nodding head

nodding head brewery and restaurant
1516 sanson street, 2nd floor
philadelphia, pa
(215) 569 9525
www.ripsneakers.com/nodding

culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 5

continued my exploration of vegan-friendly breweries on friday night, before taking in the song stylings of keith jarrett (!!!) at the kimmel center. this place felt much more old school than the others, in that the space is dim, dusty and with distinct traces of cigarette smoke and hordes of co-eds crowded around the bar. luca and i got a table for two toward the back and ordered a round of 60 shilling and 700 level ale. i think i'm beginning to taste the differences between the different beers - i can't yet identify which ones are more "malty" and which have a "soft hop finish", but i feel confident that i'm on my way to beer literacy. for dinner there were minimal cruelty-free choices. i ordered a vegan burger with sauteed mushrooms and onions on a le bus bakery roll and french fries on the side (yes, you do have to order these separately if you want them... boo). the thing that doesn't make sense to me is that this vegan burger comes with a mayo dressing! make sure to request that that be left off, as well as the mayo-based dipping sauce for the fries. despite these structural gripes, this was a hell of a burger! it brought back long-lost memories of walking the cold streets of new york with my family around christmas time, bundled up en route to some broadway show. it tasted just like the smells of the restaurants we would pass by and warm up in! the burger was soft and thick, with pieces of vegetables baked into a base that did not seem to be soy-derived. not sure what it was made of, but it was incredible! the fries were top-notch too. luca ordered the decidedly not vegan polenta puttanesca, a layered dish of mushrooms and basil tofu with a parmasan, tomato and caper sauce. he thought it was alright. alas, no vegan desserts, but we were pretty stuffed anyway. i would consider going back to check out their vegetarian roulade and stew (with mushrooms and seitan). until then, the survey continues.