The last time we visited City Tap House, 3925 Walnut St. , the spacious and classy University City pub and eatery impressed us more with its vegetarian fare than anything else. On a recent return visit, we found the restaurant has a new executive chef, Chad Vetter, and has stepped up its carnivore game.
Judging from the steady stream of patrons around the bar, City Tap House isn’t hurting for people to put a dent in its impressive beer and drink menu. Closer to the kitchen, the restaurant still has a menu overflowing with regional American favorites, and the vegetarian fare is still surprisingly top- notch. The mezze plate ($12), a hefty dish of red-pepper hummus, cured olives, feta, tabbouleh, zucchini, cucumbers and baked flatbread, was fresh, bright and flavorful.
The meat-centric dishes we sampled were amazing. The Jersey sweet corn and crab hush puppies ($12) were pure love on a plate. The corn stayed juicy and crunchy amid the savory pieces of crab and the fluffiness of the fried batter. If we had tried nothing else, we would have been completely satisfied.
The Tap Burger ($13) was excellent: a perfectly cooked slab of meat with cheddar, onions and a beer gastrique. Most pubs go for overkill on their burgers, cramming in too many toppings, but City Tap House keeps it simple and sumptuous.
The chicken & waffles ($19) threw in a pleasant curve. Both the chicken and the waffles were nicely done, but the sweetness that tied the dish together didn’t come from the coffee stout syrup, but rather from a very-necessary sweet red-pepper jam. The element elevated the dish to something that should not be passed up.
The dessert menu at City Tap House is a special kind of crazy. We were temped to try the sweet corn gelato ($5) only because it sounded too wild not to be good. But we ended up going with the green apple and bourbon sorbet ($5) because … you know … booze. And wow, was it ever good, with a smooth sweetness and a palpable alcoholic kick that hit the tongue like the collision between a frozen Jolly Rancher and a whiskey sour.
City Tap House has only gotten better since the last time we paid a visit. And with autumn upon us, we can’t think of a better place for an evening happy hour to turn into a great feast.