Posts Tagged ‘Village Whiskey’
Screw You, Snow!
t says: So it decided to be cold and miserable out today. Boooooooo! Annoyed with the cold, g and I resolved to stay inside … then we realized we had no food. So we resolved to go outside … to Village Whiskey.
10/2011, 3pm Saturday, Party of 2. We sat at the bar-table-things in the back. Not before long, we were elbow-deep in deliciosity.
Oh short-rib-cheddar-fries ... it's been too long!
Trust us … as good as it looks in the pic – it’s even better in real life! Add the fact that it was cold outside, and voila – a perfect way to warm up. g and I still believe that it’s one of the best things on the VW menu. Nice salty potato and lusciously soft shortrib smothered in golden cheese. The problem is that it’s a huge serving – no single person should consume this entire thing. Even after splitting this between g and me, we knew that there was no way we’d be able to down a burger afterwards (but we didn’t mind some leftovers).
Chicken sandwich with long hot peppers.
The chicken sandwich was kind of bad. Sorry VW – the streak of awesome sandwiches ends here with the chicken. The long hots were indeed spicy and completely overpowered every other flavor that may have been incorporated. Furthermore, the chicken was very dry. When tasted sans chicken/peppers, the mushrooms, cheese, and bread were good – and so were the taro root chips! Nevertheless, the sandwich made me a little sad because I missed my normal go-to: bbq pork sandwich.
g got the ... surprise! veggie burger! It was as good as usual.
A classic g & t drink selection!
g feels that the above picture is a classic representation of our tastes. I go for chocolate and sugar – she goes for fancy mixed drinks … “with heels and accessories” (it’s in a stemmed glass with fruit garnish!). Both were wonderful.
I will say that the one thing that surprised us was that the service did NOT suck! The hostess was nice enough (it wasn’t the super-terse/snobby one with the tats), our server was both competent and expedient. True – no one was bubbly/friendly, but I’m glad to see some changing-of-the-guard going on over there. Figures though – the one time they have not-crap service, I order the boring chicken sandwich. Stupid, stupid t!
‘Ats a Lotta’ Chocolate
t says: I love chocolate. For real. Consequently, I’ve had many a recent chocolate experiences that I feel like sharing.
First up: Vosges Chocolate in NYC. g and I were in NYC this past weekend for a lovely wedding (more on that later). We decided to run down to Soho and do a bit of shopping. As the dedicated bag mule, I was perhaps a little whiny, as it was very warm outside and I am fairly heat intolerant (I’m actually sweat intolerant moreso than heat intolerant). g decided to placate the 6-year-old in me with a trip to Vosges chocolate. Now I know that in the world of real chocolate, perhaps Vosges isn’t the best, maybe some will view their chocolate as nothing but over-priced Hershey’s with upscale marketing – but who cares? It’s chocolate. And I like it. So back off! Oh … yes … back to the story at hand … This is what I saw outside.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
Ice cream, eh? Ok, that’d hit the spot nicely. So I went in and it was a glorious glorious place.
A peak inside Vosges.
There were a few items in particular that caught my eye …
A classy way to do bacon + chocolate ...
... and a not-so-classy way to do bacon + chocolate.
And then there were pre-made cookies (but they were pretty hard and likely stale – bad form, Vosges!), and baking mixes, and so much more! In the end, I had no choice but to go with the ice cream – after all, it was hot outside. I went for the “Pandan”, which incorporated some kind of Asian leaf that added a nice nutty flavor (something between a peanut and a hazelnut) to the chocolate ice cream, which was rich and velvety and not the least bit icy. It was truly an excellent ice cream. It did hit the spot nicely, and I’d be happy to carry shopping bags in Soho in the future if promised some more. Thanks Vosges! You saved g’s shopping adventure!
And writing this post reminded me of another Vosges bar I recently had which was pretty darn good.
Can it beat out the Chocolate + Bacon bar?
From a post of Vosges chocolate we did a while ago, you can see that I do like the Moe’s chocolate bacon bar a lot. This was a very close second. The chocolate squares have a layer of sweet caramel inbetween which is a nice contrast to the bitter chocolate. The only problem is that it’s a smidge too sweet, so when I first stick it in my mouth, all I get is that super-sweet caramel flavor. Fortunately, the chocolate and salt kick in and restore balance a few seconds later. Overall, I was also happy with how intense a flavor this confection had, as it allowed me to pace myself and eat the bar over a few days … unlike the bacon bar … where I can’t help myself.
Moving on from Vosges … there’s another good chocolate-centric thing goin’ down as well. But this time, closer to home …
Milkshake at Village Whiskey!
g and I dined at Village Whiskey for lunch today. I had the BBQ pork sandwich and g had the veggie burger – no surprises here. BUT, we did get some milkshakes, which are either new, or at the very least, something we had never noticed on the menu before. They took forever to come out – not appearing until we were 3/4 the way done our sandwiches. But they were worth the wait. What you see above is the s’more milkshake which was fantastic. The shake part was thick and creamy and not icy at all. There were some toasted marshmallows and graham on top (which I crushed up and put in the milk shake) and some chocolate swirls. This is not the most chocolatey milkshake ever, but it was delicious. My only critique is that it is unbelievably heavy – I think I could only tolerate 2/3 of it before crying uncle. I feel like I should go there for a milkshake dinner or something (mmmm … get an order of fries and a milkshake and call it a night … that … sounds … amazing). g had one as well – caramel malt – but it had no chocolate in it, so I didn’t bother with a picture (but g says it was “deeeee-licious”).
And there is one more chocolate thing that I encountered recently that I’m going to hold back until later in the week. This is a lot of typing for now. So tune in soon for the exciting conclusion. Hint: it’s going to be weird …
Lightning Round 2! (+Bonus Pic!)
t says: We had a long time friend (drb) and his awesome girlfriend stop by in Philly a couple times during their recent visit to the area. We used this as an opportunity/excuse to show off some Philly cuisine, taking them to places that we thought were surefire bets for impressive food. Because we’ve been to all of these places before, there’s no real point to individual reviews, so here’s the quick and dirty …
drb keeps his own wordpress blog, so if you desire a non-g/t review of some of these places, check it out here. And no, you’re not allowed to think he’s funnier than we are …
Village Whiskey:
Props: BBQ pork sandwich. Yea – it’s still ridiculously good (but I recognize that bbq is a very personal thing, so maybe some might disagree). My friends enjoyed the fries and veggie burger, but did note that perhaps this place was a bit overpriced (e.g. $8 for a glass of whiskey that could be purchased by the bottle for ~$25). My response: “welcome to Philadelphia”. While his girlfriend admitted to liking the veggie burger a lot, drb noted that it contained a lot of intact beans – he prefers a more homogeneous patty. To each their own. Slops: What is wrong with the service here? They just can’t seem to get it together! This was our second time in a row with crappy service. Although we didn’t get the juvenile attitude that our last server had, it took 40 minutes for two sandwiches to arrive despite the place being only half-occupied. And then they forgot to add the onions I had ordered on my sandwich. Very weird. VW has to have the most inconsistent service of all the Garces joints. drb noted that it seemed to him like it was staffed with a bunch of hipsters … and he hates hipsters (n.b. just to clarify, he is not one of those people who assumes that anyone with a tattoo is a hipster; he has absolutely nothing against people with tattoos … just hipsters).
Capo Giro:
Props: Dark chocolate and candied cherry gelato. Need I say more? Well I’m going to, anyways. drb’s girlfriend, who insisted that she had very high gelato standards (having spent time in Europe) and even admitted that she was quite cautious/hesitant/doubtful before tasting Capo Giro, proclaimed it to be the best gelato she has ever had. Bam! It was so good, we went there a second time with drb and his mom a week later. Slops: If it was just a dollar cheaper, that’d be awesome. However, I’d also be 87 lbs heavier, so maybe not …
Carman’s Country Kitchen:
Props: This place’s food was still off-the-hook. We knew that drb and his girlfriend would enjoy the “atmosphere”. We love how we can call up Carman and claim our table early. Slops: Totally forgot that if you have dietary restrictions or particular tastes (e.g. anti-fruit), this is not the easiest place to find something to eat (it’s summer – fruit’s in everything). If the chairs were just a little smaller, we might be able to smoosh in a little closer when sitting at the tables.
Morimoto:
Props: Best pork belly I’ve ever had (it was that 10-hour pork belly appetizer). Holy crap. Also – they had a “special” Japanese eel nigiri. Best eel I’ve ever had. It was the flavor of eel but the texture of pork belly and a crisp skin. Holy crap. It might have been the best piece of sushi I’ve ever had. Even drb also had a “best ever” moment with his sushi. g enjoyed her red snapper special; it was superior to my main dish in both texture and taste (see Slops). We also had some “burnt honey ice cream” for dessert (it was featured as a component in another dessert item, but we asked for it straight up). The pieces of burnt honey (maybe they took a torch to it and then shoved it in the ice cream maker?) were surprisingly delicious as you encountered each little crunch – we’ve got to try this with j and k’s ice cream maker. Also, our server was super-nice – VW should kidnap this guy and clone him. Slops: Alaskan halibut with black bean sauce was … mediocre good. Had it been $21, then giddyup. But for near $30, definitely not. It made me wish they had the Chilean sea bass with black bean sauce on their menu, as I had heard so many good things about it from w; what a difference the swap in fish made (it was cooked fine, but kind of bland).
Kanella:
Props: Reservations on Saturday mornings is awesome – I’m over waiting in lines (although it was kind of empty in there). Cyprus breakfast was tasty – a savory breakfast for sure with egg, ham, bread, fried cheese, and some sort of vegetable. Overall, we enjoyed how the food was not only “simple”, “rustic”, and “delicious”, but well-executed (drb claimed his eggs were perfect). Additionally, it wasn’t food-coma-inducing, which drb and g appreciated (I don’t mind a good coma every now and then). The baklava was pretty tasty – not as good as Zahav’s, but, then again, it’s like half the price. Slops: A little more bread in the Cyprus breakfast would have been great (I’m a starch man). I agree with the waiter from before – the Cyprus breakfast isn’t to-die-for – as there are probably tons of other things on the menu that are awesomer (we just don’t know which ones to choose because it’s not like we recognize any of the items on the menu).
Cochon:
Props: What do you get when you take French toast and top it with one scoop each of peanut butter, banana, and vanilla-bacon ice creams, banana-caramel sauce, and bacon? Allow me to illustrate:
The best French toast ever!!
Yea … it … was … awesome. I ate it all (minus the two bites g snuck in when I was fiddling with the iPhone camera (that’s her hand ready to pounce in the picture). Once again – I normally hate taking pictures in restaurants as it’s super-tacky, but this was one of those things where I knew that you’d need proof of its existence (plus I had to tease sr for having to bail on us for brunch at the last minute). g had the fried oyster sandwich (you see it in the background), which was good as well – but come on – what’s going to compete with the “Elvis French Toast”? Also, we saw the chef/owners of Bibou (the Calmels) enjoying brunch here, too (g has a super-power that allows her to recognize/recall important people in the Philly restaurant scene – I would have preferred a more useful super-power, personally). If they eat here, then you can rest assured that my constant praises of this place’s brunch are legit, and not just the ravings of a lunatic. Interestingly, Bibou’s website claims that they are on vacation … Slops: We can’t go anywhere else for Sunday brunch. Ever. They also peach-cobbler-ified their pancakes, so I have to go back for that, too. Maybe this time, sr and ha will come. I’d invite j, but she’s back to school; it’s ok, she wouldn’t regret missing a dish like this, right?
EDIT: We’ve come back and I’ve experimented with putting these toppings on top of their super-awesome pancakes. Surprisingly it was not as good as the French toast. There’s something about the ice cream on top of their French toast that is awesome. It’s almost like the French toast is the “savory” in this dish, whereas their pancakes are like another sweet.
The Lightning Round!
t says: As I had mentioned before, there was a lot of food consumed at restaurants recently. Rather that review each individually, here’s a super-fast highs-and-lows …
20 Manning Grill:
Props: Beef sirloin noodles. Despite having so much beef, this dish’s flavors are lively and playful; it’s also not served “hot” so that helps keep it light. I think I didn’t order the “full” order, but boy that was more than enough – I don’t know how some people might eat more! Slops: A salad (not sure which one). g’s mom ordered a salad with grilled chicken and loved it … except that the plate they had used was so small and the salad so heaping that there was no way to cut the chicken without having some greens escape to the table. The weird part is that even the server admitted, “Yea, it’s such a pretty dish, but it’s not practical …” – then why do they use it?
Village Whiskey:
Props: BBQ pork sandwich. Yea – it’s ridiculously good – probably better than their burgers (in my opinion) and almost as good as the short rib cheddar fries. It’s as good as Cochon’s (but different – Cochon’s is saltier, while VW’s is sweeter). Slops: Our server was obviously let down that we weren’t ordering “enough” – and his attitude showed it. Yes – we’re splitting burgers. No – we’re not ordering drinks. And no – we’re not ordering desserts, either. So yes, “that’s all”. And your passive-aggressive, like-a-teenager-not-allowed-to-take-the-car-for-the-night attitude won’t change our minds. Deal with it, or the next time, I’ll order a single burger for a party of 8.
Miga:
Props: Dukboki – the best I’ve had in a restaurant. Overall, the food tasted good enough for mom to admit it was the better than Giwa or Han Wool. Slops: Dolsot bibimbap was not as good as Giwa’s version with the eel.
Szechuan Hunan:
Props: The food was solid take-out Chinese food. Slops: The food was solid take-out Chinese food.
Sandy’s:
Props: The BLT and french fries. Slops: Italian sausage (i.e. a hot dog).
Mix:
Props: The Tomato Pie (the second time we had it) had some fresh tomato, a great crust, and a not-too-sweet a sauce. Slops: We’ve had some of their other pizzas that are only “ok”. The margherita is very hit-or-miss.
The Pig Crawl [and Percy Street BBQ: A Taste of the South on South]
t says: Last Sunday, g, kp, and I wanted to do a pig crawl. We wanted to sample some notable pig dishes and truly experience pig in all of its glory. We originally planned to go to DiNic’s (in Reading Terminal), Sampan, and Percy Street BBQ. Things don’t always work out as planned.
When the day began we actually found ourselves at Parc with even more friends! We’d gone there once before and, in preparation for our pig crawl, we exerted restraint in choosing our dishes. We opted for the pastry basket, a side of bacon, and a French75. That’s restraint, right? Starting off the day with some buttery pastries and fatty bacon chased by a bubbly cocktail? Sounded good to us! Plus, the bacon meant we were starting our pig crawl early! (which is actually why we ordered it). The pastry basket was delicious like the first time (although the chocolate croissant still had its rod of chocolate), and it included madelines! Sooo good. The bacon was only ok for me, as I like mine a bit thicker (and a little crispier), but the salty, smoky taste of it was quite nice, and, after all, who’s going to argue with bacon? The French75 was exactly as before, so g liked it a lot! Our friends sampled the pomme frites, pain perdu, the poached eggs, and the steak-and-eggs. By the end of the meal, not a single scrap of food remained, so I think it was a success. Good job, Parc. You might not be besting Cochon’s brunch, but you’re a good ol’-reliable.
As g, kp, and I readied to go to DiNic’s, we called ahead just to make sure they were open. It’s a good thing we did because they told us that they only had like 15 sandwiches left and that unless we were “in the area”, we probably wouldn’t get there fast enough. We appreciate their honesty. But that removed DiNic’s from the Pig Crawl! So we decided to take a little break (that pastry basket was quite filling) and skip straight to Sampan.
Sampan was very nearly empty when we got there (5:30). We were seated and enjoyed the Pork Banh Mi, Brussels Sprouts, and the Beautiful Boy sake. The Banh Mi was spot on (you go, Fernandez!) – I grow weary of raving about it, so you can read about it in all of our past reviews. g felt that the meat was the most tender it’s ever been – I felt that there might have been a tad too much cilantro – but it’s not like any of this prevented us from demolishing the sandwich. The Brussels sprouts were a little firmer than I’d like, but still tasty. The sake was as smooth as a baby’s bottom. When we were finished we got up and readied ourselves for the main event – a restaurant we’ve never visited: Percy Street BBQ.
5/2010, Sunday 6:30pm, Party of 3. When we arrived at Percy Street, I was impressed with how big it was. Maybe it was the open windows or something, but it just felt like a very large space! We were seated promptly and happily perused the menu. kp was happy that there was a roll of paper towels on the table – apparently that’s how they do it in the South. We ordered a PST sandwich, the deviled eggs, the mac-and-cheese, and a half-pound each of pork belly and pork spare ribs. We had no idea that this was WAY too much food for three not-starving people.
The mac-and-cheese and deviled eggs arrived first. The deviled eggs were classic deviled eggs. No dill (like Village Whiskey), no fancy add-ins (like Supper) – just eggs, mayo, and paprika. If there was anything else, my feeble palate missed it. They were quite good! Classic. I’m not sure how they got the filling to be so light and fluffy – but it was like an egg yolk cloud in my mouth. The mac-and-cheese came bubbling in a hot dish covered with nicely-toasted breadcrumbs. It was a nice, plain mac-and-cheese. Once again – no weird cheeses, nothing added to it – just mac … and cheese … It was also done well – the macaroni was a soft-but-not-mushy consistency, and the cheese was calm and smooth. kp and I wanted a little more flavor in the mac-and-cheese (maybe some sharper cheese), so kp requested his go-to fix-all, hot sauce. He was pleasantly surprised and satisfied with Percy Street’s selection of hot sauce: Crystal (apparently this is also the hot sauce that is used in the South). It perked up the mac-and-cheese nicely (although if I used as much as kp did, my mouth would still be burning).
When the meat came, I was a little worried that I was getting full … but I pressed on … for the sake of the blog. As the meat was set down, we were asked if we wanted some bread to make sandwiches. Sure! The waitress returned immediately with a basket of sliced white bread. kp was delighted by this as well, as apparently white bread is also how they do it in the South – no fancy baguettes, no brioche – this could have been Wonder Bread. And it worked beautifully. I put some pork belly on the white bread with some of the baked beans. Wow – that was SO tasty. The pork belly was soft and nicely streaked with fat (maybe a little too much for g’s taste – it’s a textural thing). The baked beans had just a touch of sweet and some nice heat and were firm enough so you knew were eating beans, not mush. So good. The ribs were no slouch, either (actually, opposite of my preferences, kp preferred the ribs to the belly!). The meat was super-tender and had enough smoky flavor that made you want to gnaw on the bone to ensure you got every last bit.
g’s PST was a pork belly-coleslaw-pickled green tomato sandwich. It tasted exactly as one might imagine it to taste – the pork belly was the same as I had ordered but the accompaniment of that pickled tomato and cole slaw added some sour and tang. I gravitated towards the belly-bean combination – g gravitated towards her sandwich. I kind of doubted that the belly-bean combo was that good and suspected that the atmosphere was altering my perceptions … Well, I took the leftovers home and ate it the next day; yep – still delicious. I have GOT to learn how to make pork belly like that …
The wait staff was very courteous and the food was quite good, so we liked our Percy Street BBQ experience overall. It was definitely fun to have BBQ-esque food that you could pick up with your hands. I have a feeling that this place could be kind of like a cheap Amada for us in the sense that it would be a blast to dine there with a group of friends. Of course, unlike Amada, the dishes aren’t as polished/refined, but BBQ’s aren’t supposed to be ; Percy Street wasn’t so chic-ified that it lost sight of the whole theme: down-and-dirty BBQ.
g says: Whoa there, cowboy! I wouldn’t go comparing psbbq to the almighty Amada. They are definitely not in the same galaxy of awesomeness. Don’t get me wrong, we did have a great time and really enjoyed our meal, but I wouldn’t get carried away. Are you with me, kp? Okay, I’ve said my piece – back to your regularly scheduled programming…
t says: That said, a true, Southern BBQ seeker I imagine will be disappointed with Percy Street because it’s not that down-and-dirty, but for someone who wants a slight touch of clean with their down-and-dirty (kind of like a down-and-dirty-lite), I think he/she will be satisfied – we sure were. Actually, we look forward to taking our dads there … between ribs (for my dad) and chicken (for g’s dad), I just can’t see how they wouldn’t like it!
Devil’s Alley: Why So Many Fans?
t says: When we originally heard that Garces’s new Village Whiskey was “the” place to get a burger in Philadelphia (supposedly trumping Grace Tavern, which is well-known for their burgers), we were excited to try it. Unfortunately, on one of our earlier attempts, we were dissuaded by the hour wait. So we put our name on their list and started looking around for ‘other’ burgers and ended up at Devil’s Alley. Neither of us could remember who it was that told us that they had great food despite being a bar, but if “we heard good things”, then surely it’d be a safe place to order some burgers. We were mistaken.
11/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. We were seated without a wait, so we figured that it wasn’t that busy. However, in retrospect, maybe it was a ridiculously busy (is there ever a Friday night that’s not busy?), because the service was nearly non-existant and abysmal when present (e.g. messed up order, a long wait to get her attention to correct the problem, a longer wait for the correction to occur, and another party of 2 was brought over to our table even before we had finished standing up to put on our coats to leave).
The food was either mediocre (g’s burger was “fine, but a little dry”; it reminded me of the standard overcooked burgers I ate at home bbq’s in my youth) or bad (turkey burger was dry and insipid – I’ve honestly had better in a hospital cafeteria – seriously – no hyperbole). At least the fries were crispy.
After I told others of my experience at Devil’s Alley, they informed me that I didn’t order any of the “creative dishes” (?something about a PB&J?). Well, now here’s the quandry – do we risk going back for a second try? Maybe we should try out non-Friday, non-dinner time? But at these times, it’d also be easier to get into all of those “other” restaurants we want to try (or at least the ones we’ve had good experiences at). I guess maybe if some of our friends wanted to go, we’d give it a whirl – good company makes up for bad food/service any time …
Sadly, after we had already returned to our apartment, some 2+ hours after we had originally tried our luck at Village Whiskey, they called to tell us that they had a table ready. Unfortunately, we were full on not delicious food …
Village Whiskey: Best Fries in the City?
g says: After months of trying to find a time when there was not a 2 hour wait at Jose Garces’ latest venture, we finally made our way there for lunch today– we were at the bar, but we still made it! At last, we would be able to taste for ourselves the storied burgers and duck fat fries, and even try a little whiskey.
We were surprised by how narrow the place is; I guess it seemed larger from the outside in warmer months when they have outdoor seating to accommodate the throngs of folks wanting to check out how the newest Iron Chef makes a burger. But no matter, we were in and not moving until our mission was accomplished.
To drink, we shared a classic old fashioned, which was refreshing and had a nice balance of bitter/sweet. For our lunch, we split the following: deviled eggs, Village Burger with cheddar and caramelized onions, and short rib and cheddar fries.
Our deviled eggs were decent — unlike any that I have experienced before, as they seemed to include chopped pickles in the filling. I did feel that the batch served to us were oversalted, so not the best I have eaten. But, I am a bit of a deviled egg snob, so I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying them out for his or herself at some point.
The Village Burger is aptly named, as this thing could have fed an entire village. The couple seated to my left actually exclaimed when they received theirs, “This is the biggest burger I’ve ever seen!” Luckily, we saw a few come out of the kitchen before ordering so we knew that splitting one between us would be just right for us. Our medium burger was cooked nicely, and definitely made it into my top 5 list of best burgers ever. I know that t is still talking about that Supper burger from a few months ago, but I feel that is an unfair comparison, as that was a brisket burger, and the Village Burger was made of a ground beef more familiar to my classic burger taste.
The short rib and cheddar fries were delicious! See further comments by t below.
The verdict — I would absolutely come back, especially with friends who have not been before (and I will have to make up for the fact that we went without my mom. Sorry, Mom — I promise to make it up to you). Every once in a while I have a classic burger craving, which I believe VW could handily satisfy on any day. However, I think that I would more frequently come in just for the short rib fries, some dessert (the three on their menu sounded incredible, though we were both far too full to try) and a drink. It made for an amazing Saturday afternoon, and I was really pleased with our lunch as a whole.
t says: 2/2010, Saturday Lunch, Party of 2 [at the extension of the bar, facing a wall]. Yes, it was time to experience what the infamous food critic Craig Laban (of the Philadelphia Inquirer) claims is the best burger in Philadelphia. Now, g and I are not huge burger eaters, so we don’t [yet] have a huge repertoire with which to compare/contrast the food at Village Whiskey – but we have had one remarkable burger (and deviled eggs and fries) at Supper on South Street. Given my competitive nature (thanks, mom), it should not surprise you that I [not so] secretly modeled our selections to mirror what Supper had offered.
While I completely agree with g’s description of the burger and eggs, in the end, someone has to be the bad cop; I’m the bad cop. My conclusion: VW’s burger just can’t compete with the sheer flavor and texture of Supper’s burger (VW’s was a little “crumbly”). Personally, I also preferred Supper’s outside-the-box deviled eggs (we STILL put Sriracha sauce in our deviled eggs) to VW’s take (I’m not a huge fan of dill/pickle). Keep in mind that while I praise Supper here, our dinner there wasn’t flawless, either (you can see my critical analysis in the page “Oh the places we’ve gone”).
We also had VW’s short rib cheddar fries. They were amazing (why didn’t -I- think of such a dish – I love short rib!). I feel that they were the saving grace of the meal (not that the rest of the meal was bad – it was quite good – it just didn’t blow me away). The short rib and cheddar fries were served to our [tiny] counter next in a hot Staub cast iron platter. It looked amazing: big, beautiful chunks of tender short rib among well-cheesed (i.e. not just on top), golden fries. The meat was tasty, and the cheese wasn’t overwhelming. The contrasting textures between the cheese, short rib, and potato was fantastic – this was no puddle of mush. I don’t think I’ve seen fries prepared with short rib before, and the result was the most delicious homage to potato that I have ever encountered. That said, an order of these fries is substantial enough to stand alone – this ain’t no side dish.
Finally, I do want to mention that after eating 3 deviled egg halves, 1 burger, and 1 dish of fries (and that old-fashioned), g and I were stuffed from 2pm all the way until 9:30pm. I was uncomfortably stuffed for at least 3 hours, and by our 9:30 reservation at Sampan (see our review for details of that meal), I still wasn’t starving. So my advice is don’t be fooled by this gourmet “burger joint” – it’s easy to get full.
after dinner sneeze 