Geechee Girl Rice Café

[philadining]

Geechee Girl Rice Café

6825 Germantown Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19144

P: 215-843-8113

http://www.geecheegirlricecafe.com/

I'm not sure what took us so long to get here, it's been open for several years, and has garnered some good reviews over that time. All I know is that one audacious statement from an advertisement they ran spurred us on: on wednesdays and thursdays they claim to serve the "world's best fried chicken."

We felt obliged to go find out.

Of course it's impossible to confirm or deny a claim like that, but you know, it was really quite good chicken...

For the special, one must choose between white or dark meat, and among 4 sides. We couldn't narrow it down, so we just got two orders, which covered both parts of the bird, as well as the potato salad, sweet corn, coleslaw, and tomato and cucumber salad.

The chicken was crisp, with a light, grease-free lightly-spiced breading, and both the breast and leg remained remarkably juicy. The sides were all pretty straightforward, but good for what they were. World's best? I don't know, but it did make me want to go back for more, and more importantly, the restaurant as a whole made me want to go back and try other things.

While we were there, we couldn't resist sampling a few more items from the menu.

Duck Confit was accompanied by excellent sweet-and-sour red cabbage, and even better "Hoppin' John" which features black eyed peas and Carolina Gold rice. The duck itself was tender and flavorful, and not too salty as some confit can be.

It would have been wrong to miss their gumbo.

And I'm glad we got it, it was a very flavorful, though not at all spicy, stew of tomatoes, okra, chicken, sausage and shrimp, topped with delicate Carolina Gold rice. The gumbo was hearty and complex, and the short, broken rice grains gave a nice fluffy texture.

We also got a side of long-cooked greens.

These met with mixed reviews. The sauce had a bold vinegary tang, and the greens themselves still had a bit of spring to them, not having been cooked all the way down to mush. In my book, that's a good thing, I really liked them a lot! But one of our party just didn't care for that style, and didn't care for these at all. Ahh, such is personal taste...

We'd also started with a special of corncakes, which were light and airy, and bursting with sweet corn flavor. The chipotle sour cream made a nice dip.

We thought the food was all quite good, although everything we had was fairly tamely seasoned, and nothing knocked us right out of our chairs. But it was very tasty and satisfying. The best chicken? I'm not ready to award that prize yet, but I did really like their version. But there's plenty more to try as well.

This place offers many choices for vegetarians, as well as plenty of meaty plates. There are several dishes featuring the rice-based cuisine of the lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia, from which most of the inspiration for the menu comes, but it ranges beyond as well, to African and Asian flavors, alongside the southern comfort food.

A scroll around the web finds a few complaints about slow service, but we were there on a night that was not crowded, so I can't comment on the pacing when things are hopping. Our food came quite promptly, and service overall was quite good. But this does seem like food that won't be rushed, so I'd just get ready to relax and get it as it comes...

It's not a bargain, but not especially expensive either, most entrées are in the teens. We had 4 entrees, a starter, a side, and three beverages and it was about $85. That might be a bit high for a quarter chicken and a couple of sides, but it's a nice place, and fairly inexpensive compared to other good BYOBs in town.

I'll go back, maybe for more of that chicken, but more likely to try more of the wide-ranging menu.

Edited July 27, 2007 by philadining (log)

[Tom]

You've obviously tuned into the restaurant's tone -- often homey food, cooked to order, served at a relaxed pace. Next time, I encourage you to include the sauteed greens, the biscuits, the cornbread, the low country shrimp, the pulled pork and for dessert the gingerbread. And of course the various kinds of rice.

We've eaten there many times and, although it's sometimes uneven, we've never had a bad meal. The specials are often based on seasonal produce from gardens nearby and are usually excellent.

Tom