Tapping out - don’t waste your time

I have never felt so strongly about a restaurant as I do about Tap 42. This weekend we planned to see family and friend and on Sunday we planned to meet for brunch in Ft. Lauderdale. Having not known the local Brunch establishments, many recommendations were presented and we landed on this one. Great reviews. Landed on many top 20 list of brunch places in the area so why not.
The venue itself is very nice! A Modern Industrial feel with hanging fixtures of mixed sizes and shapes of Edison bulb lighting, dark wood tones, aluminum siding and bar stools. Outside of serving brunch with bottomless mimosas on Sunday it is apparently a popular night venue.

When we arrived there was a line of people that gave me comfort in the quality of food I was about to partake in.  We made reservations in advance for 11 and they took us to an 8 top. Could it be a sign? They recovered fairly well and made up for the mishap and extended a nearby two top to the 8top and stuck a chair at the end. Our server Stephanie was very good. I don’t envy her knowing that when you have a line of people waiting you have to know that you’re entire section will get seated all at once. And she and all of the other servers handled their business professionally.
The menu seemed pretty promising with things like Chicago style steak and green eggs Benedict. I had chicken and waffles - one of those classic dishes I like to try when I see it on the menu and compare.

I did not try the other dishes that we got as I usually like to do because I was feeling under the weather earlier in the week and still recovering so no germ 🦠  spreading for us. So this review is simply based on my own food and the observations of my party.

In the picture there are two slices of watermelon missing because I’m allergic but the watermelon comes with it. Seems a bit racially stereotypically for the pairing😳. The presentation was nice on heavy ceramic like plates and a tiny gravy dish of syrup.

So here it is. The chicken and waffles cost $17.50 for two waffles about the size of larger coaster and four chicken fingers - oh and the two slices of watermelon. The chicken fingers lacked flavor and were dry. Better tenders can be found at any of your local fast food establishments for far less money than what you get here. The waffles also lacked anything memorable but did have sugar crystals in the batter to make it sweeter. I’d rather eat cake if I wanted to eat sugar. Tap 42’s Chicken and Waffles lands at a 1 on the scale. The worst I’ve ever had.

Jimmy has the Chicago steak that was served on “classic hash browns” topped with sunny side up eggs. I do have to say that all the dishes served at our table with eggs were all perfectly made. But classic hash browns are the ones you get at McDonalds which requires you to have a deep fryer for the prepackaged and processed hash browns they serve (nothing fancy or hard about making it). The small amount of filet served on top was insignificant and flavorless. This didn’t come from me- that was Jimmy’s opinion.

So I came away knowing that Tap42 isn’t known for their food but for the atmosphere it provides to its patrons. The ability to get hammered on bottomless whatever for a low price of $25.
Having experienced brunch here, I have no desire to see what dinner looks like. It’s not a place I would spend money to eat at ever again and if you are a person who loves tasting great food- you’d want to avoid this place. Your hard earned dollars can find a better place to eat like First Watch.

On a side note: patrons there are inconsiderate rich kids driving fancy cars that rev their engines when children are close by very loudly for no reason at all.  Thanks to Pizzaa and McMellon🤬. Just adding to the reasons to avoid this place.

The Outpouring

Let me start this entry by giving you some background.

Two months prior to the start of 2020, I made a list of commitments to myself as I've self-proclaimed it the ME year.
Highlights from this list are:

• Journal 2-3X a week
• Review every place I visit, eat,explore
• Read more
• Exercise 4-5 times a week
• Draw more
• And my last one - which is the purpose of this entry, No more buying made to order coffee.

Today I failed myself by buying coffee. 

Further background so I can set the stage for the review.

I love coffee. I love the taste. I love the smell. I love the versatility of flavors not only in drinking it black depending on the region of the bean but also utilizing it in food recipes.  

Every where I travel, I like to buy coffee beans to bring home. I like to taste the different roastings that come out of the bean and there is nothing like making the first batch of coffee from a newly opened bag of beans where you see the oil sweating from the bean still. After the bag is opened the oil sweat evaporates and I believe this is when the coffee bean's potency and flavor starts to diminish. The first cup is the best cup and that can only be done from a new bag of coffee beans or from a fresh batch of roasted beans. Since I know this, and I've stocked up on coffee beans, there was no reason for me to buy coffee that I can easily make at home. However, everyone knows that it just taste better when someone else makes it for you. Or does it? We're in the second month of the year and I can now say, it doesn't. I love the coffee I make at home or at work ( I have a full set of brewing types at each location). So today, while taking Pharah to the groomers, I saw a sign that says new coffee shop. I turn to Phyre and asked if she wanted to try it out, and we nodded "why not". 

Walking into The Outpouring, you'll  find open space, two long dining tables to sit out and three conversational lounging areas. A boho-chic/hodge podge of furniture put together that feels very warm and welcoming but is obviously done on a low budget. Completely understandable when you start to learn more about The Outpouring.

The Co-founders opened up their children's home in Malawi and the coffee shop is a non-profit company helping the communities they serve in Africa.  On the wall near the coffee bar, there is a sign that reflects the amount of children in their home that they are servicing. 💗

It's a beautiful cause and something I would be happy to spend money to aid in their efforts. However, I believe operationally their coffee shop can improve. Because of their non-profit status, funding is likely low taking care of the necessities so investing in what may be superficial or not needed may be a reason for the shortcomings. I think if enough of the right people knew about their cause, they may provide services, items and man power voluntarily to help make this a business that stays. 

Go check them out if you're in Clermont. They are next to Tijuana Flats on Highway 50 and Hancock. 

And if you need a groomer, the people at Something to Bark About are awesome. 

Tasting in the Tasting Room

It's been a while since I last wrote. I made a commitment that this year, I'll be writing about all the new things I experience. It has taken me into the second month of the year to finally get to something new but here we are! Tonight we go into Downtown Winter Garden. A place I actually frequent to places I've always loved like Axum Coffee, Winter Garden Pizza Company, and the Crooked Can. But today, for the first time since I've lived in Florida (and in the area) I get to experience The Tasting Room. This is not to be confused with The Chef's Table which is a different restaurant but the same kitchen (I know, its confusing, but not really). 

We called ahead but even calling ahead doesn't guarantee a seat will be available so we waited an extra 20 or so minutes. While we waited, we walked over to Way Chocolate & Coffee and perused the chocolate delicacies available there. This was also my first time experiencing this place so I took this opportunity to try something. I didn't take a picture of what I had here but will try to paint you the best picture possible. I ordered the Chocolate cup with Passion fruit Mouse and an Americano Coffee black. It was a petite chocolate tea cup filled with a creamy yellow passion fruit mouse with two pink candy hearts on the top and a chocolate spoon inside the mouse. It was the most adorable little dessert I've seen at a whopping $10 price tag. The mouse was not tart as an onlooker asked as I tasted it. It was perfectly sweetened and balanced out the chocolate shell well. Biting into the shell and mouse was actually a very good combination until I dropped the last half of it on the floor. Sadness ensued. It was a delightful dessert but not one I'm willing to pay $10 for again. My coffee took longer to prepare and was not ready by the time The Tasting Room was ready for us so I had to get it to go.

Back at the Tasting Room, the staff there are all very kind and excited about their establishment and food. A friend of ours joined us for dinner who was the person recommending this place and raved about its food providing suggestions as we looked over the menu. A small paper menu came with the large bound menu that signified items that are available for the evening. In observation of the menu, I noticed only two pages listing food items while the rest are alcoholic beverages of which we did not take partake in on this eve. From the paper menu I ordered the Crispy Mushrooms. It was tempura battered mushrooms (thick stemmed mushrooms of an unknown origin) over a black garlic sauce. It was a lovely small plate appetizer. I wish I knew the type of mushroom they used because I really enjoyed it but most of all the combination of the tempura batter, mushroom and black garlic sauce was so delightful that the dish was nearly gone as soon it hit the table. 

If you've read any of my previous blogs, you may know that I like to try dishes that I love and compare them. Shrimp and Grits is one of those dishes that will always be ordered so I can compare. Before I begin on this, I failed to tell you The Tasting Room serves Tapas Style food. However, the Tapas portions are actually quite generous. If you've been to places like Tutu Tangos or Ceviches, I would say The Tasting Room has larger portions. So back to Shrimp and Grits. Here they use Red Shrimp with the tails still on, Creole bbq sauce and cheddar grits. I thoroughly enjoyed the consistency of the grits as it wasn't clump, very creamy and the sauce was on the side with the shrimp so you can add as much or as little of the sauce to the grits that you wanted. The sauce definitely has creole origins with a tomato base but is not too acidic. The perfectly cooked shrimp that was not rubbery but fluffy and easy to cut and chew through combined with the sauce and grits were a little slice of amazing (heaven was close by). On the S&G scale this one was an 8.5.  I was not able to share the dish... Well, to be fair, I don't share my food anyway so no one was really expecting me to share. :-)


Another thing I always get whenever I see it on the menu is beet salad. It's not a common menu item and I love beets! Like really love it! Here the description of Beet Salad was mixed greens, feta, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and apple cider vinaigrette. The first salad that came out to me had a piece of hair in it so we sent it back not expecting for it to be returned. BUT as nice as the staff is, they did remake another one for me. As you can tell by the picture the mixed greens was actually just one type of leaf and to be honest, I can't tell you definitely which one it was. The beets tasted as if it was pre-soaked in tap water and the beets had absorbed the water because it had that distinct pipe water flavor to them. There was a clump of dried cranberries at the center of the salad. It was poorly made and didn't taste very well. Not something I would order again here.

Jimmy ordered the Tasting Room Wings. It has a very unique flavor. Smokey but the bbq flavor of the wings was unlike any flavor I've tasted which is why they trademark the wings naming it after the restaurant. They were well cooked and tasty. A dish I would recommend but if you're a wing connoisseur you may find that these wings, while good, aren't the best wings.

And lastly, the infamous Duck Fat Fries. These are hand cut potatoes with parmesan cheese, truffle oil, onions, and smoked aioli. I don't know why I expected something grand but for me, these were just fries. In general, aioli is fancy mayo. This one just tasted like mayo with a hint of flavor. The fries nor the aioli were anything that wow'd me. They were ordinary at best. Not a dish I would waste calories on.

Overall, I loved the atmosphere the Tasting Room provides, the staff were all very kind, they took care of the salad due to the hair which was very nice of them. We only sampled a few things on the menu but it is a place I would like to try again. I can see that there are unique flavors that the chef is creating. The environment the Tasting Room provides to its patrons is lively and almost gives the feeling like you're in a place "where everyone knows your name". Go check them out. Find out for yourself the flavors and let me know your thoughts on items I've tasted. 😄