The Elm Street salad ($12 with tofu, tuna, or prime rib) is a good enough plate of field greens with an excellent dressing. We had it with tofu, which was marinated but didn’t really go with all the fresh vegetables. I say batter it and fry it first. Cold roasted potatoes were also an unusual mix-in.
Another vegan attraction is vegetarian lentil stew ($10), here enriched with coconut milk and what I would describe as “dry” curry spices, and served over a little bit of real jasmine rice. The obvious vegetables were carrots and zucchini in small cubes, but this was filling and soul-satisfying. It made sense out of “international comfort food.”
In the key of meat, Deep Ellum features a wurst plate ($12) of homemade sausages, so popular it was sold out on my second visit; a prime-rib dinner ($16); jerk chicken ($13); and my eventual choice, a Moroccan lamb shank ($14) served over couscous. This was a giant lamb shank, cooked well and properly, so that not only does the meat fall off the bone, the bones fall apart as well. I would have liked more root vegetables, but the turnips, carrots, and such were choice and influenced by the “Moroccan” spices, notably one or two whole cardamom pods.
If you’re looking to drink your dessert, you should probably go for a barley wine. If not, the choice at Deep Ellum seems to be limited to a single dessert offering (not listed on the menu). Recently it was banana bread with caramel sauce and chocolate bits ($6). I thought it was a little bit underdone and doughy; still, I finished every bite of a large piece.
Service at Deep Ellum was very good, and the staff is knowledgeable about beer, which is the real gourmet focus here. Certainly both draughts I had were impeccably fresh, and sanitation around the taps and cask machines is the key to excellence with fresh beers and ales. The atmosphere derives from overly loud alternative rock, Laura Love being the only voice I recognized. There are muted TVs, but this may be the one American-owned bar where they are tuned to VH1 instead of sports. The sparse early crowd runs to the young, dark clothed, and tattooed, but they’re friendly enough once one shows an interest in craft brewing. Overall, Deep Ellum is bohemian and cool, but entirely professional. It’s an interesting combination, and the food works with and without beer.
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Robert Nadeau: RobtNadeau@aol.com
