much LTH love expressed for this place over the last 6 years or so, there seems to be no thread devoted to Map Room (or did I somehow miss it in multiple searches?).

Anyway, I’m headed there tonight for beer (of course) and dinner. Will post about my experiences, but was wondering if anyone had eaten anything there recently that they really enjoyed.

Map Room doesn't have food. You can bring food in or have it delivered.

Cash only also.

Belly Shack kimchee goes exceptionally well with much of the beer menu.

the wimperoo wrote:Map Room doesn't have food. You can bring food in or have it delivered.

Cash only also.

Ha, right after I posted, I checked and confirmed that you are, indeed, correct. The person who invited me to dinner is going to be surprised!

Moving this post to "Something to Drink."

Don't they have a complimentary buffet of some kind at lunch or in the aftenoon on certain days?

It makes me sad that there are no more International Nights. That was Tuesday dinner every week for the duration of my Americorps*VISTA term and my first contact with quite a few "world" cuisines.

happy_stomach wrote:It makes me sad that there are no more International Nights. That was Tuesday dinner every week for the duration of my Americorps*VISTA term and my first contact with quite a few "world" cuisines.

AHA!! I knew I wasn't crazy--this was what I was thinking of...

They'll often bring in BBQ during the afternoon as well.

happy_stomach wrote:It makes me sad that there are no more International Nights. That was Tuesday dinner every week for the duration of my Americorps*VISTA term and my first contact with quite a few "world" cuisines.

Maybe not every week, but they have an Indian dinner on 4/26. And they still do something every Tuesday night. http://maproom.com/calendar.htm

Had a superb Belgian at Map Room: Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Extremely sour, but just what I needed, perhaps not as subtle or as pretty as the Duchesse de Bourgogne, but very refreshing and palate-perking.

Dinner, well, I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about that yet.

For food, doesn't the tamale guy still come by most nights?

David Hammond wrote:Had a superb Belgian at Map Room: Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Extremely sour, but just what I needed, perhaps not as subtle or as pretty as the Duchesse de Bourgogne, but very refreshing and palate-perking.

Dinner, well, I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about that yet.

LOVE that beer! It goes really well w/some crusty bread and cheese. Which IMHO, is one of the best things to bring over to the Map Room. Big Star takeout works out pretty well too. One of the best beer bars anywhere.

jmc wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Had a superb Belgian at Map Room: Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Extremely sour, but just what I needed, perhaps not as subtle or as pretty as the Duchesse de Bourgogne, but very refreshing and palate-perking.

Dinner, well, I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about that yet.

LOVE that beer! It goes really well w/some crusty bread and cheese. Which IMHO, is one of the best things to bring over to the Map Room. Big Star takeout works out pretty well too. One of the best beer bars anywhere.

I'm also a huge fan of the Jacobins Rouge. It's been popping up all over the city lately, and not just at places like Hopleaf. They've even had it at Whole Foods on Kingsbury. I prefer it to the Duchesse and Monk's, which are two other sours that many places have on tap. I like it because the sourness is balanced with just enough sweetness and just enough funk. For me, it's an easy drinker, unlike some of the more horse blankety sours. When I spot it on a beer menu, I have trouble ordering anything else.

Does anyone know if it's available locally in bottles? If so, how does the bottled version compare?

Ronna

nr706 wrote:For food, doesn't the tamale guy still come by most nights?

Perhaps, but I got no tweets to that affect around 8:30-9PM, which is when our conversation ended (was meeting with Ray Daniels, who has a lot to say about beer).

I put Twitter on my iPhone for one reason: to track food trucks. So far, no luck, but will try again tonight.

REB wrote:Does anyone know if it's available locally in bottles? If so, how does the bottled version compare?

As far as I know Jacobins Rouge is a tap only beer. My personal favorite Flanders Red is the La Folie from New Belgium, though I've never seen that on tap. Rodenbach has started to pop up on tap lists though, which is exciting.

turkob wrote: Rodenbach has started to pop up on tap lists though, which is exciting.

The Grand Cru I had on tap at the Twisted Spoke the night before WhiskeyFest was spectacular.

SSDD

happy_stomach wrote:It makes me sad that there are no more International Nights. That was Tuesday dinner every week for the duration of my Americorps*VISTA term and my first contact with quite a few "world" cuisines.

I actually think what they're doing now is more befitting a beer bar -- most Tuesday nights now have a beer/food pairing of some kind. Buy one of the beers with an assigned pairing, get the food pairing free. They've done a variety of stuff with this so far, including various ethnic foods, sometimes with beers from one brewery and other times with different breweries. According to the bartenders, with International Night there were always people that would come in and order the cheapest two beers possible to get the food, and then bitch about the free food, and moreso in the last year or two than there used to be. I do wonder if that contributed to the decision to change it over to what they're doing now and make it more beer-focused.

On weeknights the Tamale Guy usually shows up twice -- first around 9-9:30, and then again midnight-ish. Not sure about weekends, the crowd is very different on weekends, and sometimes there is even a one-in, one-out line 5-10 deep waiting to get in, so we have a tendency to stick to weeknights, although I do recall Tamale Guy showing up around midnight on a Saturday before too.

David Hammond wrote:Had a superb Belgian at Map Room: Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Extremely sour, but just what I needed, perhaps not as subtle or as pretty as the Duchesse de Bourgogne, but very refreshing and palate-perking.

It pairs amazingly well with Thai food. Not quite as good as the Drie Fontinen Oude Geuze, but pretty darn good, none the less. If they still have it on tap the next time you hit the Map Room, stop at Spoon Thai or one of the other Thai restaurants along Western and get some to-go food.

d4v3 wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Had a superb Belgian at Map Room: Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Extremely sour, but just what I needed, perhaps not as subtle or as pretty as the Duchesse de Bourgogne, but very refreshing and palate-perking.

It pairs amazingly well with Thai food. Not quite as good as the Drie Fontinen Oude Geuze, but pretty darn good, none the less. If they still have it on tap the next time you hit the Map Room, stop at Spoon Thai or one of the other Thai restaurants along Western and get some to-go food.

I asked Cicerone Impresario Ray Daniels about beer pairing with Thai food and he recommended brown ale (which he described as the "O positive of beers" -- goes with everything), like a Bell's Amber or Metropolitan Dynamo. Stella Artois has worked for me, though maybe more as a "wash" than as an actual complement.

Anything bitter is out, according to Daniels, because it amps up the heat (which should be in balance), but a sour beer would be interesting as it would connect with the sourness in some Thai dishes. I usually have the sour Belgians before dinner, but it might be interesting to have one with a fish dinner, too.

I remember in college, my friend's band used to play there somewhat regularly. I have vague recollections of moving a piano on-stage.