The Charred Oak Tavern
Whether you order one of their overloaded plates....
Sling back a tasty flight or happen to run into the owners....
"Hi, I'm Mike and I'm Matt. "
You're bound to be seeing double at The Charred Oak Tavern.
Situated in Middleboro Center, The Charred Oak Tavern is the brainchild of brothers Mike and Matt Menard, two hands-on owners, who also happen to be identical twins.
"We are twins. The fun part is, is that we literally can be in two places at once. Sometimes, we look like Superman. He might be running in the kitchen in his set of clothes, but I'm walking out of the kitchen in my set of clothes, and I'll look like I just ran in and out and I changed like Superman."
This can sometimes cause confusion, according to Front of House Manager, Sylvia Furtado.
"It can cause some confusion on the floor but oddly enough, they actually answer to either name. They're really used to that. My name is Matt or Mike Menard. His is Mike or Matt Menard. They're quite used to it."
You'll always find Sylvia and the brothers running around the rustic yet refined dining space, decked out reclaimed wood, exposed brick, high ceilings and low lighting.
"We decided that Middleboro needed a little piece of something different, something unique. We like to think that it's a little bit of Boston, without having to go so far."
And back in the kitchen is where you'll catch Executive Chef Manuel Hernandez- a young cook with an old fashioned work ethic.
"He's young but his mind is just wise beyond his years. You see it in his food, you see it in the way he talks, you see it in his drive. He's absolutely is an inspiration."
And his menu will inspire you to pig out with apps like Loaded Potato Boats stuffed with slow cooked short ribs, sharp cheddar and a bbq sour cream drizzle. Stuffed Quahogs spiked with lingucia and applewood smoked bacon topped with a roasted garlic lemon aioli and artfully presented Bourbon Candied Bacon- served hanging from a clothes line.
"As soon as they see it they're still just blown away like, "That is the coolest thing I've ever seen. It's thick slabs of Applewood smoked bacon, and they are glazed and then they are baked to a nice crisp, but they still hold shape because they're nice and thick so when you bite into it, you just get that candied crunch, but they're still really soft, and it breaks apart in your mouth. They are delicious. And who doesn't love bacon?"
Bacon even makes its way onto the Nachos- which are anything but traditional.
"There's candied bacon bits that are chopped really thin, there's chopped tomatoes, there's chopped onions, and then there's blue cheese crumbles all over it. Then the best thing about our nachos is there's a spiced honey drizzle. It really brings out all the flavors because of the sweetness in the spiced honey. Then you have a dollop of avocado crème fraîche. I cannot say enough about it."
If you want a dish inspired by Chef's mother, order the Caribbean Bison Meatloaf- served over red bliss mashed potatoes, sauced with a cabernet mushroom gravy and spiked with a hard boiled egg at the center.
"Coming from the Caribbean, I remember my mom always put a hard boiled egg right in the center of the meatloaf. So every slice. Right on the center it has a nice hard boiled egg, which is very attractive and it's delicious. Who doesn't like meat and eggs?"
Another dynamic duo is the Short Rib Mac n Cheese- two great tastes- that taste great together.
"It's trotolle pasta, so the pasta itself really holds all the flavors together. Then you have the four cheese barbecue sauce..You have the short ribs. Then it's actually sprinkled with whiskey smoked panko sugar on top. It just gives it that nice, nice flavor, and it is to die for. It's comfort food."
Even the burger is enhanced with the combination of blue cheese and jalapenos.
"What we do is we actually take a jalapeno pepper, and we hollow out the pepper and we stuff it with blue cheese. Then we just cut it into thin little wheels. You have to like spice in order to like this burger. But its definitely one of the best."
Charred Oak also offers big plates of traditional comfort food faves from Sticky Bourbon Ribs braised in apple beer and big plates of fried haddock, scallops and shrimp. But nothing beats a great steak, and at Charred Oak, they claim it's the best.
"We take pride in our Charred Oak Tavern house steak you know it's got to be something good if we're putting our name on it. It's a nice piece of a center cut New York sirloin steak and of course, it's cooked to perfection whichever way you like it, a little bloody or not. Then we put a nice dollop of a garlic butter right on top it just falls apart in your mouth. It's a really great, great steak."
And while the Chocolate Lava Cake paired with an Irish Coffee may be a sweet pair to end your meal, there's no twosome who seem to work better together than Matt and Mike.
"Through life we've worked together almost every job we've ever had, so it is actually a very natural fit for us to work together. It'd almost feel more unnatural if I was working somewhere that he wasn't. We work really well together, and we are both really excited and proud of finally creating something that we've always wanted to create for a long time."
