Metzger's Richmond VA - must try!

[Kim Shook]

On Saturday Mr. Kim and I went to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see the Rodin exhibit and then an early dinner at Metzger’s (http://www.metzgerbarandbutchery.com/).  It has been open awhile and we’d heard very good things, but it just hadn’t come up in the rotation.  Mike’s brother had given him a gift certificate, so we decided to try it.  So glad we did.  It was a remarkably good meal!  After our first three things we were already planning our next visit!  We started with the rye brioche and caraway butter:

This was beautiful bread.  Perfect brioche texture and crust, but with the tang of rye flour.  The butter was very salty (in a good way) and the combination of bread and butter was almost pretzel-like.

 

Then the bierkase soup:

With pretzel croutons and thyme cream.  Bierkase is a beer cheese (named so because it is traditionally eaten with beer, not made with beer).  I’m sure there was beer in this soup, as well.  This was the smoothest, creamiest and most delicious cheese soup I’ve ever eaten. 

 

The chicken liver mousse:

(Didn’t realize the picture was so crappy).  The mousse came on an everything bialy, with bacon, pickled figs and frisee.  As good as every single thing was, this was the standout dish.  Incredibly smooth and light mousse and the combination of the mousse, the fig and the bacon was genius.  

 

For our mains, we chose the chop:

Beer brined pork chop, herb spaetzle, jus and dressed salad greens.  Probably the best pork chop I’ve had in 40 years.  And the spaetzle was perfect.  Sometimes it can be a little bland.  This was very flavorful and had a nice crust on the edges.  Just fabulous.  Mike ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and said that it was still delicious and juicy COLD!

 

The choucroute garni:

Sausages, smoked pork, duck fat fingerlings, dressed salad greens.  The sausages and pork was perfectly prepared.  I don’t know if they make their own sausage, but it is so wonderfully spiced and smooth.  And those crisp, tasty potatoes!  Fantastic.

[Tri2Cook]

Looks good. I'd be in on everything except for the liver mousse. That bread sounds pretty awesome.

[Sipa]

We eat here every time we are in Richmond, so I think that means we've eaten here 4 times and the food is stupendous. It's a little cramped but the food and wine are spot on. Surprisingly the vegetables are real stars here so don't be afraid to order the vegetarian entree if it looks good. Last time we were there they didn't have the deviled egg appetizer which was a disappointment but maybe they'll add it back to the menu. The schnitzel is the house speciality and it is crisp and delicious but don't get hung up on it, try everything if you have the opportunity.