Tangletown

[Schielke]

The other day,I went to Tangletown, the Eleysian Brewery's new Greenlake outpost.

The menu does not appear to be much more than standard sandwiches and other pub grub, but look a little closer. We ended up having some pretty great examples of some classic pub grub.

Fish and Chips- I got these, just because they sounded good at the time. They turned out to be fabulous. Very nice crisp batter around nice pieces of Cod. Not too hot inside either, I dug in right away. The batter had a nice malty flavor too. The fries, oh the fries. Big fluffy steak fries with a crispy exterior. I am down with these fries. The thing that tied it all together and sealed the deal was their tartar sauce. Man, this was good tartar sauce. It was nice and smooth with a great tang. I dont like chunks of pickle in my tartar so the smoothness of this really appealed to me. A friend of mine also ordered the Fish and chips and commented favorably on the tartar.

BBQ Brisket sandwich- Sadly, I did not think this was as good as the rest. The brisket was a bit dry and not very smoky. The sauce tasted a bit weak too. My friend seemed fairly happy with it though. It also had the good fries...perhaps that is why.

Turkey Sandwich- Katie had this and really loved it. It had apricots in the sandwich that really blended well with the turkey. She let me have a bite and I would definately order this in the future. Katie opted for a salad instead of fries, the salad was properly dressed with a vinagrette and appropriately tasty.

Meatball Sub- I didnt get to taste this one, but when I asked my buddy about it, he replied "Thats-a spicy meat-Ball!" and went back to devouring it.

Beer- we had a pitcher of their cask conditioned Pale ale. Slightly hoppy, crisp, with a smooth maltiness. The cask conditioning of this added a bit of welcome oakiness to this beer (not for mamster). Nice and fresh, but the head on it was a bit weak.

Overall, I would certainly check this place out if you are looking for a nice place to hang out with friends and enjoy some classic pub food prepared well. And you can actually find parking in this neighborhood!

Ben

Edit to add bolding, why do I always forget that?

Edited April 23, 2003 by Schielke (log)

[MsRamsey]

Thanks for the review, Ben. I find the information valuable, since I know I'll be in "Tangletown" soon to see Fluffy Kittens, and plan to visit the new Elysian pub. I think their beer is stellar, but the food at the restaurant on Pike has gone from mediocre to worse over the 6 years I've been going there. I think I'll try the fish and chips.

[LEdlund]

I live a block or so from there so I have been a couple of times, hoping to make it "home". Unfortunatley my husband hasn't been as enamored with the place as I have been.

First we went there for lunch with my parents a week ago Saturday. They serve brunch until 3PM on the weekends along with a limited "brunch" menu.

My father ordered eggs benedict with apple sausage and said it was really good, although we were sure the hollendaise was Knorrs. Hubby ordered the turkey sandwich (also with a salad) and said it was awful! The turkey was the pressed kind he doesn't like, and he also didn't like the bread. I'm not an apricot fan so I didn't try it. My mom and I both had the BLT, also with salads. We both loved them, although she had to ask for extra mayonaisse. And I agree about the salad, it was wonderful and perfectly dressed. I had their ESB to drink and, though I am not a huge beer fan, I thought it was the best I have ever had. Hubby had the stout which, as you can imagine, he didn't like. My mom had something light but I can't recall what. I had some of it and wasn't impressed.

The next visit was for breakfast last Sunday. I had a huevos rancheros kind of thing with corn tortillas, tomatillos, beans and eggs. I thought it was fabulous, but I am really into that type of thing. Hubby had a standard sausage and egg breakfast, again with the apple sausage. He didn't like either the sausage or the hash browns and, at 7.95, thought it was a little pricy. It looks like we will continue to go to the Varsity Inn for our breakfasts.

Lauren

[Schielke]

Thanks for the review, Ben.  I find the information valuable, since I know I'll be in "Tangletown" soon to see Fluffy Kittens, and plan to visit the new Elysian pub.  I think their beer is stellar, but the food at the restaurant on Pike has gone from mediocre to worse over the 6 years I've been going there.  I think I'll try the fish and chips.

What is the low down with Fluffy Kittens? I forgot.

[MsRamsey]

What is the low down with Fluffy Kittens?  I forgot.

They're a Supertramp cover band.

[girl chow]

Thanks for the review, Ben.  I find the information valuable, since I know I'll be in "Tangletown" soon to see Fluffy Kittens, and plan to visit the new Elysian pub.  I think their beer is stellar, but the food at the restaurant on Pike has gone from mediocre to worse over the 6 years I've been going there.  I think I'll try the fish and chips.

What is the low down with Fluffy Kittens? I forgot.

The ukelele player for Fluffy Kittens is totally righteous.

[nightscotsman]

What is the low down with Fluffy Kittens?  I forgot.

They're a Supertramp cover band.

So THAT was why mamster was mumbling something about wanting "kippers for breakfast" when we were up in Vancouver.

[mamster]

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it: Fluffy Kittens, Zoka Coffee, Saturday, May 3, 8pm. MsRamsey was lying about the Supertramp thing, unless we cook up something wacky in the next week.

[malarkey]

The fries, oh the fries.  Big fluffy steak fries with a crispy exterior.  I am down with these fries.

This alone will get me there

[col klink]

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it:  Fluffy Kittens, Zoka Coffee, Saturday, May 3, 8pm.  MsRamsey was lying about the Supertramp thing, unless we cook up something wacky in the next week.

Batgrrrl and I are looking forward to petting the fluffy kittens tonight.

[mamster]

We ended up at Luau after the show. I had some rock shrimp potstickers, which came with a sambal-heavy dipping sauce. Pretty good. Some friends of mine got the mixed pupu platter, which had an awesome array of stuff: sausage, shrimp skewers, ribs, chicken wings, potstickers. Everything I tasted I liked. Laurie had a Pina Colada.

[nightscotsman]

Kitties in the HOUSE! Fun show guys.

We had dinner at Luau before the show and it was very good. The Kaluha Pulled Pork Sandwich I had was excellent with moist, tender, flavorful meat and a nice side of papaya slaw.

By the way, please do not encourage Zoka by purchasing their terrible baked goods. Worst. Brownie. Ever. And it didn't even have the excuse of being vegan.

[col klink]

Batgrrrl and I missed you guys after the show but we didn't stay too long. We basically had the zombie and then took off; I wanted a second but Batgrrrl was pretty tired. All of that moshing during the show really knocked her out.

[J. Scott]

Tangletown....Ok let me just state that I had eaten here prior to being served the worst breakfast of my life and my assumptions that this place was terrible were affirmed.

We came for a late breakfast (11 a.m.) on a Saturday. The place was 1/3 full. It took a good 10 minutes to get menus, prolly 20 to get a cup of coffee. 45 minutes later we ordered. Another half hour, food arrives. My friend and I ordered the same: 2 egg special.

Here's what we got:

Hasbrowns that were grey and uncooked.

Scrambled eggs that were overcooked, hard and burned on the edges.

Bacon that was old, and not even lukewarm.

Toast that was warmed up bread, barely toasted and unbuttered.

When we complained, the server offered to "get our coffee."

We paid $25 for this shit on a plate.

I will never go back, nor should you.

[tighe]

We came for a late breakfast (11 a.m.) on a Saturday. The place was 1/3 full. It took a good 10 minutes to get menus, prolly 20 to get a cup of coffee. 45 minutes later we ordered. Another half hour, food arrives. My friend and I ordered the same: 2 egg special.

Nice to hear that they've continued the same standard of service as at the Elysian! I've had to light a pile of coasters on fire to get service at times....that, or bounce my empty pint glass off of one of the servers' heads....

[Fish]

Fish and Chips- I got these, just because they sounded good at the time.  They turned out to be fabulous.  Very nice crisp batter around nice pieces of Cod.  Not too hot inside either, I dug in right away. 

We went for a group dinner about a month ago, and the food was mostly awful ! We started out with some wings which were actually pretty good, but were clearly a smokescreen. I ordered the fish and chips. The fish was covered in a thick, rubbery, tasteless batter which I peeled off to reveal very skimpy pieces of fish. My girlfriend ordered a burger, no cheese, please. The burger came with cheese. She sent it back. The kitchen then sent her burger back to her, with pieces of cheese that they hadn't managed to scrape off still visible. She sent it back again. While she was waiting, the server arrived with a random salad and asked if she'd like it. Huh ? The burger eventually arrived, and wasn't worth the wait. To make up for this, they sent out a very, VERY ordinary creme brulee. Whatever. I won't be spending money there, except maybe on the wings.

It boggles the mind that a place serving mediocre food with awful service can survive. I guess most people are happy as long as you feed them beer.

- S

[Schielke]

Wow, I wonder if my visit was a fluke. Our batter was not rubbery at all and the fries were so great! I have not been back since though. I do remember that the service sucked though.

Ben

[malarkey]

IF you are into beer at ALL, Elysian (and Tangletown) have one of the most illustrious brewmeisters in town. Dick Cantwell spent many years perfecting the beer at Big Time, then opened his own place starting with Elysian.

The beer is extraordinary. The food... isn't. There ya go. I'm not surprised the food was subpar. The food at Elysian is the same.

ya know, it was the same at Big Time too. Such crappy food to go with such good beer, what's up with that??

[Schielke]

Yeah, Big Time's food is truly horrid. Strangely I have lucked out a bit at the Elysian and Tangletown. The elysian has a good flemish stew and I had a good plate of fish and chips at Tangletown.

Ben

[MsRamsey]

The pizza at Big Time is far better than the swill I have been served at Elysian.

[chuck]

I went a couple of weeks ago and had the same experience as everyone else. Had a drink that was relatively cheap but really small. Then a beer that was good. Then a sauteed squid appetizer with black beans and red cabbage that shouldn't have left the goddamned kitchen. First of all, it was lukewarm, then it was unexciting (but in a serious way), hard to eat with the phyllo cup-things that came with it, and so overcooked that I didn't touch more than a quarter of it. And I was drinking. And I was hungry. And what the christ? The neighborhood is packed with people who can afford to go out night after night. Why aren't they insulted with this kind of crap? The aforementioned shitty service was present when I was there, but not to me. I overheard the complaining of inexperienced waitresses as I was pushing away my food. Stupid bickering that shouldn't be present to the public, if at all. All of this led to my decision to stay away from the place for awhile, if not forever. Thank god they sell their beer to places that have a sensible clientele, like the Latona Pub just a few blocks away, and that they bottle it and send it to Bottleworks and Whole Foods, also very near.

This should probably be a thread on its own, but the Greenlake Bar and Grill is a hell of an alternative in the area. Wade through college kids waiting for the Little Red Hen to get hopping and have a nice dinner most notable for it's service. I didn't anticipate the professionalism in the early-twenties servers who hopefully are making enough money to stay for awhile. Drinks arrived promptly, orders were taken perfectly, and the wine was well recommended and tasty. I never dine with low expectations, and I was surprised at the performance of the staff. Everyone go there now.