Dango's

So in the theme of trying new restaurants in Saratoga, my friend and I decided to try Dango's on Caroline Street for lunch. Advertised on it's window as an "Irish Pub, Steak House and Sport Bar", Dango's is certainly all of those things. In fact, the first thing I noticed when we walked in were the TVs. Everywhere. Literally everywhere. We counted nine behind the bar, plus one for every booth. That's a lot of TVs.

After scooting into our very large booth, our waitress came up to get our drink orders. Dango's has an impressive draft beer selection as well as "anything you can think of that comes in a bottle". And not only was there such a huge variety, but everything was very reasonably priced! Seeing as it was lunch, we decided not to get anything alcoholic, but I am definitely keeping that in the back of my mind for a future happy hour.

While we waited for our appetizer I was able to get a good look around. When I picture a sports bar in my mind, I picture Dango's. Dark wood, dim lighting, comfort food menu and very friendly bartenders. I also loved how big the booths were, this is definitely the kind of place you would want to go with a big group - one of those "let's order a couple pitchers and every fried appetizer" kind of nights.

For our appetizer we ordered cajun bbq shrimp, something a little out of the ordinary for pub food. Our dish came with four shrimp doused in delicious goodness with a side of what we think was a bleu cheese sauce. Not too shabby. Since it's starting to be that time of year, we both ordered soup for our lunch, I got a lobster bisque while my friend got a New England clam chowder in a bread bowl. (Anyone else counting down the days to chowderfest?)

The chowder was very good, unlike many other chowders that I've had Dango's put a healthy amount of clam and potato in theirs. And man I wish a got a bread bowl. As soon as we got our soup I stared at that bread bowl and couldn't remember the last time I had one...definitely too long ago. There's something about the comfort of hot soup mixed with the food coma of a carb overload that is just perfect for a cold December afternoon.

So I have to say, I was pretty disappointed in my lobster bisque. It was incredibly heavy and a little too reliant on its cream base. I actually couldn't finish it, which is saying a lot for me. Who knows, maybe a bread bowl would have made up for it's blandness? Next time I go I'll have to try something else, they certainly had plenty of other choices on their menu. Though, one of the things I was very aware of was Dango's serious lack of vegetarian options. I'm one of those vegetarians that eat fish (I feel so weird calling myself a pescatarian) so I had my choice of fried seafood, but some of my stricter vegetarian friends would have had a difficult time finding something to eat.

Overall, I enjoyed my lunch at Dango's. Sports bars are certainly not my usual scene, but I can still appreciate their food. Who knows, maybe I'll go appreciate their happy hour specials soon too. And for those of you who enjoy sports and good beer, Dango's is the place to go. Even if you follow some obscure sport that no one has ever heard of, Dango's already has a TV with the game on for you.