I had some business downtown yesterday morning that ended right about noontime, so I headed up Orange Avenue to check out the DownTown PourHouse. As you might expect from the spelling, the PourHouse is primarily a bar, but it has a simple menu of salads, sandwiches and burgers that, judging from the lunching crowd, is a draw to downtown workers.
The place was so well-packed that I decided not to take up a table for just myself and instead grabbed a seat at the bar. The bartender greeted me immediately and offered me the menu. I looked over the section of wings but was turned back by the price: $7 for six wings. That seems a lot. Shouldn’t these things cost about 25 cents each?
So I decided on one of the burgers, settling on the one called black and tan. The black, I suppose is from the glaze made from stout. I’m not sure if it was the Gruyere cheese or the onion rings that were supposed to be the tan. I ordered my burger medium-rare and the bartender didn’t flinch.
What’s even more impressive is that my burger actually was cooked to the requested temperature. I’m finding too often these days that when I ask for medium-rare the kitchen cooks it as close to well-done as possible without actually turning it into ash. So I appreciated the juicy red meat of the impressively thick patty at the PourHouse.
The burger was topped with fried onion rings, which, apparently inadvertently, formed a containing wall that held the stout glaze in a little pool. Once the dam was broken, the liquid caused the bottom of the brioche bun to get a bit soggy. Too bad because it was an otherwise nice, fresh bun.
The glaze gave the burger an overall sweet flavor. It didn’t make it wrong, I just wouldn’t order that one again. (I probably wouldn’t go with the one with caramelized figs and blue cheese, either.) With different toppings, this would have been a very nice burger. The accompanying fries, the thinnish, almost crispy kind, were easy not to eat.
I like the urban feel of the PourHouse and the overall bar mien. And with hours that go to 2 a.m. every day, the DTPH is a good choice for a late-night nosh.
DownTown PourHouse is at 20 S. Orange Ave., Orlando. It’s open for lunch and dinner daily. Phone number is 407-425-7687. You can click here for the Web site, but there isn’t a heck of a lot more on it than I’ve just told you here.
