My last pair of glasses broke!. I’ve been using an old, scratched-up pair for the past few weeks. Went to the Optician’s yesterday (Saturday) for the eye-exam; my perscription hasn’t changed which is good news! But, I was a wee bit hung-over from drinking some really fine Belgium beers at Deep Ellum, a new bar that just opened in Union Sq, in Allston, MA (across from the Firestation and near the Model Cafe).

Deep Ellum is a nice wee spot; a wee bit bare but I’m sure that will change as the place ages, decent music, good barmen, and a fairly friendly crowd. It looks like they do some amazing mixed drinks beside great beers. They had this amazing Porter on tap, I think it was Berkshire Coffee Porter, really feckin’ amazing, I’d almost say it’s better than Guinness (at least on draft). Some of the beers are a tad expensive; most are imported Belgium or German beers, or US micro-brews. The thing to watch out for is that a lot of these beers pack some kick, up to 9% or 10& alcohol so drink ’em slow. They do have some cheaper brews like Miller High Life for $2.50, wish they could some other good cheap beers, be interesting to see something like Jupiler beer (one of the biggest brews in Belgium) as a cheapish mass-market alternative. Jupiler is way nicer that Stella Artois.

They do food too, I had this odd dish; fish wrapped in big slices of spud then deep-fried, looked a bit like a cornish pasty. It wasn’t bad, nice batter, fresh fish, but some of the spud was a bit too crunchy. The chips (fries for all you USians) were nice and crisp and the coleslaw was decent. Danny had the Buffalo Wings, which had a good bit of a bite too them, and they tasted fresh not frozen, would have a liked a few more … the food other people were eating looked decent.All in all I’d go back there again, especially for that flipping Porter, wow was that good. If you live nearby I’d strongly recommend popping in for a pint.

OK, back to the glasses, popped over and picked out a pair of frames at Newbury Optical. Dr. Prem there is really nice and they have a good selection of frames. I just wish the friggin’ glasses didn’t cost so much.