My girlfriends S and PMc are just as obsessed as I am. S is a Tar Heel and PMc is a Longhorn so they have a reason to love the tourney. Me? I was just a kid when Houston had Phi Slamma Jamma madness. But that's okay they let me play too.
S had spent St. Patty's Day at the Nodding Donkey and just raved about it. So when PMc and I were trying to figure out where to go for some Friday tourney watching, we decided to check it out. Wow! Madness. Sooo many TVs. Soooo many games. Soooo many age appropriate boys. $3 happy hour drafts and this delightful $5 drink called a Donkey Punch (more about that later). And with the garage doors all opened and a perfect day, it's like a perfect inside/out patio spot. My kind of place.
We liked it so much, we decided to go back on Saturday for some more game watching. Given the Friday craziness, we knew we needed to get there early. S volunteered to get there bright and early and get us the perfect table (and, yes, she was there 3 days in a row. This girl needs a drink named after her). I'm proud to say, she accomplished her mission.
My mission on Saturday was to find out exactly what was in that Donkey Punch (it's motto: It only hurts for a minute). It's one of those drinks that's so delicious that you suck it down really quickly and then, about 20 minutes later, it hits you. Whhhhheeeeeeeeee!
I, too, was able to accomplish my mission. It was pretty simple. I just asked our server what was in it and she rattled off the ingredients: moonshine, vodka, rum, orange juice, cranberry juice and pineapple juice. Wait? Wha? Did I hear that first ingredient right? Did you really just say moonshine? Yes, our smiling server said, but, you know, legal moonshine (I guess that's defined as - not made in bathtub?). Not Everclear, but something like that. So, basically, you're serving us generic grain alcohol in citrus deliciousness? I'm down with that. Cheers!
I knew we were going to be there for the long haul (hello, we actually watch the games) so I ordered some queso. It had fresh corn, pico de gallo and brisket. Yeah, I didn't get the brisket either. It's too fatty to pull off in queso. It would have been a decent queso otherwise.
A Donkey Punch and a copule of hours later, I needed something else to eat. I wasn't too hungry, so I looked for a salad. Here's how their menu reads:
Rant of the day:
Dear Nodding Donkey menu writer, a "liter" is a unit of liquid measurement. It is NOT how you spell "lighter." Maybe it was meant to be cute, but, come on, lighter and liter are pronounced two totally different ways!!!! I'm sorry, this kind of thing annoys me, no matter how many Donkey Punches I've had. Literacy is a good thing. Promote it.
Ok. I'm done now.
The silver bowl salad (which is the same as State & Allen's down the street), was good. I like the spiciness of the chicken combined with the sweetness of the grapes and mandarin orange slices. I don't like that it's served in a stainless steel bowl. When my fork hits it, I get the chills.
We eventually had a couple of guys join our party. For the record, only the girls had completed brackets. Hmmmmmm, what's up with that. A ordered the silver bowl salad as well and C ordered the turkey sandwich which looked and smelled delicious. It had sliced and pulled smoked turkey between two thick slices of bread with a side of cranberry sauce to give it a Thanksgiving feel. It was also accompanied with a good sized bowl of fruit salad. I think I'm going to order that the next time I go.
After 5 hours of game watching, I decided it was time for me to go. As I was getting up to leave, a Rolls Royce pulled up to the valet. It was like a Rolls Royce clown car because like 6 guys who all looked like they were extras for the Jersey Shore got out of the car at once. Really? It's bad enough we have the reputation in this town for our $30,000 millionaires but now we have to deal with this? Ugh. And that's my cue to leave.
While I personally prefer the food at State & Allen, I'll definitely go back to the Nodding Donkey, especially this time of year when it's nice and cool outside. Or when I get a hankering for some moonshine.
Cheers!
http://www.thenoddingdonkey.com/
Donkey Punch: It only hurts for a minute.
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