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Can't speak to Thornton's but we had an exceptional lunch at Chapter One in September. Food and service were both excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to return.

Orval ages quite well. I recently had my last bottle from 2007 and it was great.

Of the high end steakhouse chains, I'd go with Capital Grille - great service. I haven't been to any of the locally owned steakhouses (Union Trust, Barclay Prime, etc). That said, the best steak I've ever had in Philly was the bistecca alla fiorentina for two at Osteria.

Thanks, Simon!

I'm traveling to Ireland in September also, so thanks for these recommendations. I have an etiquette question -- would it be acceptable to bring my 6-month-old son to a place like Mulligan's for an early dinner (say, 17:30)? My wife and I know we won't be able to do fancy dinners out with him but are hoping that gastropubs and less formal places would be okay with an infant at that time of day. He's still on the liquid diet so wouldn't be ordering anything. This seems to be acceptable here in the States (given the number of families we see at early Saturday dinners at our local gastropubs). Just wondering if the same is true in Ireland. Thanks!

I ran into the same thing planning my wedding at the Downtown Club in Philly four years ago- but with beer. I wanted to add Guinness to their anemic selection to please my Irish family. Downtown Club wanted to charge me $250 per case (which goes for around $45 retail). We said no thanks and chose Yards ESA instead, which they still marked up to $150 a case (from $30 retail). We bit the bullet on a few cases to have some great beer available.

It closed last year. Details here: http://jackcurtin.com/ldo/?p=1961 Since that blog post, the Copper Crow deal to contract brew with Prism Brewing has fallen through and I haven't seen any updates from the ex-Lafayette crew in a while. It's a shame. For a while I lived in Conshohocken and it was one of the bright spots in the area at that time. Their cask ales and Belgians were always great. The food never measured up to the beer, though.

Thanks for this. I really enjoyed it!

I had this in September, and it was insanely good. Probably the best pork I've ever had. The tableside presentation and carving is a nice touch, too.

Mango Moon was good. The standouts were the spicy bangkok wings (I almost ordered them for dessert) and the Northern Thai sausage. We also had the shumai (which my friend loved) and the baby octopus salad and sides of cucumber salad and sticky rice. The octopus salad was one of my favorites the first time I went, so I was a little disappointed this time that it really lacked heat and the octopus was on the rubbery side. In general I found everything lacking in heat, except maybe the wings. Quite a change from my prior visit (over a year ago). I wonder if the chef has dialed it down to appeal to the Manayunk clientele. The place was pretty full so maybe it's working. That said, the food was still very tasty. I would definitely go back to try a few different things but make sure to ask for it spicy.

Reviving an old thread. I loved MangoMoon in March 2009, but haven't made it to Manayunk since. I'm finally heading back this weekend. Has anyone been lately? If so, are there any standout dishes? Thanks!

Paula, give them a call or send an email. They are very responsive to both. If I'm not mistaken they take reservations sooner than the 2 months on opentable.

Katie, I couldn't agree more. OH makes an amazing burger, one of my favorites. I'm surprised it doesn't get more hype. I've also really been loving the burger at Resurrection Ale House lately. Not as luxe as the OH burger-- simple, but delicious.

I will second that -- we used Anne's Cake Pan for our wedding. The staff was incredibly nice, the cake was beautiful and delicious!

My wife and I went a few weeks ago, and had an excellent meal. I don't recall what my wife had, but I started with half a dozen oysters (3 Skookums and 3 west coast) and was also disappointed that the mignonette was served already on the oysters (which were excellent). My main course was sauteed skate with truffled spaetzle and parmesan broth. Between the truffles (sliced on top of the fish, and minced into the spaetzle) and the broth, it was umami heaven. I had a glass of NZ sauvingon blanc with the oysters and Chardonnay with the skate. It's definitely a little pricey, but we look forward to trying it again.