Philly's best Mussels

[serpentine]

Herbacidal: Yep. Society Hill Hotel/Inn/Bar/Restaurant.

[sockii]

Sir Phil...

Word from the Snackbarons is mussels are coming this spring, that should be an interesting twist to see what creative riff J-mac comes up with......

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Had them there last night.

They were tasty - nice, small delicate mussels (no grit or sand in sight) in some kind of super light "white beer"(?) broth. Served with excellent dipping bread that I could have easily eaten a loaf of by itself. I wouldn't say, though, that it was the most memorable or spetacular mussels I've ever had -- the broth was so delicate in flavor to almost make me crave a little extra something.

But I'd go back to have some more of that bread anytime.

[shacke]

I know Professor Fenton has mentioned Marra's.

Really? I'm not sure I've ever had Marra's mussels; maybe a couple from somebody else's order, but never a full order of my own. Not that lack of direct experience has ever stopped me from sharing my opinion in the past, but I think you may be confusing me with somebody else. Perhaps this Shack attack:

My wife and I have for years always loved going to Marra's for pizza and mussels (red). It's been a wihle because we had little kids but we brought them last night (after 5 years probably) and its just like we remember. The kids were so well behaved and ate so much I think we can begin our regular visits again. My little 2 yr old was slurping the red sauce from a mussel shell - my genes, good boy

Anyway, Evan's recommendation, plus Marra's reputation for mussels suggests that it'd be worth a go; whether or not they're the best mussels per se, they've gotta be the best mussels and pizza combination in the city.

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How did i miss this thread - oh riiiight - I was sittin' on the beach

Yes that was me. Don't have much of an expanation since Marra's other fare is not exemplary but indeed the mussels in red sauce are 95% of the time most excellent and as il profesore said - for mussels and pizza - it's worth a try. The pleasing kicker is it's pretty darn cheap a meal too.

Evan

[philadining]

What, these?

Marra's

The mussels were pretty good, generally clean, small and tender, although a few of them were a little chewy. But in most cases, I'm actually less concerned about the actual bivalves than with the broth, and this stuff (obviously, we got the red) was awesome. It was garlicky, herby, with a little salty marine undertow. Could we just order a bowl of the broth?

The only downside is that the flavor of this was so strong that it made the red-gravy pastas we got next seem a little bland. So I think I might be in the camp that will mostly stick to mussels, maybe some escarole soup, and a pizza at Marra's.

[philadining]

The best I've ever had, in philly, or anywhere, were these with a Thai green curry sauce:

If I could just remember where I had them....

[Rich Pawlak]

Until you've had the Red Thai curry mussels at the Grey Lodge, you havent, in my opinion, had the best mussels in Philly.

[mrbigjas]

at standard tap the other night, the mussels came with spicy italian sausage rather than chorizo. while the mussels themselves were still small and tender and cooked perfectly enough that i could twist them out of the shell with a fork using only one hand, without destroying them (i.e. overcooked and mushy) or splashing the juice on my clothes (i.e. undercooked and holding on too hard), the absense of chorizo took them down a notch in my book.

let's hope this is temporary.

[philadining]

I finally tried the snackbar mussels, and they get a thumbs-up from me.

I'm concluding that it's futile to try to pick an absolute favorite, but these are up there among the leaders. The toast made a great dipping medium.

Edited May 16, 2007 by philadining (log)

[rlibkind]

Got back to Rembrandt's weekend before last, and I regret to report that the mussels weren't up to the previous standard. Instead of a straightforward tomato-wine-garlic broth they've gussied it up with way too much Italian style sausage, so much so that it obscures the flavor of the sea for which I crave mussels. Not that the mussels were poor quality; they weren't. It was just an off-kilter and inappropriate preparation.

[Manley]

My wife and I tried Zot last night on the recommendation of friends from DC who frequented this chef's previous restaurant there. While the mussels were very good, they weren't good enough to keep me from Monk's, which is still the gold standard for me right now in Philadelphia. I had the "Bangkok"; my wife had the "Snob". As I said, both were fine but we both found ourselves wishing we had gone to Monk's instead. It didn't help that the service was uneven, either, but perhaps it was just a bad night. The Frisee salad we had to start was the highlight of the meal.

I'm looking forward to trying both Standard Tap and Grey Lodge based on the comments here.