Food Baby: Perch Pub

After a few drinks at Las Vegas Lounge on Friday night, we decided to try out the new Perch Pub for some late night grub. Located in the former space occupied by Upstares at Varalli, at Broad & Locust, the owners have completely changed the interior and turned it into a want-to-be gastro pub with craft beers, an extensive bar snacks menu, juke box, pool table and flat screens to boot. Exposed brick and chalkboard painted plaster give the walls a been-there-forever feel and highlight the specials of the day for both food and drink. Plenty of faux mahogany panels add some warmth to the room that is the best spot in the city to watch the throngs of theatre goers dodge speeding cabs as they make their way back to $24 parking garages.

The beer list was pretty well assembled, offering a good selection of local brews on tap and international bottles from Belgium, Germany and craft beers from the states. They are charging $6.50 for a pint of guinness, which I generally use as a yardstick for a bar, but most other draughts are at a more reasonable $5. Stick to the local ales and leave the guinness for your next trip to The Bards or Irish Times. I'd say that the beers are probably the highlight of Perch - I think its a great happy hour spot after work for some nice ales and people watching on Broad. The food, while filling, left something to be desired.

We started off with a couple appetizers, which all came out incredible quick. Pickled tomatoes were a good tangy start and most of the people at the table couldn't keep their hands off. Five slices for $2 is a deal. They were out of the soft pretzels with fontina fondue that sounded to me like the most intriguing item on the menu. Apparently everyone else thought the same thing.

A trio of deviled eggs that the menu says are served with siracha lacked the signature hot sauce, but did have an unexpected asian seasoning in the filling - is that five-spice, or prickly ash perhaps? Some of the siracha would have been a great addition to an otherwise boring deviled egg.

Next up was a round of fried mozzarella and the nearly mandatory cheesesteak eggrolls. Neither were anything to really get worked up over. The eggrolls were serviceable, but nothing close to the perfectly crisped little rolls of delicousness that used to be served up at Deuce on second street (miss that place), and there are certainly better versions at other bars/pubs around the city currently. The fried mozzarella was just that - fried mozzarella with a little prego spooned over top on a plate that was 3 sizes too big.

The burger was probably the best of the bunch. Served on a nice brioche bun with a side of well seasoned fries and a long hot, it was cooked just as requested. I got the Franklin, with apple smoked bacon jam and cheddar. The cheese was fine, but the jam was strangely sweet and not nearly bacon-y enough. Not a bad burger - our friends had better luck building their own with real bacon - but not one that you're going to get on public transit for. I'd skip the food next time and just stick to drinks after work - maybe some muchies after a few beers.