I was at my physical therapist (seeing because I hurt my back golfing!!) who by the way is awesome so far. TOP Physical Therapy – Total Orthopedic Performance – Ross Walker. They are at 15 & Ryan. Everyone is really nice and it seems to be helping. Getting old sucks. Anywho, I was there and we were chatting about the blog and they recommended we try Tap and Barrel at 23 & Old Van Dyke. I was told the food was surprisingly good and the beer selection ample.
Good beer and food? We will be the judge of that! On a Friday night when we were deciding where to go for dinner, whether we go somewhere familiar or somewhere new, we decided we wanted something new for fodder for the blog, so this seemed like the perfect place.
It is an easy drive from our house, and the restaurant looked new when we arrived. In fact, Brown Iron Brewhouse is down the street and when we went there, I do not remember this place so it must be fairly new. (Read the Brown Iron review HERE). The place inside did not disappoint. Clean, new, great ambiance and a great patio. It was a blazing 90 degrees that day and we had been in the pool all day so opted for some nice air conditioning.
The beer menu was indeed ample. They had a few porters that looked interesting, but heavy and too high apv for my tastes today. I always want to order an IPA but I am just not a fan. They always have the coolest names! They had an APA, Green Zebra which sounded fun and I so much wanted to try the Juice Bigalow Hop Gigalo, but no, I opted for a simple Alaskan Amber. Why can’t porters and ales have fun names too? Like Alaskan Moose Juice Amber? I digress. The Alaskan Amber is a nice light beer, but puncher than a standard ale. It is darker, rich and malty with just a hint of hop. APV is 5.3%. It is a well balanced easy sipping beer for summer.
My oh so handsome Omar jumped right into the Porters. Starting with Heavy Seas: Black Beards Breakfast, a whopping 10% apv, this porter is aged in bourbon barrels and brewed with Chesapeake Bay Dark Sumatra Coffee. Dark and strong. He had a second beer, a Ballast Point Victory at Sea. Bold with a hint of sweetness, this beer combined vanilla and coffee with caramel undertones. another 10% APV.
To eat, we felt it necessary to over order so we could give a good solid review. You are welcome. Omar ordered wings, with half honey-habanero and half their “famous” Faygo root beer maple. The wingers were large, cooked well, and good flavor. The honey-habanero had a sneaky kick that lingered. The Faygo root beer maple was good, not great. A bit sweet and hard to pull out the root beer or the maple flavors.
Per our waitress Kayla’s suggestion, I ordered the Reuben sandwich, fries and a side of French Onion Soup (yes I was sharing with Omar). The soup was interesting. Topped with what appeared to be stuffing mix, topped with cheese, fried onions and scallions. I thought it would not work, but you know, it did! The soup was boiling hot, steaming with onions, a good beefy broth and those weird toppings on top really paired well.
We split the sandwich, which was made with Wigley’s Corned Beef and you could really tell. The rye bread was crispy, it just needed a bit more thousand Island. The fries however, were a disappointment. They were the batter fried fries that as you all know I hate. They were called “house fries” but very average. I wish we opted for the “homemade onion rings”.
A near perfect experience, except for the fries, but I was too stuffed to eat them anyway. A great night out and a great suggestion! I was told to go back and try the chicken and waffles, and we probably will!