From November 2003

This restaurant-bar tries to be all things to all people. Harry's Tap Room has its share of misses, but there are attractions, too, starting with the decor. The high ceilings, large colored panels, nicely spaced tables, and other amenities provide a lovely setting for dining or a drink at the bar. Also among the pluses is fine stemware for wine service.

Customers enter through the bar area, and many go no farther. To the left are tables for an informal repast. To the right is a throng of twentysomethings, who fill the ample space seven evenings a week. Visitors seeking food and comfortable surroundings are advised to climb the curved staircase to the lovely dining room with an open kitchen. On most evenings there is a wait of 15 minutes or more for patrons without reservations. So call before you drop in. A son of Sam & Harry's, Harry's Tap Room has met with instant success.

Two items featured on the menu are the pots of steamed mussels and the twin beef tenderloins. Mussels, recommended as an appetizer, come in large or small portions and are cooked in different stocks based on cream, wine, ale, leeks, and tomatoes. Enough for two or three people as a first course, the large portion for $12.95 does not compare in size or quality with the best in the area, found at Mannequin Pis in Olney. These mussels need help. In the simpler preparations, the broth needs bolder seasoning and the mussels need to be purged of their grit. The twin filets, in contrast, are a first-rate main course--high-quality beef cooked to perfection and served with variety of sauces, from bearnaise to tomato chutney to black and green peppercorns and garlic cream, 11 in all. The dish is well priced at $16.95.

The standard appetizers are good: Fried calamari, served with a thick tomato sauce and a green sauce, are crisp, clean-flavored, and tender. An individual beef Wellington is a browned pastry crust the size of a tennis ball encasing a filet cooked to a pleasing medium-rare with diced mushrooms. Roasted red-pepper-and-crab soup, made with top-of-the-line crab flakes, was full of flavor. Less successful were the pan-fried oysters on a bed of fennel; the batter was tired. Oysters on the half shell were served at room temperature.

Main courses, which top off at $23.95, are similarly inconsistent. The twin filets top the list. High marks also go to the roasted and grilled pork loin, a tender cut cooked in apple cider and red wine and best ordered medium-rare or medium. The spicy, tasty rib-eye steak with Cajun blackening spices, fresh basil, and horseradish cream sauce came in a disappointingly small portion.

The braised long rib, a huge rib with the meat removed from the bone, was excellent but overpriced at $21.95. Among the accompaniments, order the fried potatoes but avoid the onion rings. The chicken in a pot was unorthodox--roasted pieces in an intense browned broth with saffron rice and vegetables, it bore no resemblance to the standard version of boiled chicken and noodles.

Among the seafood preparations, the crabcake, available as both a main course and an appetizer, is very good. The crabmeat is excellent, the filler minimal. Both the swordfish and the rockfish were drab.

Harry's deserves plaudits for its excellent wine list, which is long, intelligent, and reasonably priced. The wines are grouped by fullness of body, with a few idiosyncratic categories thrown in. Unlike at many restaurants, there are no slackers on the low end of this list. Harry's also gets praise for its desserts, especially the cheesecake, which it imports from Carnegie Deli in New York City. Bread comes in the form of small rolls and muffins, both fine.

Brunch, served Saturday and Sundays from 10 AM, is a winner. There are several versions of eggs Benedict, with plenty of Hollandaise sauce and a choice of meats and other additions. Good omelets and pancakes are alternatives.