PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Bringing some Danish bohemian spirit and contemporary American cuisine to the City of Brotherly Love’s tree-lined Fairmount Section, BAR HYGGE’s concept is to find genuine peace thru ordinary pleasures. Established during 2016, this friendly North Philly neighborhood bar serves the quaint Art Museum area with rangy house brews.

A beer barrel hanging from a metal pole leads to the entrance. The elegant black-ceilinged art deco right side features several wood tables-chairs-barrels fronting the 10-seat railroad-tie walled bar (with brew tanks behind) and an earth-toned flat stone segment with four black leather booths. Just as exquisite is the separate left side upscale dining section. Patio tables under the two awnings provide outdoor dining.

During a rainy Friday in May ’21, I consumed  a few IPA’s with wife and dog, returning for brunch the next day to try the fine maibock, kolsch and nitro stout alongside Lox & Bagels, Pretzel Beignets and Breakfast Sandwich.

Smoothly clean kolsch, Nexus, let spritzy lemon sparkle its orange-dried tartness and grassy hop astringency.

Rangy maibock, Recoil, coalesced candi-sugared lemon zest with white-peppered cilantro herbage and mild lemongrass snips.

Tart lemon zesting and pale malt pasting secured soft-tongued Lemon Meringue IPA, leaving sharp orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple bittering on dank pine residue.

Laidback sour ale, Tropicalia, draped tart blood orange oiling and salted mango atop sourdough breading as floral-licked guava and green grape illusions stay back.

Creamy eclair-headed stout, Sorry Tom, brought dark-roasted black chocolate and powdered cocoa sedation to nutty hop-charred bittering in a mellow way.