Sona Thirteen: Pub Favorites, With a Few Twists

From the Palm Grill to the Funky Monkey to , this space at 13 South St. has changed names and décor over the years. In its latest incarnation, this restaurant and bar serves unique pub selections (look on the menu for avocado wasabi puree, sweet onion jam and bacon vinaigrette), as well as more than a dozen beers on tap (including Newcastle, my favorite).

Track lighting illuminates the dimly-lit space, without help from the unlit candles mounted on the brick walls that line either side of the room. For an early evening weekday dinner, Sona Thirteen is quiet. A handful of 20-somethings may gather at the bar for happy hour, but the booths that run along the side of the restaurant are open. Satelite radio plays from the speakers. As the evening turns to night, however, the place fills up and the music gets louder.

I stopped in for dinner this week on one of those quiet evenings. In addition to the 20-somethings at the bar, a couple of 50-somethings sat a few seats down, reading the newspaper and enjoying a glass of wine.

Large flat-screen televisions behind the bar were split between news and sports. The parade of political has-beens offering their take on news events reminded me why I don't watch cable news, but it was entertaining for the several minutes that I waited for my friend to arrive.

In a place where one might expect potato skins, chips, burgers and perhaps a shepherd's pie entree, the menu at Sona Thirteen does offer all this, but with a few twists. The potato skins ($7) are topped with crispy pancetta and pepper jack cheese, the chips ($5) are fried pickle chips and the house signature burger ($9) is served with white cheddar, onions rings and steak sauce. The shepherd's pie ($13) looks like a classic, and is joined by four other entrees, including fish and chips ($14) and bangers and mash ($14).

Other items that caught my eye: beef brisket burger served with sauteed onions, smoked gouda, barbecue sauce and hand-cut sweet potato fries ($8) and the "Clogger," two hot dogs each topped with pulled pork, crumbled bacon, melted cheese and barbecue sauce, served with fries or onion rings ($8). Wow.

We started with a trio of sliders ($8), surrounded by some good salty seasoned fries. The buffalo chicken slider was tasty and spicy but nothing special. The charring on the outside of the Sona burger slider overpowered and dulled the taste of the meat. The pulled pork slider was the winner among this trio. Tender, sweet and a little spicy, it made me wish I had ordered the pulled pork sandwich.

It's no coincidence that I have been on a fish kick lately. In this Christian season of Lent, when Catholics are expected to abstain from meat on Fridays, fish is everywhere. Regardless of your faith or level of adherence to its rules, you can't escape the filet of fish ads at every fast food joint, from Wendy's Pacific cod sandwich to McDonald's "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish" commercial–as well as the seafood sales at every supermarket.

It's perhaps with this in my subconscious that I honed in on the blackened catfish on the menu. The fish was heavily seasoned and blackened as it's name would suggest–healthier than the usual breaded catfish. The mango jalapeno chutney added more fire to this sandwich, along with some sweetness. The fish was spicy enough; I could have done without the jalapeno in the chutney.

With lettuce, red onion and tomato, the catfish and chutney were served on a brioche roll. While the high egg and butter content of a brioche roll might suggest it was rich or heavy, the bread was light and yielded to the flavors of the inside. Crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the sweet potato fries were among the best I've had, though unlike the fries served with the sliders, these needed a sprinkling of salt.

Though I enjoyed my meal, I looked at my friend's pulled pork sandwich with envy. He told me about three times how unexpectedly heavy it was. With caramelized onions and white cheddar, this too was served on a brioche roll.

By the time we left, a crowd had formed, standing on the floor between the bar and booths. These people seemed more interested in drinks than the food menu. But after several drinks, the appropriately named Clogger might just be the key to soaking up all that booze and preventing a hangover.