Jeremy’s Ale House
After a little stroll around Chinatown my lady friend and I wander down New York’s South Seaport. After almost two years living in New York I made the trip down for the first time. Sitting on a bench at Pier 17, next to the water and the historic ships, in 90 degree heat gave us both a hunger for a little sea food.
There were lots of restaurants around. But they all looked out of the price range of two poor law students, like a dodgy chain, or both. But even if we had the money, the upscale fair didn’t seem right. We wanted the kind of simple seafood that goes great with a beer. (Yes, Meg’s Boston roots have affected this Midwest boy.) With the help of Meg’s iPhone, we found what we were looking for—a dive bar with some fried clams on the menu—Jeremy’s Ale House.
Jeremy’s is the kind of place you can smell from the street, in a good way. The smell of beer as you’re walking towards the door makes you look forward to the beer you are going to order all the more. The design of the place is Spartan and darkly light with a
simple cement floor. Still, even though it was early, about 6 in the evening, you tell the place can get rock’n. There are bras literally hanging from the ceiling which has writing from past visitors all over it.
The beer comes one of two ways: small plastic cup or big styrofoam cup.
The simple menu, consisting most of baked and fried seafood and things that go great with baked and fried seafood (like french fries and onion rings). We ordered baked clams (something neither of us had ever had), fried clams (which, to our surprise, came with French fries), and onion rings (no need for a parenthetical comment about these).
The food was the cheap greasy seafood treat we had been hoping for. The fried clams were crunchy and delicious. The onion rings were those magic ones where you can take a bite without the onion slipping out. The baked clams might have been more greasy than we were looking for, but with a little lemon and tartar sauce they were pretty tasty. Oh, and the French fries. Sometime I forget how much I love a simple french fry. And all of the food was great with our beers (a big boy cup for me and little cup for Meg).
Jeremy’s is a place I am definitely going to be heading back to when on I’m the hunt for good, simple, fried seafood.
Jeremy’s Ale House 228 Front St.
New York, NY 10038
(212) 964-3537
http://jeremysalehouse.com