Chatham Tap

I was intrigued about some comments about Chatham Tap’s tenderloins (and sides) after my Muldoon’s review and after asking around and finding out that at least the location in Fishers is family friendly, we loaded up the kids one night to give it a try (anyone know about the downtown location? Is it kid friendly?)  It had only been a couple of weeks since we tried Muldoon’s, so it was still pretty fresh and a good time to make a comparison.

Based on a reader comment (thanks, Tom H.), we went with an order of the breadsticks ($5.99 with an up charge to add a second sauce) to start (also because it is something that all four of us would eat).  I have to say, they were a highlight.  The dough (assuming the same as their pizza dough, as they have a fairly extensive pizza menu) was cut into rectangles slices of bread (rather than your traditional “stick” form) and were topped with herbs and seasonings—thinking garlic, salt and pepper and maybe some fresh parsley.  They tasted really good—really hot, soft inside and just the right amount of chewiness to the crust.  They had three dipping sauces, the traditional marinara and nacho cheese, but they also offered a garlic ranch which was nice to see.  We got the cheese for the kids and the garlic ranch for us and we were quite happy. And my son even preferred the ranch.  I mean, honestly, it was just good, garlicky ranch salad dressing, but it was a nice change of pace.  I would certainly order these again.

Hubby and I decided to sort of repeat our meals from Muldoon’s to compare and so we split a pork tenderloin sandwich ($7.49) and the ½ order of fish and chips ($7.49).  The tenderloin was a good sandwich.  Did it live up to the Muldoon’s version? I have to say no.  It was a little dryer and less even in size.  It did have a nice flavor and I liked the Brioche bun.  We did have to ask for mayo to put on it, but once it was all put together, it was tasty, just not amazing.

The fish and chips were pretty good as well—these were the true beer battered type of fish fillets—they are really more like fish fingers in form, but you can tell they are hand battering them in house.  The fish was pretty tender.  And my son really enjoyed them as well.  The ½ order was more than enough for me as well—there were 4 “fingers” on the plate and a fair amount of fries. I think the full order has twice as many pieces of fish on the plate. I saw plates coming out and it was seriously piled up. 

My kids were not as excited about their food.  My son particularly, may in fact be a steak snob.  He ordered the ribeye from the kid’s menu (which he was SO excited to see on the kid’s menu) ($6.49).  Unfortunately, it was really thin, and there was pretty much no way they could have made it medium rare no matter how hard they tried.  I should have known better than to expect a ribeye on a kids menu to be anything but this really thin thing, but you can’t know until you try.  He was happy eating some of my fish and chips and declared them his new favorite thing.  My daughter ordered a grilled cheese ($4.99), which I am pretty sure was made with slices of smoked gouda, which was a little more of a distinctive flavor than she wanted.  She also said she didn’t like that the cheese wasn’t really melted (it’s true, it wasn’t).  I did appreciate the fresh slices of apples and pears served with the kid’s dishes.

I was also told by several people that the sides at Chatham Tap are much better than the ones we had at Muldoon’s, which was certainly true.  The fries are the lightly battered type, with a nice flavor and crunch.  But the star side were the housemade potato chips.  They were not too thick, but still nice and hearty with great crunchiness.   Honestly, I would skip the fries (which I doubt are housemade) and get the chips instead. 

Our server was very friendly and our drinks were brought fast.  The food service was a little slow—I was a little surprised by it actually, although the place was pretty busy (and was on a wait by the time we left).  I liked the interior—it really felt like an English Pub, although without all the smoke (which I totally appreciate).

Overall, we enjoyed our visit, and it was fun comparing the tenderloins.  This one was a good one, although, I have still had a couple I like better.  But we are still always open to future suggestions!

Chatham Tap

8211 East 116th Street

Fishers, IN  46038

317/845-1090

www.chathamtap.com