Before we moved to Norway, my husband, Greg, and I decided to have brunch with our family.  In Gaithersburg, Maryland, there is a new development called “Downtown Crown” which has a variety of a restaurants.  Many of them are chain restaurants which can be dicey but many are very good.  In particular, we decided to have brunch at the Old Town Pour House.

Another great thing is that the Old Town Pour House participates in the OpenTable Dining Rewards program.  I have been using OpenTable for years now and little did I know, accumulating many points.  When we found out that we were moving overseas to Norway, I didn’t want these points to go unused.  We needed about 2500 points to get us to 10,000 which equates to a $100 gift card.  Yes – $100 for just using the service to book a reservation.

Each reservation typically gets 100 points but several restaurants coordinate with OpenTable for special 1,000 point tables.  These tables are typically available when the restaurant is not too busy.  So in between packing, Greg and I began eating out more and booked ourselves two 1,000 point tables.  After accumulating the 10,000 points, I went on to my OpenTable account and transferred it into dining awards – specifically, a restaurant gift card.  Lucky for us, Old Town Pour House was on the list and we already booked ourselves brunch there!  Easy peasy.

Greg and I have been to the Old Town Pour House a few times now and have been really impressed with the food.  It has a fun environment with a large bar (with televisions and a wall of beer) and also tables for eating with family.  The beer list is as long as the actual menu and therefore, they have a beer for all tastes.  We decided this would be a great place for our brunch.

I think the most important thing to share in this blog post is the Bloody Mary from Old Town Pour House.  My mother-in-law and I really enjoyed them… Check it out and take it in….

This Bloody Mary is 21 ounces and is services with a steak medallion, cheese, tomato, cornichon pickle, onion, shrimp and – queue the music – a slim jim.  It also has an old bay dusted rim.  It’s an appetizer on it’s own and delicious to boot.  I highly recommend at least one!  A masterpiece.

Besides this drinkable appetizer, we also ordered the pretzels with cheese.  I forgot to take a photo and before I could blink twice, it was gone.  The pretzel bites are served in a basket with a side of Lagunitas IPA gouda cheese sauce.  Very straight forward but a perfect snack.  As we had a large group, we ordered several appetizers. Before they were devoured, I did get photos of the duck confit nachos and Chicago dogs.

The duck confit nachos come with pulled duck, jack cheese sauce, red onion, smoked tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, white beans, avocado, and wonton chips.  It’s the perfect combination for a refined foodie who likes to kick back.  If you don’t eat the jalapeños, it’s a pretty mild nacho dish which makes it great to share with the spice lovers and spice adverse. The Chicago dogs are really unique.  They are Vienna sausages wrapped in potatoes, tomato powder, poppy seeds, celery salt, and sport peppers with mustard relish on the side. My husband loved these.  He said the potato crust was reminiscent of a beer batter.  Really unique and delicious.

Needless to say, this place has upscale pub food.  It’s adventurous with unique ingredients.  While I always think appetizers are the best choice in restaurants (probably because I can try a variety in one sitting), Old Town Pour House also delivers on lunch options.  During our brunch, we also enjoyed pork belly, ribs, salads, burgers…. lots of options which is perfect for a large and diverse group.  What are your restaurant favorites?