Brasserie V - March 11, 2012 (Burger 2)

Dusty -
Finally a burger to write home about! Our first two samplings made me want to throw in the towel and never believe Madison Magazine again (sorry Trina). Brasserie V had everything in line. From a wide selection of beer to the quaint ambiance and background music selection (modern jazz mixed with some rock), I thoroughly enjoy this restaurant.

About the V burger:

• Served on sourdough with your choice of side (we all got the beer cheese soup - more on this below)
• It's obvious they know what they're doing in the Brasserie kitchen. The combination of aioli and spinach is a one-two punch combo that is only topped by adding Munster cheese. There's enough extra sourdough to eat the toppings by themselves, which was almost better than the burger put together.
• The patty itself was a bit overcooked to my traditional liking, but outstanding none-the-less. I don't know where they get their meat, or what they put in it, but I would eat this twice on Friday's even if I was Catholic during Lent.
• I absolutely loved that I didn't need to modify anything with this burger. I ate it as it came out of the kitchen, exactly how the chef wanted it prepared.

We complimented our meal with frites as an appetizer. These are served on paper in a cone with two different aioli dipping sauces. If you know what's good for you, request two of the southwest aioli, unless, you know, you don't like delicious.

You get your choice of sides with the burger, from a wide selection - pub chips, mixed greens, the house special side, or soup of the day. The side sounded interesting: similar to a couscous with cherries and vegetables. After being called a girl, sissy, and other effeminate names (by a girl), I decided it would be wiser to choose the beer cheese soup. I don't often make mistakes, and I narrowly missed one tonight. The soup was liquid mana from heaven. Upon first inspection, it seemed watered down. But upon first ingestion, it was apparent there was just a lot of beer in the beer cheese soup. Served in a cup, this was good enough to put my spoon aside and sip the soup like I was attending high tea at the Ritz.

I could go on forever about their beer selection. Perhaps after the burger tour we take a beer tour and I could write novels about their selection (I would have to take much better notes as that tour could get hazy fast). I got two English beers: Meantime IPA and St. Bernardus Abt 12. The Meantime tastes like an English beer. If you've been to England, you'll know what I mean. The St. Bernardus is strong, a bit sweet with an oily finish. Good contrast to the meal.

Weight after round 2 today: 171.3 (gained back that half pound, woo hoo!)

Notable observation: I finished this meal first. I can pack it away when the food is actually decent.

 Ned -

Brasserie V - The V Burger


FINALLY! We found a burger worthy of a "top ___" list.  After the debacle that was The Blue Moon bar,  my hope for burgers in Madison was at a new low.  I wanted to throw in the towel.

However, after a beautiful day at the Madison zoo (my first time... you never forget your first time), I was hungry again and ready for burger #2.

• Decor - small and quaint (pretty common in Madison)
• Service - we had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated and decided to fit in a pre-meal beer.  After struggling a bit with my decision, the bartender (realizing my love for hoppy beers) recommended Oscar Blues G'Knight.  I couldn't have been happier.  The beer was insanely hoppy but smooth... and came in a can.  I highly recommend this to anyone that loves them some bitter beer.
• Food (the important stuff)
• Beer - after being seated, it was time for the "dinner beer". I went with the Hof Ten Dormaal Winter 12.  This Belgium was strong, hoppy but a little fruity at the same time.  It went really well with my rich meal.
• Burger - Unbelievable.  This extremely well cooked burger was only enhanced by the toasted and sliced bread, fresh vegetables (spinach and tomatoe), and delicious Munster cheese.  The perfect burger for this semi-upscale establishment.
• Sides - Let me preface this by saying that any fries served out of a paper cone somehow taste better.  This theory was proven true again at Brasserie V.  They were crispy, salt AND peppered, and served with spicy Southwest aoli.  The beer cheese soup had a consistency I'd never seen before (really thin) but packed a punch with it's flavor.
• Dessert - After consuming burger #2 and numerous sides throughout the day, Trina again suggests we get dessert.  Of course, Jason and I can't say no to a girl asking for more food so we oblige.  The "Pot de Creme" was like a cold chocolate version of creme brule.  Interesting but not worth it.

After dinner, the amigos went to the local theater and took in Friends with Kids.  The movie kept my interest until the very end.  What a terrible ending...

TLDR - Brasserie V is legit.  Good beer. Good burger. Good fries... oh yeah, and don't pay to see Friends with Kids.

Lucky-

There was a point today when I had a moment of reflection and wondered if all these burger shenanigans was really worth it.   I read our blog and wondered “Are we too picky?”  “Are we just mean people?”  “Maybe I don’t really like burgers as much as I thought I did.”  It was hard to see enjoying the impending second burger of the day, let alone the 18 more we have on our list after that.

And then came Brasserie V riding in like a knight in shining amour and suddenly my faith was restored in savory burgers, good beer, and restaurants that are open on Sundays.

Overall -

• Beer:  There was a slight bit of a wait when we arrived which turned out to be a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the “Two dollars off bottled beers” Sunday special.   The bartender steered us wisely to the G’Knight beer which notably was amazing AND came out of a can (so I’m sure Mike must have winked at the bartender for us to still get that two buck discount).  Best beer in a can I’ve had since a PBR at Silver Dollar. (And usually, that’s pretty hard to top).  Nice and hoppy, this beer was good.  Followed it up with some sort of Summit Black Ale IPA-like beer (also good).  Great beer selection overall – gotta enjoy when you ask what they have and they bring you a book.
• Frites:  We ordered frites for the table and they were fantastic.  Seasoned well and two beautiful sides of aioli.  Didn’t even have to ask for ketchup on this one.
• Burger:  Wow.  It came on sourdough bread, which looked weird since it was disproportional to the meat, but ended up being perfect.  There was some sauce on it, spinach, tomato, Muenster cheese, and fried onions on top of a delicious patty of meat. Jason summed it up well when he mentioned at dinner that the whole thing tasted good even if you took a bite without meat (which is quite the feat I must say).    Overall fantastic.  Again, no ketchup needed on this either.
• Sides:  We had a few choices of sides but decided to upgrade to a soup of the day, Beer cheese soup.  Much runnier than other soups of its kind (more beer than cheese) but it tasted delicious AND became an amazing au jus for the burger.  Again…WOW.  (Jason drank the rest of his soup out of the bowl like it was a third round of beers).
• Dessert:  We ordered some sort of chocolate pudding/crème bru le thing.  Also fantastic although I could never repeat the real name of it because it was in French.

Bottom Line – If you want to be enchanted by an amazing beer selection and have a mouth watering upscale burger – go to Brasserie V.   On a side note, it had all the makings of a fantastic setting for a date (that is, if I was into dining with men outside of the Three Amigos).