Its name has retro charm, but the Tip Tap Room takes itself literally, too. On the menu of this new Beacon Hill hangout from chef-owner Brian Poe (Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake) is an assortment of tips — and not just your standard steak and turkey. Poe also serves lamb tips with mint glaze, chevre mashed potatoes, and tzatziki; swordfish tips with tapenade mashed potatoes and haricots verts; tofu tips with portobellos, red pepper, and avocado; and wild selections such as elk, emu, and goat. Its first day open, the Tip Tap Room reportedly sold out of yak tips in three hours.
For the tip-averse, there are appetizers and salads — rock shrimp with cucumber salad and chili-ginger sauce; fried goat cheese balls with crisped prosciutto; arugula with watermelon, red onion, and cumin-cayenne vinaigrette; and more. (Don’t worry, you can add tips to the salads. And for dessert, if you’re lucky, you may find peach tip cobbler.)
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The Tip Tap Room doesn’t ignore the “tap” side of the equation, either. There are three dozen draft beers available, many of them local. Bourbon and house cocktails are another focus of the beverage program.
Anyone who ever ate at Chinese restaurant Shangri-La, the previous occupant, won’t recognize the place. It’s now a clean, open room with wood floors, pumpkin-colored walls, and black accents. With its tips and taps, Poe’s new place offers Beacon Hill a modern alternative to the crab rangoon and scorpion bowls of yore.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @devrafirst.