Went to the Town Tavern in Royal Oak for a company lunch. I know what you are all thinking, that I eat out for lunch a lot. Yes I do, what of it!? LOL. How else am I going to get fodder for the blog?
The Town Tavern has great ambiance. A modern take on a 1930’s tavern, this restaurant opened in 2007, although this is the first I heard of it. With the appealing vista of dark mahogany, and rich red tones, the restaurant has an immediate visual appeal.
Although many standard tavern fare items can be found on this menu, it is far from ordinary. From omelettes of the day to Ray’s ice cream, this place has a lot to offer. We somehow told them we had less than actually showed up. They were busy, but accommodated our extra guests by bringing chairs, and the folks next to us were kind enough to move down. When you bring parties of 18 or more to an establishment at a busy lunch hour, it truly shows the management of a restaurant. In this case, they excelled.
They have an array of interesting appetizers from Lobster nachos to Parmesan Truffle fries. Today’s special however was “gouda fries” which sounded really gouda. Ugg sorry. Their soups include venison chili, and salads have unusual ingredients such as Burrata (which I learned is a fancy mozzarella), Pomegranate reductions, The uber popular Kale, butternut squash, and blood oranges.
They have mac and cheeses, fish and chips, burgers, sandwiches, and even entrees consisting of fish, enchiladas and more. Oh and that popular “omelette of the day”.
I opted for the Short Rib Grilled Cheese sandwich, with a side of gouda fries. The Short Rib Grilled cheese had a pile of tender short rib, with pickled carrots and onions, melted havarti cheese, and a spicy horseradish aioli. The meat was a bit dry, but the aioli did a nice job moistening the sandwich with its spicy deliciousness. The gouda fries came as tiny pomme frittes, sliced thin just like I like them, hot and salty with a wave of melted gouda cheese sauce. The sauce was creamy with an infusion of smokiness from the gouda. The fries were amazing.
My co-worker sitting next to me ordered the buffalo mac and cheese. It came in a small crock, baked with a buttery bread crumb topping, hot and oozing with spicy cheese. She gave me a small taste, for the blog of course, and the dish was delicious.
Others ordered the special, which was Italian sausage, which was fairly underwhelming. A sausage served in a bun, it always fairly pedestrian, is it not?
But it came with GOUDA FRIES did I mention how yummy they were?
All in all, I would definitely go back again. In Royal Oak, many restaurants are not super busy for lunch. I went to Mongolian Barbecue the other day and basically had the place to myself. This place is hopping, alive with people and conversation, which is indicative of a superior lunch spot. Check it out and let me know if you enjoyed it!