Archive for the ‘Restaurant Reviews’ Category
hodge podge 2014
t says: I was looking through old pictures, and I happened to be reminded of a few new food experiences that I had not yet posted … get ready for a hodge-podge!
So … let’s say you were sitting on the beach, baking in the sun, getting some rays in your bathing suit. As you think to yourself, “gee, I’m kind of hungry”, what foods might pop into your mind? Perhaps some boardwalk pizza, or a sandwich or fruit you may have packed, or maybe the bathing suit has made you self conscious, and all you’ll take in is water … Well, this is the opposite of all of those options: mac and cheese balls from Steve’s Grilled Cheese in Sea Isle City. They guys were absolutely crazy. Never have I seen g lose control over a fried food item. Sure, they’re sloppy, and sure, consuming any more than 1 will cause an instantaneous heart attack, but there’s nothing like a fried ball of cheese and starch. And the best part: I believe you can even have these suckers delivered to the beach! OH – did I mention there’s a cheese dipping sauce, too?
I also happened across this cool little PB&J themed food truck on Market street in University City. It had a pretty interesting looking menu, with lots of attractive options (lookin’ at you, ‘The Elvis” and “The Stoner”) …
… be that as it may, I went for a PB&J&Cheese&Apple. Not a bad combo – definitely worth checking out if you see the truck hangin there.
a and I also hit up Cozara, the new place in Uni City done by Zama. We were quite impressed. There was top-notch gyoza involved …
… as well as a very eggy katsu-don (Fuji Mountain does it a little bit better) …
… and a ramen that tasted like actual ramen! yay! All too often, the ramen at places lacks the alkalinity that ramen is supposed to have (like, the noodles will taste like a plain ‘ol flour-egg-water Italian pasta, and lack that ramen’y kick). I feel like there could have been some other additions to the broth to give it a bit more flavor, but it wasn’t bad, overall! I do have to say, however, that the gyoza was probably the best dish we had.
Ok … so now that I’m caught up to date … prepare for the barrage of posts from our vacation …
a fitting last meal
t says: Last meal? Really? Maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but let’s just say that I was really impressed with the meal that Talula’s Garden served up for my 32nd Birthday celebration! Maybe it’s a “fitting last meal before we go on vacation …”
June 2014, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 4. There were several more dishes than these … but here are the highlights … with one exception – we had these boquerones over herb-infused tomatoes that were absolutely amazing! We ate them so fast, I forgot to take a picture!
Talula’s Garden now has a “pasta” section on the menu. It’s pretty awesome, because now I can find the gnocchi dish even faster! (I used to have to search the mains and appetizers for it). While the crab-and-spaghetti wasn’t quite as good as pop-pop’s, the above gnocchi over peas and a pea puree were delectable pillows of heaven. So good.
g and my mom went for the tuna crudo (g? tuna crudo? surprised, right?) It hit all the right signature Talula’s crudo notes: herbs, veggies, bright accents, scrumptious fish. No wonder g falls into the crudo trap every time she goes.
yes, there’s still a scallop dish … yes, it’s still amazing … and no, there wasn’t any left.
but now … it is my honor to introduce the new pork belly champion of adsz. A title previously held by greats like Fond (I look forward to it on every Fall/Winter menu) and Bibou (it was one of those ephemeral Pierre Calmels specials that came and went in a blink of an eye), Talula’s healthily-unhealthy-sized portion has that oh-so-addictive crunch and sweet-sweet-pig-fat flavor that make this pork belly the poster boy of hedonistic meat (I know, I know … people like foie and caviar and wagyu … but come on – how you gonna dis’ pork belly like that? why you gotta be such a gold-digger with your deep, benjamin-lined pockets? think you’re too good for pork belly? that’s ok – more for me.) I’m sure there will come a day when I will not be able to consume such rich dishes like this … and that day will be sad indeed … but for now, I will count pork bellies on my way to sleep, ready to dream of the next opportunity to go back. Oh, did I mention that there were some superbly prepared greens and beans underneath? I ate all of those, too. So it’s healthy, right?
every time there’s a s’more-themed dessert, talula’s kills it. this one was called “s’mores cake”, and it was excellent. The moist, chocolate-laden cake melted in my mouth, giving way to the scorched marshmallow and smoke-infused ice cream. Desserts like this make me regret having eaten so well during apps and main courses (well … except for the pork belly above).
But this little bugger was the big surprise. Don’t be fooled by this slab of white sitting atop a pile of crumbs; this marscapone cheesecake was un-real. I would have expected Talula’s to try and make their cheesecake all light-and-fluffy with cutesy fruit accompaniments. But no. Forget that. They went for rich-and-delicious. ha declared it her new favorite cheesecake – and that’s with 28 years of cheesecake-tasting experience (inside joke).
You know, it’s meals like these that make me wonder why no one’s writing about Talula’s anymore. Hell – it makes me wonder why it’s been so long since the last time I’ve gone! But of course, we always come crawling back to beg for forgiveness for our absence … and Talula takes us in with open arms, feeds us delicious food, and sends us on our way with full bellies and obliterated expectations.
terakawa ramen
t says: bw and I were trying to brainstorm Asian eateries in Philly. You see, sometimes you want Asian that will be so spicy it’ll rip a hole in your stomach, and so salty that you’ll have pitting edema in 12 hours flat … and in those instances, you want Han Dynasty. But other times, you’re in the mood for noodles … and not some Lo Mein takeout noodles, but something … ramen-y. And not overhyped, overrated ramen (like Cheu, or nom nom), but real ramen. Unfortunately, bw and I just had no idea where to go. So we consulted the recent article and eventually settled on Terakawa – it’s in Chinatown!
May 2014, Friday Dinner, Party of 3. bw, g, and I rolled up into Terakawa after having called and telling them we were “15 minutes away”. Alas, it ended up being 20 due to taxi nonsense, so they gave away the free table. BUT … then they asked, “do you mind splitting a two-person table?”. The three of us looked at eachother for 30 msec before saying, “no! Let’s do it!”. And that’s how we got in Terakawa on a Friday night with no wait – booyah!
steamed pork bun: great pork, great bun, but not sure where the tomato comes in – next time, no tomato, more pickled veggies. we also trialed some gyoza that were very nicely done with a good crisp outside and a refreshingly vegetably interior.
the mayu ramen was savory upon savory upon savory, with roasted leaks, mushrooms, pork, etc. it wasn’t so much a complex dish, rather, a hit-you-in-the-face with homey goodness, making you wish you were eating a bowl by a fire in the middle of snowy winter night. it won’t win any awards for fancy-shmancy … but who needs those when you have perfectly al dente noodles?
I’d go back to Terakawa without reservation. But next time … I’d bring wine! Did you know it’s BYO? No one told me! I can’t imagine what would have happened hitting up this place with a bottle of Riesling in hand … (whatever would happen, it wouldn’t have a steamed pork bun involved.)
foo’s gold
t says: I had the good fortune of being stranded around36th and Market around lunch time. With a good hour for lunch, I set out to browse the food truck offerings … and should they fail, I knew I had that whole new Drexel Village complex a short walk away as backup. But of course – as hard as I tried to go and see all the options, the first one I went to grabbed my attention and didn’t let me go …
May 2014, Wednesday Lunch, Party of 2.
Behold! A brightly-colored food truck! It’s “Foo Truck”.
Like a bee attracted to bright colors, I knew I had to check out this truck. Unsurprisingly, it was staffed by near-hipsters (real hipsters are so “over” food trucks – they’d peddle around a hot dog cart so they could be more ‘green’). Surprsingly, it took me a few seconds to try and piece together what it was they were selling: what was a “foo”? (I kept thinking of Mr. T: “I pity the foo'”) Furthermore, what was a foo-which? Are there items on the menu that aren’t foo-whiches? And why was there a big blank under “specials”? Ok – it turns out that they are selling their take on a sandwich, in which the “bread” is a grilled flour tortilla, and the innards are the variety of fillings that they boast on their menu. Being half-korean, I could not help but hear the kimchi fried rice (with Chinese sausage!) calling … One foo-which please!
What came out was a griddled, square shaped, tortilla-wrapped object filled with …
… kimchi fried rice! I would best describe this thing as a hot pocket … but more delicious and less likely to cause diarrhea. The filling was great, with a nicely cooked kimchi (it was hot!) and good chunks of sausage. And, because rice was a major component, it was very filling indeed – try as hard as I could, I couldn’t finish it – it’s about 85% the size of a chipotle burrito. As much as I liked the filling, I do want to suggest that the thing could have benefited from some sort of charred leafy green (maybe like some brussel sprout leaves?) or perhaps a crunchy vegetable (bean sprouts?) – just to try and add some textural variety and fiber to the gut-filling rice and meat (yes, i know that was what the kimchi was for – so maybe include more of the leafy green parts of cabbage next time!). My colleague had one involving an assortment of veggies and quinoa – she approved!
dessert at Foo Truck consisted of these red velvet cake balls. they. were. crazy! Imagine a cakeball … and then make it 3.7x better … and that’s what this was. It’s a pretty darn steep price at $1.50 for one (or $5 for 4) and as you can see, they are pretty tiny … but they’re probably so loaded with sugar and fat, so you probably shouldn’t eat more than one.
I was very satisfied with my lunch at Foo Truck. I will blame it, however, for inducing a food coma that I could only remedy with caffeine (from Joe Coffee, of course). But if that’s really the worst thing about eating at Foo Truck, then I’d say they’re in good shape. I’d go back. I will go back!
P.S. Similar to last time’s post about Joe Coffee’s vegan chocolate chip cookie, this time I bought a gluten-free salted PB cookie, and it was awesome. Great saltiness, awesome thickness, and wonderfully chewy … I’m thankful I only got one, because I had gotten any more, I would have eaten them all.
that’s a serious board!
t says: You know, there is nothing like a weekday lunch to bestow awesomeness upon a week. Here’s the rundown of a liesurely lunch at Zavino in University City …
May 2014, Monday Lunch, Party of 2. The space for the new Zavino is quite nice – a modern-looking place with ample seating … and some soccer on the big screen at the bar for occasional score-checks. But the food! Let me tell you more about the food!
when I first walked in, I knew we had to get me some charcuterie – as they had several logs of meat behind some kind of charcuterie counter on the right … just waiting to be sliced paper-thin. We ordered the meat board, and it came with some cheese, olives, pickled items, and bread which looked a lot like nan, but was probably just some plain pizza dough rolled out. This was one helluva serious board! Oddly, we found the meat to be pretty unremarkable – i mean there was great texture, but we could have used more flavor in both meats. Similarly, the cheeses were just “fine”, both being mild (and one coming across as a pretty plain cheddar – although who knows what it really was). Ultimately, the ample bread was the most interesting part, allowing us to construct little mini-pizzas from meat, cheese, and jams. They just gotta step up that meat and cheese to get a real nod of approval.
the ravioli of the day, featuring rabbit, was pretty delicious, albeit small. the flavor was interesting because it had a very potent herbed essence that hit me in the back of my mouth/palate exactly like the secret-ingredient-laden KFC original recipe. i’m not sure if zavino would want that, but i know i loved it. a agreed with its chickenyness – not necessarily the KFC-ness, but he, too, liked it quite a bit.
the pizza was a site to behold. “the stache” as it’s called had a gloriously prepared whole wheat crust, as well as pesto and arugula. i can see how some of the previous critics laid into the doughiness of the crust (it’s not paper thin and has some squish to it), but I kind of like that! that’s pizza! this isn’t just some thin slice of grilled bread with toppings – this is pizza! a decided that he and v are going to totally rip this combination of ingredients for their future homemade pizzas – he just has to convince v to use their pizza stone.
so with the above criticisms I’ve laid down, why did I feel like this meal was worthy of “awesome”. this is the key, right here. the real winner of the meal was this rose, which contained everything i want in a summer drinking rose: berry nose, little bit of tropical fruit, finishes with a clean refreshing zip … it’s quite wonderful!
so what lunch would be complete without dessert? i didn’t want to stick with one at zavino, as I was in the mood for some coffee at Joe just down the street. while waiting in line, a jar of cookies caught my eye. i immediately resolved to get one … right up until i found that they were vegan … but then, maybe that one glass of wine had me in a buzz, but somehow, as i thought, “why would someone want to eat a vegan cookie?”, i jumped to: “why the hell not?” – and plunked down a whole $2.25 for a single cookie. in the end, it was pretty darn good. it reminded me of a snickerdoodle cookie, but with less cinnamon, some good chocolate chips, and a nice hit of salt. while the cookie had far less cakeinness than I enjoy (it was more like crystalline sugar), it was not a bad showing for a cookie … I wouldn’t buy another … but I wouldn’t avoid one if it was put in front of me.
So … Zavino … great for lunch [with wine]. Try it out on a weekday – you’ll thank me later!
amis, it’s been too long!
t says: We were lucky enough to have come into an gift certificate for a Vetri restaurant (except not Vetri), so g and I had to figure out which restaurant to go to. We love Osteria, but it is kinda-sorta-out-of-the-way. Alla Spina had great food, but we were in more of a date-y mood. We knew what had to be done: Amis.
April 2014, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. As documented in one of the rare phenomena of adsz (an entire post written by g!), we did like the food overall at Amis, but not so much as to make it back … at all … over the past 4 years. Yikes! Well, we were about to see how much has changed since then:
First off, lets just say that the server was fantastic. He didn’t over-sell us on food, he memorized our order to perfection, and checked in with us frequently to make sure we were happy with everything. Also, as we had brought our own wine, he was very courteous with refilling our glasses, making for a very happy, buzz-filled evening. He gets thumbs-up all the way.
crudo: special of the evening was a crudo of some sort of bass that was superbly executed. minimally treated with salt, pepper, olive oil, and a few garnishes, the fish really sang through. probably some of the best crudo i’ve had from an Italian restaurant!
sal’s meatballs were fascintating. the meatballs, in combination with a tomato-potato sauce (well, less “sauce” and more “stewed tomato and potato”) came across more like a breakfast dish than anything else. if i closed my eyes and savored the moment, it did taste more like home fries, stewed tomato, and a piece of Italian beef-pork meatloaf. it’s not a bad thing at all, as the meatballs were moist and homely, just unexpected.
We ate other foods, too, but the pictures were all darker than this one. As we had hinted at before, the atmosphere in Amis can be very date-y, which is great, as it has those darker woods, dim lights, etc. Be that as it may, it is incredibly loud in there – even at the octogenarian time slot at which we ate (~6pm), the evening din was more like a cacophony … which was peculiar because indeed the restaurant was full older patrons. Fortunately, g and i were up to the challenge and easily matched the volume of our surroundings. But back to the food: the escarole salad hit g in all the right places – how can you say no to fresh greens, fruit, and cheese? As far as the pastas, we went for the cacio e pepe (above) and the spinach-and-meat lasagna. The lasagna was good and homey – g dug the spinach aspect. But to be honest, i’ve seen g’s mom (and g!) throw together a better lasagna, with a firmer noodle and more flavorful meat (g sometimes likes to brown the whole meatball first, and then break it up for the lasagna). As for the cacio e pepe, it was very cacio, and not very pepe. I preferred melograno’s cacio e pepe, which has a nicely salty cheese and a pronounced pepper bite. But, what I will say is that Amis’s noodles were perfectly al dente and the sauce’s texture was luxuriously rich due to the cheese. Nevertheless … I felt like maybe they could do better … (more to come below). But you know what they could not do better with is the Brussels sprouts. Those bad boys were fried. Not pan-fried – they were fried-fried. And they. were. incredible. Now of course, Brussels sprouts were supposed to have gone out of style about 2 years ago (along with pork belly, to make way for kale, which has already come and gone) … but you just can’t keep a good sprout down.
what dinner would be complete without dessert? Here is the nutella covered waffle with some ice cream. Bam – now that is a dessert. A perfectly crisp waffle, luscious nutella, and a creamy ice cream. Is it a $10 dessert? No way. But it sure is a great one.
While I did complain about Amis’s pastas some, g and I were plenty enough impressed with the food as a whole that we had a wonderful time. Amis’s service and pacing were spot on (oh, and did I mention that their bread was off the hook?) so it’s probably one of the best date nights out we’ve had in a while. The damages ended up being comparable to eating at Talula’s Garden, but of course … if you’ve got a totally bawler gift card in your wallet, every bite tastes better, every sip tastes sweeter. Three cheers to the gifters! Oh – and there was the morning after, too:
g and I had some leftovers: the cacio e pepe and the fried sprouts. this got me thinking: why not have a dish with both? you could still get a rich cheesey pasta, mixed with a hit of pepper (I added more), and the sweetness of fried sprouts? it probably isn’t “traditional” or whatever, but you bet your bunsen burner that it was a dynamite leftovers lunch.
my road not taken …
t says: A long time ago, when I was a wee lad, I tried to use this Robert Frost poem for a school-related speech.
But little did I realize that “The Road Not Taken” was not at all about the righteous choosing of a road less traveled, rather, an anticipation of remorse when choosing from two equally attractive roads. What does this have to do with a food blog?
This might be my road not taken:
I’ve seen my fair share of Matyson’s menus show up on Foobooz or in my inbox. This one is perhaps the most delicious-sounding one I have ever seen, with not a single item that doesn’t make my mouth water – right down to the deconstructed KandyKake at the end! But ultimately, I couldn’t justify a weekday $45 splurge (not including tax, gratuity, or the wine I’d bring), and it was torrentially raining outside. Thus, I opted to stay indoors and whip up a full-on homemade meal – which turned out great! But now, after several hours have passed, as my shiftwork insomnia sets in and I’m left to sit and stare at Matyson’s menu I cannot help but wonder if perhaps I should have chosen the other road?
I guess we’ll never know …
(well … unless you go tomorrow – then you can tell me how awesome it was!)
P.S. Dear Matyson … if you could just offer this menu on a weekend, I’d be extraordinarily grateful. I’d gladly share some wine with you!
EDIT:
t says: it turns out that a loyal adsz reader went to Matyson to check out the menu. Here is the official report, copied from the comments attached to this post, and the photos from foobooz’s website!
rch says: Verdict: It was really delicious, one of the best I’ve had at Matyson. Standout was the roast pork. I could have eaten 3 more of those. Oyster was nice, really refreshing with the blood orange and cilantro. Pretzel was a little odd, actually – super delicious, but it didn’t really call back “pretzel” at all – more just Philly Italian food. The wagyu beef with gougere was tender and awesome, though I would have liked more onion flavor. But that’s just nitpicking; it was delicious. Dessert was good too, but we seriously considered asking for a second helping of roast pork instead of dessert, and I’m still sort of sorry we didn’t! Wish you could have been there with us – fingers crossed they’ll add a couple of these to the regular menu…
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
after dinner sneeze 