The Tip Tap Room Archives - I am a Honey Bee

For one of our monthly date days I took Pricer out to brunch at The Tip Tap Room here in Boston for their Tipsy Brunch. We have loved Chef/owner Brian Poe since we met him years ago when he became the head chef of The Rattlesnake Bar and Grill. I knew that brunch would be a hit here because of how awesome everything from the The Rattlesnake, and here at the Tip Tap Room, has been over the past few years.

Tip Tap Bloody Mary

our spicy homemade Bloody Mary with a candied bacon rim. $10.00

Obviously, brunch = Bloody Mary’s. While I love a mimosa, I can thow together some oj and champange/ perseco myself so I go I will order a Bloody Mary 9x out of 10. I’m always just so interested in how everyone makes their Bloody Mary base mix and how they finish off the glass with garnish. And this candied bacon rim was a winner. Sometimes I struggle with a bacon rim because it will be super smoked and I think that can just be too intense for the spicy sharp flavors of the Bloody Mary. So this slightly sweet bacon rim was really enjoyable.

Muffins and Stuff

Chef Poe’s blend of fresh breads with breakfast caramel butter $6.00

We started with the Muffins and Stuff to see what kind of fresh breads they offered. The chocolate bread was to die for. To-die-for. everything was incredible really with the moist breast, toasted English Muffins, and crunchy pastries. Plus, there was a caramel infused butter served along side of the bread basket. I wanted to sneak this ramekin into my purse. It was heavenly with its soft consistency and a sweet flavor that had toasty notes that went really well with the sweeter breads.

Corned Beef Hash

Topped with a poached egg $11.00

Price ordered the Corned Beef Hash entrée. It honestly surprised me because 1) he doesn’t covet Hollandaise like I do and 2) he doesn’t love runny eggs. So I had guessed he would pick something like the Belgian Beer Waffles or the Steak & Egg entrees.

So when he picked the Corned Beef, and loved it, I was really shocked. But he really enjoyed combining the in homemade shaved corned beef with the home fries and scooping up a bite of the Hollandaise sauce covered egg. It was that really balanced bite that he really enjoyed. The runny egg yolk was not too intense for him because it was mixed together with the Hollandaise sauce, and ultimately mixed together with the salty meat and crisp potatoes. A real play on texture and flavors.

I think that I have to give this a try next time.

serious noms.

Tip Tap Benedict

Butter Fried Smashed Potato Cake dusted with English Muffin Crumbs, Cured Ham, Poached Eggs, Beer Cheese Hollandaise $12.50

Of course I ordered the Eggs Benedict dish. duh.

I did consider some of the other entrée offerings, but only for a split second since I can’t resist Eggs Benedict and this once just sounded so incredible.

I was really intregeted by the Fried Smashed Potato Cake because I was wondering how it would taste and if it would have a chunky texture. I was thinking of the post- Thanksgiving leftover creations I make up. But I discovered this was not at all like my leftover mashups. (Thankfully!) This potato cake was soo light, fluffy, and very smooth. The English Muffin crumbs on the outside were super fine and a lovely golden brown color. Oh yeah, there might have been some butter going on.

On top of the potato cake was the cured ham, which was just like Canadian Bacon, and then the egg and the dreamy Beer Cheese Hollandaise sauce. I repeat… Beer Cheese Hollandaise. Yep, can’t have a tipsy brunch without some beer in your Hollandaise sauce. Plus it was cheesy too! So it was not like any other Hollandaise I had before since I’m sured to the more traditional sauce that is pretty lemony. The play on the sauce was really interesting. It was really think, creamy and all around amazing.

Under all that Beer Cheese Hollandaise sauce were the loveliest poached eggs. I love when they don’t look that uniform, like someone cut off the edges with a scissor. Besides that they were cooked well. The yolk was super runny and there was not too much (gross) runny white surrounding it.

I wanted to lick this plate clean to get every bit of the egg yolk, Hollandaise sauce and infused oil off the plate and into my stomach. But I had some self control and managed to resist myself.

Rating

Potato cake– 20/20 pts

Cured Ham– 18/20 pts

Poached Egg– 23/25 pts

Hollandaise Sauce– 25/25 pts

No side*– 0/10 pts

Total: 86*/100 pts

*There was no side, like home fries or a side salad, which I rate because its pairing is just as important. Also, I can’t just ignore a bad side when looking at a whole entrée. So while there was no side (knocking it 10 points from my rating) it was a hearty enough Eggs Benedict that I didn’t feel like it was lacking, especially with the big potato cakes.

The Tip Tap Room

138 Cambridge Street

Boston, MA 02114

(857) 350-3344

Tipsy Brunch: Sunday 10:30am—3pm

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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When I heard that Chef Brain Poe was opening a restaurant near my office I was so enthusiastic. I have loved Poe’s cuisine ever since I tried the revamped Rattlesnake menu when he took over as chef there a few years ago. Since then we have celebrated many birthdays and happy events around his food so knowing I could have it much more often was so exciting.

The concept behind The Tip Tap Room is to serve great ‘tips’ while enjoying a refreshing ‘tap’. Steak tips seem to be served in just about every pub in the Boston area, which is what inspired Chef Poe to open a restaurant that focused on innovative tips like steak, swordfish, and various game meats. And to wash it all down there are plenty of taps on hand.

Price and I went on opening day to enjoy lunch there (to celebrate the opening and his arrival back from a long weekend away in Vegas) and we have been back recently for dinner as well. Here are some of the things we’ve had at The Tip Tap Room…

Rock Shrimp- Kataifi & nori fried shrimp, cucumber salad, chile ginger sauce $11.75

This alone is the reason why I would go back again and again. The shredded phylo dough that coats the shrimp stays so crunchy, even as it is in the chile ginger sauce.

Rock Shrimp Salad – Katafi & nori fried shrimp, cucumber salad, chile ginger sauce

As I told Chef Poe during my first visit I think that the Rock Shrimp Appetizer would make a great salad, which is exactly why I had it for dinner. The chile ginger sauce made for a great dressing on the salad. I would have preferred for the cucumber in the appetizer to have been in the salad but it was still a great meal.

Steak Tips- House marinade, horseradish mashed potatoes, cherry pepper & watercress slaw, bordelaise $13.75

The thing I could do without for this dish is the watercress. I don’t like it so it just was pushed aside. Everything else about this is a perfect 10.

Steak Tip Burger – Lettuce, tomato, veal demi, A1 aioli, Russian dressing, brioche bun, served with fries $10.95

Price really enjoyed the Steak Tip Burger for dinner. Instead of having fries with his burger he had a side of creamed corn mashed potatoes. (Our friend has goat cheese mashed potatoes which I snagged a bite of and thought was luscious and addicting.) Price asked for Medium but the burger was way underdone, but was still okay for him since I serve them ‘moo-ing’ at home. We did tell Chef Poe this later on to keep him informed on what is going on in his kitchen when he is not there.

Peach Tip Cobbler –Peaches, cobbler, peach and strawberry ice cream $6.95

shhh don’t tell… I don’t like cobblers like this. I much prefer cobblers with biscuits on top. But Price and I easily shared this since the fresh fruit and ice cream made this a perfect summer time dessert.

I suggest swinging by The Tip Tap Room for a great meal and a refreshing beer. When you go it is must that you sit by the opened garage door style windows to enjoy people watching on the warm summer breeze.