Sycamore

Rocker, hipster or 9-5 office worker, the friendly folks at The Sycamore will welcome you with plenty of genuine smiles.

Sycamore is a Groupon find. Not a barhopper type of gal, if not for Groupon I probably would not have ventured into this neighborhood bar for our monthly foodie lunch with my foodie friend, Heather.

Sycamore is tiny, dive-ish and the vive is friendly. The decor is eclectically rocker-fun with dark blood red walls, black/white paintings and zebra-stripped pillows. The bar is stocked with beers. (I tried to order tea but they said they only serve soda and beer only.)

What sold us was the promise of PORK BELLY DONUTS W/ MAPLE MAKERS MARK GLAZE (3 for $3): Heather and I were so intrigued while we were planning our lunch date and really looked forward to trying this appetizer. And I almost broke my seafoodtarian diet to try one of these donuts. Luckily, I did not have to.

Before I popped a whole one in my mouth, Heather cut one donut in half and we found a big chunk of pork in the middle. I just ate the fried dough and I still got the flavor of the pork without eating the meat. The dough was nice but we did not do this food justice. We are not pork gals so just tasted one each and left the pork out. Good concept, though!

SALAD: Butter Lettuce with Pear, Strawberries, Goat Cheese, Chives and Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette ($8) This salad was so ginormous! Sad to say, it was not a very good salad. The butter lettuce was not cut and we had to cut them which was hard because we only had appetizer plates. The quantity was great for sharing but the ingredients did not come together nor the dressing well-balanced.

BEER BATTERED ROCK COD SLIDERS with Sriracha Aioli and House Made Pickles ($3): These are the bomb!!!! Hot, fresh off the fryer, delish and flavorful! A "must order "when at Sycamore. You can mix and match their sliders of lamb or beef burger, and/or fried chicken sliders for $3 each.

SEITAN SANDWICH ($8): Let me put it this way. Unless you are a vegetarian, I will go for the beer battered rock cod sliders.  This sammy was huge but tasteless and dry.

FRIES: $1 more with the order of sliders or sandwiches. Not very good. Greasy and overly fried.

OVERALL:

Sycamore is a very cool place with decent food and great value. They will definiltely feed you without stealing your wallet. If I were a beer drinker I will come this place but I would not mind returning for those sliders.

The interior is fun but on the divey/gritty side. It did not help that it was storming when we got there. We were wet and cold, and the place was not heated up. The seats had stains and crumbs on them. It was still a nice experience. I will definitely go back to have those beer-battered sliders to go and even a gigantic bowl of that salad!

TAB after $25 Groupon: $5 including tip!!!!

FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: 3 Stars  Best Deal in Town!


Key:


0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Very disappointing but there it has some good things to offer.
3 Stars: It is okay but do not expect much. I will still return.
4 Stars: I like it! I will be singing your praises!
5 Stars: I will be dreaming of you at night!
6 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)