Taste Restaurant Overland Park, KS

Taste is in the same location as Tonic at 7938 Santa Fe Drive in Old Overland Park. My understanding is the former executive chef, Johnathon Dallen, bought Tonic and has re-opened it as Taste. As you might expect, the menu seems about the same as Tonic’s. The menu is moderately priced with the entrees between $14 and $35.

Mrs. Secret Eater & I had dinner there on Friday 10/17. The restaurant was not crowded at 7:30 but was rather noisy.

We started with a bottle of wine which leads me to the strange wine list. By strange I mean there are many red wine selections in the under $40 category which is good except that the wines are kind of mundane. Lots of common stuff like Blackstone, Coppola and Rancho Zabaco. People get tired of the same old things you see everywhere. The whites suffer the same fate. The cabs are limited and jump from $38 to $68 with nothing in between. Then there are two Bordeaux style blends at $90 and $210. With all of the great wines available today it is very easy to build a strong list with exciting selections in all price categories.

We ordered an appetizer from an extensive menu called First Tastes. There are some exciting sounding dishes on this list. We had the Bruschetta with mozzarella and tomato salad with balsamic reduction. It was good but the toast was so over toasted it crumbled in our hands. The balsamic reduction was used very sparingly but added a rich dimension to the salad.

For dinner we both had the Peppercorn Crusted KC Strip. This was supposed to be pan seared and served with a peppercorn and port wine sauce. Unfortunately it was not crusted with peppercorns, there was no sauce present and I couldn’t find any evidence of pan searing. It was kind of grey on the outside, fatty and somewhat tough. Due to the texture my first thought was it may have been frozen. The grilled asparagus and herb whipped potatoes were ok but nothing special.

Service at the bar was good but at the table I had to ask for water and ask for the fantastic filo “breadsticks” which were the highlight of the meal.

Maybe this was an off night but we had a very similar experience at Tonic not long after it opened. Restaurant competition being what it is in Johnson County a new place has to create a following quickly with great food and a solid dining experience then maintain that with consistency. I think Taste is probably a good neighborhood bar but the restaurant needs work.

The Secret Eater