Varga's daunting clam bake

Jonny likes to keep me posted on things. He told me about Varga, and I was interested. When we found out about the clam-bake, I felt called to eat here. Varga is a new, somewhat fancy bar in (I guess) Midtown Village. I probably would have said Society Hill, but that's neither here nor there. The decor is great, with artwork based on Alberto Varga's 1950 pinup artwork. I'm sure it was racy then, now it's kind of cute. Varga has a nice long dark wooden bar, checkered flooring with tables, and an outdoor section. We walked up on a Friday night and were able to snag a seat outside without waiting.

The focus at Varga is American craft beer, and their beer list is excellent. They offer a lot of choices. I had the Ithaca Flower Power, which is a hoppy IPA, and not flowery as the name suggests. I followed with the Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye. Both beers were about the same price and alcohol content, but the first was in a glass and the second in a pint glass. I think the bar is still working out some things, but either way Varga's tap list is up there with the best in the city. It's high priced, but I won't complain that it's overpriced.

Even though I was drinking great beer, I was more excited about the meal. I was telling people about the clam bake long after I ate it. Picture this: crab stuffed lobster, corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage, prawn, scallops, mussels, clams, and shrimp all tossed in a pot with a phenomenal white wine garlic marinade.

This meal comes at $36 and is meant to feed two people. Considering that we are both big eaters and it was enough for us, I'm sure you'll be fine. Every single thing in here tasted great. Even when we had finished swirling the sauce around trying to find hidden shrimp, we used our garlic bread to soak up the rest of the sauce. They kept bringing out more bread (included with the meal) until we really were full. With the beer continually flowing, this is such an excellent meal.

I can't speak to the rest of the menu, I didn't even look at it. But the rest of the food that I glanced at from other tables looked good. The dessert menu here is weak, and I really recommend walking up to Capogiro Gelato (post forthcoming).

We had a few servers waiting on us, and that was nice, but some were more attentive than others. I think this spot is still working out kinks, getting the staff fully trained, and it didn't really bother me.

Bottom Line: The clambake alone is good enough to recommend this spot. But Varga has a lot more going for it. This is a great spot. Because of price and distance, it won't make it into my regular circuit, but I already look forward to my next stop. Check their twitter for latest beer changes. I'm going to upload a few more pictures to my flickr.

Essentials:

10th and Spruce

(215) 627-5200

Reservations: No

Cash Only: No

Avg Ent: 10-16