Pop’s SeaBar will have plenty of boardwalk classics—fried oyster sandwiches, peel ’n’ eat shrimp—when it opens in Adams Morgan on Sept. 4. The sister restaurant to Cashion’s Eat Place will also have one treat that really should have caught on much sooner: the ice cream sandwich luge.
Basically, it works like this: You get an ice cream sandwich. Then, using your tongue or a small tasting spoon, you carve a channel—the “luge”—in the center of the ice cream. Finally, your pour a shot of booze from one end of the ice cream tunnel into your mouth. Finish by consuming the sandwich.
The invention comes from bartender Eddie Kim, who’s consulting on the drink menu. Kim used to prepare the luge as an off-menu late-night special at Room 11 using a mini mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich and a shot of Amaro Meletti. “It’s always been kind of a joke and kind of spread around the city,” Kim says. The idea was inspired by the bone marrow luge—a fad among bartenders several years ago—where a shot of amaro or sherry was poured down half a bone after the marrow was cleaned out.
Co-owner Justin Abad says the first time he hung out with Kim, the bartender made him the treat, which he describes as "fucking awesome." When they had their initial meeting for Pop's SeaBar, Kim asked Abad what he thought about putting it on the menu. "I was like, 'Yes, yes, yes,'" Abad says.
Pop’s SeaBar’s version of the luge will likely use a homemade ice cream sandwich. Kim says he may give guests a choice or spirits to pair with it. Because it can get messy, Kim also hopes to have lobster bibs and a pouring apparatus that makes it a little bit easier. “Most of the time it would end up on the ground or someone’s shirt,” Kim says.
The drink menu will also include summer beach classics—like a twist on an orange crush—as well as a number of radlers (beer with citrus soda). A play on a “car bomb,” Pop’s will have a “bicycle bomb,” since radler is German for bicyclist. That means different radlers will be paired up with different shots, whether it’s a gin or chartreuse, that can be poured in.
Another unique offering will be a twist on the Baltimore lemon stick, which Pop's chef John Manolatos introduced to Kim. The carnival creation consists of half of a lemon with a hollow straw-like candy cane in the middle. “You just suck the lemon juice through the stick and it dissolves the sugar,” Kim says. “It’s this summery kids’ drink.” Pop's version will be soaked in bourbon or some other spirit to make it a little more adult.
Pop's SeaBar will be open for lunch and dinner from 12 p.m. until 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Check out the food menu below.
Pop's SeaBar, 1817 Columbia Road NW; (202) 534-3933; popsseabar.com
Photo courtesy Pop's SeaBar