Today, over a year and several visits to Tap & Mallet later, MacGregor's is a distant, laughable memory. Tap & Mallet is what MacGregor's had always failed to completely deliver.
I've been holding off on writing a review of Tap & Mallet because I didn't want it to end up sounding like my last review of Flavors of Asia: a short, gushing, blabbering review that isn't all that insightful.
However, I can't approach Tap & Mallet objectively anymore. The place is simply outstanding and a treasure to this area. Still, I'll do my best to spell out why this place is important.
First off, you should know that Tap & Mallet is, first and foremost, a beer bar. But don't you dare go in an order a Labatt's. They stock a rotating variety of kegs from around the globe and a large sampling of the bottles you find in the specialty beer section of Wegman's. The beer list is about 6 pages large. If you look hard enough, you'll find your Sam Adams. But, compared to the rest of their offerings, Sam Adams comes off as the swill of the bunch.
But, you didn't just come here to drink. No, you probably came here to eat, as well.
Seating is, and seemingly always will be, the strangest aspect of this restaurant. You walk in and see wait staff mulling about, serving, talking and laughing. There is no sign telling you to wait for a hostess because there is none. No one is waiting to seat you or greet you. What typically happens when we go in is that we simply make some sort of contact with a member of the wait staff and have them tell us to sit where ever we want. This typically ensures someone knows we're there and are ready to eat and drink. I don't doubt, however, that we could probably just go in and sit down and someone would notice that we were new and needed menus.
Once seated and greeted, the server will bring out the food menu and the drink menu. Don't even think about opening the food menu until you've selected your beer. You have to have priorities. As I mentioned above, you'll need time to wade through the pages of choices.
Next, select your appetizer. You don't have a mountain of choices, but quantity is made up for by variety. Last time I went, we ordered the liverwurst plate. It's a plate of bread, pickled onions, liverwurst and what is simply the best, heartiest, spicy mustard I've had the pleasure of ingesting. The minutes the 'wurst took off my life are ones the 'wurst can keep. The trade off was worth it. The only quibble here is that the liverwurst to bread ratio is high. Just a few more pieces of bread and it would be perfect (for me at least, because I don't tend to mound the liverwurst on the bread).
Finally, select your main course. Again, the menu isn't a large, by any means, but the variety of dishes on the few pages given are plenty to keep you interested (Banh Mi? Here?). I ordered the fish sandwich last time I went (however, I think I'm nearing the point where I've tried all the dishes on the menu). What can I say, the English know their fish fry. It's delicious. The extra crispy batter hides the flaky fish within and the tartar sauce and lemon add the twist to ensure you don't set the sandwich down until it's gone. The hit-or-miss frites, however, won't make you forget about your sandwich. They are either crisp and perfect or soggy and undercooked. When they're good, they're great with the vinegar. When they're bad, you go back to focusing on what beer you want next. Still, the main course is always good, masterfully prepared and so far beyond the quality of typical pub grub that it stands on its own, no beer required.
This place may not be your choice when your family is in town or when you want to celebrate your Grandma's birthday but it's the place for you. It's unpretentious and comforting. It's the proper definition of a neighborhood bar and grill.
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