I have found my new favourite brunch dish on Tap & Barrel Shipyard’s weekend menu.
The menu, which is billed as a “soft launch” offering, represents the earliest efforts from the recently opened restaurant and is presumably a work in progress, with additions or modifications to be made in the future. If this first iteration is any indication, however, brunch at Tap & Barrel promises to be very, very good.
The dish in question, Poutine and Eggs, is an inspired work of shamelessly indulgent culinary art, comprised of rough-cut, skin-on fries, cheese curds, brown gravy, mounds of pulled bacon, soft poached eggs and expertly emulsified hollandaise sauce, all served in a rustic cast iron pan. On paper the dish reads like a dare formulated by a playful kitchen crew:
“What could we put on the menu that would be so outrageously hedonistic that even the most desperate, morning-after brunch-goer would take pause before ordering it?”
I imagine the chef wondering: “I know, let’s start with a base of poutine and work our way up from there.”
I polished off a whole order of the poutine during a recent Sunday morning visit to Tap & Barrel with my family. We sat at a spacious booth table on the restaurant’s grand patio and remarked on the enormous footprint of this newest addition to Lower Lonsdale’s dining scene. The Shipyards location of Tap & Barrel is a behemoth with sprawling interior seating in the historic, high-ceilinged Coppersmith’s Building and an airy, wrap-around patio right in the middle of Shipbuilder’s Square.
Tap & Barrel’s footprint has actually prompted a re-routing of traffic through Shipbuilder’s Square; the little bridge that once led from the parking lot just east of Lonsdale Quay into the square has now been incorporated into the restaurant’s patio. I mention this because when it comes to restaurants it is generally my habit to prefer and champion the underdog; I admire small businesses that evidence the passion and unique vision of their ownership.
Tap & Barrel’s expansive Shipyard location clearly trades on the blue chip equity of its highly successful sister restaurants in Olympic Village and False Creek; I get the impression that no expense was spared in the design of this newest space. That said, I have to applaud Tap & Barrel for delivering an experience that, while polished and well-considered, nevertheless felt at all times authentic and honest. Despite its imposing size, Tap & Barrel is not a faceless chain enterprise. In my experience, each location manages to fit into its specific geography like a good neighbour, supporting the community that supports it.
Take, for example, Tap & Barrel’s eponymous taps, of which there are many. I was very pleased to see that all four of the North Shore’s breweries were represented on the new restaurant’s draught beer list, with nearby neighbour Green Leaf supplying an exclusive Grand Opening India Session Ale. Further, Tap & Barrel is a regional leader in the wines-on-tap movement, supplying both entry-level and premium pours dispensed from pressurized stainless steel kegs.
I have expressed my fondness for wines-on-tap before as they dramatically reduce bottle waste and spoilage and, certainly in the case of Tap & Barrel’s North Shore location, fit the local preference for sustainable products. From the perspective of a wine guy, I take great comfort in knowing that my glass of wine will never be off and I relish sampling offerings from wineries that may not be readily available elsewhere; Okanagan Falls-based Meyer Winery chardonnay by the glass, on the Tap & Barrel menu, is a treat indeed.
Aside from the wonderful poutine, which achieved a perfect balance with its salty, buttery, crispy and creamy notes, the other brunch items we tried were unanimously enjoyable. My wife DJ tried a meatless version of the breakfast pretzel, a plate-filling knot of soft, chewy, salted pretzel with poached eggs smothered in beer and cheddar sauce; the dish typically includes pulled bacon as well. DJ and I enjoyed local selections from the on-tap list to accompany our meals, DJ opting for a pint of Hoyne Pilsner, while I pursued a broader overview with A Taste of B.C. beer flight, which included smaller pours of cider and beer from Central City, Bridge, Green Leaf, Red Truck and Hoyne.
The kids split an order of French toast topped with strawberries and bananas drizzled with chocolate sauce, capped with whipped cream, and accompanied by a ramekin of maple syrup. DJ and I appreciated that the kids were able to leave the table immediately following their meal and exhaust their frenetic sugar rush on the adjacent pier (where, incidentally, they spotted a seal soaking up the sun on the nearby helipad).
Pursuing the theme of reckless abandon to its ultimate conclusion, we all shared a dessert called the Black Bottomed Mason Jar Pie, a squat glass jar packed with a layer of crushed ginger snaps, half an inch of thick chocolate ganache, bourbon cream and whipped cream. Splitting it four ways was the right approach for this tasty but exceedingly rich dish, offset nicely by a double espresso.
Our meal was $82 before gratuity. Tap & Barrel Shipyards is at 8 Lonsdale Ave. tapandbarrel.com 604-638-2339
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. He earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. Contact: [email protected].
