Food & DINK
We travel. We eat. And we travel to eat.
A Richmond Biscuit Battle — Salt and Forge vs. The Fancy Biscuit
By Kathleen
With strong roots in Southern cooking, Richmond is a biscuit town. The options are limitless. We’d already consumed biscuits at Lulu’s and Lunch.Supper!, so we decided to set our sights on other top contenders. Using the handy RVA Biscuit Bracket: The Best Biscuit in Richmond 2018 conducted by the blog As Told Over Brunch, we were quickly able to identify our top biscuit competitors. Prepare to enter the Mad Max Thunderdom of biscuit battles—two biscuits enter; one biscuit leaves!
The Competitors
Salt and Forge—Located right near our hotel in Jackson Ward is brash young upstart Salt and Forge. It’s home to sandwiches, beer and wine, and gluten free baked goods. But we don’t have time for any of that jazz. We’re here for biscuits. Plain and simple.
The interior is lean and mean with a nod to Scandinavian design—clean lines, knotty woods, and touches of dark grey.
The Fancy Biscuit—Our seasoned competitor, The Fancy Biscuit, can be found on West Cary Street. Don’t be deceived by the homespun folksy charm of this little beauty with its flower adorned counter and whimsical twinkle light festooned walls—with her expansive menu featuring sides, signature biscuit creations, and pies, this little biscuit is in it to win it. Lines of people circle her tiny entrance and to draw such crowds it’s clear she’s got a Don King-like promoter playing hype man.
The Sandwiches
In one corner, we have Salt and Forge weighing in at a hefty heavy weight size! Only by cutting it in half were we able to get this monster biscuit in to make its weight class. Stuffed with a handmade sausage patty flecked with sage and fennel, blanketed in gooey American cheese and cradling a fried egg, this golden brown and delicious biscuit behemoth is a sight to behold. The biscuit is savory without being overbearingly salty when topped with meats and cheeses. Firm on the outside, baked to a crusty perfection, the inside remained moist.
In the opposing corner, The Fancy Biscuit’s offering comes in as a weak flyweight. What this biscuit made up for in loft (Salt and Forge’s biscuit didn’t have much rise), it lacked in flavor and tender crumb. Texturally similar to a dense bun, lacking all trace of salt or butter, its sausage also didn’t have the peppery, herby punch of Salt and Forge’s patty and the white cheddar failed in sharp tang and meltability.
Conclusion
With no need to go into extra rounds, Salt and Forge served The Fancy Biscuit a TKO, dominating the competition and ensuring we’ll be spending future biscuit runs at Salt and Forge.
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