Firetap Alehouse

Thursday night we finally made it out to the Firetap Alehouse - it's been open for a few months but a series of misadventures kept us from trying it out.
We went on Wednesday night, and the place was hopping.  The interior is very nice - very modern alehouse with an uncluttered decor.   The hostess and our waiter were both excellent - on the ball, but not overly so. We still got seated right away, and were immediately confronted with a mid-size food menu and an equivalent beer and wine menu.  Passing over the sandwiches and pizza, Mr EA got Cajun Fettucini and I got Melanzan al Parmesan.  We declined beer, although it was tempting.  The next table got some nifty beer sampler sets that looked pretty interesting.  However, we were grocery shopping after dinner, and friends don't let friends shop drunk.
     We started off with a garlic bread appetiser with marinara sauce for dipping.  Rather than traditional bread, it was slices of pizza crust with garlic and oil and an herbal mix.  This was a delicious and different appetizer, which was nicely complemented with the marinara.  Mr EA's pasta was very good, rich with chicken and sausage and featured a spicy, creamy sauce.  My meal was supposed to come with a side of pasta, for which I substituted a small chopped salad.  The salad was delicious and fresh with a good mix of veggies.  My eggplant, however, was somewhat unfortunate.  The cheese and sauce parts were very good, but there was very little eggplant.  What there was quite a lot of was breading.  Lots and lots of soggy breading.  I found myself wishing that I had ordered a sandwich or that we had split a pizza, as had everyone at the surrounding tables.  Everyone around me was enjoying good-smelling and delicious looking sandwiches and burgers and pizza and appetizer, which was kind of dispiriting. On the whole, it was a middling experience.  We will probably give it another try, but next time we'll go for the pizza.