We aim to appraise restaurants on their own terms. We don’t begrudge a mom and pop shop for having pink paper napkins or a hi-so hotel restaurant for B900 mains (as long as they’re good). We accept Home Run Bar and Grill as a popular drinking hole screening American sports and offering a dinner menu comprised mostly of over ten types of burgers, a couple of cuts of steak and some classic American pub grub. But the sit-down dining room upstairs and the availability of wagyu suggests they are aiming to be something more, something that the kitchen can’t quite deliver. We love that their pub grub is such a throwback, with dishes like firehouse chilli and buffalo wings (with celery sticks and blue cheese sauce), but feel the chilli should be spicier and less sweet and that the buffalo wings could do with being marinated longer. The chilli potato skins, too, would benefit from more chilli per potato skin. To be fair, though, the sea scallop sliders (B195 for 3, with fries), a clever variation on the beef option, are smoky and melt-in-your-mouth. As for the mains, burgers reign supreme, such as the teriyaki burger which comes with a huge, competently handled patty and great fries. Still, we’ve had better for under that price. The grilled chicken with avocado, pico de gallo and Monterey Jack cheese is exciting in theory, but in execution, the chicken is dry and bland, and the pico de gallo offers little help. Even on the drinks front, we’re surprised that while Home Run does a number of Belgian beers by the bottle, there are only two local choices on tap (Heineken and Tiger). But despite all this, people like this place. The classic rock soundtrack is great, the use of the pool table is free (we confess to playing a couple of games and rocking out on our last visit) and you can still get a lot of food for under B1,000 per person. Just go with the expectation that Home Run Bar and Grill’s way more of a bar than a grill.
