This New Brewpub Has 30+ Beers on Tap
Taps & Apps has opened in Mililani Mauka.
Photos: Lennie Omalza
New restaurants and bars are popping up in town all the time, so when word spread of a new brewpub out in Central O‘ahu, we were excited to see what it had to offer.
For beer enthusiasts, Taps & Apps is a great spot. With more than 30 beers on tap, including a couple of homebrews, there’s something for just about everyone. The premium beer flight allowed us to taste everything from the sweet, almost juicelike Pineapple Cider to the dark, bitter Black Butte Porter. (We loved them all!) We also appreciate the fact that the draft menu lists IBUs, so even beer rookies know what they’re getting themselves into. The beer ordering system is very easy, too. Patrons simply use chalk to write the corresponding numbers of the brew they want on the flight trays.
The marinated Portobello mushroom sandwich with french fries.
Upon arriving for lunch, we were disappointed to hear that most of the appetizers are only available for dinner—the lunch menu consists of sandwiches, served with house salad or kettle chips. After ordering a few sandwiches and some dip, we were even more disappointed to get our food and find out that we actually could have ordered appetizers—apparently, our server was confused. Thankfully, the portions were generous and we enjoyed almost everything.
The soft shell crab sandwich.
Our favorite is probably the crab dip. Served with house-made T&A crostinis, which are like tasty pita chips that could be enjoyed on their own, the warm dip has just the right amount of crab and is a perfect pūpū for beer drinking. The kurobuta sandwich was also delicious, with its tender, melt-in-your-mouth kurobuta pork belly confit, served in toasted sourdough with arugula, tomato and garlic aioli. (We’d like to go back and have the pork belly on its own as an appetizer!) The crab sandwich is tasty as well. Served in a toasted brioche bun with pickles and remoulade, the stout beer tempura batter deep-fried soft-shell crab is very soft and moist.
The T&A burger.
After enjoying the first two sandwiches, we were a little confused with the T&A burger, which consists of a half-pound, house-ground, 100-percent chuck short rib, topped with Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, garlic aioli, spicy aioli, greens, tomato and house pickles. It sounds like an interesting and delicious medley of flavors, but it just tasted salty—really salty. We’re hopeful there was a mistake in the kitchen that day and we can return to try it again, along with some appetizers.
Taps & Apps, 95-1830 Meheula Pwky. Suite C6, Mililani, HI, 626-8277, open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
