After my first bite at Argyll, I was ready to eat my words

I had to take her word for it, since I managed to snag all of one bite before it was gone.

We spent three hours at Argyll on that first night, and when we were done, we didn't really want to leave. I managed to get back there two times over the next four days, and each time left wanting nothing more than to come back again and try the next thing on Romero's menu, or the next. The duck two ways (breast roasted and thighs seared hard and, I think, fried) was brilliant, cored by a center-plate fennel purée and bolstered by a velvet-smooth pan sauce that tasted of wine and fruit, both of which matched perfectly with the duck meat and elevated every bite. The pork-belly app over carrot purée with an apple cider and sage reduction showed the same cool balancing act, each element good alone, fantastic together.

mark manger

No matter what Argyll calls itself, this gastropub makes killer food.

Location Info

Map

Argyll

2700 E. 3rd Ave.
Denver, CO 80206

Category: Restaurant > Gastro Pub

Region: Central Denver

Menu Photos

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Details

Argyll
Pork belly $9
Scotch egg $6
Potato soup $7
Argyll burger (3-animal variety)$14
Salmon $19
Pork $19
Duck $23

2700 East Third Avenue

720-382-1117

www.argyllpub.com

Hours: lunch, dinner and late-night daily

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More About

• Robert Thompson
• Sergio Romero
• Leigh Jones
• Food and Cooking
• Eating Out

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The only dishes that failed to truly move me were one soup (a potato, leek, carrot and garlic version that came off as only blandly warming) and one dessert (a butterscotch crème brûlée with homemade caramel popcorn that screamed overkill) — but that was forgivable, because in the end, there were always the free cookies and there was always another dish to test the next time I returned.

Soon enough, I'll run out of dishes to try. Soon enough, I'll wind up repeating my orders while I wait for the season to change and bring around new flavors. But I'm okay with that, because at Argyll, much of the attraction is the sense that the space, the kitchen and its crew have been around forever, just waiting for you to discover them and a menu so solid and controlled and comforting that to imagine it changing is to imagine all those years of imaginary history being overturned and thrown by the wayside.

Which might be just fine, of course. After all, Argyll has only been open six months. Imagine what Thompson, Romero and their crew might be able to do after they've had the chance to really grow into the space.

See more of Argyll at westword.com/slidshow.