Ensemble Tap's Taste Of Tap Special

Ensemble Tap has become a favorite of mine for the great beers, great service and most importantly killer food that has kept me coming back for more.

From January 20th-Feb 4th,2012 you can get a Taste Of Tap, Dale has picked some of his best dishes and made them available in a 3 course menu for $29 (plus tax and gratuity) that is available with beer pairings for an extra $15 and it’s available at lunch and at dinner.

The menu options are as follows:

Asian Vegetable and Green Salad
Enoki Mushrooms, Cashews, Black Sesame Seeds
or
Popcorn Prawn
Tempura Sea Asparagus, Spicy Mayo
suggested pairing of La Chouffe Belgium Strong Blonde Ale, draught

plus

Bangers and Spætzle
House made Sausage, Tarragon Spætzle, Mushroom-Onion Pan Gravy, and Onion Slaw
or
Ensemble Burger
Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickle, Fries
suggested pairing of Tap Pale Lager, draught

plus

Key Lime Pie
Chantilly, Toasted Coconut, Lime Zest
or
Root Beer Float
Dad’s Old-Fashioned Root Beer, Vanilla Ice Cream, Root Beer Rim
suggested pairing of Russell Cream Ale, draught

On my visit I wanted to try a couple of dishes that I had yet to nom on, I didn’t do the beer pairing because I was visiting at lunch and couldn’t get hammered!

This is the Asian Vegetable and Mixed Greens Salad, it has enoki mushrooms, black sesame seeds and cashews, the dressing is a peanut/sesame tasting creamy yet light vinaigrette, you do have the option of adding seared tuna or chicken to this if you want some protein but I went with it as is, I’m a big fan of dressings that taste like this so it was a winner there and the ingredients all went well together, the nuts provided a nice crunch, I’d definitely order this again. The price for this alone on the menu is $14 but it’s a bit bigger and served in a bowl~a lady next to me ordered this so I got to see regular version of this with tuna but the size of this was filling enough and a great starter.

The other option I’ve had on a previous visit~Popcorn Prawns

They are in a nice, light crisp batter and are scented with kaffir lime, the spicy sauce isn’t too hot and the dish is garnished with tempura sea asparagus.

For my main I chose the Bangers and Spaetzle, house made sausage, tarragon spaetzle, mushroom-onion pan gravy, and onion slaw. This was totally delicious!, the sausage was juicy on the inside yet had a great “snap” to the casing, the other star of the plate was the spaetzle, whenever I’ve had spaetzle it has always been cooked right~boiled in broth and then tossed in melted butter, they way they do it here really won me over, they crisp it yet its nice and tender on the inside~just the right amount of texture to make it hold up to the gravy that was rich yet not overly heavy, the chunks of sausage was a great touch~it reminded me of a Southern Sausage gravy that you would serve over biscuits and the onion and cucumber slaw cut the richness of the dish perfectly. This plate got a lot of looks from a couple diners around me and the common comment was how creative the twists on classic dishes are here. I almost couldn’t finish this plate and the regular version comes with another sausage and a bit more of the other goodies so beware~it’s a big plate and a full meal.

The dessert I chose was Dale’s Key Lime Pie and seeing that it was National Pie Day on my visit I thought it was a totally appropriate choice, served with Chantilly, toasted coconut and lime zest on a graham cracker crust. It was a killer pie and hit the spot, the filling was just tart enough and it was light and airy, if you’ve never had it before it’s a must try. The other option is a root beer float that is super popular and worth checking out as well.