Belgian food

[Rich Pawlak]

I've never understood anyone's fascination with Eulogy. I've been consistently disappointed with their ber and food, even when told by folks whose opinion I trust that they have improved. Not enough for me. They are merely (and inadequately) a Monk's wanna-be.

I've never had a bad burger at Monk's, so I expect that it may be an anomoly. Their mussels are world class. Their frites are an acquired tatse, especially since owner Tom Peters insists on using a locally-grown version of Belgian binjte potatoes, which so far have yielded puny-sized taters. They actually make a better frite at Monk's sister restaurants, Nodding Head and Grace Tavern.

As much as I love all of the myriad recipes that Monk's offers for mussels, for my money the best bowl of mollusks in the city is being served in a Thai red curry sauce at the Grey Lodge in NE Philly. And the fresh cut fries at the Grey Lodge are also Best of Philly material. Sounds like heresy, until you have them.

[philadining]

OK, regardless of opinions about quality, or depth of authentic selections on the menu, isn't it a little wild that Philly will shortly have 3 Eulogies, 2 Monks, a Zot, and a bazillion places pouring Abbey dubbels? Do other cities have this Belgian craze going on?

Edited March 12, 2007 by philadining (log)

[mrbigjas]

the best mussels in town as far as i'm concerned are standard tap's. but that's not a belgian bar, so it's neither here nor there.

what's wrong with the beer at eulogy, rich? is it that you think the selection is lame, or they serve it in the wrong glassware, or too cold, or what? i mean, they don't make it, they just serve it.

i did used to find it funny when they had that menu that said THE BEST 100 BEERS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF and it had miller lite and yuengling lager on it, but they don't have that anymore.

[mrbigjas]

OK, regardless of opinions about quality, or depth of authentic selections on the menu, isn't it a little wild that Philly will shortly have 3 Eulogies, 2 Monks, a Zot, and a bazillion places pouring Abbey dubbels?  Do other cities have this Belgian craze going on?

←

hasn't philadelphia always been kind of the epicenter of the whole belgian beer thing in the US? having volunteered at and/or attended probably about fifty beer events over the last 15 years or so, i've heard that said and seen it written numerous times.

[Andrew Fenton]

I was along with Phil on his most recent Eulogy trip, and I agree with his assessment. The fries were terrific: crispy outside, creamy and soft on the inside. But the mussels weren't so great. I was happy with the beer selection, too, and it seemed properly served to me.

Went to Zot this weekend and was disappointed. There's a sort of "Meats of Many Lands" theme, including several examples of what we might call stunt meats: kangaroo, ostrich, etc. I chose a relatively tame lamb chop; it was fine. The setup is a little strange: you pick a meat, a sauce and a starch. There are maybe 25 sauces listed, from the straightforward (spinach-garlic-cream, bordelaise) to the less so (what on earth is a "Gypsy" sauce? I don't know, and the menu doesn't say.)

The fries are skinny, much like McDonald's. (I prefer the thick kind, but that's just me.) They were okay; not especially crispy, but not limp, either.

The mussels were really dreadful, though. Lots of broken shells, not fully cleaned (with some leftover beards and rocks), and way too many empty shells. We wound up throwing a lot of them away. Not a good thing.

[guzzirider]

OK, regardless of opinions about quality, or depth of authentic selections on the menu, isn't it a little wild that Philly will shortly have 3 Eulogies, 2 Monks, a Zot, and a bazillion places pouring Abbey dubbels?  Do other cities have this Belgian craze going on?

←

Yeah... add the Abbaye in NoLibs to the list of Belgian bars with a not-so-Belgian menu. However, I will say that authentic or not, their food seems to be getting better and better. At least the beer selection is quite Belgian-ish.

I haven't noticed if the Belgian craze is specific to Philly or not... but that would be an interesting observation.

__Jason

[Rich Pawlak]

the best mussels in town as far as i'm concerned are standard tap's.   but that's not a belgian bar, so it's neither here nor there.

what's wrong with the beer at eulogy, rich?  is it that you think the selection is lame, or they serve it in the wrong glassware, or too cold, or what?  i mean, they don't make it, they just serve it. 

i did used to find it funny when they had that menu that said THE BEST 100 BEERS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF and it had miller lite and yuengling lager on it, but they don't have that anymore.

←

The last time I went to Eulogy, they had beers like Bass, Harp and Guiness on tap along with Yuengling, Yards Philly Pale and one other that really annoyed me. And the Belgian beer selection was pretty lame, all familiar stuff you could get at many non-Belgian places. If you're so DAMN BELGIAN, then serve the stuff, you know, like Monk's has been doing.

And as far as anyone considers, Philly remains the epicenter of Belgian beer appreciation in America. and the place where it all started for Belgian beers (right at Copa, Too, actually, when Tom Peters ran the joint over 12 years ago).

It is also safe to say that without Tom Peters, Philadelphia would hardly be one of the best, if not the best, beer cities in America. His work and enthusiasm paved the way for all of the great beer lovers and bar operators that now make the city so beer-centrically great. That's what I've been saying on my annual beer tours for the last 10 years.

[Andrew Fenton]

The last time I went to Eulogy, they had beers like Bass, Harp and Guiness on tap along with Yuengling, Yards Philly Pale and one other that really annoyed me. And the Belgian beer selection was pretty lame, all familiar stuff you could get at many non-Belgian places.  If you're so DAMN BELGIAN, then serve the stuff, you know, like Monk's has been doing.

That seems to have changed:

Eulogy draft beer menu

Eulogy bottled beer menu

[Rich Pawlak]

The last time I went to Eulogy, they had beers like Bass, Harp and Guiness on tap along with Yuengling, Yards Philly Pale and one other that really annoyed me. And the Belgian beer selection was pretty lame, all familiar stuff you could get at many non-Belgian places.  If you're so DAMN BELGIAN, then serve the stuff, you know, like Monk's has been doing.

That seems to have changed:

Eulogy draft beer menu

Eulogy bottled beer menu

←

OK, but just for shits and giggles, print out both menus and see if the stuff is actually THERE. I think exaggeration is the style of Eulogy.

[philadining]

We had several different Belgians from the taps at Eulogy, and all those were there. I can't testify about the bottled selection.

A lot of these places have those telephone-book sized lists of bottled beer, are we confident that anybody scrupulously keeps all of the brews in stock?

[Buckethead]

My main complaint about Eulogy is that the place is incredibly uncomfortable to sit down in. Even when you can find a table or a seat at the bar, it's so tightly packed that you are constantly getting bumped and jostled.

Also, the fry dipping sauce they use is McDonald's Arch Deluxe sauce. That may have changed, I haven't been there in a long time because I know it'll be impossible to sit down.

[philadining]

I was along with Phil on his most recent Eulogy trip, and I agree with his assessment.  The fries were terrific: crispy outside, creamy and soft on the inside.  But the mussels weren't so great.  I was happy with the beer selection, too, and it seemed properly served to me.

Went to Zot this weekend and was disappointed.  There's a sort of "Meats of Many Lands" theme, including several examples of what we might call stunt meats: kangaroo, ostrich, etc.  I chose a relatively tame lamb chop; it was fine.  The setup is a little strange: you pick a meat, a sauce and a starch.  There are maybe 25 sauces listed, from the straightforward (spinach-garlic-cream, bordelaise) to the less so (what on earth is a "Gypsy" sauce?  I don't know, and the menu doesn't say.)

The fries are skinny, much like McDonald's.  (I prefer the thick kind, but that's just me.)  They were okay; not especially crispy, but not limp, either.

The mussels were really dreadful, though.  Lots of broken shells, not fully cleaned (with some leftover beards and rocks), and way too many empty shells.  We wound up throwing a lot of them away.  Not a good thing.

←

Sorry to hear this about Zot, but they're pretty new, maybe they can get it together soon. Thanks for taking one for the team!

[Andrew Fenton]

Sorry to hear this about Zot, but they're pretty new, maybe they can get it together soon.

Indeed. I'd love to have a first-rate Belgian place three blocks from my house.

I didn't mention earlier that it's a really beautiful space. They've done a good job incorporating the brick, etc. The lighting is well-designed to create a dark atmosphere but allow you to still read your menu. There are a few weird things (they have butcher paper on the tables, but our waitress came by with a crumb comb) that I'll attribute to just opening; but it's really a romantic atmosphere. I just hope they get the food up to snuff.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[rlibkind]

The mussels were really dreadful, though.  Lots of broken shells, not fully cleaned (with some leftover beards and rocks), and way too many empty shells.  We wound up throwing a lot of them away.  Not a good thing.

←

Those "rocks" could have been pea crabs, a.k.a. crunch crabs. They pose no harm to the eater, other than the tactile disturbance. While the restaurant should do a better job cleaning the beards (which certainly could introduce "rocks" if they were wild-gathered) and avoiding broken shells, not much they can do about the pea crabs, since you don't know they're there until you open up the mussel. Pea crabs were a lot more common when mussels were mostly wild-gathered; not unknown with farmed mussels, but not as common now. Because of this I think aquaculture of mussels is one of humankind's greatest achievements.

[philadining]

A field guide to the Frietjes of the Philadelphia region in their natural habitats:

Eulogy:

Monks:

Eulogy certainly has the size and shape more typical of traditional Belgian frietjes, but Rich reports that Monks is using Bintje potatoes, so I suppose the argument can continue about who's being more "authentic." Both places have pretty tasty sauces (and none of them are Arch Deluxe sauce!) As I mentioned upthread, I personally like the Eulogy version better, but the Monks fries were pretty good too...

Edited March 13, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Jean Blanchard]

Don't know a thing about Belgian restaurants in your area but if you ever fell like cooking their cuisine, there is a great cookbook on the subject called Everybody Eats Well in Belgium.

jb