Dishing with Dale: Over a Barrel at Oak Barrel Tavern
Friday, August 12, 2016
I’m a nerd who hosts a couple of TV shows and sings with a fun band. With that in mind I have been told by the powers that be at GoLocalWorcester and by Facebook fans this is a popular column which just proves there’s no accounting for taste.
I really wanted give the Oak Barrel Tavern a fair chance after our first experience, so this is a combination of 2 visits to the restaurant.
First Visit
Our first visit took place on a Saturday evening about 7p.m. We entered and stood at the hostess station, where we were hit with the loud chatter permeating from the main room. Tto our surprise, all that noise was coming from an only half full room. (It’s that dam acoustics problem that plagues some venues)
Interior
If you remember or were expecting anything like the old Tweeds that occupied that space before, Toto you’re not in Kansas anymore. Walking into the restaurant we were immediately impressed by the new sleek interior -- exposed brick walls, impressive large wooden bar illuminated by artistic lighting, exposed wooden beams, very comfortable bar seating, with rows of high top seating filling the main dining area, with a cozy seating area perfectly set in front of a fireplace with a number of arge screen TV’s throughout. The Oak Barrel Tavern has done a spectacular job on setting up a very hip looking pub with a lot to offer.
We had a terrific waitress named Kayla who seated us at one of the high top table sections which are VERY tightly placed. (If you’re not friends with the people at the next table you soon will be.)
Dinner
Hummus Platter: House-made hummus served with Tabbouleh, Feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and a selection of seasonal vegetables. Served with pita chips. $9.99 - this was a nice starter, standard and what you would expect.
Truffle Mac and Cheese: Cavatappi pasta mixed with our own cheese blend and truffle oil. Topped with panko bread crumbs, and baked golden brown. $13.99 - it was a generous portion but very basic with nothing golden brown about it.
Baked Salmon: Fresh salmon baked with lemon butter. Served with your choice of two sides. $15.99 – healthy with very little taste.
OBT* Short Ribs: Fall off the bone goodness glazed with OBT* Bourbon barbeque sauce. Served with crinkle cut fries and coleslaw. $19.79 - they were not falling off the bone, I love a good sauce however this sauce in my opinion was very salty, andI had to scrape most of it off. However the sweet potato tater tots were great.
For dessert we ordered their Apple Crisp with ice cream and whipped cream. $6.99 – lots of ice cream but where is the crisp?
Trying Again
Really wanting to give The Oak Barrel Tavern a second chance, I went back with a friend on a Tuesday at 7 p.m., and was thrilled to see the place was packed (a full restaurant on a Tuesday is a very hard thing to do.). Congrats!
We were greeted by a welcoming hostess and seated once again by a very bubbly sweet waitress and seated in the high top table section. (Hello, neighbor!) We ordered our drinks along with
Barbeque Chicken Flatbread: Flatbread topped with OBT*Bourbon BBQ sauce, chicken, jalapeno bacon, caramelized onions, and shredded cheddar and jack cheese.$10.99 – this was very good.
Emma's Calamari: Rhode Island Style-lightly breaded and flash fried. Served with Cherry Peppers and marinara sauce $10.79 – over fried to the point when I stabbed it with my fork it crumbled, consisted of more peppers than calamari.
Finished off with a piece of Strawberry cake which we both thought was very good. ☺
Wrapping up
On the way out we saw friends dining too, they thought the service was great, food was decent but thought the prices were high, they also mentioned that the noise was a problem they found it hard to hear each other across the table.
Most of the buzz I had heard before going was the pricing was to expensive, but I didn’t find that to be the case. I know this place will do well once the consistency is mastered and will be a great meeting place for Worcesterites.
http://www.oakbarreltavernworcester.com
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