(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Speaking of Black Butte XXIII, let's talk about Black Butte XXIII, because why not? It's the beer Rocket doesn't want you to have, yet Bottles does, and it's all very strange, but at least you can easily find bottles now. And it's on tap. Both Flying Goat and Brews on Washington have it; probably other spots do too.

The bottles are obviously meant to be stored, but you owe yourself to try one of them. Then try it on tap. Because you have to compare. Have to!

It pours jet black, like a delicious tar, with a tan finger-and-a-half head. Sniff it, and the bourbon and chocolate notes rise up and gently pull you down, inviting you to taste it.

A quick sip laces the tongue like only a Deschutes Reserve can. Sure, you can taste the 10.8% ABV -- aging will change that if history is anything to go by -- but it's not overly boozy. Instead attention is turned to the sweet vanilla, the delicately bitter coffee, the subtle malts. A slight citric flavor carries through, supporting the quasi-thick mouthfeel.

So, it's hard to say exactly how the XXIII will age, but the initial tastings show something instantly promising. This time around The Abyss is, at least initially, vaguely better, but we'll see how they both stack up after the "Best After" date.

By all means though, stock up on Black Butte XXIII. This is good stuff.

We liked them the first time, and by golly that opinion has not changed.

Brews on Washington fills a niche Spokane has sorely been lacking, a place where you can just hang, drink coffee or beer while noshing on appetizers or sandwiches. Not a bar, not a coffee shop, just a spot.

Like already mentioned, the coffee is good, or at least has been during our visits. The beer selection isn't huge, yet holds a high standard. The elusive Black Butte Porter XXIII is currently one of their six taps, and that should be reason enough to make you run down there.

The food, too, is good. Obviously this isn't Sante, or really a restaurant as such, but as far as a spot goes, we approve. Sandwiches are made using Petit Chat bread, thickly sliced and fresh looking. We tried a pita plate, and liked the artichokes, the whipped feta, and the fluffy pitas themselves quite a bit.  

Plus, there's free popcorn. Who doesn't like that? The communists, that's who.

It's good to have a spot where you can hang, and with its coffee, beer, and food, Brews on Washington is a great place to do just that. Highly recommended.

I would imagine running a sushi shop -- or anything seafood oriented -- in Spokane would be kind of difficult. We're not exactly in a situation where anyone can pull the fish up from the ocean and prepare it in front of you. Not that sushi has to be seafood, but you get the point: Seafood is best enjoyed by the sea.

A handful of sushi places in Spokane are quite excellent, like Baek Chun Sushiyama on 3rd and Cedar, and while Sushi I doesn't quite measure up, it still isn't too bad. Not amazing, but worth checking out.

Among their smarter menu items are various choices of "chef's choice" plates. Here you can pick a category to your liking -- the basic and the vegetarian dishes are $14 each -- and the chef will, surprise surprise, make his pick for you.

As far as bang for the buck goes, it's a pretty sweet deal. One plate is enough for two people, with a selection of 14 rolls and nigiri, and some tasty pickled ginger.

The seafood sushi, then, is what I'm all about, and it was so-so, not because it wasn't prepared well, but because the fish was a bit eh. I have no idea when they get their fish or where they get it from, so we might just have visited on the last day of the cycle, though I'd be surprised if that was the case seeing this was a Friday.

A shrimp nigiri, for example, was prepared with a nice rice, but the actual shrimp was a bit... Limp. Dead. Old. Not gross or anything, but anyone who've had fresh shrimp would be able to spot the difference straight away.

In that sense the best thing on the plate might have been the California roll. I'm sure some might sound the alerts in a purist way about that, but whatever. Good is good, and the avocado used in it was actually really nice.

The selection of vegetarian rolls weren't bad either, but I feel vegetarian sushi needs to be pretty creative to truly shine, and that wasn't the case here. Good, definitely, but not fantastic.

A miso soup and a salad with ginger dressing were both fine, but nothing to write glowing poems about.

In the end, there's really nothing wrong about Sushi I. It's good. Service is very friendly. It should be vetted.

We'd probably go back, though not anytime soon.

I'm writing this as I'm drinking what will hopefully be my last espresso beverage at the Service Station. Over the past three months I've frequented the spot due to circumstances beyond my control. Need a coffee spot north of the Y and south of Deer Park that stays open until 9pm? Yeah, that's the Service Station, a win, of sorts, by default.

This is not a good coffee shop. Everything that possibly could go wrong here does. The coffee. The baristas. (Though bless them, they're very friendly.) Fox News on the TV. So on, so forth.

I suppose I can see the point of studying at the Service Station, large as the space is, but after seeing a girl using Wikipedia as a source for what I can only assume was a paper, I have to conclude that not even the students here are particularly good. (Present company excluded, of course.)

Of course, the coffee should be the litmus test, and the Service Station fails with flying colors. It's more often than not burnt and bitter, and not even the most generous pouring of milk -- and they are generous, overly so -- can hide the atrociousness they try to pass off as coffee. Seriously.

Are there any redeeming features? I thought I heard "Eye in the Sky" playing on the stereo, but that turned out to be somebody's ringtone.

So, no.

Unless you want to be left alone, there's nothing to the Service Station. Nothing but bad coffee, Bill O'Reilly, and Whitworth students looking like they'd want to be some place entirely different.