Thicker Than Water

I go to Geary for old-school Porta Nova, even though there has been an influx of trendy businesses. I did, however, once attended a concert inside a brewery. But with the Portuguese restaurant gone, I might as well embrace the newcomers.

Looking around on Saturday, I finally decided to grab a half-pint and a sandwich combo ($11) at Blood Brothers Brewing. The Black Hand ($4.75) was a rich stout with a chocolatey aftertaste. It paired well with the portobello sandwich. The latter came with arugula and goat cheese, neither of which were too strong. But the thin fries, or perhaps thicker shoestring fries, went even better with the beer.

Afterwards, I wandered up Bartlett past the convenient parkette across from the brewpub, filled with people enjoying BB's beer as well. The houses were well-maintained with many new renovations, either just the front facade or the entire house. But these weren't the typical modern reno of boxy outlines and dark wood frame surrounding large windows. They were what I usually associate with established Portuguese families: gabled roof, pale bricks, perhaps some bay windows.

As I walked up and down these side streets between Geary and Davenport, I stumbled upon Knockout Ice Cream on Westmoreland. They had an entire wall of flavour but only the lit-up ones were available. I could have chosen the more unusual ones but settled for a mint chocolate ($4). It was good, smooth, and no frozen ice bits. It tasted a bit familiar and so I wasn't surprised to find out Knockout shares the same DNA with Bang Bang and Bakerbots.