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| Pretzel croissant |
Brace yourselves--this isn't going to be pretty.
We wanted to go to Delicia with some friends on a Friday night, but faced with a 1.5 hour wait there, we opted to go someplace else. Our friends suggested Taverna, because none of us had been there and we all love trying new places, so we happily agreed. The menu looked good, if a bit on the expensive side.
We arrived to no parking spots (this was the weekend after the Big Snow Storm of 2014 and half the lot was under a snow pile). So, we parked around back. Upon entering, a woman warmly welcomed us but immediately said she'd 'watch our cars' for us. Excusemewhat? Why did she need to watch our cars? Well, the woman who owns the store next door owns the spots behind their restaurant, and regularly has cars towed, even when her store is closed. So, that was a reassuring start, right?
She was warm and welcoming, though, so we were all still optimistic. We were seated without menus, so we patiently waited for someone to bring some to us and just generally acknowledge our presence...and waited...and waited...it was a minimum of 10 minutes before we were even able to flag down the hostess. She said she'd send our server out. We waited a few more minutes before said server finally emerged.
She was...scattered. That is the only word for it. But I'm willing to forgive someone's bad day if the food is good, so we went ahead and ordered. I got the special that night, Steak Diane, which came with asparagus and au gratin potatoes (I think it was around $36). Tim got the Moroccan Style Lamb ($28), our friend Damien got the Black Sesame Mustard Seed Tuna ($29) and I think a salad, although I don't remember which one, and our friend Jeff got "Six Onion Soup" ($7) and the Fruit de Mer ($24). Have you noticed those prices yet? Yeah. I don't mind paying a lot if a place is extremely good and the service is even better, but Taverna turned out to be a disappointment in both of those areas.
My meal was a bright spot--the steak was, overall, well-cooked (although I encountered an odd piece of gristle on the outside, strange for a filet), and the sauce was delicious (after I added salt). The asparagus was asparagus, and not overcooked, which is good. The potatoes had great flavor, but were lukewarm when they came out. Not okay.
Tim's lamb was just two little lamb chops which he said tasted like they hadn't been seasoned. It came with a sauce on the side for dipping which he liked, but I didn't care for. He said his couscous was likewise flavorless. Damien enjoyed his tuna, but there wasn't much of it on his plate. And Jeff had the worst time of all--his onion soup, he said, was lacking seasoning, and his fruit de mar was overcooked and much of it seemed like it came straight out of the freezer case. His rice was ALSO lacking seasoning.
The only other semi-bright spot was the "pretzel croissants," which we were told where exclusive to Taverna. We assumed that meant made in-house, until we heard a waitress tell another table that they weren't. Sigh. Not that I'm expecting them to make homemade croissants, but at least they'd have that going for them if so. (Oh yeah--and we had to ask someone to bring us some because our waitress didn't.)
Overall, just a very disappointing experience. No real redeeming qualities here, as far as we're concerned. Over priced by a mile for the level of cooking, and definitely for the level of service we experienced. (Oh yeah--beer was pretty expensive, too. My Goose Island 312 in a bottle was $5.) I expect it won't be around for long, based on the relatively empty dining room they had on a Friday night.
Website, if you still want it after this scathing review:
Taverna
I also recently visited Twenty Tap and tried a couple new things--they've added several items. Tim and I split an order of poutine for our starter, and I believe it was some of the best, most straight-forward, no frills, hearty, awesome poutine I've had since I had my first poutine in Vermont a few years ago. They have great fries at Twenty Tap, and these were topped with a rich veggie gravy, cheese curds, and green onions. Nothing fancy, just tasty. It was an enormous portion, and four people could easily share this as a starter--I had no room for my entree after scarfing these down! 
For said entree, I tried another new item--the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy. The shrimp seemed to be fried in a cornmeal-based batter, which is the right way to fry shrimp for a po' boy, and it was served on a light french roll with "tomato chow chow," sriracha aioli, and lettuce. The shrimp were huge (see the photo, below--also, nerdy oxymoron alert!), and there were maybe 5 total on the sandwich. It was pretty insanely messy to eat, especially since the shrimp were so large that you had to bite through them, and that made everything slide around on the bun. 
They were pretty well cooked, though, and super flavorful with the aioli and a bit of the chow chow (which is a pickled relish). I ended up taking half of the sandwich home and just eating the remaining shrimp since the bread was, by the next day, soggy, but it was still really tasty. 
