Restaurant Review: The Federal Bar

Now in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The Federal Bar in Brooklyn, positioned right across from the famous The Knitting Factory concert house in Williamsburg, is a new and up and coming restaurant that opened up just a few days ago.  Specializing in hyper-local beer and locally sourced food, the current menu at The Federal Bar is something that every single person, foodie or not, should definitely check out.  And with their lunch and dinner menus being the same, there should be no hesitation to check this great restaurant out at any time of the day.

Upon first entering the restaurant, it has a very homey feel to it like it was the bar that you would go to once every week to get a drink with your friends after work.  There is a lot of wood seating, a great bar to sit and hang out at, and a fully stocked bar filled with all your heart’s desires in terms of drinks.  The vibe in this establishment is very relaxed and inviting and the staff is out of this world.  Filled with smiles and great attitudes, the staff at The Federal Bar can answer almost any question about the menu that will actually be changing throughout the year depending on what ingredients are available at the time.  The first impressions of this restaurant were great and it just makes you all the more excited to check out what they have to offer.

The Federal Bar has a wide range of foods that they offer.  When you think of bar food you typically think of fries and burgers and all of that, but this place takes bar food to the next level.  One of the favorites on the menu was the fish and chips.  The fish was a red snapper fried in some of the tastiest batter ever and served alongside a malt vinegar gastrique, aioli, and an order of slaw.  If you end up ordering this, make sure you ask for three extra orders of the malt vinegar gastrique, two for the fish and chips, and one last order to take home.  The fish was cooked beautifully and the batter that it was coated in gave it a nice crunch.  But when paired with the malt vinegar gastrique it added a whole depth of flavor to the dish being a sweet forefront and then a little zingy aftertaste.  The fish just seemed to melt in your mouth after you bite into it and if you’re in the mood for something with a lot of flavor in one bite then the obvious choice is the fish and chips.

Another favorite was the beef heart poutine served with an order of fries on the side with a mozzarella coating for the fries.  This dish was recommended by one of the servers who said that this dish is perfect for the person who is looking for something savory but at the same time unique.  Cooked to a perfect medium rare, this beef heart was amazing.  You would think that beef heart would taste very earthy and tough and unappetizing but this beef heart was savory, a little sweet, had some bitterness to it at the end, and just melted in your mouth.  It tasted like a regular cut of beef but considering that it was in fact, beef heart that was being served, it made the experience of the dish even more memorable and amazing.  This dish is something not typically found in most restaurants but The Federal Bar serves this dish and it is one of the tastiest dishes on their menu.  And the demi graze on the beef heart added that level of sweetness to it that the beef hearts needed.  And what was even better was that you could dip the serving of fries into the demi glaze and eat it like that too.  The only thing left to do now is to go to The Federal Bar and try this dish out for yourselves.

And what is a good bar without great drinks?  One of the best drinks that was on the menu was ‘Better than Nowhere’ which had bourbon, amaro, muddled citrus, and house grenadine.  Served with a little orange peel, the first sip you take of this drink has a good amount of orangey flavor to it.  But as you let it settle, you get a little bitter aftertaste which balances out the sweetness of the drink in the beginning.  This drink is better than most drinks.  Another good drink to order would be ‘The Green Mile’ which had navy strength gin, green chartreuse, mint, lime, and sugar.  This drink was sweet, light, and strong.  It is the perfect complement to have if you are ordering something on the lighter side as far as food, but nonetheless, is a solid choice to have no matter what you order.  But, if you are more interested in heavier drinks then the ‘River North’ is the drink for you.  This drink has scotch, ruby port, and Brooklyn brewery ‘I Wanna Rye-It’ beer and this drink was dark, heavy, and strong.  If you are a big beer fanatic then this is the drink for you because once you drink it you get this subtle wheat tone at the end that comes from the great beer that they added in the drink.  And if you are looking for a really good buzz then this drink is the one you should go with.

Overall, The Federal Bar had a lot of great things going for it.  This restaurant takes bar food to the next level with their fun interpretations of classic American bar food.  It was surprising to see the level of variety they had on the menu and the different influences that they had in the food.  And following that, you could even just come here to have a good drink because the specialty drinks that they have are amazing.  To sum up, The Federal Bar has so many great things going for it and with a new location in Brooklyn, it is something that every single New Yorker should check out.