Bar of the Week: Black Rabbit

Following the now de rigueur English hunting-lodge aesthetic, gilded portraits of leering gentlemen alternate with taxidermied animal busts and rococo mirrors at Black Rabbit. Behind the dark walnut countertop, liquor bottles are shelved in curio cabinets laced with playful knickknacks: a jar of corks, framed high-school portraits of strangers, and a chortling-on-the-half-hour cuckoo clock. In fine weather, the library garden out back hums with collegiate-looking chatter and inside, a working fireplace promises to blaze on frostier days. But the pub’s self-promoted claim to fame is the private booths that line its front room, sealed by swing doors, overhung with antlers like sprigs of bony mistletoe and marked by push-button red-light bulbs. When illuminated, the bulb signals the staff that your sequestered posse is ready for another round. With 10 beers on draft, signature cocktails that change daily -- we sampled the cactus berry cooler and a whiskey smash ($9) -- and hearty fare such as Welsh rarebit over tater tots, there’s plenty to mull. At the time of the tavern’s opening, however, its parts didn’t quite match up: The lights were too bright, the bartenders decidedly lackluster, the libations sloppy and the walls too sparsely bedecked to achieve proper bric-a-brac coziness. The curious-minded are encouraged to check back in January, when the crackling fireplace and merry decorations ought to satisfy. 91 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 349-1595.