The Two Fat Guys 'tap' The Keg
By The Two Fat Guys
The Keg is downtown Moncton's newest restaurant/bar combo and is the chain's first New Brunswick location. Located at 600 Main St., in the Marriott Residence Inn, please call 386-4534 to make a reservation. The Keg is open from Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Sunday from 3:30 p.m. to 12 p.m. The Two Fat Guys decided to stop the speculation and head there one night for supper.
Fat Guy's verdict:
The Keg looks incredible from the outside, but the inside is spectacular. It has this big city chic feel. If that statement makes any sense, I came up with that line to describe the decor after a bottle of Trumpeter, a malbec grape wine, served on site.
The Fatter Guy was a little wary of reviewing a new restaurant, in this case The Keg. Before we chose a place to head last weekend, he said, "They've only been open for a few weeks. We should give them a chance to get it together." I on the other hand feel that if you're serving food, you're ready for a Fat Guy. Right?
So I convinced Fatty to go. He made friends with lobster and steak, having never mixed the two together, and was so ecstatic, he wouldn't shut up about it all night. I ask you, what kind of a fat man, hasn't had homard thrown on some meaty concoction? I guess every night at my house is a little like Noah's Ark, I like to have at least two of as many animals as possible on my plate.
But I digress. As a team we ordered escargot (snails) stuffed in mushroom caps oozing with garlic and herbs ($6.95). Unlike any other escargot I've ever had, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm still trying to decide if I liked it. To me it had a curry flavour and I wasn't expecting it.
I didn't partake in the scallops and bacon order, fatty consumed them all while I ate a French Onion Soup ($5.95). The menu described the soup as a hearty beef broth with onions, Swiss and parmesan cheese. As you may know if you're read this column for a while, I'm convinced that the quality of the French onion is an important component in the overall health of the kitchen "" if you can't make French onion soup, you might as well pack it in.
In this case, The Keg has a leg to stand on, the French onion soup while not supremely delicious, was more than passable. The broth was a little bland, but overall it was good.
I decided to order the classic meat eater meal, a prime rib roast with a jus. The meal comes in three sizes, small $19.99, regular $21.99, and Keg size 22.99. According to the menu, the prime rib is aged for extra flavour, and rubbed with a unique blend of spices, then slow roasted. Add to that some roasted garlic mashed potatoes (DELICIOUS!!) and a red wine jus.
My prime rib was all right, but it wasn't fabulous. I did have room for crème brule at the end, and I have to say that this was the best crème brule I've ever had in town. KEG: Keep your dessert chef!
At the end of the meal, the waiter asked us all about our orders and wanted details about what we liked and didn't like. The same thing was happening at tables all around us. They're definitely paying attention, and I think The Keg is going to get better. I look forward to going back and seeing just how good it gets, but until then The Keg gets an 8 out of 10 from me.
Fatter Guy's verdict:
Lobster and steak are pretty great friends. I'm not sure how long their relationship has been going for, but I've just been introduced to the pairing. And I must say I certainly support their union.
Throw some shrimp in the mix, and you've got a threesome of deliciousness that's tough to beat.
OK, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. What I've described above is the seafood sirloin, $27.99, one of the Keg's 'Lobster summer!' specials on until August 17. It's drizzled in garlic butter, and a white wine sauce and asparagus is also thrown into the steak/lobster/shrimp mix.
Cooked to medium this steak was indescribably good. So much flavour came through, not only by the pairing of seafood and steak, the AMAZING sauce, but also the medium level it was cooked (a perfect pink).
I can't in good conscience discuss my love of this meal without mentioning my side dish. This entrée comes with your usual choice of sides, from fries to potatoes and I chose the garlic mashed.
Let's just say my mouth is STILL watering.
The other Fat Guy and I figured since we were trying out Moncton's newest restaurant, we may as well go all out.
On top of that delicious entrée, we also went for apps and dessert.
For apps we tried the escargots and the bacon wrapped scallops.
The escargots were actually escargot stuffed mushroom caps with garlic and herbs ($6.95) "" there were six or seven of them in a small dish. I actually only got a mushroom cap on my first stab, but my second attempt, I came up with an escargot.
I don't really get the whole 'ewww snails' thing. For some reason, it just seemed mustardy. The menu description just says it's doused with garlic and herbs, but there was some definite mustard action in there, which just tasted...odd.
Bacon adds to anything. Think about it "" it just makes everything better from omelets to salads and event to the BLT "" because without the bacon, you'd just have LT. So of course, bacon wrapped scallops ($8.95) are going to be great.
Five bacon wrapped scallops with a 'zesty martini cocktail sauce' came to the table, and we scarfed 'em down. I was surprised and thought they could have used some extra flavour. I thought the sauce offered with them was horseradish sauce, which is of course too spicy for my liking, so I didn't try it. Looking over my notes now and seeing it was a martini cocktail sauce, I'm wishing I had "" perhaps that could have been the flavour I was looking for.
Topping off my meal was the apple crumble dessert ($5.95). Served with two scoops of ice cream, this classic dessert was drizzled with caramel. I was extremely satisfied.
Our server was friendly and very attentive. She dealt with our round of questions with much ease and was a real pleasure.
Some may say it's not fair for us to check out this new restobar yet since it's only been open for three weeks, but we say it's a chain "" they should have their act together by now.
Judging by a conversation I overheard about the chicken Creole (the customer found it wasn't spicy enough and was disappointed because he expected more 'pop' "" the waiter told him that was a comment they've been hearing and they're working at changing the dish up) the Keg is doing more than their share to keep customers happy.
Though the bill was pretty hefty by the end of it, for fine dining, it's to be expected. And we did overindulge just a tad.
I give the Keg a perfect 10/10, and highly recommend it for a romantic treat on the town. I'm realizing now I didn't even discuss the gorgeous décor/setting/tables/dark wood. I guess you'll just have to see it for yourself...prepare to be wowed.
E-mail the twofatguys@gmail.com
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