Today, we bring you not one, but TWO reviews, of two establishments which happen to be just across the street from one another. Kurt returns to his quest for the perfect locally-brewed beer, and if you know Kurt, you know he is particular about his brews! And if you know Ted, well, then you know he enjoys well-crafted, small-plate entrees.
Both Tacoma Brewing Company and El Tufo are located near the corner of St. Helens Ave. and South 7th Street.
Tacoma Brewing Company
Review by Kurt Kwon
The saga continues with finding the brewery for me in Tacoma. (To read Kurt's previous brewery installment, click HERE.) A quick stop at Tacoma Brewing Company yielded interesting results, both good and bad. Had a taster of their own brews. They included: - Mo IPA
- Broken Window IPA
- NW Pale Ale
- Dr. Alexander's Hard Ginger Ale
- Cheap Ass American Beer
Both the IPA's at first taste were fairly mild. However, after some time the hoppiness showed, especially with the Broken Window. The Mo was easier to drink, but overall the two were fair. The NW Pale Ale was blah. Nothing there. Cheap Ass American Beer...well, tasted like cheap ass American beer. Not sure why you'd want to brew that, but whatever floats your boat. The star of the entire taster wasn't even a beer. The Hard Ginger Ale was a nice change of pace, especially with hard cider becoming so popular these days. Ginger Ale was not as sweet as most ciders and was a unique but tasty batch of goodness.
Keep brewing Tacoma Brewing, I will be back to check out more. Hopefully I will like a beer next time.
El Tufo: Son of Stink
Review and photos by Ted Broussard
Just to be clear, I am no Sue Kidd. While I am a big fan of hers, I don’t always agree with her findings. The illustrious TNT food reviewer did a “first bite” review of El Tufo a while back and I’m proud to say that I think she got it right. After all, I am one of the food reviewers for The Tacoma Esplanade Blog and I do know when I like something. And boy, do I like El Tufo, the Spanish tapas wine bar reincarnated from the wine bar end of Stink Cheese and Meat. This new addition to the St. Helens Avenue neighborhood opened just a few months ago, and in my humble opinion, is a big winner.
El Tufo, which I understand translates to “stink” in Spanish, has a lot going for it. The space itself is a charmer with brick walls, log-hewn wooden stools, shelves and shelves of wine bottles all with a contemporary vibe. The music track on our most recent visit was a French playlist on Pandora by Coeur de Pirate and transported us to Europe a lot faster and lot cheaper than by plane. I cut them some slack for not taking me to Spain -- in line with the culinary theme -- the minute I heard an updated version of “La Vie En Rose.” It was very cool and very fun.
Beyond the great environment and excellent service we enjoyed, we even got to meet the chef. Ben Marcus, of From The Bayou fame in Parkland, turns out to be from a town in Louisiana about forty miles from where I grew up. After the requisite small talk about life in the swamps, we shifted to my favorite topic, the crying shame that there is not a good Cajun restaurant in Tacoma. Without making a big promise, he did indicate that he’d love to do that someday and maybe a Cajun food truck could be in his future. Chef Marcus is a genuinely nice guy and clearly loves what he does and puts his heart in it. Having his talent and experience is a big coup for Stink and for downtown Tacoma.
And then there’s the food . . . What’s especially great about small plates is that you can try lots of things on the menu all in one sitting. With so many good choices, we started out with three dishes then ordered two more for good measure. Out of the five, my hands-down favorite was the fried cheese. Our waiter had recommended it as one of his favorites, so I took a risk that he was right. Out comes a big square of mahon cheese breaded in panko and then lightly fried to melted perfection, served over a spicy tomato sauce. It was outstanding -- creamy, rich deliciousness with just a little kick from the sauce. 
The others were big winners too. The seasonal flatbread with grape chutney, red onion, speck prosciutto, and big chunks of blue cheese was a close second choice for me. The crust was a little thicker than I usually like but it tasted great and I decided it probably needed to be a little sturdier to handle the generous layers of flavor goodness. We also tried the white beans and chorizo, and the velvety texture of the beans sautéed in olive oil and topped with Spanish chorizo was perfect. The chorizo is house-made and each bite packs more flavor in it than the last. It was very good, and very different from Mexican chorizo. 
Our final two choices were the melon and speck prosciutto with paper-thin layers of honeydew, and smoked ham drizzled with olive oil and sherry vinaigrette. I thought it was good but not remarkable. Had the melon been a little sweeter I think the contrasting flavors would have knocked it out of the park. The last dish we ordered was called Spanish tortilla, which looked like a nice, hefty wedge of pie, made with sliced potatoes, egg and onions topped with shredded Manchego cheese. It came to the table a little under-salted but that was easy to fix. The dense, tender potatoes and cheesy egg flavors were nicely melded but no particular flavor punch. It was good and very filling but lacked a little “wow” for my tastes. Too bad our Cajun chef didn’t drop a little cayenne on it; that would have been a “wow.”Being a wine bar, the selections are plentiful with lots of international and domestic choices. I enjoyed a very nice French rosé while my husband had a Spanish tempranillo. I figured we should at least get something from those two countries to not clash with the music and food themes. Both were delicious and both were quite the value. My rosé was $5 a glass and the tempranillo was $6 and with generous pours. That alone is enough to get me to come back, but throw in the delicious food and warm environment and I’ll be a regular.
El Tufo is just what we need downtown -- something different, something fun and something delicious. While the night we were there was not very busy at all, the waiter noted that they were much busier earlier that evening and Fridays are usually very busy. I think it’s just a matter of time. I can imagine it taking off to the point that it would be hard to get in at some point and I can tell everybody that I single-handedly built their business, based on my review. But again, I’m no Sue Kidd; I just know what I like.
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