Alec Hart

The best restaurant in Philly. Fifth time there. I went on a Tuesday around 8pm and couldn't get a table so I ate at the bar. The bartender was great (I'm pretty sure he used to be at Fork) and everything was excellent. I have two small complaints: 1) The lights in the beer coolers are obnoxiously bright. When the bartender was rooting around for a beer the glare made me look away. 2) This one is shocking. And Katie, I'm blaming you unless all you worked on was the wine menu. They carry Blue Moon beer. Ughhh. Crappy, crappy Coors product. Also, now that I've learned to navigate the menu a little better, Amada isn't as expensive as it was on my first two visits. Alec

I used to love the Tap, but about a year ago I stopped going there very often and about six months ago, I stopped going all together. I still like their burger, but the rest of the food has really lost it's punch. In it's heyday, it was great and innovative but I stopped seeing Paul, the chef/owner there and I could really taste the lack of attention and excitement in their food. It sounds like maybe their food is back now. I'll have to check it out again. My current faves are: Amada - Everything I've had has been good. Royal Tavern - Their food is better than Monk's and Tap (and their fries are the best in the city). Society Hill Hotel - Their burger is great (much better than Sassafras who often wins Best of Philly for their burger!?!). Gianfranco's in South Philly - Great Pizza and great toppings. Sarcone's Deli - The Ave Maria is the best tuna salad sandwich I've ever eaten. Alec PS. I suggest Royal Tavern over Standard Tap, especially for a group, but neither takes reservations and both are very busy on the weekends.

I second this review. Amada is incredible. The food is perfect. Every item exceeded my expectations. I'm going to repeat that. Every item exceeded my expectations! The design is awesome. It took me back to being in Spain. I think I'm going to Amada again tonight and I don't care that two visits in one week will cost my entire food budget for the week. --Alec

I second Sarcone's. I know it's not hoagies, but right up the street from Chickie's is Bitar's. They do great party platters. --Alec

I just heard Django has been sold. So sad. It's been bought by RX who want to expand the location. Anybody know the details? --Alec

Eating at Jamican Jerk Hut is a plot point in the book (and I assume the movie as well, but I haven't seen it yet). JJH now has several signs up that say, "As seen in In Her Shoes." I haven't seen the movie, but I believe the sushi restaurant is Hikaru down at 2nd, near South. I saw Curtis Hanson and Cameron Diaz eating in Salt two different times. The staff there said she was indeed a good tipper as well.

Oops. Sorry. The new chef's name is Chris (as noted above). He's new to Philadelphia. According to the staff, he's worked in L.A. and Europe, mainly spending time in Prague and possibly France. Obviously I think the changes Chef Chris has made are great and I liked what Chef Nez did with the place as well. I cannot say with 100% certainty that that the salmon special was Wild Atlantic Salmon, but it was the first thing I ate under the new chef and it was the item that made me stand up and take note that something exciting was happening at Royal. As I understand it Chef Chris plans to do seasonal menus at Royal and is also opening another restaurant as well. --Alec

So I’ve now been to Royal three times in the last ten days or so. I’ve been going there off and on for a few years and generally I’ve enjoyed myself, but lately it has risen to new heights and imo, now, has the best bar food in the city. The best item I ate was the Wild Atlantic Salmon special. This was served rare and tasted like it had been caught that morning. Truly exquisite. As for the menu items, the chicken is great. I rarely order chicken, but my girlfriend gets it everywhere and this is now her favorite in the city. The chicken is served with mashed potatoes and carrots. The carrots say whiskey glazed, but there is definitely something slightly sweet about them, maybe maple syrup? I’m not sure. But the entrée comes with fully half a chicken (free range according to the waitress, but not the menu) and the mashed potatoes are delicious. I wish they served the potatoes as a side. The pork chop is also delicious and comes with a rosemary-nut bread pudding. I’m not sure why they call it bread pudding as it’s basically stuffing. Anyway, it’s made with walnuts and breadcrumbs and it’s really tasty. The Ahi Tuna is really good. It comes with brussel sprouts. Nez apparently loves brussel sprouts. I guess somebody has to. I’m just glad there will always be a fish dish available and that it’s high quality. This was the least exciting item I ate, but it was still good, just very similar to what I find at other restaurants and bars. I’ve had a bunch of appetizers as well. The tuna tar tare is some of the best in the city (where is the best tar tare in the city? I think it might be Lolita, but that’s probably a topic for a different thread.). The frito misto is quite interesting. It’s made with oranges and comes with an aioli instead of a marinara sauce. I recommend it and I didn’t find it over salted at all. And then there are the wings. Royal now offers three varieties, “Buffalo,” “Vietnamese” and “French.” I’ve had their buffalo wings before, so I went with the Vietnamese. The sauce is made with sambal and honey. I asked what Sambal was and the waitress was not too sure, but she mumbled something about Vietnamese Chilies. That was a little frustrating, but the wings are delicious. They are somewhat spicy at first with a great heat that keeps building as you eat. The Vietnamese wings don’t come with anything to cut the spiciness. I didn’t realize that until after the meal was over, so I obviously didn't mind, but there was no blue cheese, carrots or celery. I'm not sure if that is intentional or a mistake. As I said previously, my only food complaint was that the pumpkin soup was thin. It tasted good, but the texture made it feel weak and not hardy the way I expect fall soups to be. Royal Tavern is my new favorite bar. I’d give the overall experience a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 and I’d give their food a 10 on that same scale. --Alec

I'm going to try and do a full write-up over the weekend, but real quickly, I loved the pork chop and the salmon. My girlfriend loved the chicken (which I don't eat often, but I tried it and it was good - the "Bread Pudding" that comes with it is amazing) and she liked the ahi tuna. I also thoroughly enjoyed the "Vietnamese" wings (the Buffalo wings are pretty good too) and the frito misto. The only thing I was disappointed with was the pumpkin soup and that was because of texture, it still tasted pretty good. --Alec

Ok. So I went to NYPD Pizza and it was great. Thanks for the recommendation. Actually I’m on a string of really good dining experiences. NYPD Pizza, Chloë and Royal Tavern. Nez at Royal has completely taken his menu up several notches if my dinner from the other night is any indication. I think I’m going back there tonight and if I do, I’ll try and get a menu and do a write-up. If it’s as good a second time, then I’ll go out on a limb and say Royal’s food and beer selection is now superior to Standard Tap’s (but let me make sure it wasn’t just a fluke first). --Alec

Where is there still good pizza in Philly (I tried searching for this, but I can’t figure out a way to just search the PA forum and mostly what I found was loooooong Pizza Club threads)? I recently moved to South Philly and now I live within delivery distance of Marra’s, which I used to like. So, I ordered from them over the weekend and it wasn’t very good. Not bad, just disappointing. I was disappointed that last two times I got a pie from Giannfranco’s as well. Is Taconelli’s still good? I haven’t been there in over five years. Where’s the good pizza? --Alec

Here's the website that I use. The stuff usually comes in about a day, so don't pay extra for rush shipping. I think they're located in Delaware. http://www.ukgoods.com/index.php Also, I believe Fado has biscuits, chocolates and a few odds and ends. --Alec

Hi all. I'm new here and I went to O Sandwiches on the recommendation of this thread and I loved it. I had one shrimp and one pork. It was just the right spiciness without overdoing the jalapeno peppers. In taste, it was definitely superior to the shop at 8th and Christian and slightly better than Ba Le. But what was truly wonderful about O was how helpful the gentleman behind the counter was. I don't speak Vietnamese and I occasionally end up with the wrong item from Ba Le. I realize that my inability to communicate is not the fault of the restaurant, but I was delighted at O Sandwiches to find them so helpful. And I feel that the selection is superior to most Vietnamese bakeries as well. --Alec