"W" is for Wine Thief Bistro

As someone who has been proudly taking Lipitor since I hit the ripe old age of 30, my cardiologist probably wouldn't be very happy that I loves me some fried chicken. That's if I had a cardiologist (I don't... yet). And that's if I cared (which I wouldn't -- doctors don't have all the answers).

There is a little part of me -- we'll call him the Colonel -- who does a double take every time I walk past the Crown's Fried Chicken next to the entrance of the Reading Terminal. "Does that fried chicken smell good? We should get some," the Colonel will plead. Fortunately, he is overruled by the sensible part of me which sees the disgusting interior, can hear the grease dripping onto the floor, and see the pile of ooze-filled napkins on the table. "I think we'll pass, Colonel, but maybe next time."

Now, there are times when the Colonel gets his way -- not at Crown's mind you, but at reputable restaurants that feature crisp, tender fried chicken. So when my cousin Josh listed fried chicken first on his list of recommendations at the Wine Thief Bistro (he's close friends with the head chef), I stopped paying attention. I knew what I was going to get. The Colonel would be fed.

And it was... good, but in a different way. Kind of like most of the things we tried at the Wine Thief. There weren't a lot of subtleties to their food. Everything that was tricked up, be it with celery seed, ginger, or bacon, was very clearly tricked up. Some times that worked, some times it didn't. On the fried chicken for instance, the crispness on the skin wasn't crackling as much I usually like it to, but it was still very tasty and had a definite hint of celery seed (or at least something similar). I bit into the first piece, and said, "Huh, this is different, but I think I like it"). Fortunately, that feeling held up throughout the meal and the Colonel left very happy.

Unfortunately, that same feeling didn't carry through to everything. The most notable example was the wife's jicama salad, which had a very, very strong ginger-like flavor. On the first bite, we both said, "Huh, this is different, but I'm not sure if I like it." By the third and fourth bites, we realized we didn't and shoved it aside. It would have worked as a very small garnish, but as a full side dish? Not so much. Same goes for the mound of collard greens that came along with my fried chicken. One bite, and then two, and then three, were good. But it was way too much of a middling vegetable that is often an acquired taste.

Now, for those few misses, there was a good deal to like about the Wine Bistro. It's on a very quirky strip in Mount Airy -- a row of restaurants just appears on Germantown Pike out of nowhere. I wasn't crazy about the interior, but I did like the cutesy quotations that were written on many of the walls. It was a unique touch.

The menu isn't fancy, which is fine. They have a lot of what I would call comfort food -- fried chicken, meatloaf, hangar steak -- with an upscale twist. We shared a tuna tartare tempura appetizer that was good, but definitely unusual. I thought the tuna would have more of a sushi-like raw texture to it, but it seemed like it was almost lightly seared. You know what I got for my entree. The collard greens on the side were too much, but the cornbread stuffing was solid. The wife wasn't nearly as pleased with her hangar steak. She doesn't like fatty cuts of meat that she has to work around, and anytime I get the "Is this cooked through enough for medium?" look, I really should tell her to send it back because it means that she doesn't think so. My bad.

On to the full review...

THE FOOD: I knew that this meal would live and die, for me, with the fried chicken. And as I said, it was good, but not so much better than some local favorites (Jones, Bridget's) that I'd be willing to drive 30 minutes to Mount Airy for it. But yes, were I in the neighborhood, I would get it again.

THE DRINK: Wine Thief has a sensibly priced list mostly by the glass. I ordered a pretty bad California chardonnay. The wife encouraged me to send it back, but it wasn't as if our waitress recommended it. I just dove in blindly and suffered the consequences.

THE STAFF: Very young, but very friendly. I assume these were mostly neighborhood folks at the tables.

MAD PROPS FOR: The neighborhood feel. Mount Airy certainly is a very livable area, and the Wine Thief is the kind of place I could see going to frequently if I lived nearby. It does have a very comfortable vibe to it. Kind of like it's menu.

OVERALL: A solid meal, and I'm glad the Colonel got his fix in. I try not to indulge too often, especially when the results may be unpredictable, but Wine Thief worked out just fine.

THE CHECK: $70, with tip. We skipped dessert.

On to the Xs...

Ineligible restaurant for round 24:

• Xochitl -- Philadelphia's best Mexican restaurant. Margaritas and guacamole at Happy Hour are always a solid choice.

Obviously, as we near the end of the alphabet, there are not going to be a lot of letter-specific choices so I'll present options in a few different categories. For this round, we'll look at restaurants that have opened in the last year since we passed specific letters of the alphabet. Candidates for round 24:

• Bibou -- Once a staple of high-end food in Philly (think Le Bec Fin), fancy French food has nearly disappeared in the city. Bibou is bringing it back. http://www.biboubyob.com/
• Fish -- The owners of my favorite restaurant in the city -- Little Fish -- opened an outpost off of Rittenhouse that I have been waiting to try. http://www.fishphilly.com/
• Kong -- Northern Liberties' latest new restaurant goes Korean. http://www.eatatkong.com/
• Percy Street Barbecue -- From the owners of Zahav, another attempt to bring barbecue into the city. Brand spanking new. http://percystreet.com/