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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.

That Furthermore beer sounds intriguing -- I've always been underwhelmed by Sand Creek's house beer (my in-laws have a place near Black River Falls), but hopefully their contract stuff is better. And the sandwich looks to die for.

There's a Sunoco on West Chester Pike in Upper Darby (near Pica's; it's got a big green shamrock in the window facing the street) that sells a ton of Irish food - Kerry Gold butter, Irish bacon and sausage, bread, tons of candy from the British Isles. I've never looked for crisps or Marmite/Vegemite there but I wouldn't be surprised if they had them.

Alex, the dinner at Blackfish was outstanding. It was my wife's birthday so the meal was extra special, and we enjoyed meeting you. All of the courses were great, but we particularly enjoyed the smoked pumpkin ice cream with roe, the risotto, the chestnut tortellini in the scallop course and the powdered Pierre Robert. The 2004 Domaine Barmes-Buecher Tokay Pinot Gris Rosenberg Silicis, procured from Moore Brothers, paired well with all of the savory courses (and was gone by the time the cheese course arrived). We also sat next to Nick, aka Foodie at Fifteen -- it was fun to meet him and talk with him with throughout the meal.

Wow - reviving this thread over 3 years later! My wife and I ate at Horizons on Friday night. We had last been there about 2 years ago. They have turned the first floor bar into a second dining room, taking out the bar along the far wall and replacing it was a smaller one just to the right of the entrance. We had reservations, and the room seemed a little chilly so we asked to be seated upstairs. It was cozier than downstairs, but looked a little more run-down than I remembered. The upstairs bar was empty but most of the tables were full. We both started with the Vietnamese tacos ($10), which were banh mi flavors on tortillas instead of baguette. While the fillings were delicious, the tortillas undermined the dish -- they were mushy and bland wheat tortillas that seemed store-bought, the kind that glue themselves to your teeth. They didn't stop us from inhaling the tacos. My wife's entree was the Pacific Rim Grill Tofu ($18) with gochugang glaze, edamame potato puree and smoked miso broth. I didn't taste it, but she loved it. I had the Autumn Plate ($19), which was a medley of mushrooms (oyster, chanterelles and trumpet, I think) in jus along with papardelle and grilled romaine. It was out of this world -- if I didn't know better I'd swear they used veal stock in the jus, it was so rich and savory. This dish was really special - and this is coming from a committed and enthusiastic carnivore. The portions here are generous to say the least, and I was stuffed after the main course. But my wife couldn't resist the apple cheesecake ($7) which she enjoyed. At these prices it's not a place we can go regularly, but we won't wait as long between visits next time.

I've had two very good meals at Resurrection. First was a selection of pickles ($6) followed by their twice-fried chicken ($10). The pickles were excellent; the chicken was good but not great-- crunchy crust and juicy chicken, but it could have used some heat and more salt to give it a little zip. I drank an Octoberfest with it, probably either Sly Fox or Victory. My brother had the pork ribs, which as Wendy says, is a solid dish. On my last visit, I had the Montecristo sandwich ($9), which was very good. My wife had Israeli couscous and quinoa ($9). We split the slow cooked fall greens ($8), which were outstanding. Pretty sure they were collards, braised and served with pine nuts, currants, and pecorino. It was so good that my wife and I have been replicating the dish at home. Really nice mixture of bitter, salty, sweet, savory. For beer I started with the Sly Fox Chester County Bitter (cask only, really delicious) and followed it with Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale. I'm not sure if it was their "wet-hop" version but it was great. As Wendy said above, the layout isn't all that different from when it was Yellobar, but the decor and ambience is much warmer and in keeping with the vibe at the owners' other two places, Memphis Taproom and Local 44. The service was also warm and attentive. We will definitely be going back regularly.

Ideas in Food will cook at Blackfish in Conshohocken on Monday, November 2. From the Blackfish mailing list: Edited to add: The menu's been posted on their blog.

This is probably old news, but his online show, Dinner With the Band, got picked up by the Independent Film Channel and begins in November. I'm looking forward to the Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings episode.

We had a really stupendous dinner at Bibou on Saturday. My wife and I took my parents there for their 35th anniversary. The food was outstanding. Between the four of us we had: Appetizers -smoked salmon -rabbit terrine -escargots -porcini mushrooms & squab special Entrees -hanger steak with potatoes & asparagus (x2) -bronzino -pied de porc Dessert -lavender creme brulee (x2) -tarte aux myrtilles -strawberries & chocolate Service was excellent; our waiter looked familiar and said he'd been at Buddakan and Osteria previously. Charlotte and Pierre are incredibly charming and welcoming. Everything was executed so smoothly that it's amazing they've only been open a few weeks.

I are lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar on Saturday. It was my first visit so I had to try to pork buns. They were excellent, accompanied by a Bluepoint Hoptical Illusion IPA. My original plan to was to try the beef tendon or spicy rice cakes, but the lunch special was an English muffin with fried egg, braised sweetbreads, gruyere cheese, pickled onions and arugula. Yes please! It was delicious. I washed it down with a Domaine du Page "French country ale" from Two Brothers Brewery. The beer was great on its own, very malty and slightly sweet; maybe a bit too heavy for such a rich sandwich. I can't wait to go back and try some more of the menu.

Suzy Jo's in Bridgeport was my go-to when I lived in Conshohocken.