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Photo by Cathy Pinsky The Tap House is a pub at heart, only dressier. |
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Photo by Cathy Pinsky Char-grilled skirt steak with sweet-potato purée and broccolini in a red wine sauce is one of two steak dishes offered. |
Not all the food at Tap House is playful, or rich, nor does it fall into any other kind of category. And that’s its real charm. It’s the kind of restaurant you go to with friends when you want to just hang out and catch up, and it makes it easy that even your most persnickety friend will find at least one thing on the menu to order. The carnivore in your crowd should be more than satisfied with a tender, beefy New York strip steak topped with fresh tarragon—especially if he or she also rates quantity as a qualifier. We ended up taking about a third of the steak home to have for lunch the next day. That same friend might be just as happy with the grilled burger, a juicy, flavorful classic.
Specials tend to be for the slightly more adventurous diner. We loved the crisp-skinned meaty duck breast topped with a
tart pomegranate sauce, although the accompaniments of undercooked spaghetti squash and dry spaetzle were a downer. We weren’t sure if the kitchen simply forgot to put the sauce on the striped bass, another special. The fish was dry and bland, and sat atop a similarly dull butternut squash risotto. Butternut squash fared better in a regular menu item: as filling for ravioli served with tart Granny Smith apples and a sage brown butter sauce.
Herb-roasted chicken served with green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy might be just the detox dish to have at the end of a rough day. Simply seasoned chicken was moist, mashed potatoes creamy, and green beans buttery in this culinary equivalent of a hug.
Desserts were all over the place, ranging from bad to mediocre to terrific. A pear-almond tart was a mushy mess of pastry dough topped with thick, dry chunks of pear. Apple pie was better, though not really worth repeating. There were no textural issues but not much flavor, either. Go for the giant ice cream sandwich filled with Westchester’s own Longford’s ice cream. And if the chocolate chip cookies seem slightly under-baked, no worries: the sandwich tastes like cookie dough ice cream.
When in doubt at Tap House, consult your server. Our servers were knowledgeable about the food, beer, and wine, and they never led us astray. They were friendly, polite and casual—in a pub-appropriate way.
Tap House ★★ ★
16 Depot Sq Tuckahoe (914) 337-6941
Hours: Mon to Thurs 11:30 am–10 pm, Fri and Sat 11:30 am–11 pm, Sun brunch 11 am–3:30 pm, dinner 3:30 pm–9 pm.
Appetizers: $5.50-$13; entrées: $17-$29; desserts: $6.
★★★★—Outstanding ★★★—Very Good
★★—Good ★—Fair