Wait. What's that? You want to eat here? Oh, right. Well, we did and it was perfectly fine, but as with so many fine pubs, it's not really about the dining experience here. After all, you don't need "Mexican-American hop suey" (a south-of-the-border take on chop suey) on the menu when you can grill up a burger.
Still, the Lower Depths had its moments. In a clever nod to its surroundings, the restaurant serves a $1 Fenway Frank, boasting a list of add-ons "you can't do at Fenway": sauerkraut, coleslaw, guacamole, and so on. For an extra buck, you can get a tempura dog. Scratch that - you must get a tempura dog. It's a crunchy corndog you can plunge into a little dish of spicy mustard.
A Caribbean shrimp quesadilla packed just the right zing to offset the sweet mango salsa, and the same went for the Shanghai chicken appetizer coated with a sweet-and-spicy Asian glaze.
Two beers later, the entrees arrived. Worthy of its name, the King of Kenmore sandwich ruled the table. Its simplicity suited it: Southern-fried chicken breast smothered in bacon and cheese nestled in a French baguette with spicy aioli. OK, so it was basically chicken fingers on French bread - that's the kind of food you should order here.
Mackin' cheese (you'll need to get over your fear of bad puns here; otherwise, you'll never try the "entrees at your own risk!") was your standard mac 'n' cheese, and crispy fish 'n' chips was a notch above the usual pub variety.
But back to the brews. Perilously close to Allston (home of beer havens Sunset Grill and Deep Ellum), the Lower Depths holds its own with an impressive lineup of beers organized on two menus: one for domestic and imported bottles, one for the daily draft list. The beer connoisseur in our group gave a thumbs-up to the selection of imported beers, which stretch from A(frica) to S(cotland).
