UH OH CHANGEUP ALERT

On this Martin Luther King Jr. week, I decided to mix up RyanDrinksBeerBlog by writing about a cidery (those are unrelated clauses).

Bivouac Ciderworks is nearly drowning in accolades from every food and drink writer in town, so maybe this is a Ryan-come-lately effort, but it serves mentioning that this is a great and important place to go.

Small-batch ciders are made in house in inventive and honestly sometimes difficult to appreciate flavors.

From traditional English cider styles like the Savoy (a crisp apple, tannic, thicker cider) to juice-bombs like the San Diego Jam (a rotating fruit cider, the blackberry is especially good with sweet jammy qualities), Bivouac prides itself on high-quality ingredients and impeccable cider.

The decor fits in with the name, as ropes, carabiners and reminders to “embrace your adventure” fill the airy space. Succulents, angular architecture and shocks of copper running through the marble bar both welcome you home and remind you of the first steps to a long journey.

The cider is great. The space is wonderful.

But next time you’re in North Park, stop by Bivouac Ciderworks for one major reason: The food.

Filipino fusion is excessively, annoyingly good here. The jackfruit lumpia with a ginger gastrique dipping sauce were so fucking tasty I couldn’t believe it. Every crisp bite of the gently fried beauties was a garden of earthly delights. I hardly even noticed they were vegan.

Other standbys on the menu include the fried salmon fish and chips in squid-ink batter, adobo fried chicken with an ube waffle (are you freaking KIDDING ME?), Wagyu skirt steak a la bistek tagalog and – for dessert- the Pandesal Beignets.

Bivouac is the talk of the town for good reason. If you don’t get your butt down here soon, pakyu.