I've been told my h-bar tape looks lumpy and ugly. I haven't worried much about cosmetics as the function and comfort works for me just perfect.
I did have a fixie that I used with drop bars and knobby tires years ago. The drop part had MTB grips and the top bar part had a set of flat bar mtb grips as well that overlapped the area where there would normally be hoods. I found myself rarely using the drop part but I had no problems fitting the grips on.