We went to Island’s Fine Burgers in AMC last night for some monster burgers and brews. The hostess was from Oz, so Fabio was briefly in dreamland, until our server with ADD showed up. They were out of “hef-wize-in” or however she mangled the pronunciation, so I got a Kona Big Wave Golden Ale. Fabio got their Kona-coffee-flavored Pipeline Porter, and root got the Longboard Lager (all Kona drafts were $4 USD). The Big Wave was lighter in both flavor and color than the Longboard, which is their version of a classic continental lager (like Sam Adams Lager). I’m not a big fan of Longboard – it tends to be a bit overhopped, and I’ve had a few in bottles that have gone skunky. The Pipeline Porter was coffee-flavored beer. The other coffee-flavored beer I’ve had was the coffee stout at Brewhouse in Whistler, and to be honest, I didn’t really like either. A good, dark roast on the malt is all the smokiness I need – no additions please. If I could point out one thing I liked about the Porter is that it was mildly hopped, so there was just the coffee and the malt flavor – no bitterness or floweriness. I did like the Big Wave, however – I’d say it’s the best thing from Kona Brewing Co. that I’ve had so far. They have some things on tap at their brewpub locations that I’d like to try, including a hefeweisen and a porter that doesn’t have coffee in it.
I had the “Bluenami” burger ($10 USD), which has blue cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato, red onions, and blue cheese crumbles. I had asked for medium, but got something more toward well-done (again with the post-BSE fear) – it was not unlike the overcooked meat you get at Splitz in Whistler Village now. To prevent the kind of sammich failure that makes Fabio explode with anger, I ate the tomato and lettuce first, before attempting to pick up the burger. The flavor was good, even if the meat was a little dry and overcooked. I’ve eaten this here before, and it was better the last time. I think there were more blue cheese crumbles last time too.
Since we didn’t order fries or oily onion rings, there was room for dessert. I got the “Kona Pie” ($6 USD), which was a mocha/almond/fudge ice-cream cake with fudge topping and a dark cookie crust. The slice was large, nearly equivalent in volume to an H-D or B&J pint container. I think the desserts were designed to share.
Three out of four grinning monkeys
Notes:
Just because according to their menu they are using trans-fat free oils, that is no reason for the onion rings to come out glistening with a sheen of it, dripping it, and sitting in a pool of it.
Consistency is definitely lacking, both in food preparation and service.
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