The Passenger - The Joy of the Unknown

The Kleiner and I had been craving extra-decent cocktails for a couple weeks now and after not actually finding them in New York (the West Village, our destination to bar hop has apparently gentrified into a land where plain rail drinks like cranberry and vodka seem to be the choices), decided to skip right to the top and try out the new 'The Passenger' bar a few blocks away from the Sixth and I synagogue on 7th Street about a block south of the Mt. Vernon Square metro station.

The row of shops by the metro has long had many empty store fronts - so - the Passenger is a welcome sight on this row that should be filled with businesses.  The bar itself has a dark ambiance, almost like a warehouse, with only a few booth like tables and a long bar.  It is dim, and the side wall is lined with evening photography that plays with light and design. There were a variety of patrons ranging from couples, to groups of friends, to people reading books and working on their laptops at the bar.

The food menu is short, you have your choice of a few different paninis or hot dogs (more to come) and some interesting bar muchies like salted spanish almonds.  As we were arriving just after work, the Kleiner had a panini with roasted vegetables including asparagus and mushrooms with route 11 salt and vinegar chips and I had a 'slaw dog', meaning beef hot dog with coleslaw and bbq sauce and sweet potato chips.  A simple dinner, but a very savory and tasty one to my surprise!

Now, what you are probably (or should be waiting for), the cocktails!  They do not have a cocktail list, rather you tell the waiter or waitress or bartender (ess?) what kind of base liqour you'd like and an idea of how you'd like it to go, e.g. spicy, nutty, lemony, bitter or sweet and they whip you up a cocktail.  I had a almond/vanilla spice flavored vodka drink, a spiced rum drink [almost tasted like curry] while the Kleiner had a whiskey based drink (heavy on the whiskey) and a suberp lemon martini (strong, without a strong alcohol taste and a clean yummy lemon finish.  All of the cocktails were $8 which we thought was a great price point.  The wine list has been described elsewhere as diverse and the beer list had a quirky selection too - but - given out cocktail cravings we didn't pay much attention.  Next time perhaps??

**note -- it was not so crowded at 6.30 on Monday night, but some reviews I've seen mention that it can get crowded already!  Congrats!