Archive for the ‘Restaurant Reviews’ Category
kanella kwietly kicking ass
t says: There are some restaurants that we here at adsz have done a disservice. How? Well, there are some really great ones out there, and, while we tell people about them all the time, we have so few reviews! Furthermore, press like Philly Mag (a suggests: in an attempt to be relevant?) disses them by placing them somewhere on the back 25 of their top 50 list, behind snooze-fests like Stateside, Il Pittore, Le Virtu, and Jamonera … I’m talking about Kanella. Helmed by crazy-piercing-eyed Chef Konstantinos Pitsillides, Kanella has, over the years, cranked out some super-delightful dinners with flavor combinations that are still interesting and novel. And while the servers all seem to have a dash of weirdness, we at least appreciate their enthusiasm/energy. As a matter of fact, g and I ate there with v and another friend (a was MIA) just the other night …
February 2013, Friday Dinner, Party of 4. We arrived to an all-too-familiar experience when visiting Kanella: the wait. It seems that dinner reservation times are always met with some kind of wait. This time wasn’t too bad – about 5-10 minutes. Fortunately, we were allowed to wait inside and not in that super-dinky-ante-room-thingee where we would have surely frozen. Is a wait forgivable? No, not really, but I did see the patrons hanging out at the soon-to-be-ours table, with the check paid, just lingering, so I can’t really blame the restaurant (can I?), rather, other people. But what was cool was the opportunity to greet Chef as he walked around the room, as for all the press he gets for his crazy memos outside his kitchen window, I had never once heard him actually talk. He was a little stiff, but I can’t say I was much better at trying to get a conversation to flow – it’s just his piercing blue eyes!
After we sat, we were greeted by our server, who, also typical of the Kanella experience, was just a little weird. There was something in his verbosity that had us all chuckling, albeit a little uncomfortably – but that’s ok because we warmed up to him nicely. Furthermore, he was very attentive, well-informed, and made everything sound wonderful, so he gets an A+ for the evening.
Now on to the food …
If you eat at Kanella, the “Dips of the Day” are pretty much obligatory. Made of whatever vegetables they happen to have on hand, the spreads are always so lively and fresh that you wish you could just pull out an ampule of dip at work to spruce up your ho-hum lunch (it’d make “baked potato day” a whole lot more interesting … that’s right – some of you know what I’m talking about). The octopus and [free] salad (Kanella very frequently realizes diners are waiting and will send out food) were both nice starters to the meal, waking up our palates with smoky tentacles and bright greens. And after that, Kanella churned out three ridiculously good dishes of food (it was actually four dishes, but two of us got the same thing), just the kind to warm you up on a frickin-freezing-cold night.
oxtail
What you see above you is a LOT of [most-likely-braised-and-then-]shredded oxtail, with a few dumplings and a lot of cilantro. And it was AWESOME. It was the most uplifted/bright/agile dish of braised meat I have ever had (imagine if you will a cow doing gymnastics), most likely courtesy of lemon and cilantro and one other unidentified green stalk (?celery? ?rhubarb?? chard?). My mouth was so sad when it was over (but my tummy was full). I would have liked a few more dumplings to balance against the meat (there were only ~4), but our server graciously gave us more bread (his idea! we didn’t even ask for it!), so I was happily starched for the evening.
I did not get a chance to snap pics of the goat stew, which I’m told was a winner last night (I was so “in” to my dish I didn’t bother tasting anyone elses). While I don’t quite have specifics about their experiences, I can say that with nothing left on their plates, they were very much satisfied. g went for their porkchop which, as she had once before, was scrumptious. Really, I have a lack of words here because no one had an ill word to say – and I think that‘s saying something. Everything had this feeling of warmth and home and comfort that you’d almost forget you’re in a very-busy, loud Philly BYO …
pistachio creme brulee and lemon ice cream in the foreground, baklava and something else in the background
The desserts at Kanella are often in the head-nod-and-say-“pretty good” realm. And that night was no different. The pistachio creme brulee was perfectly executed, and when pit against the lemon ice cream that was dynamite (no, really – their ice creams are always wonderful), it was a fantastic combination. The baklava was chocked full of nuts, which some people might enjoy (I prefer a little more sweet and layers in my baklava), and that other thing (the thing that looks like it’s covered with cheese in the photo), while interesting, was just a little dry. It’s hard because I am probably completely unqualified to judge these desserts (maybe these are exactly how they’re supposed to be? I’m no Greek), so I guess you’ll just have to try it, yourself!
And the bill? It was $42/pp (with tax and tip). That’s not bad at all! We did bring our own wine, so that was wonderful (thanks, a, for the Riesling!). It’s a little pricey for a weeknight, but well worth the tariff on the weekend. So go to Kanella! I don’t know if it’s “cool” or not, but it’s reliably tasty!
overhyping Le Virtu
t says: The gang has been wanting to go to Le Virtu for some time. They’ve been getting a lot of press, including a favorable review of the bajillion course meal, so we knew we just had to get in there and see what’s cookin’ …
January 2013, Saturday Dinner, Party of 5. The space was much smaller than I was expecting – or maybe it was a fine space, but dominated by very large tables. I found myself very-nearly-shouting across the table so people could hear me (the tables were very wide). But that’s cool, right? A nice “lively” atmosphere! After the first few minutes, we got used to the volume and it was no big deal. We ordered a bottle of wine (Le Virtu’s not BYO), ordered our food, and let the flurry of dishes just come on out! They came fast and furious, but I only managed to snap pictures of these:
house-made sausage and polenta: this was AWESOME – the leaking sausage juices over the polenta was incredible – I found myself using bread to sop my dish clean. I’d say this was the best dish of the evening …
gnocchi with lamb sausage and pecorino. When I first heard “gnocchi and lamb sausage” I was jazzed. Unfortunately, this wasn’t exactly the kind of gnocchi that I was expecting – it was more of an extra-firm pasta. Now I’m sure that what they served me is indeed technically considered “gnocchi”, and that’s fine, but I feel like they need to make some mention that it’s a little atypical, because simple-minded diners like me will be confused. Overall, the the dish was nothing more than some pasta, some cheese, and some sausage. No hidden surprises or complexities. WYSIWYG. I was hoping for something a little more … (some kind of acid would have brightened the dish a bit)
the other gnocchi with lamb shoulder. kp’s gnocchi were more of like gnocchi I was expecting with my dish. the texture was spot-on, however, the sauce had that sweet-tanginess to it that I generally dislike in tomato-based sauces. And where was the lamb?
g got a tagliettelle rabbit ragu and was very impressed. She boasted about her perfect pasta and savory sauce … and before I got any, it was gone! She said it was nearly-Melagrano-good – not quite as nuanced with the seasoning (e.g. it didn’t have herbacious rosemary accents), but a nice rabbit oomph! n and m enjoyed their food, but ultimately felt that there was better to be had at places like Modo Mio.
And there you had the general gist of the evening. There were some good highlights in there, but for every highlight (with the exception of the sausage), we found ourselves thinking of someone else who might do it better. Is it snobby-as-hell? Sure. And while some might think of this being a poor showing for Le Virtu, I think it’s a bit of a compliment, as it means that Le Virtu is flirting with greatness … but it’s just not “there” yet … and certainly not #5 …
zahav kills it with a steak to the heart
t says: Ok, the title isn’t quite the most sensical (not that that’s a word, either), but it does quite capture how amazed I was at a recent visit to Zahav.
December 2012, Sunday Dinner, Party of 4. g and I dined with two friends at Zahav … or rather, g dined with our two friends and I showed up an hour late. C’est la vie. The three of them ordered four people’s worth of food, so when I showed up, the table was completely littered with plates. And yes, everything was quite delicious. But the standout: Duck Heart. Keeping in mind that only three of the four of us tasted it (g was reluctant), two of us were quite impressed. First off, Zahav made no effort to hide the fact that you were eating heart. As the slices of meat sat on their plate, it was clear to anyone who has had anatomy that you were staring straight at ventricle. Literally. The only thing that would have reminded me more that I was eating heart would be if it was beating on the plate. g had had rabbit heart before (and I mooched off her plate), but when faced with an obvious piece of organ, she balked. And you know what … it was delicious. Think as tender as filet mignon, with a little bit of a duckiness (very mild … or maybe I was imagining it?).
As for the desserts, check this one out:
a block of awesomeness
So I forget what exactly that igloo-looking thing was, but it was kind of like a panna cotta but a little richer. I loved it. Add on a brulee’d crust or something and I would have ordered another one for myself (we were sharing)!
There were lots of delicious foods to be had at Zahav, and g and I were quite impressed with a lot of the dishes. It’s true that some were kind of unremarkable (the meatballs), but the highlights were high indeed, especially when using unusual cuts of meat. Similarly, their normal dishes were quite boring, meanwhile the ones pulling in non-traditional ingredients (e.g. chickpeas). Even though the tasting menu is now more expensive than it used to be (it used to be $36), it actually seems closer to being worth it now than it used to be – and now their restaurant week pricing is a great deal! So squeeze into here if you can! I don’t know if it’s four-bell-material, but it’s close!
Pardon Our Absence …
t says: Yes, yes, it’s been very-nearly-forever since our last legitimate post. We’re sorry! The holidays have left us with very little time. And with those little times that we have had, we’ve spent dining on already-proven-delicious foods (if you have limited time, why risk a bad meal?) For example:
Han Dynasty is still blowing us away. Lately, we’re digging the double-cooked fish (new to us!) as well as oldie-but-goodies, like Cold Sesame Noodles, Dan Dan Noodles, the fish soup (whatever it’s called), Cumin Lamb, Eggplant in Garlic Sauce …
Sotto keeps me coming back with their Matriciana and BYO policy – just the hug you need when it’s cold, windy, and rainy outside …
Talula’s Garden’s December menu rocked our socks with some delightful sweetbreads and cheese and lamb belly and dessert and everything … We also used it as an opportunity to try out a wine we’ve been cellaring for some time:
it tasted like … sea salt … kinda weird, but very interesting
Ekta’s Laamb Saag, Masalader Chola, Vegetable Samosa … we love you!
Indian attack!
So, all in all, there’s a lot of old news here … we’ll hit up some new places in the new year … we promise!
all i wanted was a.salad …
t says: g and I wanted to go to Parc the other weekend for our favorite “Warm Shrimp Salad” brunch. Sadly, they had no space. Rouge similarly had no space. Day-by-day had a half-hour wait. g and I were hungry-verging-on-hangry and getting rained on, so I suggested visiting a.kitchen, as opentable assured me they had space. Here’s our review in a slightly different style than we normally go for: a list-lover’s review!
December 2012, Sunday Brunch, Party of 2.
1) Your hostess made us wait for a table … when there was only one occupied table in the entire restaurant (i.e. at least 8 unoccupied tables, not including the seats at the chef’s counter) – that was weird. I took a photo of it (but won’t post it because you can see patrons’ faces very well … which is creepers). She didn’t move to attempt to assist in the turning over of another table (which I’m not exactly sure anyone did anything to – no one was clearing anything!). She didn’t offer us a seat at the empty bar. She didn’t smile at all. After five minutes had passed, g and I began looking through opentable for seats at Dandelion. Meanwhile, we were subjected to inane chit-chat between the hostess and the patrons who were leaving the restaurant (they apparently knew each other from somewhere). During this time, your bartender, having noted that we were standing off to the side, seemingly exiled to limbo, came over to us and asked, “She’s the hostess – you should talk to her if you want a seat.” To which we replied that we had …
2) … your bartender, upon hearing that we were stuck in the very peculiar predicament of waiting for a table in a restaurant with no dearth of open spaces proceeded to do nothing to help the situation: no offer to get us started with drinks, no assistance in pushing along the seating process, no nothing … just silence … Aawwkkwwaarrdd …
3) Your server was excellent. Fire the hostess and bartender and clone your server twice. She was polite and prompt and was able to answer my queries by confessing that your pastries are not made on-site (no big deal!) and that your “Namaste tea” was “just black tea”.
4) “Namaste” black tea? For real? Is that different from “Bonjour tea”?
5) Cava bar? For real!
cava bar!
Why are you not publicizing the hell out this? This is awesome!
5) Your pancakes could use a little something …
Super-simple pancakes
They’re not as good as Cochon’s (which are twice as thick and moreso fluffy … by the way – why did Cochon take it off their menu?), not as good as Parc (which has better, but definitely between the golden brown outside and pillowy inside), but still better than ones I can make at home using Bisquick or Aunt Jemima … but for $10/plate I should hope so! My feeble-minded suggestions are either add an interesting topping (?bruleed banana?) or flavor (? lemon ? orange ?) or something! You could charge a buck or two more!
6) The “mushroom scrapple” (pictured above) is more like a fried polenta/grits cake with mushrooms interspersed throughout. I don’t know what the composition actually is, but in my mouth, that’s what it reminded me of. Personally, I feel that this is not very scrapple-like, but moreso disappointing because it was quite bland from a salt/pepper perspective and a lacking-mushroom-flavor perspective. Give me more mushrooms!
7) g applauds your use of the English muffin on your burger, but wishes it was just a little fluffier in the middle and a little less burned on the outside (it’s hard to eat a burger if the “bun” part is crunchy like this.
burger attack!
The meat was well-seasoned and nicely-cooked, so definite props for that! And the sauce was a nice addition!
8) Why on Earth do you insist on the tiniest plates possible to fit the food? Maybe to make it seem like you have more food? But a problem arises in that there’s no real space to create a puddle of syrup or for your burger to drip its medium-rare blood without soggifying your chips. And forget trying to rest a utensil on them … Add like 1 inch to the radius – what youll give up in “artistry” you’ll make up for in utility – I promise …
In all, it was an “ok” brunch. As good as Parc? Not really … but surely better than falling prey to hanger on a Sunday when all the other places on Rittenhouse are packed – and that cava bar is definitely worth checking out. I think the better question is why is it not so packed? g pointed out that on one hand, a.kitchen is kinda-sorta-lika hotel restaurant, so they don’t really have to push any boundaries and that it might even be safer not to. I disagree – if they want the street cred (as clearly this blog is the ultimate bestower of “cred”), I just need a bit more “oomph”, be it in innovation or just straight-up flavor. I’m glad we got to go to a.kitchen for brunch, but I only wish that it would have sidled its way into my heart … Maybe next time …
g&t&a&v take over NYC
t says: The other weekend, we got in a car with a and v, who graciously drove us to NYC. Rather than give a super-long-winded blow-by-blow, let’s take a look at the picture roll and see what I actually used the iPhone to capture:
momofuku ramen!
Our first stop was Momofuku Noodle Bar. Inspired by my previous visit, I knew that this place would at the very least have some delicious food. Plus, I feel like a David Chang restaurant is mandatory for any food enthusiasts like ourselves. l and c met us there (after a spirited 20-block jog), and the 6 of us were the second party to enter the restaurant when they opened at noon. As a side note: if you’re not there more than 25 minutes early for Saturday lunch, your butt is going to be waiting outside in the cold.
The pork buns. Amazing. The smoked chicken wings. Scrumptious. The rice cakes were hit-or-miss depending on if you can deal with rice cakes (e.g. I loved them – and so did l! But the rest of the party was less-impressed.) The kim-chi was white-ified (i.e. white people added too much sugar to it, so it had a sweet tang to it and not enough funk). And the ramen, while tasty, was indeed [just-as-every-New-Yorker-has-ever-said] not-as-good-as-Ippudo’s. Don’t get me wrong – the broth was delightful, with lots of different flavors. But there wasn’t the depth or soul of Ippudo’s. (Also, Ippudo’s noodles are superior). Next time, we’ll hit up Ippudo … (a opines: Momo, sadly, did not live up to the hype – of course the hype was Earth-shattering noodles and ramen which is no small task. I thought the apps were more interesting and noteworthy. Starting with the smoked chicken wings which had a savory, smokey dimension to them beyond the typical heat of a hot wing. The star of the meal, pork buns, would put a smile on anyone’s face. A perfect execution of Korean comfort food, the pork belly was delicious and the perfect texture, and the buns provided an appropriate canvas. The chilled spicy noodles with sichuan spiced sausage, spinach, cashews was interesting but only to a point and its novelty was lost before the bowl was finished. I love all the ingredients in the bowl and cold noodles can be fun but their consistency didn’t blow me away. My main enjoyment came from the buildup of heat from the sausage.)
ice cream break!
We did some shopping. And we did some Christmas-tree-watching. And we did some hunting. Hunting for what? The Blue Bottle Coffee tucked away underneath Rockefeller! It was absolutely wonderful. Their coffee is some of the best I’ve ever had (not that I’m a coffee afficianado like a). It’s just so easy to drink and full of non-coffee flavors while lacking any bitterness. They might be poo-poo’d by those “in the know”, but let’s just say that in my eyes, they can do no wrong. Actually – I hesitated before writing/gushing about them because I kind of want them to be my little New York secret … I will say that the dudes behind the counter are the most not-in-a-hurry workers ever … so if want coffee on a run, don’t go here – they’ll make you wait as they perfectly brew each cup of coffee … with one hand … ‘cuz the other is too busy sipping a coffee of their own …
super-wicked sausage gravy!
We went to Brooklyn Farmacy … and let’s just say that this place is awesome! Of course, the workers were just a little “too cool” for us, dressed in dapper threads from head to toe (literally: a cool, period-specific hat must have been mandatory to work there). The sausage gravy pictured above was ridiculously good. Although, g probably liked her dessert better:
“sundae of broken dreams”: sweet-and-salty deliciousness!
g also had a great egg-based sandwich, but no photos made it onto our phone. And yes, more things were eaten on our trip than just at the above three stops, but … you know what they say: “pictures or it didn’t happen!”.
a & v ascend to “Steak 9”
t says: After my great experience at GTC for their all-you-can-eat steak adventure, I brought some friends to get a second opinion. Just to recap, it’s all-you-can-eat steak, all-you-can-eat French fries, and [presumably] all-you-can-eat salad … for $25 … and GTC is corkage-free for the first bottle, and $10/bottle corkage therafter. Oh, and now it’s officially on the menu! Hooray! Long live steak! In any case, this is what a and v had to say:
v says: Mmmm… steak was delicious. We are on steak 9. My favorite sauce was a’s, but I couldn’t have eaten as much of his as I could mine… It was so good I could have continued making room for more if I wasn’t worried about undoing the buttons on my pants. The fries were also great. What stands out, though, is the salad. I immediately noticed they used the same dressing for this salad as their Lyonnaise one. Great decision, unfortunately, they’ve toned down the flavor due to a couple of complaints about the intensity of the dressing. The service was more than eager to continue serving us, which was great, because we didn’t feel like the gluttons that some of us (a and I) were.
I will wear an elastic waist band next time…
a says: I agree with v’s take. Best $25 complete meal in Philly and bonus: it’s AYCE. My dessert was good but I really didn’t care at that point since I, too, was on steak 9. Let’s do this again real soon! N.B. Plan to walk to AND from the restaurant.
Also, the wines were delicious and fun. Most had a typical aspect: nose for the Pinot, mouth for the Sauvignon Blanc and Cab, but then proved more interesting in other aspects. The Pinot was full in the mouth with nice viscocity, it stood up to the steak – the standout of the night (check it here). The SB smelled like rubber (burnt rubber, actually) and hay then switched to strong petrol in the mouth. The Cab smelled more like a Shiraz or Merlot with lots of red fruit and some green earth but then went to dark fruits, vanilla and good grip (t gestures: “grip!”) on the tongue (check it here).
t says: Ah, yes, the wine … That Sineann pinot noir was most definitely a cab-drinker’s pinot. It was rich and full and void of a single rough edge anywhere, even if it was missing some of that hallmark Oregon funk and acid … but it was still delicious. Not a single person, including me, could object to it. I wish more of the ’08 could still be found (I personally don’t know if other vintages taste as good – but one can hope!). I’ll give it a nod as wine of the night, as it was straight-up more interesting than the Hall cabernet. Even moreso interesting, however, was the Sauvignon Blanc that we had. Now, this is not some “easy-breezy” Sauvignon Blanc. This one slaps you in the face with petrol, petrol, and more petrol. I estimate that 99% of casual wine-drinkers will not like this wine. I estimate that 90% of wine enthusiasts will not like this wine. But g and I love it (a and v liked it, too, but it’s not like they’re clamoring for more). It will now be added to the cellar so we can have some of this $10 beauty on hand at all times. If you manage to find it, buy a bottle and give it a try (or take us to dinner and we’ll bring a bottle for all to try!). I bet that people who kinda-sorta-secretly-enjoy the scent of a gas station will like this wine (seriously!). Also – if this is your kind of wine, then you’re our kind of people: let’s eat and drink together. If not, then, well, we can get you some Woodbridge Chardonnay or Cavit Pinot Grigio (burned! … j/k!).
after dinner sneeze 