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philadining

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Everything posted by philadining

  1. Philly Lunchbox reviewed it here Short version is that they didn't like it much...
  2. Nope, Shinyboots' reviews are at: Minor Gourmandry And I think there might have been some confusion about a tasting menu from some buzz here about a special event held a couple of days before thanksgiving where Marigold was indeed offerning a tasting menu as a preview of the (then) upcoming winter menu.
  3. Where is the pojangmacha place? Details, mon. upper darby. across the way from woo rae kwan, in the old white tower in the midst of the parking lot there in that mess that is the 69th st. terminal area. I've always been amused by how that place barely changed its appearance from its former life... I submitted that pic to NotFoolingAnybody.com but they haven't updated in some time...
  4. I just scored a few bottles of the Cakebread Cab tonight at the West Chester store. And there's still a decent pile, right inside the front door. I was temped to get more, but all the recent browsing around, looking for the Cakebread, has resulted in me buying WAY too many other bottles. Much of it has been Chairman's Selections and/or recommended here, so, thanks PALCB and eGullet! BTW, the Lancaster Red is in too, but I was too focused to notice it until I was walking out. Insane bargain...
  5. I was only there once, but I found Washington Square to be the least focused of any of the Starr places, I couldn't figure out what it was trying to be. The food I had was OK, but not thrilling, and none of it seemed to fit the "global street food" tag that was often used as the quick synopsis of the concept. I don't think it's important to have a simplistic theme, but I had a hard time describing the place to people. I suppose that's the genious of a $100 cheesesteak, or a sushi conveyor belt, or guacamole bikes: they communicate a durable image. In the end, nobody ate the sushi from Pod's conveyor belt, and it's too crowded to move the guacamole bikes at El Vez, and I'm sure only a small percentage of people order a cheesteak at Barclay Prime, but they were all good publicity hooks, and each efficiently conveyed something about the food, and mood, of their respective restaurants. They never found that symbolic totem at Washington Square, although I guess they tried with the Lobster Corn Dog. But it's a nice location, so moving Todd Mark Miller over from Barclay Prime to do a Brasserie might be just the thing. I would have liked to have Marcus Samuelsson's food here in Philly, but my one experience implied that it didn't travel well...
  6. Well, somebody give Steven Starr's PR people a raise! Simultaneous reviews of Barclay Prime appear in the current editions of: Philly Style Philly Mag Philly Weekly and the City Paper I like Rich's review the best... although I like Lauren McCutcheon's line about this being Starr's 456th restaurant.
  7. Michel Notredame used to cook there back in the prehistoric days... before he opened Cuvee Notredame. There are still a few vestiges of that era: the Duck Framboise is still good, there are mussels, just not the big pot of them in an ale-broth style, and of course the beer list. But now it's mostly just a neighborhoody bar with a great beer selection, decent food and a nice vibe.
  8. I checked the West Chester store today, and they said they got 4 bottles, which went in about 20 minutes! Oh well, there were good piles of a couple of other nice Chairman's Selections that were impossible to resist, like the Geyser Peak Shiraz and the Vision Pinot...
  9. I've consistently had good food at Monk's, when I felt like dealing with the crowd and smoke and noise. But I can't get behind those frites - they're not bad, but not like real Belgian frietjes. I ate at Eulogy once, and the food wasn't bad, but as noted in above posts, not particularly Belgian. Another time I just had a Corsendonk and some frites, and the frites were awful, really dry and mealy. I know others like them, so maybe it was unfortunate timing, but still, a Belgian bar ought to be able to deliver at least that one thing at all times! Brigid's still has a few offerings that resemble Belgian food, but not much... and they don't do the big pot of mussels thing. It's odd: you can get a good Belgian brew almost anywhere in town, but what's with the frites? The place on south street that was open for about a minute and a half got them right, but I haven't had any others that come close. Cuvee Notredame was inconsistent, but the mussels and duck and carbonades flamandes were pretty reliable. I miss them. But their frites weren't all the great either... (edited for yet another typo)
  10. This is in Montgomery County, Wynnewood in particular, but interesting to suburban diners: Sang Kee Asian Bistro I haven't been there yet, but saw a notice at the original Sang Kee tonight. It looks pretty much like the standard Sang Kee menu, transferred to the burbs. Don't know why they decided to call it a bistro. Whatever it's called, I'll be happy to have their noodle soup, or duck, more often without having to drive downtown and fight for parking.
  11. Also, the Belgian chocolates at Trader Joes aren't bad at all, especially considering how inexpensive they are. They rebrand some fairly major makers, like Guylian. It's breaking your made-in Philly rule, and I don't think you have time, or would want to spend the money in a situation like this, but you can mailorder Jacques Torres chocolates from Brooklyn at mrchocolate.com. They're some of the best I've ever had.
  12. Frederick Ortega at Lacroix makes some pretty smokin' chocolates that they sell by the box, I guess you just go up to the restaurant to get them...
  13. I think the Cakebread Cabernet is already sold out, at least from the online store... If anyone spots a stash somewhere, let us know!
  14. And speaking of Phoenixville, there's a nice-looking little BYOB that just opened on Bridge Street, a couple doors down from the Black Lab, called "Majolica". I haven't made it yet, but hope to soon.
  15. Craig LaBan gave Nectar 3 stars in the Inky: Inquirer Dining Page he made it sound really good...
  16. Thank you in advance for your important work. It will be a dirty, difficult job, asessing all the possible combinations of fatty food and booze, but it's important to the world of science, and I dare say, the very future of our society. You're a brave soul, and a hero to us all....
  17. I'm going to add another vote for Lacroix. That was the best, most memorable meal I had in all of 2004. Although, if I were leaving town and wanted a big blowout... I might give Bec Fin a whirl, it's such a Philly thing.
  18. Acorn Squash: like a nice slice of pumpkin pie, but, well, colder... and Bitter chocolate, because, one should always find an excuse to have the bitter chocolate.
  19. Thanks Rich, not being able to recall that name has been been driving me crazy for quite a while now! And yeah, I miss it too, I think that was the first really good barbecue I ever had.
  20. Hit the Joint tonight and had a nice cross-section of the menu, and liked it all. Flying Fish ESB on tap for my buddy, but I couldn't stop drinking the Jack Daniels Lemonaide... these could be dangerous... We actually broke down and ordered the baba ganoush, just because it was so weird to see at a 'cue joint. It was really good: very smoky, which would be bizarre except in this context, but still nice and smooth and lemony. They served it with pita crisps that were a bit oily, I would have preferred regular pita. A quarter rack of ribs was plenty of food, and among the best ribs I've had in a long time. They were very tender, smoky, with some spice, but not overpowering. A combo platter of brisket and pulled pork brought a huge pile of slightly dry, but tasty shredded pork, and two slices of brisket. The brisket had a wonderful flavor and melting tenderness. It didn't quite displace the brisket at Ruby's in Austin, TX as my personal standard of perfection, but it's up there... Baked Beans, Greens, Cornbread and Slaw were all great. And I'm with Holly, in no other circumstances do I crave squishy white bread, but I wanted some here. Maybe it's just imprinting from that place on 40th street near Sansom back in the 80s - what was that called? It started with an A, didn't it? Of course you needed the bread to dam-up the rivers of sauce, that was a wet barbecue. And i always feel I need that insipid bread to keep from immolating my tongue when I'm out west and get ribs from Flint's in Oakland. Anyway, really good food, they just need some bread other than pita.
  21. More reviews: Lauren McCutcheon in the Philadelphia Weekly Elisa Ludwig in the City Paper
  22. I only worked there. (Though, in keeping with my philosophy, I did sample Dining Services food on several occasions. I worked Dining Service for 4 years, so that was a gentle insider's snipe... And yes, Rich, you were snubbed in the Gazette, but I thnk they were focusing on a particular circle of friends who ended up with an unusually high concentration of unexpected culinary careers. Ahh the web is a beautiful thing: Taste Quakers
  23. Well allrighty then! I'll send compliments to Chef Mike on the burger. I'll humbly take credit for the wine... Where did you see his comments on our burgers and/or the wine? I can't seem to find a reference to it via Google. Thanks. ← On Radio TImes, he mentioned that his favorite thing was to go on searches for the "best" of something, and that he was currently looking for the best burger in America. A caller suggested Monks, but Richman said he liked the cheesburger at Rouge, and that it's tough to do that well... and OK, I made up the part about the wine, but I'm sure it's true! I don't think thiss is in print anywhere, but you can listen to the show in Real Audio at the link I posted above.
  24. It's not Table Talk news, but did anyone hear Alan Richman on Radio Times on WHYY on wednesday 12/1? He's hawking a book, of course, "Fork It Over" but also had some good stories about growing up in Philly, and eating here then and now. (He's currently on a quest for the best hamburger in the country, and really liked the Rouge cheeseburger. I'm sure a perfectly matched glass of wine helped....) It's archived on the WHYY site, I can't find a direct URL, but search their archive for December 1 and you'll find it. Radio Times There's also an interesting article in the Penn Gazette about a circle of Penn friends ending up all being food writers. Geeze, the place is just lousy with Penn food fiends. Must have been that fine Dining Service food.
  25. Yeah, Walt's was that kind of place, pretty dumpy interior, crabs served on a plastic cafeteria tray. I think i actually went there more for the mussels, which were more accurately described as a big bowl of garlic with some mussles in it. But no sense crying over spilled beer, you have plenty of other great options for food, and not enough time anyway. But now you've got me jonesing for those garlic noodles....
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