Archive for the ‘in Philadelphia’ Category
Giwa: 6 Kimchi Takeout Containers and No Leaks!
t says: This past weekend, my mom and dad were going to visit, so we suggested getting Giwa for takeout. We had gone there once before (review here) and enjoyed the food. We hoped that they could impress the real critic: Korean mom.
Because we were ordering takeout, I couldn’t order my favorite: dolsot bimbimbap. I also was wary of the Haemul Pajun because it wouldn’t be crispy by the time they got it home. It was cold and rainy outside, so I focused on spicy dishes and stews. I ordered Duk Bok Gi, Soon Du Bu, Kimchi Jigae, Kimchi Bokumbop, and Bulgogi. My parents picked it up and brought it to our apartment. It was nice to eat in the dry warmth of our own nice home, on our nice table, with our nice view. It was a nice time.
On to the food …
I was impressed that although several of the foods were kimchi based (and two were stews!), not a single one of the containers had leaked! This was very impressive. Of course, it was only a short trip, but still – inadequate food carriers are a big no-no in my book for Asian takeout – especially when you have such, shall I say, “pungent” foods.
The Duk Bok Gi appetizer resembled classic Duk Bok Gi in that it had rice cakes and fishcakes in a spicy, garlicky red sauce – but it had a twist! Ramen noodles! The guy taking my order did ask me if I wanted ramen noodles, but it sounded like if I didn’t, then he just wouldn’t put them in. Why turn away free food? Sure! Add them in! It was a good thing they did, because I ended up liking them a LOT. My mom thought it was a little weird, but after she tried it, she’s thinking about adding some to hers next time she makes it at home. I wonder why more people don’t add ramen noodles to their Duk Bok Gi?
Of the two stews (Soon Du Bu and Kimchi Jigae), the Soon Du Bu was superior. Soon Du Bu is essentially a fiery red hot soup with plentiful chunks of tofu. It was quite good – the tofu was soft, the soup was spicy (but not too spicy), and there was a good amount of tofu, too! Plus, my parents said it was a “special”, so it only cost $6 – score! On the other hand, the Kimchi Jigae, which is supposed to be a stew of kimchi and pork was a little disappointing. There was very little meat, and very little “stuff” in the soup. I actually wonder if they forgot to put meat in it at all. Also, for the price of the dish, I was expecting a lot of matter in the soup, as neither kimchi nor pork are that expensive (we’re not using beef tenderloin or pork chops here). Well, at least the kimchi was good.
The Kimchi Bokumbop was a dish that we had the first time we went to Giwa. I felt that it tasted exactly like it did before with the exception that it wasn’t as dry – so that was actually an improvement. As far as texture goes – it does still feel a little monotonous, so it was good to share among us. g whipped out the sriracha sauce to give it some kick – I just added some of the sauce from the soups.
The Bulgogi was well done (with mushrooms and edamame). I have to admit that it was a little dry by the time it got to us, but that’s not their fault – that’s just the nature of Bulgogi – it’s best straight from the grill. I liked it enough to look forward to eating it fresh at Giwa next time. I probably wouldn’t order it for takeout again (I did it this time just to see how it was marinated).
Finally – I think they need to give us a little more rice! The quantity they gave was on the order of those little pint containers you get when you do Chinese takeout (ok, maybe 50% more). For stews especially, they should give more because it adds to the heartiness of the meal (especially if you’re going to charge nearly or over $10). Plus, it’s just white rice, so I’m not asking for truffled risotto or anything like that.
So what did mom think? My impression of mom’s impression is that older Koreans might not enjoy this style of cuisine. The number of those little pickled plates they give you before you start your meal (panchan) was too few (she’s looking for like 10 of them). Also, the tastes are more for the younger generation that’s on-the-go (which is probably what Giwa is catering to – the lunch crowd in center city). She did like the Soon Du Bu and the Duk Bok Gi, so there might be hope for Giwa, yet – but next time, I think that my parents might consider going there and seeing the place in action … I kept telling them about the dolsot bimbimbap …
Parc: Donnez Mois Raspberry Jam!
t says: We’ve been trying to go to Parc since it opened. Every time we walked by, especially during warmer weather, the happy-faced diners sitting on the sidewalk and the gentle hustle-bustle sounds emanating from the open windows were always so inviting. Food Network’s Robert Irvine (from Dinner Impossible) even claimed that Parc makes the best mashed potatoes he’s ever eaten! But for some reason, whenever we picked out restaurants to visit, Parc kept getting bumped in favor of other well-respected, French-esque [BYO] eateries. Well, all that changed when we found ourselves craving a Sunday brunch at a place that took reservations (we’re tired of waiting at Sabrina’s and Carman’s) and was within walking distance of Rittenhouse Square.
Sunday, 11:15am, Party of 2. We showed up to our reservation nearly 15 minutes early (apparently we walk MUCH faster when it’s cold outside), but the restaurant was happy to seat us immediately. Our server was very friendly and made her suggestions – I was particularly swayed by her descriptions of the pastry basket and the pain perdu (which we ended up ordering). g had some decision-making to do about her order, which she’ll go through below. We also ordered a “French breakfast tea” (black tea with a bit of mint and vanilla) and a French75 (common theme throughout the blog: g likes sparkly drinks), both of which were very good and we’d highly recommend – more about the French75 with g below.
The pastry basket featured a blueberry muffin, a plain croissant, a chocolate croissant, a croissant star with a dollop of jelly, and a lemon custard filled pastry. First off, the croissants were great – they were crispy on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside, and tasted of delicious butter without being oily. When coupled with the included raspberry jelly … they were even awesomer (that’s right, awesomer, because “more awesome” just doesn’t adequately capture the degree of increase in awesomeness). The other pastries were also good, but those croissants stole the show. However, I had a major gripe with the chocolate croissant. I see this all the time, especially in coffee shops: a “chocolate croissant” on the menu. But in actuality, it’s a plain croissant with a single rod of solid chocolate in the middle. Sorry guys – that is not a “chocolate croissant” to me (maybe this is how they do it in France – I have no idea). My chocolate croissants (i.e. the ones I buy – no, I don’t make them – although maybe I should) have layers of chocolate interspersed throughout the croissant – not an identifiable rod. How one attains that result – I have no idea – but I’ve definitely seen it done. But don’t worry – I handled the fake chocolate croissant situation at Parc with grace … I ate the part of the croissant with the chocolate first, and then finished the rest that was completely void of chocolate with the raspberry jam. Problem solved.
The french toast was very good. The brioche bread, itself, was superb. It was thickly sliced (four slices) and dense but super-soft. The cooked, caramelized apples on top were a nice touch, but the hazlenut butter was what completed the dish. As good as the hazlenut-apple combo was, I found it to be a bit monotonous midway through the second slice. By the end of the third, I felt a little bored (and it wasn’t just because I was getting full), so I reached for the raspberry jam from our pastry basket – that livened the dish up nicely.
g says: My brunch selection process went something like this:
g – “Ooh, I want something with eggs; maybe eggs benedict or the omelette espagnole.”
t – “Omelette espagnole? That doesn’t sound French! Sounds like ‘Spanish omelet!’ Are you sure you want that here?”
g – “But what about the ratatouille? Ratatouille is definitely French; the movie says so. Also, although I love a good eggs benedict, I don’t know if I could get something like eggs and ratatouille just anywhere. I think I’m gonna get it.”
t – “Really? All right, whatever. It’s your birthday week.”
g – “Yep.”
End scene.
I was really happy with my choice when it came out of the kitchen. It was a rather large (filled a decent size plate) disc of ultra-fluffy eggs, seasoned with some green herbs, topped with a generous helping of ratatouille (squash, onions, eggplant, tomatoes all cooked down into a warm compote). And it was delicious! Paired with the bread basket t and I shared, it was even a little too large to finish. The ratatouille may have been a tad overseasoned (I tend to be pretty salt-sensitive) but the rich veggie flavors were a nice, homey foil to the more dainty taste/texture of the eggs. I definitely want to try and make my own version of this at home sometime.
Lastly, can we please talk about how great French75’s are? Every place I have had one makes it a little bit differently, but the basic recipe that I like is champagne, good gin, fresh lemon, and a little bit of sugar or simple syrup for sweetness. I have seen them made with cognac and cherries rather than gin and lemon, or raspberry instead of lemon. Parc makes a good one (basic recipe), so I was happy. I’m not sure if it beats the ones I had at double crown (Brad Farmerie’s place in NYC), but that’s a post for another day.
t says: g loves Brad Farmerie … I’m glad I found her first … finders keepers, losers Brad Farmerie …
g says: what? he seemed like a nice guy on Next Iron Chef!
City Food Tours: Educational AND Fun
t says: Part of g’s birthday present was to go out for a Philadelphia “food tour” run by cityfoodtours.com. The company puts together visits to a few locales throughout Philadelphia, and tourists are escorted from site to site (all are within walking distance), taught a thing or two about food at their destination, and given samples. The tour I chose was “Flower Show” themed; we were going to learn/taste cheese, tea, and chocolate with a special focus on incorporating flowers and herbs. Unfortunately, g fell ill, and we ran into the one super-negative about cityfoodtours: the tickets are non-refundable and tickets cannot be applied to any other tours than the one scheduled. Thus, if no one used my tickets, then we would have wasted all that money. In my opinion, this is an absolutely ridiculous policy. Because of this, g informed me that we needed to either find someone to give the tickets to or find someone to go with me; she refuses to waste money (she feels the same about food). I mass-emailed and texted some friends, but no bites. Then k made the mistake of signing into gmail and saying that she was free, but didn’t want to go by herself (cm was working or studying or something). After a few minutes, g managed to persuade (i.e. brow-beat) her into going with me. It was the start of another t and k adventure (like Zahav lunch)!
3/2009, Saturday 3pm, Party of 2, “Flower Show Tour”. We showed up at DiBruno brothers, where we were greeted by our slightly over-enthusiastic, but friendly guide, who happens to be an owner of the company. However, he did make the mistake within the first 10 seconds of meeting me by making a comment about my glasses that I found offensive – he said something like, “nice hipster glasses”. Such an accusation is dangerous – I have many friends who hate hipsters. Also, I’m not a hipster and these aren’t hipster glasses; neither my glasses nor I are “ironic” (or cool) enough. The tour guide redeemed himself later on by commenting that “every halfie is hot”, including me. I say he redeemed himself because in retrospect, it’s a hilariously generalized statement to make; however, at the time, k and I had no choice but to sit there with our awkward turtles in silence. What was also funny was that he assumed that we were married, (which led to another awkward turtle). We are … but not to each other! Overall, k and I both think he was quite a character and did a reasonable job teaching and guiding, although k was not amused by the name game in the beginning (when he made everyone introduce themselves as an icebreaker) or by the “canned jokes”. Personally, I think it’s better than no attempt to get us to open up and laugh.
Our first “stop” was at DiBruno Brothers. I was kind of weirded out because the group didn’t have a designated sitting area, rather, we just stood near the cheese the entire time. Basically, it looked like we were a group of normal shoppers who happened to be standing around the cheese case in a circle. The thought that crossed my mind was, “Gee, I wonder if this entire project is a dude taking us around to different places to shop for stuff – with no actual coordination with the sites, themselves?”. It turns out that there was some coordination, as each site had an “expert” who could tell us more (in about 10-15 minutes) about what we were going to taste. So, at Dibruno, our guide gave us a lecture/primer on cheese, including types of cheeses, the process of making cheese, whether eating rinds was safe, whether cheeses ever go “bad” (and what to do if mold starts growing on cheese), and a potential origin of cheese. We also tasted a selection of four. They were each unique, but there’s no way I can remember any of their names. I did take the opportunity to buy a Pecorino cheese (I know – bboorriinngg) that should be tasty with our pastas later this week. k couldn’t find hamantashen and was sad.
Our second was TBar, which was interesting because as little as I know about cheese, I know even less about tea. Once again, we learned about the historical origin of tea, how tea was made, and the different types. There was a little workshop on how to organize a planter containing different plants that one could use to flavor teas – it was a little boring (all he was doing was putting plants into the planter!). Next time, skip the planter altogether and just have us pass around some fresh sprigs from the plants, themselves, so we can experience the aromas (and then give us some to take home in little baggies!). We tasted four teas – I liked the lavender-cream tea – but k preferred the rooibos (which is not technically “tea” but we still call it “tea”). I picked up a small sample of “chocolate tea” (i.e. black tea and chocolate) for me as well as a sample of “white bliss” for my ailing wife (it was described as tasting like peaches – g likes peaches!).
The third was Naked Chocolate. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Naked Chocolate. Those caramel-stuffed waffles are amazing. The same deal – we learned about chocolate and then ate some chocolate. Although I did have to miss out on some of the learning (I had to buy more time for the parking meter), what was said about the care, techniques, and specificity that Naked Chocolate pursues in their chocolate really raised my opinion of them as a legitimate source of chocolate treats. Our tour guide’s opinion of Max Brenner’s chocolate outpost in Philadelphia, however, was less than favorable (but I see his point). Very interesting how, like wine, cheese, and tea, there is a world of chocolate snobbery, too! We got to take home lots of chocolate, so I’m super-thrilled. ALSO, there are Irish potatoes at Naked Chocolate! Who woulda thunk it? g says they taste good, so we’re happy to see them.
In summary, check out city food tours – I think they’re a great introduction to foods you may not know a whole lot about and was a good fun activity to do. Don’t expect a rigorous education or a classroom environment – basically, it’s some guy who leads a group of people around to different establishments, introduces them to the broad category of products (e.g. cheese, beer, chocolate, tea), and arranges for a sampling of those products. The tour guide was good, the tastings highlighted differences well, and I have a lot of leftover chocolate, so I’m happy! I know that g would have especially loved the tour, so I’m sure that we’ll go again (that’s right, it’s good enough to go to more than once – but a different tour of course)! Special shout-out to k for coming out last minute – you’ve made g sleep easier knowing that nothing went to waste!
Sampan: The Old, the New, and the Inexpensive
t says: Our recent poll ended in a tie, so we were left to choose where to go for g’s birthday on our own. After much thought, we decided to save a few bucks (we’ve been eating out a lot lately) and ventured through the rain to 13th and Sansom to Sampan – the pork banh mi was calling our names (as we’d had it once before – review here). Speaking of which – we don’t actually know if it’s pronounced “pork bahn mee” or “pork bahn my”… if someone knows their Vietnamese foods, please let us know!
3/2010, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 2. Because it was raining, we couldn’t get a cab. Because we couldn’t get a cab, we going to be late. Because we were going to be late, we had the irrational fear that the kitchen would close or something like that. Fortunately, problem-solvers that we are, we called to notify the restaurant that we were going to miss out 8:30pm reservation by about a half-hour and the hostess said that it wouldn’t be a problem. When we arrived, we were promptly seated at the bar overlooking the kitchen. Some people might not like sitting in barstools side-by-side – and normally I agree – but this time we were 4 feet away from one of the cooks and definitely within reaching distance of the food . We could watch as the dishes were prepared and feel the heat from the kitchen on our faces! It was like dinner and a show!
We ordered a pork banh mi, crispy brussels sprouts, and the Korean rice cake dish. The pork banh mi came out first. No longer clad in plain kraft paper, rather, a stylish paper with “Sampan” printed all over it, it still bore the blue painters’ tape. That made us smile. But the sandwich was a little different this time …
g says: For some reason i remember it being larger last time – perhaps it was because then it was cut in quarters after being wrapped, hiding the sandwich’s true size. Or maybe it was all mental, as I knew that Michael Schulson was at the restaurant during our first visit and I hoped he had prepared it himself (he was at some kind of speaking engagement this past night, I believe). It had a little less of that interesting mystery sauce and the bread wasn’t as fluffy, but it was still yummy, and just enough for me. Birthday girl was happy, what more do you want, t?
t says: I agree with her assessment – it was still a very delicious sandwich, and it coupled extremely well with the crispy brussels sprouts, which were still awesome. These two are still on our list of things to try if you go. They cut the sandwich into four pieces when they serve it, so it’s totally share-able.
The new dish for us was the Korean rice cakes. I must confess that I was hesitant when considering this dish as I feared that it would not meet my expectations. For instance, when we ordered pad thai last time, it was a little different than just pad thai; their rendition was lighter and more lively, but lost some of the classic pad thai appeal that I wanted. So this time, I had to ask myself – did I want Korean rice cakes done the traditional way, or did I want them the Sampan way? I eventually realized that all I really wanted was the actual rice cakes (I really like rice cakes as a starch in a meal), so I ordered it. Good decision. I think this is a great example of Sampan’s interpretation of a dish working out splendidly. Now don’t get me wrong – I did like the pad thai, but I didn’t love it. This dish, I loved. The rice cakes are kind of like a gnocchi in texture, but sliced into oblong coins. They were in a spicy sauce with some kimchi, sausage, and what I assume were chiles and scallions – there were some other ingredients that I didn’t easily recognize. In sum, the dish still resembled the hot-and-spicy rice cakes from my younger years, but the other flavors were like swapping out some Gregorian-chanting monks for a rockin’ gospel choir. For me, this dish was equivalent to the pork banh mi the first time we had it, and actually surpassed the banh mi we had this time. That said, not everyone will appreciate the Korean rice cakes – for instance, I think that g’s not too crazy about the taste/texture of the cakes, themselves. They’re almost like a pasta, but not really. They’re probably closest to rice noodles (e.g. drunken noodles at Thai places), but they’re thicker, so they’re a little gummier in the mouth and you actually taste more of the noodle, itself. On top of that, if you’re not comfortable with spice, then this is not the dish for you. It’s not SUPER-spicy (we have some friends/family that would laugh in the face of this level of spice, and we have yet to have something at Sampan that’s too spicy), but if you consider yourself a spice-wuss, then avoid this dish.
For dessert, we went for this interesting pineapple-coconut themed concoction. There were three tea cakes (which contained toasted coconut), topped with a pineapple compote, topped with a scoop of coconut ice cream, topped with a slice of ?dried? pineapple (looked like a mohawk). It tasted very good – but we wished that the cake:ice cream ration was a little lower, as the cake was a little dry. Sadly, the chocolate bomb was no longer offered.
Service was good throughout the meal. Random staff who weren’t our waiters stopped to ask how our meal was going – we felt well taken care of (although we did have to wait a while between the pork banh mi and the rice cakes).
Our meal was $40 before g’s glass of Australian bubbly (she really likes the bubbles), thus the final bill was cheaper than two tickets to the flower show! Defray the cost with our $20 opentable.com dining check (kaching!) and we just went to dinner for less than 1 person during restaurant week (kaching-kaching!). BUT … were we full? Indeed. We were stuffed. In fact, we were so stuffed that g started sneezing. For those who didn’t read the “why sneeze” page, g sneezes when she’s full (hence, the name of this blog). She’s not a huge fan of sneezing in general and especially dislikes sneezing in public, feeling that it draws attention to herself. Well, tonight she had the usual satiety-induced multi-sneeze bout (they don’t come rapid fire – there’s 20 seconds or so between each). She was totally embarassed, but even moreso than normal given our proximity to all of the food! Don’t worry … g does a good job covering her mouth.
Melograno: Our Nearby “Go-To” for Italian
t says: Ah, Melograno. You’ve never given us a bad meal. You’re BYO, and you’re within walking distance, thus saving us cab fare. And your pastas … there’s just something about your pastas …
We’ve been to Melograno four times, and g and I alone have had 7 pasta dishes. The first time we went, I had a special of the day – a braised short rib pasta that was to die for – it actually was the reason why I had to find a recipe on how to cook short rib pasta at home! The third time we went there, g ordered another special of the day – a lamb ragu pasta – another genius dish (now I have to start cooking some lamb). And then Melograno sprinkles in those “weird” dishes – we once had a mushroom and pear “lasagna” as an appetizer (g says: actually, I think it was peach, not pear) – it was such a great idea and so close to perfection (the textures of the ingredients were a little mismatched – the pear [peach?] was a little lost).
But of course, we need to be fair … Melograno has had some issues. The cheese plate (which we also had the first time we went) was an atrocity – they need some cheese guidance up in there (and this is coming from a guy who knows absolutely nothing about cheese). We haven’t tried it since for fear that it hasn’t improved (but maybe it has – who knows!?) Also, they had a pasta carbonara on the menu that totally misled one of our pork-loving friends (their version used anchovies as the salty protein in lieu of pancetta) – on one hand it might have been his fault for not reading the menu – on the other hand, it could have been their fault for not printing in bold letters the lack of pig in the dish (someone’s gotta take the fall). Finally, the portion sizes are a bit small, which is definitely not helped by the fact that they serve their pastas in ridiculously large dishes, so anything seems small the moment it hits your table. Additionally, I firmly believe that they have somehow calculated exactly how much pasta it takes to fill someone up adequately and don’t give a single noodle more; I’ve never been hungry after eating there (but I’ve always had room for dessert – luckily Capo Giro is right there), but I’ve also never had leftovers (g has had leftovers once). While most are ok with not having leftovers, if you consider that other Italian BYOs are ~25% less expensive (e.g. La Viola) and give you a bit more food, you really have to ask yourself what you want out of a meal. Is the taste worth it?
We recently realized that we had not gone to Melograno in a while – with all of the new restaurants we’ve been trying, we had forgotten about the old goodies. So, what we needed was an excuse to go. Aha! People’s birthdays! Excellent excuse! We got together a party of people and looked forward to some good Italian …
2/2010, Sunday 5:30pm, Party of 7. We got together a party of 7 (there were some birthday friends among us) and headed out to Melograno at the geriatric time of 5:30pm – it’s the easiest way to book a table this large. The original reservation was for 9, but we had two last-minute cancellations – it was an opportunity to see if they could roll with the punches (although I guess a real challenge would have been reserving 7 seats and then showing up with 9 people). The hostess (actually – I think she’s one of the owners?) looked at me kind of funny for a few seconds after I told her that we needed to change the number, but after contemplating what I was saying, she said that she thought it would be fine. She left to go adjust our table (they had just pushed together a bunch of tables along a wall for us, so she just separated a two-topper) and was back in a flash to let us know that, if we wanted, we could be seated before the rest of our party arrived. We were happy to hear this, as we’re so “over” restaurants making parties wait until everyone’s shown up when it’s clear the table’s ready, and moved to colonize our own little territory of the restaurant. It’s a good thing we did – 2 of our party didn’t show up ’til 6 (but we still love them).
We ordered an antipasto plate for the table – it was fun to pick at. Overall, it was a solid antipasto with a selection of grilled vegetables (e.g. eggplant) cured meats, mozzarella, and pickled vegetables (g especially liked the celery). Personally, I think Mercato does it better (theirs is a little more “rustic” – I still remember the grilled peppers – mmmm), as does Vetri (duh), but Melograno’s wasn’t bad at all – definitely leagues ahead of La Viola.
I ordered the pasta carbonara. WHAT? Pasta carbonara? Did I not just whine and complain about this dish in the second paragraph? Yes, I did. But this time was different. While I was browsing the menu, I noticed that Melograno had swapped out the anchovies for pancetta in their pasta carbonara (too many fooled customers?). It was a sign – they were begging for a chance at redemption. I knew I had to try it – that and there was no lamb pasta of the day. When it came to my plate, it looked plain – a neat clump of off-white spaghetti against a large white bowl. My eyes were not amused. But then I ate it. It was the second best carbonara I’ve ever had (the first best was made by our pork-loving friend that I mentioned above – that’s right, a home chef still holds the title). Melograno’s pasta was perfectly cooked, there was just enough sauce to cover the noodles, and the bits of pancetta were nice little meaty surprises. It was a very rich dish, so, in retrospect, I’m happy there was only as much as there was – if there was any more, I would have eaten it and been unable to move.
k was also at our meal with us. A Melograno virgin, she maximized the number of things she’d taste by ordering two appetizers as dinner. Her first was the roasted portobello, which I sampled. It tasted quite good – a little more umph than just a mushroom, but I didn’t hear her say “holy crap”, which I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her exclaim about food in the past. For her second, right before she ordered, we had an interesting discussion:
k: What is carpaccio?
t: It’s really thinly sliced raw meat.
k: But this says pear carpaccio …
t: Oh … ummm … really thinly sliced pear? or are they going to hide meat somewhere?
It turns out that it’s thinly sliced pear, an aged balsamic, and micro-greens. k liked that dish as well, as [I feel that] she’s a huge fan of a good aged balsamic. I kind of wished I had seen that on the menu because it definitely seems like something I’d order.
d was also at our meal. After seeing him at this dinner, I can say with complete confidence that he has a food obsession, which is surprising because he normally “keeps it real” and thus seems like he’d be immune to crushes, obsessions, and fetishes. I figured he would “like” a lot of things, and maybe even “love” some things – but no – these terms cannot even begin to describe the affection he has for Melograno’s pappardelle tartufe. This pasta dish seems simple on the menu. It has mushrooms (shiitake, button, and portobello), truffle oil, cheese, and walnuts. See? Simple. But, you know what – if there was a woman who could make this dish like Melograno (or maybe even only half as good), I’d bet he’d make her his wife … like, tomorrow. But you better act quickly, ladies – I hear he’s going to start trying to make it, himself …
g says: I can’t remember the name of my dish, but it was a spaghetti-like pasta with some olive oil, grated cheese, and fresh cracked black pepper. That’s all. And it was AMAZING! Sometimes I need something simple to satisfy my cravings for homemade italian – it resets my palate, bringing it back to a baseline standard for greatness.
Also, all that jazz about t being so picky-picky — you can take that with a grain of kosher salt because this place is certainly one of our favorites. It has delicious food, pleasant atmosphere, and plenty of space to breathe (not like many other tiny Philly BYOs which can cause claustrophobia). And their bathrooms are pretty darn nice, I must say. Bravo to them!
t says: In summary, Melograno did a fine job. Everyone seemed satisfied with how everything tasted – there really weren’t any complaints. I’m happy that pig is back in the carbonara and that they’re still experimenting with interesting appetizers (I guess they have a thing for pears?). I do wish that they would have a dish featuring their namesake, the pomegranate. Yes, they do have some in one of their salads (and I had a few seeds in my water – but no one else did – weird!), but I’m hoping that one day they have some sort of melograno appetizer that every first-time visitor just has to get. We had good friends and good food (and good service – I didn’t really notice them, so I assume they were good) – we had a great time. Nevertheless, we didn’t stick around for dessert – Capo Giro is less than half-a-block away.
Giwa: Homely Korean
t says: g and I desperately wanted to go to Zavino for some free wine (while they lacked their liquor license, they were offering patrons two free glasses of wine with purchase of food). Anticipating that everyone else also wanted free wine, we figured that we’d go during the first night of our second “big” snowstorm in Philadelphia. Dumb idea. Everyone else figured that, too. Turned off by the 2 hour wait, we went out looking for a new place to go. We eventually remembered that there was this small Korean place that we’ve been wanting to try called Giwa. We trekked on over through the falling snow and got there safely – it was small, but inside it was warm and not precipitating, so we were happy.
2/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. Giwa’s dishes are not “fancy” or “fusion” Korean dishes – they’re plain ‘ol Korean (with a little bit of polish/pizazz cuz the place is still new). The selection isn’t huge, and perhaps it’s more geared towards a lunch-ish crowd, however, most people, Korean or not, will find something on the menu. I recognized quite a few menu items, so g and I were in good shape.
When we first sat down, we were presented with an assortment of tiny little dishes of various items, pickled and not. This is test #1 for any Korean place – how is the kimchi. Giwa’s was pretty good. I ate it. Theirs had a little more funk than I like, but I’m sure the older crowd (i.e. mom) would like it.
Our first dish was the Haemul Pa Jun appetizer, or, as it was called when I was young, “the Korean pancake”. That name’s a lie – it’s not a pancake – it’s more like a seafood-pizza-pancake hybrid. Imagine you take some seafood, mix it in some pancake dough, and fry the dough into a large disc on a frying pan, cut it like a pizza, and then serve it with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. It was very good. They didn’t skimp on the seafood and the dough still had good crisp – two common problems with haemul pa jun in restaurants. Note that this appetizer is definitely large enough for two people – I’d say more like 3 people (we had plenty leftover).
For my main dish, I had the eel dolsot bibimpap, which is not available for take-out – only for eat-in. The dish comes out in a super-hot bowl. It has rice, veggies, eel, and a delicious spicy sauce that you mix together as the bowl heats the ingredients and browns the rice, giving it a nice flavor (like when you sear a steak to get the outside nice and caramelized). It was hot and spicy and had a lot of different textures and flavors – I liked it a lot. Actually, I would take this dish over every other rice- or noodle-based dish I’ve seen at fancier Asian fusion restaurants (including Morimoto). In my mind it had the same soul-soothing quality seen in Sampan’s pork banh mi, except for a larger quantity (although it does cost about twice as much). It’s just so simple and hearty, especially on a cold day. (n.b. there are a lot of things that those other fancier places do better, however, like having raw fish or desserts).
g went for the kimchi fried rice – it was good, but a little “blah” because it was a lot of rice and super-finely-chopped ingredients, so it was texturally monotonous. It was more like a dish that everybody would share some as a side rather than one person eat all of. But, then g stole some of the spicy sauce from my dish, and she felt the fried rice could take center stage. I guess her dish just needed a flavor that was more dynamic than what it had originally.
In summary, I’d highly recommend Giwa for some not-fancy food. If you’re afraid of spice, there are still things to eat, like bulgogi and dumplings. Also, you could just use less spicy sauce in your dolsot bibimbap. The dishes will come in around the same price as pastas at La Viola, but for me, I’d take dolsot bibimbap over anything at La Viola, so I have a clear personal winner. And for those who might not have such nostalgia attached to Korean food, I think it’s still inexpensive enough to give it a whirl.
Kanella: Doing the Robot …
t says: g and I anticipated a weekend without any plans, so we decided at the last minute to go out for a date night! We visited Tria first, which was delightful as always. And, after we each had some wine, a bit of tete de moine cheese, and a salad featuring grilled asparagus, white bean, and artichoke, we headed down the street to go to Kanella. Kanella (transl. cinnamon) has gained some attention recently – a lot of people on chowhound enjoy it, claiming that it was one of the best BYOs in the city, and, as I found out right before we went, a dish was going to be featured on Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate”. We didn’t know which dish it was, but were happy to go and check out Kanella’s dinner.
2/2010, Friday Night, Party of 2. When we arrived at the restaurant for a 9:30 reservation, we were told that they were running a bit behind. So we, and at least three other couples, crammed ourselves into the super-tiny entrance-way (it was very cold outside, so we stayed indoors). While some of the other waiting people were getting frustrated, I was still happy from the wine I had at Tria. After the first half-hour, I could only laugh that we were still waiting while no patrons had left the restaurant (we figured someone would have to leave for us to move in). The hostess was super-apologetic for the wait (she apologized every five minutes), but there clearly was nothing she could do. Then, she came with a dish of the grape leaves appetizer “from the kitchen”. Then the chef came out and apologized, bearing a plate of the fried halloumi cheese appetizer. I have to admit that g and I weren’t particularly impressed with either of these. The grape leaves had a nice sour punch, but the stuffing was quite bland. The cheese was just that … cheese. But, these aren’t the kinds of appetizers that we would have ordered, anyhow, so we were happy to try something different and greatly appreciated the sentiment. Eventually we were indeed seated – we were the last couple they were seating that night, so we had a nice four-seater to ourselves. On our way in, an older couple dressing to leave commented, “don’t worry – it’s worth the wait!” We hoped so.
When we sat down, we were greeted by a very friendly waiter. He was super-enthusiastic about the food here, so that was great! But things changed a little when we asked him which dish was being featured on the Food Network. He kind of rolled his eyes and admitted that it was the Cyprus Breakfast. Later on, when I returned home and googled it, it turned out that the Cyprus Breakfast had been garnering quite a bit of critical acclaim recently. The waiter said that he was shocked that it was the dish getting such favorable comments, as he felt other dishes were superior; we appreciated his honesty. But then he commented that they would get a LOT of people asking for it at breakfast, referring to them as “robots”. During our conversation, as another server passed by, ours broke conversation and said, in a robotic voice, “cy-prus-break-fast”, to which the passer echoed “cy-prus-break-fast”. Apparently it was a common joke among the servers that patrons mindlessly order the Cyprus Breakfast. I felt a little awkward by this exchange as I felt that even if it is a “simple” dish, if people are willing to pay for it – who cares? Also, had the dish been a dinner dish that I could have ordered, I think I would have been one of those robots they were making fun of. This possibility led me to conclude: if you like something else better, then that’s all you have to say – you don’t have to put down patrons – have some tact! *steps off soapbox* So, that put a sour taste in our mouths to start.
Having had some food at Tria and also the “ok” appetizers we were given while we stood, we decided to go straight to dinner. g ordered the pork tenderloin with chickpea fritters while I had the lamb with some sort of orzo concoction (?giuvetsi?). g’s pork tenderloin and my lamb were good; they were cooked well and seasoned well, but they just didn’t sing to us – it’s hard to be pleased by a pork tenderloin after having had one at Cochon. But perhaps the meats being only “good” was not the fault of the pork or the lamb or the chef, rather, it was the fault of the orzo side on my plate – it was fabulous. We agreed that it was the most delicious thing on both of our plates. It was rustic and tasty – it could have been a dish by itself. And there was so much that I brought some home and reheated it for lunch the next day – it was still phenomenal (so I knew it wasn’t just the wine talking the night before).
Before our entrees were cleared, we had another odd encounter with our waiter. He dropped by specifically to ask g if the pork “was too rare for her” – but something about the way he said it didn’t make it sound like he was being helpful, rather, being critical – I interpreted it as, “are you too much of a wuss to eat pork the way it’s supposed to be cooked?”. The answer was no, the pork was fine and she was just full, but I was tempted to say “no, it’s just too unremarkable for her to eat the rest”. I bit my tongue and let her do the talking (she doesn’t even remember this happening, so perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal) …
For dessert, we had their assortment of ice cream which included cinnamon, coffee, and pistachio. The cinnamon ice cream was absolutely delicious – the cinnamon flavor wasn’t overpowering and the texture was great. The coffee and pistachio were also very nice and worked well with the cinnamon – we liked these ice creams very much.
So, all in all, we had an “good” meal at Kanella. There were two shining lights (cinnamon ice cream and the orzo). As for whether the rest could stand up to Kanella’s reputation – maybe it was a rough night in the kitchen with how busy they were? Maybe the attitude of the service influenced our perception of taste? Maybe we were just too full from Tria? I don’t know. But I do know one thing … we will be going back … for the cy-prus-break-fast.
after dinner sneeze 