#129: Lin Asian Bar

The Bar

Lin Asian Bar. 1203 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78703

Visited 12/20/18 @ 5:30pm.

The Drink

Shanghai Famous. Mezcal, green chartreuse, Aperol, lime. $12.

This cocktail wasn't on their menu at all, which is typically a good sign - you always want the answer to "what drink best represents the bar?" to involve a bit of thought, and what could be more thoughtful than a bespoke cocktail? This drink was puzzling for a few reasons, though:

1. A mezcal drink is an odd choice for an Asian bar but whatever, I am always in favor of cocktail syncretism/ecumenism/globalism. 
2. The name has nothing to do with the ingredients, none of which are from Shanghai, or indeed anywhere in Asia with the exception of the lime. 
3. The bartender described it as being a variant on a Last Word, which intrigued me, except that this drink shared only two ingredients with that excellent cocktail. 

No matter; how was the final product? Delicious! I had never had green chartreuse before, and though it took a few sips to really explore it, I liked it. Much like with orange, the color is named for the liqueur, and not the other way around. I can't claim that I was able to taste all 130 secret ingredients, but it was complex enough, especially in between the Aperol and the mezcal, to be worth coming back for. It seems to pair well with just about anything, so for those of you playing along at home, go nuts when you're making a cocktail of your own.

The Crew

Kyle, Aaron.

Notes

Lin Asian Bar (a funny name which reminds me of that scene from The Cable Guy) replaced the venerable Rounders pizza joint on West Sixth with a nicer and newer and more Asian ambiance that complements the similarly-new Bar Peached nearby. Rounders was more of a "family" joint, in that you could take your kids there and drink some beers while they stuffed themselves with pizza; Lin is more of a date night spot, in that this is where you'd go if you were still trying to impress someone. They've really lightened up the interior and made it almost completely different than the homey, well-worn pizza joint it used to be. Lin is as much a restaurant as a bar, as we could see from the gigantic stacks of wooden dim sum boxes next to the open kitchen, and we tried some of their appetizers. They were excellent, although we did not try the dim sum, which like most places in Austin limits it to the weekend. Since I didn't grow up in Clarksville I didn't have enough childhood memories to really mourn Rounders, and all I can say is that Lin is great on its own. Since the bar area is kind of close to the front door I don't know that I would stay here for a lot of rounds, but I had a blast when I was here.