phillyfoodie.com - The Next Iron Bartender: Village Whiskey

October 8, 2009

The Next Iron Bartender: Village Whiskey

I’ve seen reports of 2 hour waits to eat at Village Whiskey, so let me just put this out there. Village Whiskey is a bar, and a somewhat small one at that. It’s a bar with a very good bar menu, but it is a bar menu, with bar snacks and sandwiches (including the oft-mentioned foie gras-topped Whiskey King), not meals.

There are indoor tables for about 12 (bar height, of course.) And all the other seats in the house are at the bar, or standing. But what a bar it is! I’ve already fallen hard for the Ginger Rogers. Gin, ginger and sparkling rosé — so cute!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about those snacks.

I went in with a lot of skepticism over the short rib fries. They were the first thing on the menu to turn my head, but the pictures I saw clearly showed them swimming in cheese, and I hate a soggy fry. Jose, you have shown me the reason why you will be the next Iron Chef, and I am not the next Ruth Reichl. They weren’t crisp, but they were heavenly. One of my dining companions said that he had a huge hunk of short rib, and found it a little dry, but by the time the meat was broken up, and well incorporated with the cheese sauce…. I’ll admit it. I gobbled down the whole thing, without offering anyone else the last bite.

We had the pretzels and the cheese puffs from the snack menu. The puffs didn’t do it for me, but everyone else liked them. The pretzels I could have easily solo. Great mustard!

We only had one pickle, the pickled tomatoes. They were excellent. And the toasts that they served them with made me very happy - warm, freshly toasted, thick-cut enough that you didn’t feel like you were eating a cracker (which is appropriate for some uses, but not this one.) Those are the kinds of details that make a good dish great. Next time, I’d like to try the artichokes, too.

In Burgers and More section…. stick to the burgers. The BBQ pork sammy had an overly tomatoey barbeque sauce that ruined it for me. The Kentucky Fried Quail was just disappointing all around. The crust was too heavy, its flavors totally dominated the quail, and just wasn’t very tasty. And I’m a girl who will pick a piece of fried chicken down to the bone to get every last morsel of fried crust.

The burgers were a big hit, except for…. the Whiskey King! I’ve read this complaint elsewhere, and it was the same one I had about the Butcher and Singer burger…. it’s just too messy. There’s a juicy burger, and then there’s so juicy that your bun disintegrates.

And call me fussy, but the idea of topping a burger with foie gras just seems like an insult to good foie gras. I’m hoping for a spot on that menu for a Whiskey Queen — foie gras appetizer, followed by a burger. Or, even better, the foie, then a dainty little trio of sliders. Hm, maybe the Whiskey Princess would be more appropriate.

We went at 2:30, and there were 5 other people there. The menu is the same all day long. So, if you’re hot to sample the latest and greatest Jose Garces has to offer, save yourself a long wait and buy yourself a little elbow room with a late lunch. Then head back for cocktails and pretzel sticks with the evening crowds.

Village Whiskey
118 South 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-665-1088
No reservations accepted.