Holmes and Watson, briefly

Holmes and Watson on 450 Broadway is an old Troy standby. Their cottage fries are fantastic, and they have an extensive list of beers; you can usually get some kind of stout on tap, which is my idea of beer heaven. The location couldn't be better for downtown dining.

Holmes and Watson consists of a nice bar in front with a few tables, and more tables in the rear. Since I'm not a drinker, I usually sit in the back. The steps down to the rear tables can be a bit tricky, but the restaurant has the atmosphere of a down-home English pub, which can be comforting especially come mid-winter around these parts.

They have sandwiches, steaks, fish, and soups, like the *excellent* Manhattan fish chowder I had when I was there with a group a few weeks ago. The food is good quality, with fine fish and chips and burgers (although not much by way of vegetarian fare: I think there's one veggie wrap option, or a grilled portobello-cum-burger. Just like England!).

The service when we were there was scattered; the waitress didn't want us to move two larger tables together, and so instead we had to move to a bench with two non-fitting tables, even though practically no one else was in the joint.

This competes with Brown's Brewing Co. on River Street for brewpub dominance. While Holmes and Watson has reliably good sandwiches and beers, Brown's has a much classier atmosphere (although it still feels like a pub) with many more tables, and a bigger menu with a great veggie burger. Holmes and Watson does fish really well, though, I think better than Brown's.

Brown's is where you take your out-of-town family visitors, while Holmes and Watson is where you hunker down for some down-home Troy lounging.