Phantom Gourmet: The Village Manor In Dedham

DEDHAM - Crusty garlic bread topped with cheese, and served with melted cheese for dipping; a plate-tipping portion of nachos; a sandwich that serves as the ultimate hangover helper. The Village Manor in Dedham is one of those places where good times are always paired with great food. Owners Joe and Katie Gaffey are fixtures at the restaurant, making sure all of their guests feel at home.

"It's like a big family all the time, even if you're here for the first time," Katie said. "It's not really a fancy place. It's comfortable, it's homey. It's like being in a living room, but being served."

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The first thing you'll want to be served is some of The Village Manor's Garlic Bread Fondue.

"It's five different types of cheeses melted," Katie explained. "It's garlicky; it's cheesy; it's warm and melty."

"We get a lot of requests for more bread. Anything that's on the table could go into the sauce," Joe added.

From there, you could opt for appetizers like the addictive wings slathered in something called Big Dog Sauce; New Orleans Shrimp served in a spicy Cajun broth; or the appropriately named Mile High Nachos, with layer after layer of all of the good stuff.

"We layer the plate with a layer of nachos and then we hit that with cheese. Then we pile it up again and we hit that with cheese. Sometimes the guys get a little aggressive, will hit a third layer and pile it with cheese. You never get a naked chip," Joe vowed.

"It's got everything on top," Katie continued. "It's got sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, onions. You can add chili if you want. It's messier, but it's better."

Another menu item that definitely lives up to its name is the Colossal Burger.

"It starts off with an eight ounce certified Angus beef patty, and we top it with three cheeses: cheddar, American and Jalapeno Jack. We hit that with two strips of bacon, topped with three thick steak cut onion rings and a drizzle of our barbecue sauce," Joe listed.

For a sensational sandwich, there's something called The Best Damn Pastrami Sandwich.

"It really is the best damn pastrami sandwich," Katie said. "It comes on a focaccia roll which is grilled. It's nice and crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside. The pastrami is a little greasy. We all know it. If you get a pastrami sandwich, you know it's going to be greasy. Just that amount of grease that goes into the roll is perfect, because it gets a little bit soppy but it's soaking it up at the same time."

If you're looking for pasta, The Village Manor has you covered. There's Blackened Chicken Fettuccine served in a creamy Cajun sauce; or Chicken Cutlets over ziti with mushrooms. But the dish you have to try if you're craving some carbs is the Mac and Cheese, made with corkscrew pasta and spiked with sweet sausage.

"The corkscrew makes it great because the cheese is inside it, on the edges of it, all around it; everywhere," explained Katie. "It's five cheeses, so it's kind of heavy, but you're not going to need a nap immediately after."

All of your comfort food favs line the entree section of the menu, like the colossal Fish and Chips

"Our fish and chips are lightly battered," Katie said. "They're laid on top of a huge amount of French Fries and we do a homemade coleslaw. After I tried it here, I'm not really looking to try it anywhere else because it is so good."

Then there's the ultimate Irish comfort food, Shepherd's Pie. Made with Angus beef and veggies, and topped with mashed potatoes, this dish comes piping hot, straight from the oven, so customers have to control themselves when it reaches the table.

If you're looking to cool your mouth down, get one of The Village Manor's Brownie Sundaes.

"Big fat chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, some caramel sauce, chocolate syrup," Katie described. "It's a good way to end the meal if you have room."

With appetizers under $10 and entrees well under $20, you'll need plenty of room in your wallet for all the cash you'll save when you Eat Here.

You can find Village Manor at 427 Sprague Street in Dedham and online at thevillagemanor.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.