chowfun

We went back to Catahoula last night for a late night dinner after the Phillies painful loss to the Nationals. We tried to order light to be able to get to dessert. We weren't particularly successful at that due to the richness of this cuisine and the generous portions, but we took one for the team and shared a dessert anyway. This time my husband ordered gumbo with sausage and chicken. It was wonderful. Full of rich flavors and the perfect thin consistency of soup (I hate when gumbo is made as if it is a hearty stew). A little bit of rice, lots of andouille and chicken, and that wonderful flavor that was perfectly spicy and lingered in my mouth after we finished the last drop. I had to have the fried oyster dish again. I was thinking about it since we had it and it was just as good as I had remembered. Definitely worth the millions of calories that it must have. We also got the salad again that the kitchen split for us. It was better than last time with a little more fresh watermelon to balance the spicy and saltiness of the tasso ham and spices on the barbecue shrimp. This is a huge generous salad and it is full of perfectly cooked shrimp, it is great for sharing. The dessert we tried was the Reverend Chesta's peach cobbler with Southern Comfort Gelato. The gelato was fantastic and I liked the cobbler topping. I prefer my peach cobbler with a thicker cut of peaches for a juicier bite in the mouth and I also found this dessert sweeter than I would have liked it to be. I still would like to try some of the other desserts here.

We are not the couple who run to places that have just opened but after reading Michael Klein's blurb on Catahoula that just opened in Queen Village, I had the overwhelming urge to try it. We have been to New Orleans many times and we have eaten our share of great food there. It sounded really good and their menu looked really good. We went last night for dinner and it was really good. The food was full of flavor, authentic, delicious. We had the fried oysters served with tasso ham, tomato jam, spinach and cream sauce. It was rich, excellent, delicious, flavorful, great..... I could go on! We shared the arugula salad with barbecue shrimp, watermelon and more tasso ham. It was very, very good. The duck leg jambalaya was fantastic. I enjoyed my Pims cup, it had strawberries in it which surprised me. I am used to having just cucumber in it and the drink having a lemony flavor. This was fruitier. I do prefer the Pims cup at Napoleon House (or the Continental for something closer to home). All servings were large and for the sharing. We could have done with two dishes instead of 3 so that we could have tasted one of their amazing sounding desserts. Very casual bar setting. It felt like we could have been sitting in nola or anywhere in louisiana. It is also a good place to watch the Phillies. Multiple tv's with the sound off all around. Very good music selection.

I agree with you that the wf sushi is convenient but the fish has that frozen texture and it is bland and the rice is way over vinegared and way over cooked. It's comparing apples and oranges. Bf's sushi is universes better. For pre-prepared sushi, the stand at the Flourtown Farmers market and the stand at the Chestnut Hill Farmer's market kicks wf's tushie. Perfect rice, fish that is firm and not mush. No overwhelming vinegar flavor.

Try To Dam Gol for lunch Very good authentic Korean hot pots, soups and very nice people. They are in a little strip mall on Township Line Road right before it intersects with 202 (driving on township line road from Plymouth Meeting)

This looks like it could be good news for those of us languishing in the Northwestern suburbs. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/the-insider/Whats_new_Radice_in_Blue_Bell.html

I havent been there in years, but Ralph's has a private room. I remember the food being good Italian fare, nothing fancy. The website says they can accomodate up to 100 people.

True, but I imagine it is also difficult to lead an active life and always anticipate all of your food needs when out and about, and carry everything with you. This particular place had a problem with the system they set up for food preparation. My problem is latex allergy. Many places use latex gloves in the kitchen. This is a bad idea given the high risk of occupational allergy it poses for the kitchen staff (and subsequent potential for workers comp claims) and the incidence of allergy in the population at large. And there are good synthetic alternatives that are cheap if gloves must be used. I want to put a word in about seafood allergy from comments previoulsy in this discussion. IV contrast dye allergy does not equal iodine allergy does not equal seafood allergy. This is not the current medical evidence. It is possible to be allergic to IV contrast and seafood, but allergy to one does not mean allergy to the other. Consultation with an allergist is a good idea in this situation.

I agree Katie. I would have liked to have drop kicked him right out my door. I did my best tolerating the jerk until my mother finally saw the light and divorced him. My point in bringing him up is that I think the motivation for many people who are allergic to multiple meds at the doctor or multiple foods at restaurants or peoples homes is that many are consciously or subconsciously looking for attention.

I am a physician and I thought only doctors had to deal with this degree of insanity. I love the patients who are "allergic" to a list of meds so long that it scrolls down onto the floor with inclusions on the list such as "adrenalin" making them allergic to their own body, and the "mycins" which is actually not a classification of medications at all. Most people do not have real allergies to a list of 10 or more substances. Of course true food allergies can be very serious and life-threatening. For example, a friend of mine's daughter has severe peanut allergy. She picked up a bagel and cream cheese for her daughter at a local bagel place and she almost died eating it. The bagel place put all of their spreaders into the same bucket of water after using them and wiped them clean, so the peanut butter was in with the cream cheese spreaders. This is something I would have never even considered, and I am so glad I wasnt the one who bought her that bagel. The final resolution of the O.P.'s story reminds me so much of my mothers ex-husband who used to make a huge deal over his "vegetarianism" for the purpose trying to make people go out of their way for him and his needs. He would make special orders at catered parties or at people's houses for dinner and then proceed to eat the prime rib along with his special vegetarian meal.

We had two more amazing meals at Meme over the past year. The last one was about a month ago. I think the butternut squash agnolotti in brown butter sauce are a revelation. We had a gnocchi special the last time we ate there that I thought were the best gnocchi I had ever eaten, even compared to Vetri. I dont remember the particulars of the dish except that I think it was potato gnocchi with some type of meat sauce. The gnocchi were exceptionally light. The steak tartare is a favorite of ours as are the mussels. The foie gras last visit was a terrine, and it tasted like decadent butter. We had a steak dish that was also very good, perfect preparation and spot on flavor.

Bummer! I was hoping it would be good if not great.

Thanks for the recommendations so far. One more twist to the requirements is that one person in the party is in a wheelchair so I am busy calling these places to see if they are accessible.

I am taking my two adventurous eating and music appreciating kids to the izod center to see Bruce Springsteen tomorrow night. We are looking for an early dinner, late afternoon or very early evening, nothing fancy, but something really good. My sister and adventurous eater who has a touchy system when it comes to very rich or very spicy foods will be with us (so unfortunately Thai and Mexican are likely out). The Portuguese restaurants in Newark sound interesting if anyone has any specific recommendations. I would appreciate all suggestions for any type of cuisine. Thank you.

I would be interested in Lancaster recommendations, though I would have to drive out of the way for that. Anyone familiar with the Harrisburg area?

I need some dinner recommendations for a Friday night drive from State College to Philly. We will be leaving at around 330 to 4pm.

I have always thought that the service in generel is much friendlier and accomodating to nonAsian people in Philadelpia's Chinatown as compared to NYC and San Francisco (the only other two I have explored multiple times). We are treated very well at Dim Sum Garden, Sang Kee, Thai Lake, Ken's Seafood, Ocean City. We were treated badly at a place on Race near 10th that serves a very young crowd(I cant remember the name but they have a bar in the front and make a lot of Bubble tea drinks), but it was not a typical Philly Chinatown experience for me.

We had dinner at Meme last night. The food was well prepared and thoughtful. I had no problems with the amount of salt, in fact everything was well seasoned and not overly so. I am very sensitive to too much salt and I had some trepidation about that after reading some of the reviews on this thread. For example, I attended the Shola dinner at Blackfish last year and found many of the dishes inedible, and burning my mouth due to overseasoning. We had the sizzling mussels and they were fabulous. The mussels carmelized on the hot skillet as they were brought to the table. We had a microgreen salad with grapefruit that was refreshing and nicely dressed, with the exact right amount of finishing salt. The spiced scallops were seared on the outside and raw in the middle and they were coated with an intriguing mix of spices that we could not identify, maybe some cardomom, not sure. I loved the foie gras tart, it was decadent, with foie gras pate that had some bruleed sugar on top, cooked apples and puff pastry. The Moroccan lamb ribs were very good, one of the ribs had honeyed almonds sprinkled on it which really took it to a new level of deliciousness. The meyer lemon meringue tarte was delicious, but I would have rather had a true pie crust on it instead of puff pastry. The hazelnut pot de creme was exquisite, I could eat it all day. It had a nice crunchy topping. We had great service. Our waiter was knowledgeable about the food and he made an excellent wine suggestion. The food came out at a good pace. We were very happy and so were the people next to us who started a conversation with us about how good the food was and what we thought about the dishes we ordered. The bill was reasonable, 125 with a nice bottle of wine, for two.

We had holiday lunches at Spasso two years in a row a few years ago with a group. The first time it was very good, lots of food for the money, and the food was decent. The second time they were less generous with the food. The noise level was high there as I recall.

This brew pub is in Mount Airy near McMenamins It was opened by the couple who ran Heavyweight Brewing Company. They feature their own beer and a number of guest brews on tap. They have wines by the bottle and glass, that I have not sampled. The flatbreads, (pizza to me) are baked at a high heat in a wood burning oven built for this restaurant. The crust is at once light and crispy and chewy, cooked perfectly with a bit of char on the edges, and very flavorful. It stands up to the toppings, no soggy crust in the middle. My favorite "bread" is the seed pizza with garlic oil, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and cheese. Other favorites are the cheese tomato sauce and fresh arugula and a pesto pie with potatoes. The salads are fresh and well executed, I have found the soup to be hit or miss. The desserts are from The Night Kitchen in Chestnut Hill. This place is well worth a a special trip.

Cook more.

Not sure about "too good to be true": Oceanaire has very good oysters, at a very high price point. I've never eaten them at their bar, but I've ordered them as an app. Really wonderful. ← i don't get what would be "too good to be true" either. what? that they have oysters? that they have a huge selection? that they're fresh? i'm pretty sure those things are all true. and the price point is *not* too good to be true because...it's kinda pricey. but then when you put XIX into the picture i don't think you'll find it that far off the mark. ← What I get is that this response is rude.

I had a cup of lilac the other night. It was the most delicious honey flavored ice cream. I wish I had brought a pint home!

Thank you. Clams in black bean sauce is my favorite dish from way back. When I was a kid my dad used to take me to this little Chinese restaurant in Harlem called Shanghai tea garden which is long closed. Once he let me order my own clams in black bean sauce and I was in heaven! They used to make it with Cherrystone clams which no one ever does anymore. Those two geoduck clam dishes beautifully photographed by Philadining look really good.

Where is Ken's Seafood? I cant find it by googling, nor could I find it driving around Chinatown last night looking for parking spot.

We had lunch at Dim Sum Garden today. This was the 5th or 6th time we ate there and the first time we took our kids. They proclaimed it not only the best dumplings they had ever had but also the best lunch they had ever had, which is quite an honor given the places these two have eaten. We had a cold spicy tripe and ox tongue appetizer, enjoyed by all. The two types of soup dumplings, steamed triple buns which looked like standard dim sum steamed buns with a clear noodle, green vegetable and dried shrimp filling, different and good. The shiu mai which are filled with a peppery, mushroomy sticky rice are quite good. The leek and pork dumplings and the excellent baby bok choy. We also had brisket over noodles. Everything fresh and delicious and so reasonable. It is hard to believe that this place is not overrun with people. Maybe in a better location they would be. The bus station ambience is strange as always, with an interesting and culturally diverse parade of clientele with suitcases in hand traipsing in and out. We have found it is an excellent place for a late night snack after the orchestra. They had new take out menus on the counter for a new branch of Dim Sum Garden in Northeast Philadelphia Frankford near Cottman. The menu was much larger with a wider variety of Chinese dishes. If we get up there to check it out, I will report back. However, when we find ourselves in that neighborhood we are almost always going to the Grey Lodge Pub.