Jim N.
Yelp
We stopped by The League Kitchen recently on a Friday evening in search of fish and chips, which, per my fellow Yelpers, received top billing from quite a few reviewers. Our experience, unfortunately, was not the best. I arrived early and took a seat at the bar, perused the specialty cocktail list and opted for the El Guapo Shandy, a very good cocktail consisting of ruby red vodka, lemon and lime juices, honey and a splash of cream ale. Refreshing taste!
Once seated, we decided to start with the tuna tartare tacos, which could have been better. One consistent theme that emerged during meal is the smothering of dishes with sweet sauces. The tuna tacos were the first fatality of that process. As the picture shows, the dish is soaking in the spicy mayo sauce that was poured all over the tacos and slaw. After digging through the sauce to retrieve the tuna, the tuna was spectacular; and, the few bites of slaw salvaged from under the blanket of sauce were very good too. The sauce overwhelmed the wonton shell "tortillas" which made them pretty soggy. Serving suggestion ... IMHO, sauce on the side, let the diner choose the amount of sauce to use eating the tacos.
Main courses included the sought-after fish and chips and the fresh catch of the day special... hot and crunchy trout. When ordering fish and chips anywhere, we stress our preference for fish and the fries "hot out of the fryer" and not food sitting under the lights for any length of time. The fish and chips met that goal 50/50. The fish, super hot to the touch, almost impossible to eat at first (which is what we want! LOL), the batter was nice and thin, the fish tasted great. The fries were slightly above room temperature when served, not enjoyable at all, especially since we had upgraded to the truffle/cheese topping. The "malted tartar sauce" was not very good, we would have preferred just regular tartar sauce.
The hot and crunchy trout saw the return of the over-sauced seafood malady. The cornflake/almond crust was really thick, too much for a thin trout filet. (See the partially eaten trout pic for an idea of the thickness of the crust... twice as much crust as fish.) Perhaps a thick piece cod could stand up to that crust. As the tacos suffered, so the trout suffered from a copious amount of chipotle/mango aioli. (See pic of dish as delivered). Does anyone actually like that much sauce? The overly thick crust also fell victim to the over-abundance of sauce, making the crust pretty soggy. Here, IMHO, the same suggestion as the tacos, sauce on the side. Despite the thick crust, the trout was very good, just not a very good dish overall. Note: the online picture of the trout dish shows much less sauce, likely a more appropriate amount and placement on the plate, most of the sauce on the side of the plate, not on the fish and green beans.
We finished with a complimentary piece of The League's dump cake, which first time diners are provided. The dessert was the star of the show! It's a "deconstructed" dump cake that many of us had as children (at least I did), very, soft, moist chocolate cake, topped with homemade toffee chips, served with pecans and vanilla bean ice cream. Good combination, great dish!
Overall, the service was great! Our server Noah was attentive but not intrusive. He didn't deliver on the hot fries, but he was a good waiter, and explained the restaurant concept and items on the menu very well. The restaurant was not super busy. It has a fun feel, some retro furniture and fixtures, and very moderate noise level. The music was a bit loud in the bar area, but in the dining area that was not an issue. Not sure whether we'll be back, although we may stop by for dessert to have more of the fabulous dump cake!