The Boxing Donkey is an Irish pub deep in downtown Roseville on Lincoln St next to the train tracks. I’d never been here before but it seems to be very busy on weekend nights. I’ve really been looking forward to coming here ever since I saw a posting on Foodspotting for a sandwich that sounded amazing.
Going to a bar in the middle of the day was a little strange, and clearly this place this set up more for their night crowd. The front area with the main bar has some booth like seating along the walls and a counter with stools along the wall towards the back, but other than that and the bar itself it is devoid of tables and chairs of any kind. It has a weird vibe due to all the empty space. I discovered later that there is a full dining room area if you go through a hall at the back and turn back towards the street. I had no idea it was such a large place. They also have an outdoor area in the back with some tables.
The bar (just the bar, not the whole place) was pretty packed when we walked in. We found some room at the end and grabbed a spare stool from the back wall. The bartender was quick to greet us, get us menus and take our drink order. I’m not a very adventurous beer drinker but I thought I’d try something other than the usual wheats that I enjoy. I picked a random tap which ended up being Smithwick’s, an Irish red ale brewed by Guinness.
This brownish-red beer was quite tasty. It was very smooth with no hoppiness (I don’t care for hoppy beers so this was a big plus for me) and a sweet malty taste. Smithwick’s has made it onto my short (but slowly growing) list of beers that I look for.
For lunch my friend ordered the Corned Beef Reuben (sauerkraut, swiss & thousand island on rye).
I ordered the sandwich I came here for, the Candied BLTA (candied bacon, chipotle bacon marmalade, lettuce, tomato, avocado & garlic aioli on wheat). This thing rocked my socks off. The avocado was a big part of the sandwich, and the candied bacon added a rich sweetness that was incredible. It didn’t even really have a lot of bacon flavor it was so sweet. The chipotle bacon marmalade added just a hint of heat to the end of each bite. If you’ve ever had the avocado egg rolls at BJs (Cheesecake Factory has similar avocado egg rolls) and enjoyed them, you will like this sandwich. It’s uncanny how similar the flavor is to the avocado egg rolls with the sweet sauce they are served with. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.
I’m not sure what kind of seasoning they put on the fries, but I wasn’t crazy about them. The optional onion rings were good though, with and without ranch. They were very accommodating to let me have half fries, half onion rings so I could try both.
I’m sure The Boxing Donkey is a very different place at night when that crowd rolls in, during lunch however it’s a cool environment with good food and service. I’m going to give it a perfect rating. The food was awesome, I discovered a great new beer and I can’t think of a single problem with my visit.
Website: http://www.theboxingdonkey.com/
Eating Through Roseville 