It took Welshman Michael Colbert more than five years to get it right, but when you step into Long Bow Pub and Pantry in Bay Ridge, you’ll agree that he did.
On afternoons, soccer and rugby games flicker on the monitors. In the evening, the lights dim in the beautiful wood-paneled barroom, and the music isn’t too loud. Twelve classic pub-style beers are on tap — among them London Pride and Old Speckled Hen, served in 20-ounce pints — with more than 30 available by bottle. If you can’t decide, the bartender will let you sample one or two.
Out of the kitchen come light, crispy fish and chips and hearty shepherd’s pie — all fresh and made to order. That’s pretty much the menu, but Colbert believes that you do what you do and you do it right.
“In this neighborhood where there are so many fine restaurants, you don’t want to be putting out pish food,” Colbert said.
Opened late December, Long Bow filled the gap that Chip Shop left when the chain packed up earlier in the year. Colbert and his wife and business partner, Jennifer, have lived in Bay Ridge for more than 20 years, and watched the northern section of the neighborhood define itself with bars and restaurants catering to young newcomers.
The nearby Yellow Hook Grille is part of that transformation, Colbert said, and Long Bow aims to build on that momentum with an unassuming, low-key Platonic ideal of a pub.
Long Bow Pub and Pantry [7316 Third Ave. between 73rd and 74th streets in Bay Ridge, (718) 238-7468]. Kitchen opens at 5 pm on weekdays; open all day on weekends beginning with a full English breakfast.
