The Belgian carbonnade beef stew, meanwhile, was leaden and oddly oversweet. The barbecued chicken had a nice spice-woven sauce, but the meat was dry. I loved the bacony Brussels sprouts with the pork, but the thick chop was terribly overcooked.
A steak-frites brought a decent bistro cut of top sirloin for $17. But the good veal and rabbit sausage was grilled to a dry crisp, with a smear of goat cheese that didn't do enough to perk up the sandwich.
The kitchen also needs to work on desserts. The dark chocolate mousse wasn't dark enough. And the intriguing homemade ice creams were a little raw, including a mint flavor oversteeped and bitter, and a surprisingly incendiary scoop of "hot chocolate" ice cream fired with cayenne.
If I thought "warm beer" was tongue-in-cheek, they weren't kidding about the "hot" ice cream. There was, thankfully, plenty of cold ale to quench the fire.
Contact restaurant critic Craig LaBan at 215-854-2682 or claban@phillynews.com.
