dagordon

Dude! You got the mystery soup. I just reread your post, and you mentioned that the broth was "pretty darn spicy". The regular pho isn't, and doesn't have the Bun Bo Hue noodles; I think it has precisely the noodles that you prefer. I sometimes see people eating what you got. It's not Bun Bo Hue -- it doesn't look nearly as spicy -- but it's not their regular pho either. I don't know what it's called -- maybe this is a typical Vietnamese thing, and someone here knows what it is... I've wanted to try it for a while but don't know how to order it. Next time, get the regular pho dac biet (maybe this is what you tried to order; in that case, I don't know what to say other than give it another shot), it sounds like it may be the perfect soup for you.

Wait a sec, mrbigjas, were the noodles in your pho the same as what's in phil's picture of the bun ho hue? If so that's not what's usually in it! btw, you're off probation. thanks for your post.

Ditto, on both counts (though I've never recognized what that is in the bun bo hue, now I know it's pig's feet, thanks!). Look, maybe there's room for improvement with the noodles, but imho the broth is so much richer and beefier than what's available elsewhere, and just so delicious, that it's a non-issue. The meat, too, is to me of noticeably higher quality. The tendon, for example, doesn't taste like soap, which it does at some other places, and is in fact a highlight of the dac biet. There is some variation in the broth -- actually, I think 2 out of probably 40 times it was not so good, but more to the point I did notice when I was there on Sunday that there wasn't as much anise flavor as usual, which I too love. Maybe it'll swing back in the other direction.

Just to add to V's comments... just as important as the rice and the fish are the wasabi (should be real wasabi, not the colored horseradish most places use; the real stuff is subtler and the flavor has more depth), the shoyu (soy sauce), and the nori (dried seaweed), when nori is involved. In a perfect piece of sushi all of these things and the fish should not only be of the highest quality but they should also be in perfect balance. You shouldn't have to add any wasabi. And in some of the very best places, like Yasuda, the nigiri comes pre-painted with the perfect amount of shoyu, so even that isn't left up to you. You just eat what is given to you, in one bite, without doing anything to it. There's something really amazing about this sort of experience. Yasuda isn't just a bar, it's a full restaurant, though the best experience, as always, is at the bar. Interestingly, while fresh fish is of course important, there is such a thing as too fresh -- Yasuda ages much of his fish for short periods of time, as he says that it greatly improves texture and flavor. I'd say that whatever he's doing is working. I haven't been to Morimoto in a while, I can't say with much confidence how it compares to Zento. But from what I remember of our meal at Morimoto I'd agree that Zento is capable of sushi that's at least as good. As far as the new Fuji, my one meal there was a mess, we will go back at some point soon and try to get a sense of what it's like.

Listen, I haven't eaten at Morimoto in nyc; you're right, in theory it could be completely different from the Philly one. But the menus are pretty damn similar. And the same guy is at the helm (sometimes physically there). And they're getting their fish from the same places -- Yama (which supplies a bunch of places) and an agent at the Tsukiji market. This is a sushi place we're talking about (well, both places venture well beyond sushi, but for present purposes this is what I'm concerned with); I'd certainly hope that much of what I'm eating isn't local. You know me well enough to know that I'm not presuming that Morimoto is the best sushi around here b/c it has a "celebrity chef". I've eaten there, and I don't think there's substantially better sushi available around here. More to the point, the place is generally regarded by Philadelphians as having the best sushi around. Agreed 100% Again, I think it's more than a bit far-fetched to suggest that the only thing in common between the two places is the name and the source of funding. They have basically the same menus and the same sources of fish. And I toured the place during lunch, and my impression is that the clientele isn't nearly as different as you think. Look of course no one is saying that it makes economic sense to travel to nyc for sushi. The point is that Philly should strive to have better places here. Isn't it significant that the local place you're suggesting isn't even in PA?! And of course I don't care who's slicing my fish if it's good.

Or take Morimoto; I don't think there's better sushi around here. Yet the nyc location isn't getting very much attention. I don't think anyone considers it to be in the top tier of nyc sushi.

Sorry, I'm confused -- you're choosing work over a bowl of pho? Where are your priorities? BTW, the pho to get is the Pho Dac Biet.

We tried Pho Hoa recently, it was pretty good. Xe Lua is pretty good too. But they're no Cafe Diem. I'm sorry to have to do this, but Katie and mrbigjas, you are both on probation until you try Cafe Diem. (I'm not sure exactly what this entails, but I'll think about it.) Anyone else who mentions another pho place in this thread before trying Cafe Diem will face a similar fate.

There should definitely be room... There have always been at least a couple of open tables when we've been there. matt -- when you say you'll be there tomorrow for dinner, do you mean Huong Lan or Diem? I think Diem's open for dinner only one night per week, and I think it's Friday, but I'm not at all sure...

Has anyone tried the pho here? It's I think $6 for the pho dac biet. I challenge anyone to produce a higher QPR food item in this entire city. philadining tried the bun bo hue, but not the pho... I don't understand why this place isn't packed all day, and isn't expanding and opening little Cafe Diems all over the city. It's really shocking how much better this is than any other pho in the city.

Look, I think you're reading a bit too much into some of the comments posted in this thread. No one is professing to be a sushi "expert"; no one is issuing absolute declarations about what sushi should be; no one is making historical claims about the origin of sushi (which would be of questionable relevance anyway for assessing how delicious a particular meal is). Yes, of course the negative comments are to the effect that the writer had a personal preference that wasn't met; what else could a negative comment about a meal amount to, other than the person's preferences not being satisfied? What's disturbing is the suggestion that insisting on excellence in sushi -- and calling it like you see it when a place, no matter how revered or how excellent in the past falls short -- is a kind of "foodier-than-thou arrogance". It's precisely this kind of general attitude that is preventing Philly from being a truly great food city. The suggestion that we might not have sushi remotely on the same level as, say, the best in nyc is not received as a call for diners to demand more from their sushi restaurants or as a call for someone to open up a place here that truly raises the bar, but is regarded as an expression of arrogance and is greeted with hostility. This is like a case study in what is wrong with the Philly food world. To an outsider reading the board it makes Philadelphians seem ridiculous.

Fresh Meadow Run Farm chickens are back at Fair Food, and they're back to their superlative level of quality from the end of last summer! rae has had a theory for some time that the MRF chickens toward the end of the summer might be significantly better than the ones toward the beginning, since the frozen ones we've been loving since last summer were presumably chickens from the end of the summer. Her theory seems to be correct, for whatever reason.

I should have mentioned: I did not find the cha-syu tsuke-men at all greasy. This might not be the sort of thing that is easily assessed by looking at a picture. Yes, there is a good amount of fat in the broth. But it doesn't come off as greasy, to us at least, just as a fantastically rich broth.

I still haven't been back since my very disappointing meal in May. We were actually planning on going back around the time that the review ended up being published, but then we read that Matt is no longer in charge of the sushi, and that was upsetting. It's not unreasonable to wonder whether one will be able to experience greatness at Fuji again, now that Matt isn't behind the bar. First, so much of the Fuji experience used to involve Matt serving you sushi himself and interacting with him in the process. Second, there is the school of thought (I was recently discussing this with philadining) that it's extremely important to form a relationship with your sushi chef over time and for him to recognize your tastes. Even if the new guy at some point would be capable of Matt-level greatness, we'd be starting at square one with him. Third, and most importantly, there's empirical evidence that the new guy just doesn't get it. We got omakase at the bar, and it was typical boring Americanized sushi, rainbow rolls and the like. No doubt a lot of people like this stuff, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But when you get omakase at the bar (esp without specifying a price limit) you're effectively asking the chef to put on his best possible show. I don't know how else to communicate that you want serious sushi. With Matt, he just got it, the very first time we were there. I'm actually thinking of calling and asking whether Matt is ever behind the bar. There are scattered reports of people having been served by Matt. It's too bad if any of this thread is coming off as "foodier-than-thou arrogance" but in all honesty the Philly sushi going public needs a kick in the ass.

I haven't noticed any decline in quality at Setagaya. We were there on Wednesday night. The only differences that I noticed between that night's food and previous visits' were that the salt taste egg tasted like a plain egg (previously it had some flavor which we couldn't quite identify; our best guess was miso), and the cha-syu tsuke-men was a touch less salty. The food was delicious. The last two times I've been I was with my fiancee, and we got a cha-syu-men and a cha-syu tsuke-men and split them. It's a problem, though, that it's hard to appreciate the subtle flavors of the cha-syu-men after having the cha-syu tsuke-men; the cha-syu tsuke-men kind of blows out the palate. It's the Japanese analogue to the Vietnamese pho vs. bon bo hue dilemma; it's hard to appreciate a good pho immediately after having bon bo hue. In the future I don't think we'll do the splitting thing.

Well, we ate at Yasuda's station at the bar and at a table in the space of one week, and the difference was dramatic. My post about our meal at the bar is above. We just got back from a meal at a table, where we ordered omakase for four people. The meal was very good. But it wasn't remotely on the same level as our last one. There were very few "wow" moments this time, whereas last time pretty much every item resulted in such a moment. The uni was as good as last time; the Peace Passage oyster was, I think, as good as last time, though not nearly as attractively cut. Everything else was enjoyable but, I must say, fairly unexceptional. For example, the New Zealand King salmon looked and tasted nothing like it did last time -- last time it had an amazing pattern of marbling and a rich buttery flavor that were absent this time. Moreover, while nothing we were given was sloppy, the fish clearly wasn't cut and the sushi wasn't assembled with the precision and care with which it was last time. As silly as it may sound, nothing looked particularly beautiful this time, whereas Yasuda's work last time did. Also, there weren't nearly as many salt and/or lemon embellishments as last time. Again, the meal was very good. But our last meal at the bar was off-the-charts. It was kind of torturous sitting so close to the bar and knowing what kind of experience was presumably being had five feet away.

You guys who had disappointing meals at Zento -- did you sit at the bar? It's an unfortunate fact that at many sushi places the quality of food at the bar is significantly better than the food at tables; at some places (the old Fuji comes to mind) the difference can be dramatic. I'm not at all defending this practice. But fact is, if you sit down at the sushi bar and convey to the chef that you're serious about sushi (ask what he recommends that day, or ideally just order omakase) you'll have a much better chance of seeing what the place is capable of. Certain aspects of the meals you describe are inexcusable; but it may be that most of the sushi going public in Philly wouldn't mind these things, and as a result places can get by serving sloppy food most of the time. Oh, and I actually liked the size of the Zento nigiri: it's a welcome contrast to the super-sized American-style nigiri found almost everywhere around here. This stuff is supposed to be eaten in one bite, after all. If the nigiri is properly sized for this that's at least one sign that the place knows what it's doing.

Isn't is way overpriced for what it is? ← Let's put it this way, I wouldn't pay the $100 retail price. I picked up a case of the 2001 in NJ for $59 per bottle and think it was worth every penny. I still believe it was mismarked but failed to bring it to anyone's attention ← I don't think it was mismarked; they're selling it for $57.99 a bottle here, for example.

Isn't is way overpriced for what it is?

Yes, go to Zento instead. Way better sushi both price and quality wise. Easily the best in center city. ← Agreed. Zento is not only the best in the city (which isn't saying a whole lot) but is on an absolute scale very good.

We were there for lunch. The pacing was definitely quick; often he would put down a piece of sushi almost immediately after we finished the previous one. But we had absolutely no problem with this; and in fact, I think we were able to eat more this way. With large meals I feel like it's helpful if the pace is fairly quick; if there's too much dead time you can start to feel it. Yasuda seems quite accommodating; I suspect that if one asked him to slow down the pace he would oblige. Or one could simply take some time before eating the food he sets down. I still can't stop thinking about this meal.

We had a simply transcendent meal at Yasuda this afternoon, omakase at the sushi bar with Yasuda serving us. For me, at least, food doesn't get much better than this. Highlights were the Santa Barbara uni, which Yasuda was particularly proud of; Peace Passage Oyster (unbelievably creamy; incidentally, he thinks that Kumamotos are "too cute" and prefers this larger variety); an Alaskan vs. New Zealand King salmon showdown (well, they're very different and don't really compete; the Alaskan has more intense salmon flavor, the New Zealand is fattier and more buttery); Tazmanian trout; sardine; and of course the bluefin otoro. At one point he served us cooked shrimp sushi, and I was of course skeptical; but he described it as freshly cooked, and it was truly great, tasting of Japanese charcoal, with a perfect touch of salt. When an item had a touch of salt and/or a squeeze of lemon, as several did, it was a perfect touch. I won't make any pronouncements to the effect that Yasuda's sushi, or fish, or rice, or nori, or shoyu, etc., is the best; I'll simply say that the finished product of the sushi, incorporating all of the elements that it does, speaks to me on a level that few other food does. -- Now a question: I see this has been raised in this thread already, but it was a while ago, and there wasn't a definitive answer. How does one tip at the sushi bar, when one is seated in front of Yasuda in particular? A guy next to us at lunch today who seemed like a regular, at the end of his meal, handed Yasuda some cash neatly tucked away inside a fresh napkin. If I had tried to do this I fear I would have somehow ended up seriously offending someone and getting thrown out of the place and banned for life. I tried to see what others at the bar did but no one else finished up while we were there. Is it standard to tip the sushi chef himself if he's the owner of the place? If so, how much, and then how much do you leave with the bill in the standard way? I just tipped on the bill, as I have in the past, but after seeing the guy tip Yasuda directly today I'm worried I've been doing this wrong. Oh, my family will be having dinner at Yasuda next week, but we're too many for the bar; so this will be a good opportunity for comparison of the bar experience vs. a table experience. I have to say, though, that there's really nothing like Yasuda giving you a hand roll directly from his hand to yours... "Here, have a cigar," he said.

I spend weekends in Great Barrington every now and then and have been meaning to post for a while now but am just getting around to it. My main inspiration for posting is to say that we've been extremely impressed with the food at Aroma, 485 Main St in Great Barrington, an Indian restaurant. I'm by no means an expert on Indian food. I've never been to India. But we eat a fair amount of it, and this is pretty much as good as anything we've had, anywhere. (FWIW, my folks returned from a trip to India several months ago and claimed that the food here was better than anything they had in India.) What's so impressive, in part, is that we're ordering pretty much the same dishes that we order whenever we get Indian food, yet Aroma's renditions are just so much better, mainly in terms of depth of flavor. Virtually everything we've had has been excellent: some standouts have been the shrimp vindaloo, lamb kadai, tandoori chicken, and appetizer chombo platter. The staff at the restaurant is also exceedingly nice and friendly. I think this place simply blows Bombay Grill at the Black Swan Inn out of the water. We're particularly happy about Aroma because the only other Indian place nearby, Glory of India right in the heart of Great Barrington, was the site of possible the most vile meal we've ever had about a year ago. Just horrific. -- Also: the Dragon Restaurant in Pittsfield continues to be absolutely stellar. I don't see it mentioned in this thread. (Possibly people are trying to keep it a secret?) In any case, this place is legendary. It's a Vietnamese, btw, with some Thai influences. For any of you who are watching the current season of Top Chef, this is Hung's family's restaurant. The menu isn't large, and you pretty much can't go wrong with anything, but I wouldn't miss the spring rolls, the Tom Rim shrimp, the duck, the shaken beef, the curry dishes... hmm, I seem to be describing the entire menu. You get the point. In other news, we had a thoroughly mediocre meal at John Andrews recently. (Our first time there in a long time.) The menu was extremely exciting, the food almost uniformly disappointing. Pearl's is ok. They have a great Caesar salad. It's not particularly impressive if you're expecting a steakhouse. The beef is not Prime and not dry-aged (or, at least, this is what our server told us.) They were also under the mistaken impression that "ahi" is a kind of tuna (they insisted that it was neither yellowfin nor bigeye, but simply "ahi".)

Actually, I thought that the state attempted to go the second route before the Fullam order, hence the "advisory" that in-state wineries can no longer ship directly to consumers; but then the in-state wineries got an injunction against enforcement of that advisory. It was in that situation that the Fullam order was issued. Has the state since tried to block in-state wineries from direct shipping again?

For those who might have been following this issue: Does anyone know what is the legal situation regarding shipment of wine from out-of-state retailers, as opposed to wineries, to PA? The order by Judge Fullam quoted above prohibits PA from preventing out of state wineries from shipping to PA given that in-state wineries are allowed to. But what about out-of-state retail wine shops? Some retailers will ship to PA, but it seems like most won't. I tried to order some stuff from winelibrary.com a couple of days ago and they refused to ship to PA. They said that the PLCB is claiming that the current situation is that out-of-state wineries can ship to PA, but out of state retailers cannot. I'm wondering if this is correct. I mean, the only in-state retailers are the PLCB stores, and they can't ship to consumers. (Though they can ship from store A to store B if a customer at B wants something that's not available there.) That is, the discrimination issue is obviously a bit thornier in the case of in-state vs. out-of-state retail stores. Are we just out-of-luck? Do I really have to rent a mailbox in Cherry Hill?