Keeping it Real

We headed to Varga on Friday night to have dinner and drinks with friends who were in Philly for the weekend. Our entourage of Philly natives and out-of-towners included two of my oldest friends - Shana, Julia H (hi hi hi), Soopah, myself and a couple of Julia's hilarious new friends - an unintentionally hipster Canadian called Matt and a charming Southerner called Mark, whose accent surfaced with increasing levels of intoxication.

Food-wise, this will just be another quickie because I realize I can't review Varga every time I go, given the frequency! However, since I'm always singing never-ending praises of Varga Bar, just wanted to keep things honest and mention when/if I have a less than perfect experience.

Soopah and I arrived first and since we were starving, we had to go ahead and order dinner. We had the Kobe Burger and the Softshell Crab entree special and both were just okay. The Kobe Burger had similar components to the Kobe Sliders, but when it's the traditional burger-size, I guess it throws the flavor ratios off. So, while delicious, it wasn't as notable or memorable as the sliders. The difference could also be attributed to the fact that the sliders use boursin cheese, while the burger has cheddar. Normally, I would think the cheddar has a stronger flavor, but in his case, the boursin definitely has a better flavor.


Kobe Burger: lancaster county aged cheddar + apple-wood smoked bacon + caramelized shallots + organic greens + heirloom tomato + sesame seed bun

As for me, our server really swayed me and convinced me to order the Softshell Crab special. Since the last special we had eaten here (the delicious seafood pasta) had been a winner, I trusted his word and ordered the softshell crab entree.

Softshell Crab: battered softshell crab + spinach + lump crabmeat + tomatoes + capers + crispy potatoes + lemon garlic oil
Clearly, the description of the dish make it sound irresistibly appealing. Doesn't it? Even now, I feel like it sounds delicious, but then I remember how it tasted. Unfortunately, the crab batter was extremely salty and the lemon garlic sauce drizzled over the entire dish was so oil-heavy that it tasted like this overwhelmingly heavy film coating everything.

I love softshell crab, but this was really difficult to finish.

Ick. That is all oil. Don't get this dish~!

But thankfully, when the rest of the group arrived, they ordered the truffled mac'n cheese, a crabcake sandwich and kobe sliders and they thought everything was delicious. WHEW!