Gold Dig #12

Tar and Roses is one of the few westside establishments on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. It has Santa Monica prices to go along with its Santa Monica location, but it’s worth it when you have an occasion to splurge on a nice night out. The restaurant is a long narrow rectangle with a giant wine rack, because the food is built to be consumed with wine.

The Dish

The menu is divided into Snacks, Veggies, Small, and Large. Everything at Tar and Roses seems to be good, but the Snacks category dominates the dishes that everyone talks about. Being a fairly robust eater, I was a bit skeptical that snacks were going to do it for me, but we went for it and tried several. I wasn’t disappointed.

Popped Corn

Everybody goes on and on about the Popped Corn, including Jonathan Gold. I ordered it, but in the back of my mind was thinking “How good could some popcorn really be?” The popcorn is cooked with bacon, brown sugar, and chili. Big chunks of bacon… do you see them in the picture? I’m a sucker for salty-sweet, and these also add in a layer of smoky spice. Pretty. Darn. Good.

Oxtail Dumplings

When I heard about the Oxtail Dumplings at Tar and Roses, I had to have them. I like dumplings, and I like oxtail. So put them together and I imagined little pockets of heaven. Perhaps I over-hyped them in my mind. These were tasty, but didn’t live up to my imagination. Growing up in an Asian household, I suppose I’m used to oxtail dishes that involve sucking large hunks of incredibly tender oxtail meat and cartilage right off the bone. I envisioned that inside of what would therefore have to be a fair-sized dumpling wrapping. These were comparatively pretty tiny, and missing the oxtail unctuousness I expected.

Wood Roasted English Peas

The Wood Roasted English Peas, on the other hand, way outperformed my somewhat conservative expectations. Jonathan Gold said if he had to pick the most delicious thing in the restaurant, it would be the English peas. I wasn’t buying it. Peas just didn’t sound that exciting to me. I was wrong. These are roasted with mint and sea salt until the natural sweetness of the peas comes out in beautiful harmony with the smoky saltiness. You eat them like edamame, pulling salt and bits of mint onto your tongue as you scrape your teeth across the shells to squeeze out the tender peas. Yum.

Shellfish Pot

The Shellfish Pot has scallops, clams, mussels, shrimp, and maitake mushrooms in a coconut curry sauce. The shellfish is huge. The mushrooms add a woody smokiness (everything in Tar and Roses seems to have a smoky flavor, not that I’m complaining). The coconut curry is more subtle than the strong Thai flavors I think it is inspired by, but good for not overwhelming the seafood flavors. It comes with one tiny piece of roasted bread – I wished I had more to soak up the sauce.

Tar Bar

The Tar Bar is a dense chocolate dessert served with hazelnuts salted caramel ice cream. Three things I love. Put them together and I can’t complain. Not the best dessert I’ve ever had in my life, but a rich and tasty way to finish off the meal.