Brick Roasted Chicken & Prosciutto Flatbread @ Union Kitchen & Tap

Taste

Presentation

Service

Summary:

4.2

Chomps

Union Kitchen & Tap Review

Upon entering Union Kitchen & Tap I am immediately impressed by the old timey, industrial woodsman feel. On the walls, old black & white photos of blue-collared working joe’s and a young Johnny Cash. The old brick walls, dark wood bar and selection of drafts on tap tell me this is the place to be.

Open since May, 2011, Union has over 20 craft beers on tap, many of them San Diego locals including Karl Strauss, Stone and Coronado Brewing to name a few.

I visited Union Kitchen & Tap with Kaela on a Saturday evening for dinner. The dimly lit restaurant was packed with diners and thirsty folks working on their craft beers. The menu was nicely laid out, for entrees a few things stood out: Salmon Creek Pork Belly, Quinoa Sweet Potato Cakes and a Roasted Garlic Grilled Leek Risotto. For appetizers the BBQ Crab Claws certainly looked interesting as well as the Venison Meatballs. What we finally decided on is the Brick Roasted Chicken to share and the Prosciutto Flatbread. For drink I chose the Dogfish Punkin Ale, which pours burnt orange in color and a white foamy head. The pumpkin comes through dominated by spicy nutmeg and brown sugar.

The Low-down

The Brick Roasted Chicken is served stacked on top of two black pepper biscuits, stewed kale & tomatoes with a roasted garlic jus. The chicken was cooked well, extremely juicy and moist, the kale was cooked well with a light flavor reminiscent of southern greens. The black pepper biscuits were a little dense and I wish they were hotter. In addition the roasted chicken breast is served with the skin on which is great but I’m a big fan of crispy skin, and the skin wasn’t crispy at all, so that fell a little short of our expectations. The chicken was seasoned nicely though, got to hand that to the chef. The garlic jus sauce had good flavor.

The Prosciutto flatbread comes with La Quercia Prosciutto, Buratta (an Italian cheese made of mozzarella and cream), rocket (arugula) and a 3 farm eggs. The nice thing about this flatbread was biting into the egg yolk and making a creamy mess. The arugula had a nice slightly peppery bite and the prosciutto matched perfectly with everything. Excellent flatbread overall.

On my next visit to Union Kitchen & Tap I’m definitely going to check out the Bacon Mac & Cheese and Sweet Potato Poutine (sweet potato fries with blue cheese fondue and crumbled bacon). It’s baked in a cast iron skillet and smothered in blue cheese. Whoa, this is crazy…and I just met you but get in my belly!

1108 S Coast Hwy 101
Encinitas, CA 92024
Neighborhood: Encinitas

(760) 230-2337

www.localunion101.com

Tags: Beer/Wine & Spirits, Chicken