Koo Zee Doo

[lfabio2007]

In that case, we're doubly grateful we managed to sneak in before that!

We stopped for lunch Saturday and had the grilled anchovies and the picanha + egg + fries + ... .

Of course, despite it being lunch, we HAD to try the chocolate salami as well.

I'll echo the sentiments expressed by others in the thread: the food was excellent. Well prepared, with good ingredients and without being afraid to let the flavours actually take centre stage as opposed to hitting the -20dB mute button - I was particularly fond of the sauce on the steak. Here's to many more meals.

[Capaneus]

In that case, we're doubly grateful we managed to sneak in before that!

We stopped for lunch Saturday and had the grilled anchovies and the picanha + egg + fries + ... .

Of course, despite it being lunch, we HAD to try the chocolate salami as well.

I'll echo the sentiments expressed by others in the thread: the food was excellent. Well prepared, with good ingredients and without being afraid to let the flavours actually take centre stage as opposed to hitting the -20dB mute button - I was particularly fond of the sauce on the steak. Here's to many more meals.

If you haven't had the duck rice, you haven't lived. And Carla said it might be going on hiatus soon. Jes' sayin'.

[lfabio2007]

Aargh, now you tell me! OK, will squeeze in Koozeedoo before leaving. Thank you sir!

[percyn]

A few of us went for Brunch last Sunday. Philadining took the official shots, so hopefully he will be able to post them soon - in the interim I will share these not so great pics.

Many things on the menu looked great, but soups and the Bitoque (Steak & Eggs) seemed to be on everyone's list, so we ordered 2 Bitoques for the table to share.

Caldo Verde - Potato, Collards & Chourico.

Bistoque - Steak, Eggs and really really great crispy potatoes

Chourico, Eggs and an awesome biscuit

Eggs, Potatoes, Peas and Chourico

Everything was delicious - only minor gripe was that I like my eggs over easy and missed the runny yolk which is a welcomed addition to these beautifully rustic dishes.

Also was a bit bumped that I did not get to try the duck rice, but I will be back.

[philadining]

Percy actually covered it pretty well, but I'll add my pics to fill in a few holes.

Abóbora e Castanhas

Squash and Chestnut Soup

Caldo Verde

Potato soup with collards and chouriço

Bitoque

Picanha steak, presunto, fried egg, fried potatoes

Biscuits and linguiça sausage gravy

Clássico (w/chouriço)

Ovos com Chouriço e Ervilhas

Poached eggs with chouriço and peas

Sardinhas na Brasa

Grilled Sardines

Prego no Pão

Sandwich with Steak, caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic mayo

As usual, everything was quite tasty. I heard a little grumbling about eggs not being runny enough in a couple of the dishes, which we could likely fix next time by making sure to ask for the eggs a little softer. But as a result, a couple of the more casserole-ish things were a little less exiting than the other dishes, but might have been better received with runny eggs.

Thankfully, the poached eggs on my plate of sausage gravy on biscuits were perfectly cooked, dribbling yolk into the already rich sauce when pierced. I don't think this is a traditional Portuguese breakfast, but the twist of using linguiça in this folky American dish was a very successful cultural fusion. Carla's biscuits are just crazy good on their own, even better swimming in gravy... That was definitely my favorite dish of the brunch.

The Caldo Verde was quite good, and had a few more slices of chouriço than the photo shows, they had just sunk into the smooth potato broth. I think I might have liked the squash and chestnut soup even better, which is no insult to the caldo verde, it's just that the vibrant flavors of this orange soup were new to me.

This serving of the Bitoque is half, maybe a third, the size of the dinner portion, but no less delicious. I really like the sharing concept at dinner, but they might want to consider serving this size at dinner too, it's just perfect as a one-person meal. And that steak works pretty well as a sandwich too, due in part to the good fresh bread.

So, count this as another great brunch spot for Philly, and one that has not seemed to have caught on yet, there were a few other customers while we were there, but plenty of open tables too. So stop waiting around for an hour to get into those same-old spots, you could be eating, rather than shivering on the sidewalk!

It's also worth remembering that this is not sunday-only, they do lunch friday, saturday and sunday. I'm not sure if the eggy breakfasty stuff is available all three days, but the sandwiches, soups and smaller portions of a few of the dinner offerings are for sure.

Also - there's still about a week left (until Feb 15, 2010) to try their tasting menu at dinner. A few of us did it a short time ago and loved it. $75 for two is a great deal, and the food is terrific. I especially enjoyed the goat stew. pdf of the Menu here>>

Edited February 7, 2010 by philadining (log)

[Capaneus]

That's actually carrot and chestnut soup, Sparky. See what happens when you try to review at 5:30am?

Otherwise, what they said. Overall the brunch menu is a bit more cautious than dinner, so I find it less exciting. But it's still darn tasty.

[philadining]

Ahh, right you are about the carrot and chestnut soup. The lunch menu on their website says squash and chestnut, which sounded right to me. But carrot explains the more intriguing flavor, and when I checked the menu we actually ordered from, it was indeed carrots...