village whiskey - chew man chu - fish

[coookie]

it's been an eventful fall for restaurant openings in philly, so i thought i'd share thoughts on three relatively new places.

village whiskey (20th and sansom)
garces' latest venture is probably old news on these boards by now. But if you haven't stopped by to try the burger, cancel whatever plans you have tonight, and gird your liver for the double-whammy of whiskey and a fat-laden joy-patty. for my money, the village burger with a fried egg and jasper hill cheddar is nirvana: the juicy and perfectly seasoned meat and the richness of the runny egg hit that primal umami craving, while the sharp chedder cuts through to provide contrast. it's close, but i'd take that over the whiskey king, which is delicious but strikes me as a bit overwrought.

but again, the burger is known here. the reason i was really excited about vw is the connecticut-style lobster roll (though they don't call it that). for the uninitiated, CT-style rolls are served hot, with mayo-less, butter-poached meat. the standard-bearer for me is neptune oyster in boston. stacked against that, the vw version, served with a lemon aioli and smoked bacon, disappoints. mind you, there's nothing wrong with their exectuion: the lobster's hot and cooked properly. but the whole point of a CT-style roll is to put the lobster on center-stage, unadorned. it's lobster, brioche bun, butter. that's it. it strikes me as a shame to cover the flavor with the zesty lemon and the bacon and the whatnot.

chew man chu (broad and pine)
a couple of weeks ago, we hit this new pan-asian spot that replaced du jour in the symphony house. the chef is tyson wong ophaso, who opened new york's chinatown brasserie. the new space is one large room, bright and loud. cooks clang away in the open kitchen, while we watched from the bar seats. there's table seating along the north wall and in the back, while the middle of the room is dominated by a huge, lit communal table. it's a little overwhelming and i wonder if it's the best use of space (there seems to be a lot of dead area in the middle of that table that nobody can reach). when we visited, the height difference between that table and the stools created a really awkward eating situation, but the hostess told me that they were cutting it down to size that weekend.

enough about the decor. scanning the looong menu of small and mid-sized plates, you realize what this place is: david chang's momofuku (down to the famous five-spice pork bun) but with a menu on steroids. and for the most part, that's actually a great thing. the oxtail soup dumplings are served in a sublime ginger and tarragon broth, though the actual soup dumplings are at best an approximation of the real deal. satisfyingly crispy scallion roti come with an addictive sweet chili dipping sauce. the real winner, though, is the aforementioned momofuku-style steamed pork bun. outstanding succulency in the pork, a really nice hoisin sauce, and an excellent bun. sit at the bar and watch the chefs pull out slabs of pork belly and slice of pieces for orders; it'll make you want to order a dozen.

the menu is so long that there are bound to be less successful plates. of what we sampled, that included the following: crispy chicken garlic roll, shanghai duck lettuce wrap, and the pad thai. we were glad to try to them, but the flavors were a little less distinct / more generic so we probably wouldn't order any of these again. no question about it, though: we'll be back.

fish (17th and lombard)
we visited fish, the larger, new restaurant from the owners of little fish, quite a while ago, so this review isn't fresh. quick impressions from what i can recall: it's nice to have another good oyster place in town. the octopus carpaccio appetizer is creative and wonderfully executed. the skate wing with truffled spaetzle? sigh-inducing. just as with little fish, stollenwerk knows how to do innovative things while still respecting the robust natural flavors of his seafood. our only complaint is that the dishes were uniformly a little on the salty side - the entrees especially. it's a funny quirk because it's the only criticism we had of little fish as well. no matter, it's a minor quibble with an otherwise exceptional place.

[phillyjules]

I also went to Fish recently and found that the entrees were extremely salty. The food was decent but a pricey meal since we ordered a dozen oysters, 2 entrees and a dessert. I think I'll stick to Little Fish.

[coookie]

glad to know we weren't crazy about the salt. you raise a good point: is the food at fish that much better than little fish to justify the bump in price? perhaps not.