The Gods have shined down on East Orlando and blessed us poor folk with a haven of ridiculous board games, nerd memorabilia, and really, really good beer. "The Cloak and Blaster," a gastropub a few short miles from the University of Central Florida, opened up for a "beta test" last weekend. and I was lucky enough to check it out, along with a few unabashedly nerdy friends.
Immediately upon entering, us mere mortals were transplanted back into a medieval setting with a large, dim room complete with thick wooden tables ready to host a Hogwarts feast, fake flickering candles, and large ornamental dragon heads. The walls held various memorabilia from a wide variety of fandoms, including a sorting hat from Harry Potter, the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda, and Lord of the Rings movie posters.
Immediately upon entering, us mere mortals were transplanted back into a medieval setting with a large, dim room complete with thick wooden tables ready to host a Hogwarts feast, fake flickering candles, and large ornamental dragon heads. The walls held various memorabilia from a wide variety of fandoms, including a sorting hat from Harry Potter, the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda, and Lord of the Rings movie posters.
And of course, there's bar that extended the length of the room with over 20 beers on tap. They even had some great beer combos, such as ciders on top of pale ales and IPAs floating over Stouts, but I stuck with my favorite: Shock Top poured on top of Guinness. It's a perfect mixed beer combination, in my opinion.
The food left much to be desired, as a boring menu was made only slightly interesting with clever food titles. One bite of a bland turkey burger, and I wasn't sold. As it was only the "beta edition," however, I'm hoping the food menu will see some improvement. Also, most food was priced between $6 - $15, and for the poor college kid demographic, it'll be hard to convince them to spend that $12 on an unremarkable burger. The menu (or "player manual") was nerdy to flip through, though.
The food left much to be desired, as a boring menu was made only slightly interesting with clever food titles. One bite of a bland turkey burger, and I wasn't sold. As it was only the "beta edition," however, I'm hoping the food menu will see some improvement. Also, most food was priced between $6 - $15, and for the poor college kid demographic, it'll be hard to convince them to spend that $12 on an unremarkable burger. The menu (or "player manual") was nerdy to flip through, though.
The most impressive aspect was the Cloak's board game collection, which included crowd favorites like Cards Against Humanity, but also some more obscure games like Larceny and classics like Risk and Settlers of Catan. Our group settled on a drinking game called What The F*ck?, where you had to guess which one of two outrageous scenarios each player would rather face (a wrong answer meant a drink).
Cloak is also set to open an upstairs lounge called the "VIG" (very important gamer) lounge, where for $15 a month, guests have unlimited access to the latest XBOX, Playstation, and Wii titles. As this upstairs area wasn't functional yet, Gandalf was happily there to tell us that we could not pass.
Cloak is also set to open an upstairs lounge called the "VIG" (very important gamer) lounge, where for $15 a month, guests have unlimited access to the latest XBOX, Playstation, and Wii titles. As this upstairs area wasn't functional yet, Gandalf was happily there to tell us that we could not pass.
Overall The Cloak & Blaster has promise, with an eager staff full of heart and geeky knowledge to help make the pub thrive. I'll definitely be back to check out the Cloak when it's fully operational, hopeful to make it my nerdy drinking spot on this side of Orlando.