serpentine
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Posts posted by serpentine
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Echoing some other comments, what I really don't get about the Melting Pot is how much they charge. Admittedly, this is because fondue is such an easy and fun way to feed people that it's something we've always done for parties at my house. I admit that certainly there's plenty of food for which I'm happy to pay restaurant prices even if I can make it perfectly well at home, but fondue crosses a line for me -- I feel like it's a lot of money to pay for someone to procure and cut up the ingredients and compose a simple (though tasty) sauce.
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I hope that Mr. Goldman has success with the space. His "vision" of turning 13th Street into competition for Rittenouse Row didn't exactly pan out as planned or in the time frame originally predicted. It does look better than it used to though.
Oh, the B(locks) B(elow) B(road) neighborhood? [snicker]
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What specifically do you like about N 3rd? I walked in one day and left after not being acknowledged at the bar for about 10 minutes. There weren't too many other patrons at the bar and it just really soured me to the place. It's been a while and I might be tempted to try it again if your food reviws are tempting.
I've never had a problem being acknowledged at the bar...maybe I've just lucked out, but I've always had bartenders that were great. Friendly without being instrusive.
As for the food, I just think that they've really nailed what I want in gastropubby food. Standard dishes like sandwiches and soups with attention-to-detail upgrades like using fresh herbs and great produce. I liked the careful hand with the seasoning -- enough, but not out with something to prove. Specials that are more ambitious than pub food without getting too overwrought. All about the good ingredients in nifty combinations. A few different ethnic inspirations is a plus for me, too.
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Not sure what the new chef at Royal Tavern has done to upset Buckethead (or his sources) but as previously mentioned the no-reservation policy would probably be more of an issue than the food not being up to snuff for someone that's never been there before. I have no doubt the ownership hired a competent replacement chef, but maybe his menu changes aren't going over well with the old regulars? :shrug:
I know what they've done to upset me -- served me so-so to dreadful food on more than a half-dozen occasions. The place is close to my neighborhood and because of my schedule I often wind up wanting dinner late, I keep trying...entrees, apps, specials, but even the items that ARE from the old menu are not up to snuff. Last time, the fries were unseasoned, limp and soggy.
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Abbaye really is all about the great vibe. Food is inconsistant -- sometimes great, sometimes just eh.
Last couple of times I ate at Monk's were...fine, but not excellent. Lazy in the execution -- a couple of sandy mussels here, an order of lukewarm fries there. I can't trust them the way I used to.
I always liked Standard Tap, but I'm all in love with N. 3rd after recent visits. Friendlier scene, very consistantly awesome food, better service. They win my best bar food in Philly medal.
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Chef Nez is no longer at the Royal. New chef is a fellow named Chris. Don't know any of the other details, like whether he was promoted from within or has come in from elsewhere. No indication on whether to expect changes to the menu either.
If anyone knows anybody over there, get the real scoop wouldja? Inquiring minds want to know...
The recent (couple a'weeks ago) changes to the menu were due to the new chef. I don't believe he was promoted from within. (As I mentioned in the other thread, I find the new items very disappointing. Staff's unthrilled as well.)
A few of the old favorites (duck club, mac and cheese) remain on the menu.
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Nez at Royal has completely taken his menu up several notches if my dinner from the other night is any indication.
I have to disagree. I think the new menu is a tremendous disappointment, as was my recent meal there. (Terribly, terribly oversalted calamari.) What did you have that impressed you?
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I always loved Marra's...often get pizza via delivery, or, if on premises, usually got entrees. Finally having had a pizza there in person with multiple toppings (unlike my delivery habit of plain) I was a little disappointed. I know I'm spoiled by the gourmet-ization of the world, but canned olives and canned mushrooms just don't do it for me anymore. (Also, it was served not-so-hot.)
Franco and Luigi's went through a bad patch awhile back in quality, but seem to be back to their old goodness as of late.
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Had a tasty 'special combination' banh mi at Ô last night. Very good , looking forward to trying therest of the menu, and it'll be a cute place to stop for coffee as it gets colder, too. I still think Cafe Nyuh's banh mi are better...their pate is more pate-y and their mayo mixture more flavorful. I do think that Ô beats out Ba Le, though. (Especially as I was a bit disappointed with the last bahn mi I got at Ba Le, which was carelessly made and therefore lacked ingredient balance.)
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Regarding the cheapness of the sandwiches, I don't see how they could get away with charging much more than the 2-3 dollar range charged by the ten or so bahn mi shops in the neighborhood. Sure, people unfamiliar with banh mi or the area would pay 5 bucks for the sandwich, but then Ô would lose credibility with the locals.
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While introducing a coworker to the concept of gelato at Cafe Toscana today, I was handed a dizzying array of tasting spoons. (He must have liked my quickie explanatin of gelato and decided that I sound like a good ambassador.)
The negatives: Dark chocolate was too crystaline in texture, and while the flavor was intensely chocolate, It was not intensely dark chocolate. The less acidic fruit flavors (mango, banana..) are just not very intense at all.
The traditional Italian/creamy flavors are possibly improving. Zabaglione was more intense than when last I tried it, as was the panna cotta. Or perhaps I'm getting cozy to the presence of gelato thisclose to my office. In short, I'm sticking with my original assessment of not-Capogiro-but-pretty-good, and a welcome addition to the neighborhood. I'll continue to taste, just to be on the safe side.
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Does the fact that Rachel Ray included Villa di Roma in her "$40 a Day" visit to Philly tarnish its reputation any? tongue.gif
(It was her lunch stop.)
Lemme guess, she had a small salad and a glass of wine as a "meal" then tipped 10%?
Okay, okay, I won't go there. Sorry.
Back OT, I prefer Villa di Roma to Ralph's, though even at Villa di Roma, knowing what's good and what's just respectable makes a big difference in how good the meal can be. I find the waitresses more brusque than grouchy, even. But for So. Philly Italian, I really totally luurve Marra's.
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FYI -- While walking over to Acme yesterday I noticed that Fat Daddies (which I will now always read as "Fat Dappies" and chuckle -- thanks, Holly) is closed until Sept. 7 due to "an emergency."
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Culantro and cilantro may be "cousins," culantro being the long spiny variety, but the names are often used interchangably to refer to what most of us know as cilantro. Katzer's Spice Reference Pages have a terrifically detailed entry including names in 60 different languages.
(I once had a friend call me in utter confusion from the grocery store looking for the "fresh coriander," as it was listed in her recipe.)
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And I will start there because next I want to rave and rant: whoever told the restaurant industry that "...we will not seat you until your entire party has arrived..." was a sensible policy should be taken out back, shot, revived, drawn, quartered, tickled, made to drink mediocre wine and fed McFood for the rest of their lives. *Nothing* I have ever been told by a host/ess feels as dismissive, uncaring, impersonal, annoying and confrontational as that sentence. I don't care what the practical considerations are. Don't do it. I have written off one, and only one decent restaurant in Philadelphia, and that is the principal reason why. I cannot imagine I am the only one who feels this way.
Agree, agree, agree. I can understand the temptation to attempt this "policy," but it mostly serves to piss off the good customers. The type of customers that the policy is presumably designed to thwart will find some other way to screw up the restaurant's ability to make a profit. I won't ever take my folks back to Chloë for this reason -- no, my seventy-year-old folks do not understand why they have to hover in the doorway for ten minutes while waiting for my companion to arrive, and I almost wished I'd let my mother ask for an explanation.
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the waiter and waitress we had last night spoke perfect english, and i've decided that next time i'm going to a) ask for a taste of the ant egg soup so i can find out if i like it without spending $9 on a big ol' bowl, and b) ask them what would be a normal set of courses for a laotian dinner, instead of just picking a random bunch of stuff off the menu.
Hey, tell us what they recommend that you order. (And what that soup is like, of course.)
The waiter who works there most of the time has given me great recommendations, guidance, and ordering advice -- I don't know the waitress as well, but I would totally trust them to select my dinner. (And he smiles at me when I order by trying to pronounce the name of the dish, which endeared me to him right away.)
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In the spirit of eGullet, and as you're pretty close to Fat Daddies, I think you're going to have to find out for yourself and report back.
Aye, Aye, Cap'n. Will do.
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Not only have they expanded the menu substantially, but they made the Thai/Laos division more clear and added more unfamiliar-to-Westerners-dishes on the menu, so the initial lukewarm reviews seem a bit outdated at this point.
IMO, they have been improving continually since they opened. I do find the spicyness indicator kind of amusingly off-the-mark -- some of the dishes that are not marked as spicy have some heat, and some of the ones marked with several of those little chilis are...just not hot. Anyone else find this to be the case, or is it my taste buds that are out of sync?
My only real criticism is that they fumbled when I took a group of six. The two who ordered specials had to wait waaay too long for their food. Earnest apologies, and they were very busy, but I still might think twice about taking a larger group there again, at least without advance warning.
Craving...those lemongrassy meatballs, preserved pork salad, jerky, and sticky rice.
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Very important: Is the cornbread too sweet? Is the potato salad too goopy/too relishy? How are the hushpuppies? From what state does the pulled pork derive its preparation?
(Just want to find out how far to get my hopes up, considering how close this is to my house.)
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(time for a drive-through window!!!)
Oh, man...what can we do to arrange it so that Capogiro has a drive-through (and bike-through) window?
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In defense of one of the few processed food products that I will willingly consume, the ingredients aren't as plastic as one might think. I'll take stabilizers, milkfat, and flavoring over the more arcane and creepy-sounding chemicals found in a lot of processed foods any day.
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the food is good to very good and the coffee is better.
I'm a Wawa fan. And love their coffee. I'll head there for a quick breakfast long before I darken the drive-thru of any fast food joint, and their hoagies are some fantastically reliable eats from lunchtime to late-night. However, I find the hot sandwiches disappointing. Some of them profoundly so. Is it just me?
Increasingly, I don't have to do without when travelling, what with their expansion into MD/VA. I just wish there were more Wawas in the city.
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Huh. Maybe it's time for for a re-visit. I went a number of years ago and had a lovely meal and great service...followed by another visit with a not-so-great meal with pretty bad service. I wrote it off as "wildly uneven" and, with so many great restaurants in the area, never made it back.
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Looks like Capogiro has some competition now as a new gelato place just opened yesterday at 5th & Chestnut. I peeked in but was too early to get a sample.
It's actually at Sixth and Chestnut, and it's called Cafe Toscano. Same owner as Mezza Luna. I sampled their gelato on Friday. (It's mere steps from my office.)
Flavors are more traditional, unsurprising in a mostly tourist area. Laid out the same way as Capogiro, with fruit flavors on the front end and nuts/creams/chocolates going towards the back. I had zabaglione and wild blueberry. It was nice, but no Capogiro. The flavors were just not very intense. The texture is a bit off was well, the zabaglione in particular was a bit goopy.
The is one non-traditional flavor -- apparently the owner is a fan of G Power (is that the right name? Some sort of power-drink?)
They'll smoosh as many flavors as you want into any size cup. The small is $3 or $4 (sorry! an important detail, I know.)
In short, it was pleasant, but not outstanding. I'll go back and sample more flavors. In the name of research, of course. :)
The Melting Pot
in Pennsylvania: Dining
Posted
aliwaks, at least they had bread when you dined there. They RAN OUT when I was there several years ago. (7ish-8ish pm reservation on a weekend. Not some weird hour.) They brought us past-their-prime storebought tortillia chips to eat with our traditional cheese fondue.