In a nutshell, Perch Pub, 1345 Locust St. , is a gastro pub with a great view of the Avenue of the Arts and a menu of comfort food that is the perfect conduit for socializing, people watching and (most importantly) imbibing beers and cocktails from its robust selection of alcoholic beverages.
As such, they really didn’t have to ply us with anything to accomplish this mission but, lo and behold, they did.
Perch Pub serves the usual pub fare but with panache. Of course there are going to be crowd pleasers like fish and chips ($16.50), buffalo wings ($9.50) and fish tacos ($8.50).
Some familiar dishes are given a nice twist such as the deviled eggs ($2.50), where the filling is whipped perfectly with just the right amount of sriracha as to not frighten those easily scared by hot spices. There’s also some more refined fare on the menu like the wild boar ragu and rigatoni ($15), a pleasant and well-executed plate of comfort food.
But it was Perch’s burgers that pretty much sealed the deal for us.
A month or so ago, we went to a Rittenhouse Square eatery that boasted it served one of the 100 burgers you had to eat before you die.
That place is so lucky we hadn’t been to Perch by then.
We tried The Franklin, a thick, juicy burger that appeared conventional enough (cheddar, lettuce, tomato) — but instead of the beloved bacon, it’s served with apple-smoked bacon jam, which is magical.
That’s right. We said it. Magical.
The slight sweetness of the jam and the familiar lust that comes with bacon easily made this burger tops in our book. If you know of another burger in the city that can compete, please tell us where to find it.
Somehow we were talked into dessert.
It being summertime, we’re kind of burnt out on a lot of sweets. If we don’t see another bread pudding, flourless chocolate cake, crème brûlée, panna cotta or torte (no matter how good) again until Christmas, that’s fine with us.
But Perch teased us out of our dessert exile with something that wasn’t on the menu: stout ice cream.
Oh, sh%t!
They made ice cream out of stout beer.
Now, we love beer (a lot) and we love ice cream (a whole lot). Even more than that, we love unholy unions.
The flavor of beer in this treat is undeniable, as is the alcohol content. It is strong and fights in a good way with the sweetness of the ice cream and sprinkling of chocolate chips. Luckily the serving is modest enough, so you won’t get a hangover brain freeze from overindulgence.
If Baskin Robbins or Ben & Jerry’s runs with this idea, we’re in trouble.