village whiskey: KING of burgers

last thursday, my friend andrew was in town from NY and we decided to show him what the best of philly burger tastes like. obviously, that meant, VILLAGE WHISKEY. vw is another one of jose garces' genius contributions to the city of philadelphia. and we love him for it. it's absolutely my favorite burger place, even though the prices, like the decadent burgers, are excessive. located next to another garces location, tinto, village whiskey is dark and cozy, with small tables that work best for groups of 2-4 and a long bar that is always packed with people. the bartenders here make some of the best cocktails in the city, and true to the name, vw has an impressive list of whiskey - scores of bourbon and rye, OH MY! the beer list isn't too shabby either. and somehow, the bartenders really seem to know what you'll like.

side note: i decided i am going to try something new - usage of capital letters in appropriate places. sigh. because i am apparently an adult and adults should write with proper punctuation and capitalization. 

:: Village Whiskey :: 

address: 118 south 20th st, philly

what we ate: beers, bourbon, cheese puffs, tater tots, whiskey king, 2 variations of village burgers

Now, Andrew is a true foodie and from New York, so clearly the pressure was on. After all, we have a reputation to uphold! 

Tater Tots with garlic aoli

Though, tater tots might nostalgic for the days you bought lunch in your school cafeterias, the tots at VW are probably not what you expect. The tots are shaped like little round balls and the potatoes taste like mashed potatoes that have been coated and deep fried.

I didn't really like the garlic aoli that accompanied these tots. It was overall a bit bland and didn't seem to add anything much to the dish. It would have been so much better with extra bite - perhaps spicy dijon. 

Cheese Puffs

Very disappointing. The puffs were bland and not even the cheese could help distract from the unappealing texture. Usually, we have to fight over the last remaining item in a dish, but with these, the last one just sat there until the rest of our food arrived at our table and the server cleared the plate away. 

Whiskey King burger: maple bourbon glazed cipollini onion + rogue bleu cheese + applewood bacon + foie gras

Andrew ordered the whiskey king. I was somewhat surprised by the size of the foie gras slice since it seemed so much smaller than the last time I had gotten this burger. 

The bacon slices looked thicker though, which is always a plus. Andrew was not too impressed with this burger. I mean, he wasn't disappointed with it, certainly, but expressed that there were places in NYC that had better burgers. That may be true, but a) that's NY and b) i feel like it's possible his opinion was tainted. 

Let me explain: he ate the burger with a knife and fork. And didn't eat the top bun.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that (other than it being a heinous and offensive crime to the best burger of all time, in philadelphia, in the year 2010... need more qualifiers - heh). BUT, I will say that it does change the experience of eating a burger - the experience should include big bites of the burger with a little bit of every ingredient smashed together, with meat juices dripping onto your hands and plate and toppings sliding out of your grasp. All I'm saying is... if you go try the whiskey king, eat it with your hands for optimal pleasure. :) 

Village Burger #1: sesame roll + house-made thousandisland + tomato + boston bibb + haystack mountain chevre + caramelized onions

I'll say this. We ordered both Village Burgers medium well. I'm not sure what I was thinking - maybe I was still haunted from my experience at Bobby's Burger Palace, but I think that was a mistake. Medium is preferred, and you could probably really go Medium Rare if you wanted to. I don't think that caramelized onions and chevre cheese are the ideal combination. 

Chevre is a goat's milk cheese and has a mild flavor, and of course, is very soft. The sweetness of the caramelized onions would have been better complemented by a sharper cheese - like a bleu. 

Village Burger #2: sesame roll + house-made thousandisland + tomato + boston bibb + jasper hill cheddar + marinated crimini mushrooms + fried egg + smoked bacon

This is my personal masterpiece. I call this the VW Burger a la mindy. I think it's PERFECTION. Better than the Whiskey King. Don't get too excited because once you add up all the ingredients, it still costs as much as the Whiskey King signature burger, but tastes BETTER imo.

As far as food trends go, I know 2010 is lovingly being referred to as the "year we put fried eggs on sh*t," and I am ALL for this idea. Fried eggs make almost everything better, wonderful, droolworthy, etc. I have this thing where I like to cut my burger in half before taking a bite, and this strategy works quite well when you have a fried egg topped burger since the yolk will break and lovingly coat a generous portion of the burger and all toppings with its gooey richness.

The bacon adds that extra chewy saltiness, which is balanced out by that gooey egg. The sauteed mushrooms add moisture, while the tomato and lettuce added that always welcome refreshing sweetness and crunch. And the cheddar, of course the sharp cheddar.... yessssss. In short, the VW Burger a la mindy is a must.

Andrew liked this better than the whiskey king too! Although, once again, I'd like to note that he did in fact eat this burger with his hands (rather than knife and forking it) - so that may have played a part too!

hearts VW.