Last week was restaurant week in Philadelphia. While that seems like it would be a great thing (and indeed it should be—thirty dollar, three course, fixed price menus), it really bit me in the ass this time. We had not been aiming to join the restaurant week madness, and just wanted to go out for dinner. When I logged into opentable.com to make reservations, there were 3 restaurants (out of some 280 Philadelphia restaurants) that had an available table.

Of the three, the one that looked the most interesting visually was Tavern 17. I am such a sucker for packaging. It may be because I am a designer that I like the products and interiors that look aesthetically pleasing, or perhaps I am just a consumer whore, but I am certainly more likely to pick the product on the shelf that has the more interesting package design, occasionally at the cost of a weaker product. At least I am aware of my weakness…

When I sat down and looked at the menu for Tavern 17, I have to say I was disappointed. I did not seem to match up with the décor at all! The menu looked to consist of over 50% sandwiches, but it just goes to show, once again, that you can not judge a book by its cover.

Tavern 17’s dishes are creative interpretations on classic pub fare including items like chipotle glazed wings and their seafood cocktail flight, which has shrimp, lobster and blue crab with different dipping sauces. We ordered a set of sliders and 5 really interesting variations came out. I dove right for the lamb and feta slider, which was my favorite, but also included was a pulled pork with beet and horseradish sauce (which I swear tasted like un-smoked kielbasa, something I grew up eating), also included were a crab cake slider, a short rib slider and of course a classic hamburger patty.

For my entrée I had venison ossobuco. The marrow, sucked through the bone, just dissolved in my mouth. The venison had a good texture and flavor to it, and worked well with the lingonberry demi-glace, but the runaway star of this dish, hands down was the vegetables. The baby vegetables were still a little crisp, and bursting with juices. The zucchini had a really smoky bacon flavor to it, and we all know bacon makes everything better. I could have eaten so many more than the two I was provided with.

Another interesting thig about Tavern 17 I have never seen on a menu before is a section for dogs! They are dog friendly on their outside seating and have quite a few dishes for the pups.

February 3rd, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)