Lord Hobo

I am currently in China right now and will be there for the next two weeks. This is the first of several posts that I had prepared beforehand for when I was away. Please understand that during this time my response to comments / e-mails / etc. will be slower than normal. Finally, if you are so inclined, you can vote for me here for Project Food Blog.

40 microbrews? Hard to find beers from around the world?

Owner Daniel Lanigan is no stranger to this beer business, having run two "cult beer bars" in Amherst and Northampton. The last time I had encountered such a diversity of craft beers was probably at Granville Moore's in Washington D.C.

Bryan and I finally got a chance to check out Lord Hobo (which took over the old B-side Lounge in East Cambridge) this past weekend. I had heard great things about it, so I was anxious to see if it lived up to the hype.

The ambiance inside is dark yet hip, with tall wooden stools and chairs spread through a wide open space. The center bar, which boasts all those interesting drafts, clearly steals the show as it is prominently displayed in the center of the restaurant. I found the room to be uncomfortably cold, to the point where I was almost shivering.

Of course, the focus is on the beer, and the drink menu literally takes up over three quarters of the menu. There's one page of food and about 4-5 pages of drinks. It's mind boggling and overwhelming, to say the least. Thankfully, the server is happy to bring you little "tastes" of their brews free of charge. I tried three different ones before deciding on the St. Bernardus (shown on the left). The servers are very knowledgeable about the beers (I'm sure they are used to having guests come in who have no idea what to order), and can certainly guide you along in a mini-tasting, which is quite fun.

The food was surprisingly good! We're talking nice, gastropub food. Bryan likened it to the style of Garden at the Cellar, one of our favorite restaurants. We started with a lovely crab and avocado salad, which was very nice - fresh ingredients, lightly seasoned, it was the perfect start of a pretty good dinner.

I got the seared halibut, which came with a nice succotash of corn and peas that tasted very fresh. The fish was nicely seared, although just a tad on the dry side. I guess sous vide cooking has really made me kind of picky when it comes to meat textures!

Bryan got the steak which was seasoned with chimichurri sauce and came with a side of fries. We requested that the fries be served with the truffle aoili, which was actually really intense and truffly (yum!). Bryan thought the steak was cooked a perfect medium rare, and he liked the chimichurri sauce, so he was quite pleased.

We were surprisingly impressed with the food at Lord Hobo. The prices are reasonable, although you can quickly spend a lot if you each get a few craft beers. Although Cambridge boasts a lot of gastropubs that serve very good food, Lord Hobo shines when it comes to beer. You really can't get this many hard-to-find beers anywhere else close by.

If you like trying all sorts of interesting beers in a fun environment with good food, definitely check out Lord Hobo. Just don't forget to bring an extra sweater.

Lord Hobo
92 Hampshire St.
Cambridge, MA 02139

Granville Moore's

Moules Fromage Bleu - Bacon, Hook’s Blue Cheese, Shallots, Spinach , White Wine, Lemon Juice - $16

When you walk into Granville Moore's Frittes Ales Moules, you feel as if you have traveled at least 75 years back in time. The interior feels almost pre-industrial, with exposed brick walls and old wooden floors. You can't miss the HUGE bar that takes up a majority of the narrow real estate. A few wooden tables and benches line one wall, but clearly, beer is the focus here.

In fact, Granville Moore's has one of the largest Belgian beer selections in the mid-Atlantic region. They carry over 50 types of bottled beers (plus at least 4 draft beers) - and every single one of them is Belgian.

Granville Moore's is named after Dr. Granville Moore, a doctor whose office used to occupy the current location decades ago. Dr. Moore provided pro bono care to the less fortunate in the neighborhood. The building stood vacant for 30 years before a few business-minded entrepreneurs purchased the property and opened up Granville Moore's.

It's pretty hard to get into Granville Moore's these days. They don't take reservations, and the place has become quite famous ever since chef Teddy Folkman beat Bobby Flay in a moules frite throwdown. The winning dish? The Moules Fromage Bleu, pictured above.

We had a fabulous meal here, and I would highly recommend this place to anyone who loves good beer and excellent mussels in a fun, lively, and historic location.


Granville Moore's is not in the best of neighborhoods, located at H Street NE. In fact, the restaurant is surrounded by an eclectic mix of  thriving businesses, rundown buildings, and boarded up storefronts. Some see Granville Moore's as a sign of positive change, the first step in the revitalization of an old, tired neighborhood.

Frites (large - $7.50)
Be prepared to wait, as this place is super popular, and lines go out the door. To pass by the time, we ordered some beers and some fries, which were fantastic. Hand cut from Idaho potatoes and fried twice, these were so good I hardly used any of the dipping sauces.

Of course, the sauces are fine and good, and you get a choice between Truffle Aioli, Homemade Hot sauce, Horseradish cream, Curry Mayo, Garlic Ranch, Chipotle BBQ, Morney Sauce, or Chipotle Mayo.

The bar is super well-stocked, and the bartenders know their stuff.

Here's some of the beers we tried.

Here's some more!

Finally, after waiting about 45 minutes, we were able to sit down and enjoy some food! We tried a variety of appetizers.  From top left going clockwise:  1. Bison Chili ($6)  2. Fried Risotto Cakes ($8)  3. Crab Croquettes with Gruyere and Dijonnaise ($8)  4. Jumbo Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Butternut Squash Puree ($12.50)  All of these dishes were pretty tasty, though I don't think any of them stood out to me as the best I've ever had.

Moules Moroccan – Beer Poached Fennel, Spicy Lamb Sausage, Curry Cream Sauce - $16

The mussels were delicious. We tried three different flavors: the Moules Fromage Bleu (shown at the top of the post), Moules Champignon (Mushrooms, cream, Hoegaarden, Truffle Oil), and Moules Moroccan (shown above). Our favorites? Probably a toss-up between the Moules Fromage Bleu and the Moules Moroccan, with the Moules Champignon a distant second. The mix of flavors in both the Moules Fromage Bleu and the Moules Moroccan were fantastic, and the sauces were aromatically fragrant, savory, and full of umami. We loved dipping our bread in the sauce - yum! The Moules Champignon was pretty good, though not as flavorful or complex as the other two. Surprisingly, I could hardly taste the truffle oil.

We loved this place and had a blast not only trying out so many different kinds of beers, but also enjoying the flavorful mussels and the crunchy fries. It's worth the 45-minute wait, especially when you can drink beer and eat fries while you are waiting!

This post is part of the larger Washington DC Eats Series.  Other post(s) in this series:
Ceiba
Il Canale
Ben's Chili Bowl

Granville Moore
Capitol Hill
1238 H St NE
Washington, DC 20002