philadining

I'm with the rest of you, I'll forgive anything if the food's good, but the menu errors don't inspire confidence! The Salmon is served with "haricot vert." Just the one bean, really? Could they go nuts and spring for two or three haricots verts? The Coquette Bar Steak is described as "A Cheval With Caramelized Onions, Creamed Spinach." OK, it's hard to know, with all the toggling between French and English, but I'm going to assume they don't mean it's "a cheval" (a horse), but actually mean "à cheval" as in "on horseback." But I really think one needs to say what's "on horseback" as in "oeuf à cheval." Or is the steak itself on horseback somehow? What does that mean? Sure, we call main dishes entrees, but using "Les Entrées" here is weird, just because it's a conventional French menu term for something completely different. But the one that really bugged me was: "Le Coquette Plateau pour Deux." Good god, it's the NAME of the restaurant, you'd hope they might get the gender right: It's LA Coquette!!! (Yes.. I know it's "Le" Plateau, I'd accept "Le Plateau Coquette") Jeeze... Anyway, I'll be happy to mix the genders of my nouns, stop using plurals, heck, I'll ask for extra "natural jus" if the place brings the goods! But in a city like Philadelphia, would it have been all that hard to find a Francophone to proof the menu?

Oh and just a note about the space: it gets a little warm in there on hot days, there's an old airconditioner over the door, struggling to keep up and not quite succeeding. It's fighting an open kitchen and a large steamtable... That said, it wasn't terribly uncomfortable, just a little on the hot side. Pretend you're in Bali.

Final good-bye party: The guest of honor: Chef making the ceremonial first slice... Awfully darn nice of Chef Ansill to include us in the festivities. Thanks for the invite, and of course for the years of good food at Pif! It's some consolation to know there will be at least an occasional flash of this style of food over at Ansill, but we'll certainly miss the specific vibe, the feel, the gestalt of Pif. Nonetheless, glad it was there as long as it was...

Awesome lunch again: Beef Rendang, Tempeh, Greens Mixed Vegetables, Lamb, Beef Tempeh, Greens, Chicken Vegetable Fritters Satay All that, which stuffed three of us, $21.

Ha! It's amazing what one tealight can do!

The place is not very large, so it's probably a good idea to make a reservation. 215-203-8707 That said, we've sometimes just dropped by. I think they do get crowded, but not always...

Had a delicious farewell meal at Pif last night. It was a pretty classic menu, and we largely did the sentimental faves. Escargots were as good as ever, tender and garlicky. A frisée salad with duck confit had the right rich/bitter balance, and certainly wasn't hurt by a generous sprinkling of bacon. There wasn't a ton of duck on it, but hey, it's a salad. (Actually, James and I suspect Pedro ate most of it off of there while we weren't looking, but we wouldn't accuse him of that in public.) But even in that strong company, the winner of the apps was a cold marinated salad of mussels, potatoes and vegetables. The good news is that I got the impression something like it may appear on the menu at Ansill. Speaking of which, David confirmed that he's planning monthly Pif nights at Ansill. For now they'll be the second sundays, and in the back room only, but I think we need to make it a point to cause him to expand that! We marveled again at how delicious the entrecôte is, and remain somewhat perplexed about why it's so good, in the end, it's just a steak. It can't all be due to the anchovy butter... The lamb two ways featured a tender grilled chop, and some falling apart shreds of, umm, I forget... shoulder? Doesn't matter, it was great. A quail was topped with a nice piece of seared foie (which apparently looks amazingly like a slab of breast meat in the dim light!) and sat on a raisiny sauce, propped on some spinach and rosti-ish potato.. A side of pomme purée with truffles did not disappoint. In fact we got in a minor fistfight with the servers when they tried to clear the table, because we hadn't quite finished licking the bowl out... Other than that skirmish, service was quite fine, it seems Matt has shaken-off the rust, just in time to put those server chops back in mothballs. We finished up with the classic cheese plate, followed by a very fine financier, and a tart that was light, crispy, and blessed by intense fruits. It was a very satisfying meal, and one that made me sad to think of the place closing, but it was reassuring to know that this kind of cooking should at still be accessible, at least from time to time at Ansill. Thanks to Chef Ansill for all the years Pif has been there, and we look forward to extending the thread on some sundays at Ansill.

Yeah, and Jeff, it's every day. I don't know if they intend to keep this going forever, it's a special page slid into the menu, so they could stop it at some point. But it's a real deal: choose one appetizer, one pasta, one secondo and a dessert, $30. You can add things to that it you want, but the time we ordered "contorni" we felt they were a bit superfluous. They have been offering complimentary sambuca as a digestif. A la carte is almost as affordable. The servings are not huge, but more than fair for the prices being charged. and in the end, I'll risk getting the occasional bad dish in order to experience some great ones!

BTW, the light has been just a bit too dim to get decent photos, I keep meaning to get there earlier and take advantage of some daylight! In the meantime, here are a couple of teaser shots that somehow turned out OK... Ravioli - always a highlight Frogs' Legs More to follow, I hope...

There have been some more enthusiastic responses too, here's a review from Philly Mag. I still haven't gone, myself.

Modo Mio 161 Girard Ave It's surprising how little buzz there has been about this place. Although it opened in the spring of 07, there have been few mentions of it after a few months, even in the blogosphere. Maria Gallagher gave it a very positive review in Philly Mag recently, and I have to thank her for hipping me to the place. After her glowing comments, and my first couple of dinners there, I was about to declare that we might have actually finally gotten that mythical restaurant so many of us dream of: delicious, interesting, affordable food, and hey, you can even park near it! The Philly Mag review calls it "Osteria at a lower price point" and that's exactly what I was thinking - I was eating food that was playing in that same ballpark, but at a crazy price point: $30 for 4 courses! Why can't the story ever be simple like that? This has turned out to be the kind of restaurant that makes me crazy. It can be great, in fact, every time I've gone (4 times now) many of the dishes have been amazingly tasty. But it's also been maddeningly inconsistent, flashes of brilliance mixed with mystifying sloppy mistakes. At my first visit, four of us were just dumbstruck at how great everything was, and I mean everything, all of the appetizers, pastas, secondi, and desserts just had us shaking our heads at how exactly right each thing was. On a second visit, among 20 courses only two of them failed to knock us out, and even those were pretty darn good. We thought we'd found dining nirvana! Then on the third visit, everything went all to hell. Some things were fine, but we also got pasta so undercooked it was still crunchy. Even after sending those dishes back, they re-emerged from the kitchen oddly no better. Some of the entrees came out visibly burnt, or so savagely over-salted that it seemed like they were adding finishing seasonings by the handful. We found out that on that night there had been some sort of major equipment problem in the kitchen, which certainly would explain why things would be awry, but it's really no excuse for sending out actually BAD food! Slow down and apologize to me for the delay, or take some stuff off the menu, but don't send me food I can't eat! Those first two meals were so good that I went back, even after the disaster at meal #3, and found something in-between. Again, several of the dishes were outright spectacular, others were very good but not transcendent, and a couple showed errors that are just perplexing given the obvious skill in the kitchen. There was still evidence of random oversalting, which I'm assuming is a careless hand, rather than a dulled-palate, simply because it's not across-the-board. I got a burnt crespele in my pasta course, and a friend told me of getting a burnt one in a dessert. Not a little more browned than we might like, burnt... black. It's hard to fathom how a kitchen that can put out such delicious food can also not notice that they burnt something. Or that a chef who clearly takes pride in his food would allow that to go out of the kitchen. The chef/owner, Peter McAndrews cooked at Porcini, and Rembrant's, among others, and then studied and apprenticed in Italy, so the basic execution mistakes are just weird. He's either just not paying attention, or delegating a bit too much to the young guys on the line before they're quite ready to fly solo. Normally, when encountering burnt, undercooked, oversalted food, I'd just walk away, there are enough good places to eat in Philly. Osteria's not that far away. Sure it costs a lot more, but my food's always been meticulously prepared. but - there were these gnocchi... At the first meal, there were potato gnocchi so light and delicate that they really did melt in one's mouth, a few of us were rendered speechless by them. Other times, they've had ricotta-based ones that were not nearly as transcendent, but were still quite tasty. The ravioli are always a delight, with tender pasta just barely holding-in creamy marscapone, freshly-toasted almonds adding both taste and texture. Frogs' Legs, (OK, consider this for a minute - they have frog's legs!) are tender, with a perfect grilled char. Veal Cheeks are rich and just barely holding together, brightened with a twist of orange zest. The Duck Leg may not quite have the confit texture as billed, but it's delicious nonetheless. A recent porkchop special was not only gargantuan in proportion, it might have ben the juiciest and tenderest one I've encountered in years. The good stuff is SO good, it makes it hard to just walk away! It's a little pointless to be too specific about specific preparations, because the menu has been different each time I've gone. Sometimes it's small tweaks, other times complete substitutions. Even so, the octopus salad to start has been consistently excellent, as have almost all the pastas. If they have frogs' legs, get them. The desserts have been consistently good, especially the nutella crespele, the cheese tart, the super-dense chocolate cake, oh heck, all the desserts are good. Despite my whining, I still recommend checking this place out. It's more on than off, the highlights are bright enough to overshadow the problems. And I keep hoping that the mistakes are just temporary skipping of the gears until they get into a groove. It's a BYOB, the prices are ridiculously reasonable, and you can actually park on Girard Ave (or get off the El a block and a half away) so it's worth taking a risk. Portions are small-ish, but all are priced surprisingly low, so if you just feel like a starter and a pasta, you could be out for about $20. But the real bargain is the special menu that offers a starter, a pasta, a main, and a dessert for $30, and that offer includes specials. I'm really charmed by this place, and it has the potential to be really great, it's just a little inconsistent right now... I say we go, and offer constructive criticism. I can still taste those gnocchi. Give it a shot. Let us know, and let THEM know what you thought!

Just to close the circle, and let the thread get back to Le Select, or at least Steak Frites... I'm not sure if Le Papillon has a good Steak Frites or not, or even good basic bistro food, but, at least in my opinion, they make very fine crêpes. So go there for onion soup and crêpes, maybe skip the rest!

Not sure when you were last at Le Papillon but I was there in Feb? - not sure exact date...but sure I could not advise any to go there... ← I apologize, I know this is a Le Select thread, but I'm curious what you had at Le Papillon that left you so disappointed. I seem to recall you might have gone after I'd posted something positive, so I feel somewhat responsible...

Will do, one of those times I shoot through Syracuse on the way up or back. But I read the article and... A1 steak sauce?!? What the --- ?!?!

I had such a whirlwind trip through Rochester that I didn't make it to hardly anything I'd intended, mostly grabbing something quick on-the-go. Which led me to a shocking discovery. Yep, that's a cheesesteak. I'm pretty confident that's Cheeze Whiz too (although the place cryptically refers to it as "melted cheddar".) And here's the shocking part: it was really quite good. When one lives in Philly, it becomes a life-long chore to explain to people that no, they really never have had a true Philadelphia-style cheesesteak, unless they got it in Philly. Who knows what the reason is, but even if they're pretty good sandwiches, they're never quite right outside of the general Philly sphere-of-influence. In fact they're rarely right even in Philly, but when you get a good one, you start to understand what all the hoopla is about. But outside of town there's always something awry: they use the wrong ingredients, or in the wrong combinations, or just do something different that upsets the delicate balance that makes the humble cheesesteak so good. And this one wasn't perfect, the roll isn't quite right - it's a little too soft, but it's close, and they made the right choice to get a freshly-made local roll that approximates the Philly thing fairly closely. And I think the meat is almost TOO good, it's fresh and tender and flavorful, and generously piled on the roll, which is not always the case at their point of origin! I'll let that part slide, the meat was really quite tasty. So who is this? Philly Express. They're in Henrietta Plaza (across Jefferson Rd from Southtown, right near the Tandoor Indian restaurant) Official address is 376 Jefferson Road, if you're web-mapping it. I don't find a website for them, but it's the same people who own Philly Steakout on Long Pond Road in Greece. (I haven't been there.) Phone for Philly Express is 585-424-6630. There's a bit of controversy in Philly about chopping the meat with two spatulas on the flat-top grill as it's cooking, versus cooking intact slices. I've always been a fan of the chop, my favorite places do it, so I was happy to see that's how they did it here. Onions were nicely grilled, the cheese was put on the roll, as it should be, not drizzled over the top... All-in-all a pretty authentic construction, or as close as one can get without a big guy named Sal giving you attitude at the counter. Philly Express gets a little too fancy, extending the menu into creations like teriyaki chickensteaks, which might be tasty, but are not really seen at the mythic places in Philly. There are snapshots on the wall from some of those spots, so clearly the owners made a pilgrimage and experienced the real thing, and learned well, they get pretty close. The one big problem is that they don't have much seating. There are a couple of tables, but really only room for about 10 people. I assume they're mostly doing take-out, and it's really too bad: chesesteaks are really at their best immediately off the grill, and they get worse by the second. They really don't stand up to travel very well, in fact, getting kind of gross when all wrapped-up steaming themselves into a gooey, gluey mess. My advice is to keep it simple: just get a cheesesteak with fried onions, maybe peppers or mushrooms if you must, but don't get carried away. I recommend going for the "melted cheddar" which will get you the really full-on Philly experience, without having to utter the word "Whiz". And eat it there. If the tables are full, you actually might get the truly authentic Philly experience of cheesteak consumption, eating it standing up, with a bit of a forward-tilted lean so the grease and whiz doesn't drip on your shirt. And don't be surprised if you find yourself inexplicably saying "yo, where can I get a good water ice around here?" afterward. Just be sure to pronounce "water" like "wooder".

Earlier on saturday, my brother and I dropped by the public market to see what was looking good. I wish I could say that we were looking for fresh, local produce or something virtuous like that, but the cold, hard reality is that we were jonesing for empanadas... One of these days I'm going to try a combo platter, but so far I've just grabbed individual empanadas, 4 for about $10. It was early, so it seemed wise to start with a breakfast empanada, with egg, cheese, sausage, bacon and ham. The beef and onion versions are my faves. Curiosity got the best of me, and I ordered a "pizza" empanada. It was OK, but the fillings are kind of boring, like I should have expected. It reminded me a bit too much of a Hotpocket... I look forward to trying the rest eventually, but those beef and onion ones rock, especially with a bit of the red or green sauce in squeeze bottles at the counter.

Owen's right about the fuzziness in herb nomenclature, so I'm not entirely confident that I have actually been getting "culantro" on my garnish plates in Vietnamese places I've eaten in Philly and on the west coast, but I have been getting a wide variety of herbs, some of which have been called culantro by the waitstaff when I asked about it... In any case, it's nice to have a few different flavors to toss in one's pho, or bun bo hue. But, no crisis, it was still quite tasty. So Gordon, where were ya dude? We rolled over to PPD right after the public market on sat, about 10:30-10:45 ish. Or was that huge empty bowl on one table yours?

I can't say that I looked specifically at the hours at Pho Duang Dong, but I did look at the sign to see if they were open when we got there a little before 11am on saturday (they were, they open at 10am) but it didn't jump out at me that they were only open three days a week. I'll see if I can get someone local to confirm if that's still true... Anyway, they were open and serving on saturday lunchtime, and we felt like soup. That's a "medium" Bun Bo Hue. I seem to recall that there are 4 different sizes: small, medium, large and extra large. I think we saw an extra large on the way in, and I think I might have been able to bathe in it. The medium was a good size to share, because we weren't only having that, and we were pretty stuffed on empanadas anyway, but more on that later! If I were just going in for a bowl of soup as a meal for myself, I suspect this is the size I'd get. The broth had a nice peppery kick, and was pretty decent overall, but the flavor was not especially complex, as one hopes the best Vietnamese broths will demonstrate. This tasted like pretty straight-ahead beef broth with some heat, rather than the 8 bazillion-ingredient herby, spicy, fragrant brews one can find at the best places. The accompanying garnishes were pretty simple: just basil, beansprouts, lime and a single bird pepper. I've gotten spoiled by the places that put out plates with mint, cilantro, culantro, and maybe various types of basil, as well as some more chiles. Still, tearing up some basil, squeezing in some lime, tossing in the beansprouts, made for a very nice soup. The generous portion of beef consisted mostly of cubes with generous veining of fat and or other chewy stuff, which of course is pretty traditional, but a little intimidating if you're not used to it. The beef was really tasty, and very tender, so all was good. We probably left behind a few chunks that had the busboy shaking his head, wondering why we didn't eat the best parts, but we made a good dent in it. The noodles themselves were decent, akin to typical spaghetti, rather than the squared-off rice noodles that have a little more chewy spring to them, but that's a small quibble. It was a good bowl of soup, one I'd go back for. But first, I might have to try some of the regular Pho. While we were there, we couldn't really resist getting a Bahn Mi... The bread was pretty much the same as last time, but a little less crumby, I liked it. And the sandwich overall was very good. One warning: our waitress asked if we wanted jalapeno, and we of course said we did, we like that spicy punch to the mixture of flavors. But wow, right toward the end of the sandwich, I encountered one mean, sneaky, ill-tempered chile pepper! A relatively small sliver of it got my eyes watering, and put a serious burn on my tongue! You just never can tell with those peppers! It was worth it, nonetheless. Lemonade was OK, nothing too special. The medium soup, a Bahn Mi, and two drinks was about $14. A pretty serious bargain for the quantity and quality.

From a marketing standpoint, it's interesting to see flags emblazoned simply with "Riesling" waving outside of wineries around the Fingerlakes in NY. The quality is not universally high, but it is pretty amazing how many good-to-excellent rieslings there are to be had, especially around Keuka and Seneca. In addition to some of the best Rieslings anywhere, not just upstate NY, Hermann Wiemer is also making two good dry Roses. The newer one, 100% Pinot Noir, is quite interesting. After a recent resupply there, I should be set for at least part of the summer...

If I'd had time for the farmer's market, we would have had oddly similar visits: I did some stocking up at Wiemer right after lunch. Now if we could just get someone to run a ferry service across the middle of Seneca Lake, we'd really be set! Or I just need to get that amphibious car I've ben dreaming of...

Made a return visit to Dano's Heuriger on Seneca Lake this past weekend (original visit described here>>) and I'm happy to say that it was an excellent experience again. It seems a tiny bit odd to pay for a basket of bread, but it's so good, and varied, that I don't really mind. For slathering on that bread, three spreads: liptauer, pumpinkseed oil, tapanade. The first two are cheese-based, with interesting spicing. Their tapanade is basically just chopped olives, a little more minimal than I'm used to, but still good, especially on the olive bread. We couldn't resist the beet salad with horseradish. Also, a tomato, cucumber and feta salad, and a celery root salad. All are very straight-ahead, simple preparations employing only a few ingredients, but the raw materials are very good, and are tweaked just the right way. The "Heuriger Eggplant" was outrageously good. Served cold, it projected amazingly intense flavors of both the eggplant and tomato, one of the freshest, most summery-tasting things I've had in years. It's a little early for good local tomatoes, so I'm not sure what kind of sorcery he's doing in the kitchen, or sourcing he's doing from purveyors. There's a lovely small garden directly out the back door of the kitchen, but I didn't see any tomatoes... A special of Goulash featured shreds and chunks of pork, cooked with sauerkraut in an intense paprika sauce. I haven't had a goulash quite like this before, but I hope to have some more soon! We were wiping the plate with bread to capture every drop of the sauce, which was great on its own, and even better combined with the sour cream. A simple poached salmon was clean and refreshing, served cold with a light remoulade, a great summer dish. The knockwurst was a bit more hearty, and especially delicious with the spicy homemade riesling mustard. The "daily mash" was basic mashed potatoes, and they really might have been the absolute perfect version of this dish. Really, like the Platonic Ideal of potatoes. To drink? Of course a mug of Gruner Veltliner, but for the beer drinkers, they also offer a few good brews, including a really nice Double Bock from just up the road. We didn't really have room for dessert, but for the sake of completion, we tried a couple. The Fruit Patch was a rich cake studded with seasonal berries, doused in vanilla sauce. Linzer Torte was a classic version, maybe a touch on the austere side, but I suspect that's a stylistic choice rather than a baking error. All in all a terrific meal. All the food was delicious, the service was very friendly and helpful, letting us improvise the final order throughout a somewhat extended lunch. Dano himself came out a few times and toured the dining room, asking how everything was. It's a lovely space, with a great view of the lake. They say they get very busy on summer weekends, but there were always a few tables open while we were there on a sunday afternoon. So it's not a bad idea to make a reservation, but if you didn't, it's probably worth stopping anyway, they can probably fit you in. www.danosonseneca.com

I'm not an attorney, but this whole thing is looking weirder, because LaBan, not surprisingly, has receipts for what he ordered, which was clearly a steak of some sort, not a steak sandwich as originally claimed by Chops. So the argument about exactly what kind of steak seems like pointless hairsplitting at this point, and we have no real way of knowing what the waiter called it, or for that matter, what piece of meat actually showed up on the plate, regardless of what the restaurant usually uses for a "steak frites." I've gotten parsley in a mojito, you know, things happen... It's hard to imagine a court finding intentional malice in such a small distinction. But then, I'm not an attorney. To a layperson, the plaintiff's insistence on a videotaped deposition seems like either a mean-spirited threat, applied in an attempt to force a settlement fully separate from the merits of the case, or merely petty retribution. Whether a threat like that against LaBan's ability to do his job effectively is practically actionable, I have no idea, but it looks like bad karma to me. Is that really the vibe a restaurant wants to have out in the media? If we don't like your review, we'll sue you, and threaten your ability to make a living? Legalities aside, seems like a bad plan for getting any more press, ever.

hmmm, is the $2 roll a kaiser roll or a spicy tuna roll? Anyway, seriously, that looked like an awesome meal at Schwa. The earlier reports here had already put it on my list, but it might have just bumped up a couple of spots...

Ah, nevermind with the camera upgrade, I think your money would be much better spent hiring a personal photographer to travel with you everywhere. You know, someone you trust, someone you're comfortable with, someone who would understand the milieu...

Cool, thanks for the details! Don't bang on the cooks too bad about the presentation of the steak, it was cooked right and it tasted great, that's what we really care about! The octopus was beautifully tender, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it was still sous-vide. In any case, the char adds a great edge. And jeeze I was looking at those sweetbreads, but got distracted by the steak. OK, must get back for an order of those and a Charbandos!