Tap Restaurant

An unexpected little gem in Rosemary Heights.
The ambience is quite nice and posh; I liked the open kitchen concept in the middle of the restaurant.
The service was top notch too with the servers coming around frequently to fill up our water glasses.
As for the food, I had rack of lamb and the hubby has the pasta special with prawns. Both dishes were quite tasty. We had their gnocchi as appetizer and it was a good portion as an appie to be share by 2 people.
We also shared lava cake and their version of lemon meringue. I am a big fan of lava cake and their lava cake was flowing with a warm molten chocolate. Yum!!!
The prices are little on the high side but I can see how that would be considering the service and the concept of the restaurant.
Will be back!

Had such high hopes for this restaurant – It is close to home, came recommended by a neighbour, and had good reviews here on Unilocal.But, it was very disappointing :(
We both ordered the bisque to start (those were good and the reason we are giving TAP 2 stars and not 1), and then my husband had the rack of lamb and I had the steak. I ordered it medium and it came so rare that I couldn’t even eat it all. I ate the sides and left the centre piece on my plate. Similarly, my husband’s lamb was nearly raw. He couldn’t eat it all either! Dessert was equally terrible. My husband had the carrot cake and I had the gluten free chocolate cake which was burnt on the edges (again I couldn’t finish it because the edge was burnt tasting).
I can’t believe that such a gorgeous restaurant would think this kind of food was okay. A $ 130 bill for a very disappointing Valentine’s Day dinner :(
We won’t be back.

I love the location, close to home and you don’t have to go through the parking ballet that is White Rock. Food is contemporary French cuisine, being from Montréal I have a deep appreciation for it. The puff pastry tartes at lunch are wonderful!

Yum! Love and reccomend this place. I always appreciate a restaurant that focuses on fresh seasonal ingredients. The waiter was very accomodating and the food was delicious. The only thing I would critique is the food was a bit too salty for my taste, I have a very sensitive palette. But my friend loved it and thought the level of salt was fine. I had the duck confit and it was perfectly cooked, fall off the bone and very juicy with a crispy skin. I didn’t care much for the golden beets though. HIGHLY reccommend the flambee puff pastry to start, again, a bit too salty for my taste but still very very delicious. Will be coming back :)

Every bite of every dish is memorable so although it might be a little pricey it is worth it.
The Tarte Flambee’s are especially amazing but really, I’ve tried many dishes and never been disappointed

I’ve been here a few times and I have always had a good meal. The service has been exceptional, the atmosphere is perfect and they have a nice wine selection. There is something on the menu for everyone but I am partial to the giant scallop and crab cake appies.

My husband and I have been to this restaurant several times. Usually, we have gone there for lunch, but we, have, on occasion, gone there for dinner. Each time, we have been more than pleased with our experience.
Our latest visit was for lunch on a Saturday afternoon and we had my husband’s mother along with us as well. (Tap is her FAVOURITE restaurant). As usual, we were welcomed at the door, with a friendly greeting and led to our table, which was beautifully set. The restaurant, itself, is a cozy, well-​appointed room with an open kitchen and a patio off the side. The place radiates intimacy, and a quiet sophistication.
Our waiter, Andrew, was very pleasant, friendly and helpful. He told us about the day’s specials, suggested a few dishes and generally made us feel taken care of. He was very knowledgeable about the menu and answered all of our questions. We appreciated his congenial manner and his genuine smile.
After a good look at the menu, (it’s hard to decide when everything sounds so tempting!), we all decided to have the Saltspring Island Mussels. I have tried several different dishes at Tap — the Chili Prawn Spinach Salad (to die for!), the Prawns and Scallop (drool), the Giant Sea Scallop (so delicious!), and the Confit Thiesenn Farms Duck (best duck I have ever had — but, oh, those mussels…
I was surprised when Andrew set down three pots in front of us (I was expecting plates!). Then, he whisked the lid off the pots one by one, letting the steam rise up to piqué our tastebuds and revealing the plump, succulent mussels that were simmered to perfection in a lovely dijon, saffron, lobster broth.
I lost count of the number of mussels in my pot, but there were a lot, so many that I couldn’t eat them all — although, I certainly wanted to eat every single one. The Saltspring Island Mussels is now officially, my favourite dish on the Tap menu. My husband and mother-​in-​law really enjoyed them as well.
Oh, yes, my mother-​in-​law and I had a glass of 2012 Attems Pinot Grigio from Venezia, Italy. The wine was perfectly chilled, crisp and dry, and an excellent complement to the shellfish.
Our lunch was so delicious (kudos to the chef!) and our dining experience, as always, was outstanding. Thank you, Andrew, for your excellent service!
It won’t be long until we visit Tap again!
…

Been here at least a dozen times and every time they nail it– service, food and drinks are always amazing.
This gem hidden away in the Morgan creek/​rosemary heights suburb area and is definitely a diners paradise. If you want a place that is not pretentious, that won’t make you feel like you are on show and tell, and is cozy and romantic, than this place is for you. It’s always packed even on week nights with people who come for the food not the sights.
The food is always fresh and menu is always changing. Their chef is wonderful and always visits the tables multiple times to make sure your food is perfect. Love the open concept kitchen where you can see him keeping an eye on the place :)
The servers are always knowledgable — the majority of them have extensive wine knowledge that goes beyond recommending one to go with your meal. They are passionate about food and wine and it shows. It’s always an education every time we go. The staff went out of their way to accommodate us with a wheelchair accessible table
We have tried just about everything on the menu so far– my favourite is the prawn salad (to die for) and the French onion soup that is make in house. The meat dishes and seafood are always cooked to perfection and will never disappoint. This is the perfect spot for a date night :)
Thanks Tap for always making our experience genuine and fantastic.

Had 2 appetizers –the risotto and prawns and scallop. Applies were great… But really…$ 14. for 2 average size prawns and 1 scallop… that’s a bit much. For ours mains I had the halibut… it was just ok… my hubby had the beef… again just ok. The veggies were all undercooked… which for squash isn’t a good thing. We had a $ 100. Gift card to use… but if we had to pay out of our own pocket I wouldn’t be too happy. Won’t go back.

The food was fabulous — definitely competes with what you can find in Vancouver. The atmosphere is warm, inviting and romantic. You can’t go wrong with Tap Restaurant, a hidden gem in the South Surrey area for sure.

Stuck out in the nether regions of South Surrey/​White Rock is Tap. If you find yourself out that way… Not a bad place to go for some decent food. Not something worth travelling any great distance though. The food is well prepared and tastes good. Nothing overwhelmed the taste buds. Tapas are all good. The entrees are good. Everything was good, just not great.

I was surprised at the location. The area looks residential but all of a sudden there was a plaza. The place is cozy but nicely decorated and trendy. I shared tapas with my friend. We had the risotto, mussels and each had a ‘giant’ scallop. The risotto was a little underdone but it had truffle and which makes everything better. The scallop was perfectly cooked but the sauce was mediocre. The mussels were the real star. The portion was average but the sauce was very good. I’d go again. Probably not for dinner though based on reviews of the price.

Came here several times to come up with this review. Steak never cooked right. Chefs appear to experiment with vegetable combination. Service is average. Pricey. Would not recommend.

*update* the name did change back to Tap Restaurant, from Tap Urban Café, their website
has the lunch/​dinner menu along with wine list.
they accept reservations by phone 604−536−1954 or open table online
i had procrastinated a couple years before trying this place, when people think of fine food in a trendy upscale’ish atmosphere they think cactus club, the keg, moxies ect. those places survive by selling you salt, sugar and industrial seasonings.
if your comfortable with what is essentially «fast food» by all means stick with where your comfortable.
When your ready to eat something that tastes *fresh* then make the trip down 34^th ave to Tap.
here’s a few things i noticed on my visit:
open kitchen, you can see and smell food being prepared (the place smells great as the result) you see the cooks, they see you and engage you, personally i like that and the dining experience was elevated significantly as opposed to being served food that came out of some cave in the back by someone’s face i never saw :)
free parking
outdoor patio with umbrellas, witnessed a nice sunset view even from the dining room
visible fresh herbs in the kitchen (supposedly there is a rooftop herb garden!)
there is a wine room opposite the small bar, wine is part of finer dining but you don’t need to be a wine connoisseur to enjoy this place or order wine.
a well written simple menu featuring what BC is known for, lots of seafood!
our table ordered:
Le Jaguar cocktail — a fresh fruit liquor cocktail that tastes something like a jolly rancher or sour patch kids, a little sweet & sour which is what i wanted, it’s not going to be everybody’s first choice but it was playful and went down smooth, far less heart thumping than a chain restaurant bellini
house salad — salads generally aren’t that exciting, this house salad had a fresh citrus taste and bright color’s to it
crab cakes — unlike any crab cakes i have ever had *thumbs up*
lobster bisque — creamy rich and a very present lobster flavor Yum!
mussels (on special) — the sauce these were cooked in was soo good, seriously, when your sucking on the muscle shells to get every drop of sauce, i wish i’d had a loaf of bread around to soak it up with (but this place isn’t about endless table bread, tho they’ll happily give you a few pieces if you ask) so i broke off a mussel shell and started scooping it up, nuff said on how good the dish was?
i am the kind of customer that wants recommendations and am always asking servers in restaurants «what’s good tonight?» Tap seems to be a good choice for both the spontaneous and the assertive diner. The chef told me himself «i want your feedback, in person» which translates to him standing behind his food and if something wasn’t right he wanted to know and improve it. that is class!
cost: yes good food costs more than bad food, so save up.
no restaurant is perfect but this place made my taste buds believe it could be that, had a really good experience here and i’ll come back again

I was really excited about trying ths place after I saw there menu online… The actual name of this place is Tap Restaurant (and they do have a website by the way)
I went here on a first date, he let me pick the place and I had never been here before and it looked nice, so I thought it would be good. It was a nice fairly quiet restaurant, but even though I had made a reservation, we had to stand by the door and wait for 15 minutes. Great start … lol
We got an appetizer to start, the Scallops & Prawns (I don’t know why they have an «s» on the end of both of those proteins since we got 2 prawns and 1 scallop, what a rip off.)
I wanted to try the duck, it was on the menu, but they didn’t have it that night. So I tried th fish of the day with lemon risotto. It didn’t taste like lemon at all and was not as good as other risotos I have had. The fish was nice though.
My date had the 10oz ribeye steak. It was very small and chewy. Not worth $ 40. (The keg is way way better for meat)… How can you mess up steak? You shouldn’t be in the kitchen if you can’t cook steak properly
What I really didn’t appreciate was the servers lack of interest in us as soon as he learned that neither of us drink. I’m sure to him that meant the bill wouldn’t be a big without wine and thus his tip wouldn’t be as large. So he pretty much ignored us after that. We were going to order desert, but he was too busy with his 2 or 3 other tables to come check on us after our entrees. We waited for 20 minutes! So we went home.
I felt so bad for picking this place since it cost $ 100 for 2 entrees and a tiny appetizer! We laugh about it now, but we won’t be back

Good stuff. Super friendly staff. They care about food.

FYI — Not sure if it’s changed it’s name officially, but when I was there it’s called «Tap Restaurant» and not «Tap Urban Café».
First off, I have a pet peeve if a resto doesn’t have a website in this day and age — I hate having no idea what I’m getting into!
It’s located in the Morgan Creek area — very easy to get to just off Hwy 99 south near White Rock. Lots of street parking out front. Décor is simple and uncluttered, but nothing that remarkable for design.
I found the dinner menu quite limited personally. They do a tapas style menu so I sampled a variety of dishes including steak with a mushroom peppercorn sauce, a seared tuna dish, etc… The food was okay but nothing really stood out for me other than the cheesecake which was fabulous. Wonderful taste and texture with a beautiful drizzle and graham cracker crumb base. Mmmm.
Service is very good and food comes at a good pace.
It is a reasonable option if you want to hold a private event since the resto is small enough that you can book it entirely and comfortably host a sit down event for about 50 people. Overall it’s A-​OK but not somewhere I’d return unless someone else picks it again or I’m already in the area.

This place is hidden away on a side street off a main road, but when you find it — you will love it! The staff is super friendly and make you feel right at home. The patio is gorgeous just off to the side of the restaurant and, unless you get there early, it will surely be filled up on a nice day.
The menu is pretty extensive, with lunch being my personal favorite. And if you like dessert, their Chocolate Lava Cake with Raspberry Coulis and Vanilla Bean Gelato is a must have!
Tap is also a great place to go to if you just want to have drinks with your friends. The laid back atmosphere combined with the posh ambiance makes this the perfect place to enjoy a few glasses of wine.