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• Chatham Tap Pub & Restaurant

Chatham Tap Restaurant & Pub opened last year at 719 Massachusetts Ave., in the former LAMP gallery. (Rob Goebel / The Star)

This is an order of Portabella mushroom fries. (Rob Goebel / Indianapolis Star)

French bread hugs smoked gouda and apples. (Rob Goebel / The Star)

Fluffy batter coats cod in a full order of fish and chips; tartar sauce and lemon accompany the fish. (Rob Goebel / The Star)

Chatham Tap Restaurant & Pub, which took over the former LAMP Gallery space late last summer, made major modifications, most strikingly in the massive wood bar that's set into one long wall.

Dark inside, even during the daytime, Chatham Tap makes for a cozy place to hunker down during brutal wintry days. And so I did, for lunch.

The Food

If the menu has a focus, it's casual bar food -- not overwhelmingly English but uniformly snackable. The long appetizer list includes wings, hummus, bruschetta and breadsticks.

My buddies and I started our lunch with portobello mushroom fries ($7), thickly battered fingers of mushroom served with mild chipotle ranch dip.

A full order of fish and chips ($9.50) is a tall pile of fluffy-battered cod and battered fries that are eminently addictive.

Pizza was a disappointment, with a thin crust that didn't hold together, too-sweet tomato sauce and flavorless cheese. The meaty kuzola version ($10.50 for a small) I ordered bore pepperoni, sausage and sliced rasher bacon -- all in keeping with the sub-par elements they topped.

Smoked gouda and apple melt ($6) had snap, flavor and warm comfort; crisp-crusted French bread was toasted and stuffed with cinnamon-y apple slices and intensely smoky cheese. Instead of coleslaw and cottage cheese, I went for homemade chips to side with my sandwich -- hearty, curly, crunchy-!chewy crisps.

The Service

Overwhelmed. The place gets crowded, and crowds require hustle. Our server moved in slow motion. We waited early and often -- for a menu, a drink, the check.

The Atmosphere

Standard English pubbery: dark wood, mirrors advertising across-the-pond brews, soccer on the televisions. Tables are packed into the small room, and a bar dominates one wall. All is as it should be, including Hoegaarden on tap.

The Price

$46 for three, including tax, tip and one beer. Not bad, but $10.50 for that pizza is a gross overvaluation.

Next Time

I'll show up after 5 o'clock so I can try the steak and Guinness pie. Barring that, maybe the Reuben or a garlic pork tenderloin sandwich.

- By Traci Cumbay / Star correspondent