Um...did you say 160 beers on tap???

My food travels have landed me at the Yard House Restaurant this past Saturday, in Dedham's new Legacy Place shopping plaza. Yard House = Beer heaven. Literally. I have been itching to try this place out for about a month now...knowing that it is the only location in Massachusetts! And it just so happens I work down the street and walk by and secretly get jealous that I would rather be sitting by their outside fireplace biting into a juicy burger and sipping on a cold one......oh jeez I've lost my train of thought! Moving on, Saturday night is girls night and we wanted to try a new place out, and Yard House it was!

Let me set the scene: 5 classy ladies walk into a bar, get seated near 20 flat screen tv's, a massive bar that houses 160 different types of beer on tap, and a bunch of men pounding drinks! I couldn't decide if I was out of my element, or really missed the singles scene! Either way I was enjoying my mix of beer, boys, and Bruins!

So let's get down to ordering: The beer menu was insane, and being more of a wino, I decided to get a beer "blend" which literally blended two types of beers for a very unique taste. My blend consisted of Hoegaarden White beer, and Framboise liqueur. Holy moly it was sooooooo refreshing & tasty! It blended a pale ale with a raspberry twist: It reminded me of a heavier tasting wine cooler, perfect for a summer night! Onto apps: A few of my friends split an order of the spinach dip...which seemed to be the appetizer of choice of everyone sitting around us. And I can see why! It was very fresh tasting, with fresh ingredients. It's amazing how just using fresh

ingredients can make the simplest dish over-the-top yummy. However, I think the show-stopper of the night was the Onion TOWER!!! (see pic below) Its yet another genius idea that I can't believe I have never thought of! Besides looking really cool, the onion rings were perfectly crispy and came with 2 types of ranch sauce.

Now we get to meal time baby, and again, I totally had trouble deciding what to order! I knew I wanted something light, but satisfying - so I landed on the Porcini Crusted Halibut with asparagus, bok choy, and parmesan mashed potatoes. The portion was HUGE, which I am certainly not complaining about! Generally speaking the halibut was tasty. Food critically speaking it was a little salty & a tiny bit chewy. My issue was more with the title of the dish, because I wouldn't say the fish was "porcini crusted" it was more like "porcini rubbed." Either way, it was a yummy mushroom explosion in my mouth. The

truffle sauce totally made the dish complete, and helped moisten the halibut. I have to say, the star or my meal - was the bok choy! I don't know why I don't buy this veggie more often! It was cut in half, sauteed just enough to cook it through but maintained the crunchiness of the choy and seasoned perfectly. Note to self: Buy more bok choy and use it instead of a side salad.

Overall, my friends and I enjoyed our meals & drinks very much. On the positive: an extensive beer, wine & cocktail drink menu can satisfy ANY ONE'S taste. On the negative: the atmosphere was pretty loud & busy, and did make it hard for the 5 of us to hear conversation. If its your first time trying this place out I would probably recommend going during lunch hours to make the most of this incredible bar.

One prop I do have to give this restaurant is the service. The hostess kept her cool among a sea of hungry patrons, the waitstaff was friendly & prompt, and managers were out & about helping their staff turn tables. One of the managers just so happen to see me take pic of my raspberry beer (god I am such a dork!) and came & introduced himself and took an interest in my food blogging hobby haha. Sometimes I think I am wasting my time sitting in front of my computer talking about what I eat...like do people actually care about what I write? But apparently other foodie's like myself do, and that re-assures me as a foodie, and more importantly a consumer, people alike do value my opinion and thought process. Right??? ;-p

Here are the deetz!

The Yard House - DEDHAM
950 Providence Highway
Space 200,
Dedham, MA 02026
Phone: 781-326-4644 | Fax: 781-326-4955

http://www.yardhouse.com/default.asp