Archive for the ‘Restaurant Reviews’ Category
would you sell your soul for a beignet?
t says: g and I found ourselves in San Francisco (and Bay Area) recently, and, like our last trip to Cali, we made sure to go around and frequent delicious restaurants and cupcakes. But rather than bore you with every single thing we ate, I will instead tell you about the awesomest thing we ate. On the Saturday morning before leaving, g and I wanted to get some brunch. Unfortunately, the places we remembered from our research for our last trip were primarily Sunday brunch spots. The Ferry Building could have been had, however, we did it once before and we were taunted by g’s cousin: “Don’t do that again – you’ve already done it once – do something else!” We pulled out the iPad and started googling “Best Saturday Brunch” and limiting our scope to within walking distance from our hotel. A place called “Brenda’s” popped up, and it felt like a place I had heard of before. Boasting “soul food”, it promised to offer a little something different than we were used to.
When we arrived, we promptly put our name on a giant chalkboard that allowed us to see where we were on the waiting list. As far as two-top tables were concerned, we were fourth in line. We secured some seats in the waiting area (g does not like to wait standing) and cast hungry eyes in the general direction of the diners. The specials on the board in the dining room included Bananas Foster French Toast and Pork Belly with Brussels Sprouts and Grits … simply put: I refused to go anywhere else.
Now, I could tell you all about how the French Toast was delicious (but honestly, Cochon, in the hayday of the Elvis French Toast does it better), and how the watermelon iced tea was very refreshing, blah blah blah. But really, the dish of the meal was our first dish:
four beignets, lined up in a row
When we ordered them, we figured they’d be tiny, kind of like Talula’s Garden’s beignets. They were not. Seriously, one order of Beignets would have KO’d both of us had we finished them (we saved some to go for later). The three powdered sugar ones consisted of the following: plain (i.e. unfilled), apple-filled, Ghiardelli chocolate-filled. The last one, which did not have powdered sugar on it, was “crawfish-filled”. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself.
get in my belly!
The crawfish one was delightful. Chunks of seafood in a delectable sauce of creole spices all inside a perfectly fried crust. Sooo good. It was like some sort of seafood stew but shoved inside fried dough. But as good as it was, it was only second place in my book because that chocolate one haunts me to this very day. It has single handedly ruined beignets for me. The chocolate tasted exactly like Ghiardelli chocolate chips (trust me, I’ve eaten enough of them in our chocolate chip cookies to know). It was powerful and rich and wonderful. It made my bananas foster French Toast seem kind of “boring” in comparison – that’s how good it was.
g, who’s a sucker for doughnuts, was similarly in heaven. I’m not sure which one was her favorite (maybe the apple one), but I can tell you that by the time we were leaving, she was adding Brenda’s to the short list of restaurants we absolutely have to eat at the next time we’re in town (actually, “the list” only includes Kiss Seafood and Kara’s Cupcakes so that’s pretty impressive!).
Long story short: go to Brenda’s for brunch – the beignets are worth the wait. That’s right – it’s a brunch spot worth waiting for – a g&t first!
Lightning Round: Il Pittore, Pub and Kitchen
t says: g and I need to get up to speed on some restaurants that we visited in December but didn’t quite get around to blogging about – so here we go:
Il Pittore. Dec 2011, Dinner, Party of 2. We went to Il Pittore after I took a fairly important exam (medical licensing exam). It had been a long day and I wanted me some good-old-fashioned-pasta. Normally we go to Melograno for such things, but we had an OpenTable gift certificate burning a hole in our wallet, so we figured that it’d be good to use it for something we’d never have done before (i.e. go to a Starr restaurant instead of a BYO). Props: The service was superb. The food was very un-Starr-like (i.e. it tasted like someone was trying to turn out some good food for the sake of the food, itself, not just to conform to a restaurant’s theme). The ricotta was quite delicious, reminding us of a lighter/springier version of Barbuzzo’s. When coupled with the foccacia from the free bread basket (i.e. which was jaw-droppingly good on its own), you were left with a stunning combination.
ricotta + apple + thyme
The Paccheri tasted like what you imagine the ocean would smell like in a fantasy Disney world (clean, fresh, delicious seafood).
paccheri = clams + rock shrimp + salami pieces + broccoli rabe
The Corzetti was a unique mix of goat, mint, and chili oil – it was like Han Dynasty meets minty goat meets al dente pasta, with a pretty delightful result. In retrospect, none of the food was “bad” – as a matter of fact – it was all at least “good” … but I’m going to be picky now … Slops: The portions are a bit small overall. The pappardelle with wild boar is unfortunately not as good as Melograno’s which has a far deeper flavor and more strands of meat. In retrospect, the pasta dishes as a whole were not as “deep” or developed as those we’ve had at Melograno’s, which usually tastes as if more was “going on” in the pot beforehand. The EtOH is pricey, matching the “dressier” feel of the place vs. Noble that had been there before. Conclusion: Thus, it makes it hard to go to Il Pittore knowing that Melograno is so nearby … but what Il Pittore may be good for is for “classier” evenings when you want pasta on white table cloths without tons of ambient noise … like when parents are in town.
Pub and Kitchen. Dec 2011, Lunch, Party of 2. a and I went on a lunch adventure together. We invited the girls, but they were too “busy”, claiming that “someone needs to work to make money” or some such nonsense. Props: Nice fun ambience – the worn wood look. Food was “good”. Slops: Food was only “good”. Allow me to illustrate:
pulled pork sandwich +chipotle mayo + cheese + fried pickle + slaw
As you can see in the above blurry picture, I had the pulled pork sandwich. It tasted fine (like pork and sauce and cheese). But it wasn’t as nearly as good as Village Whiskey. And that makes me frown. I hoped the slaw could punch it up, but it was insipid. The fried pickle was the best thing on the plate.
a’s was a bit happier with his pot pie and his Brussels sprouts, but still, it’s not like they rocked his socks:
dude ... my camera skills SUCK
Conclusion: The meal wasn’t bad, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a glimmer of hope that their dinner will step it up. I’d give their dinner a try …
replacing the Saturday brunch spot
t says: A little bit ago, I described the disappointing brunch at Supper that g and I had, which resulted in a demotion from its former title on our Gold Standards list as our pick for Saturday brunch.. While we will eventually find our way back there to re-evaluate their offerings (how do you argue with free parking at Whole Foods?), we needed to find a reliable replacement for Saturday brunch. We looked far and wide and found two potential contenders.
The first is Monsu. These guys are seriously kicking some brunch ass – and I’m pretty sure no one’s noticing, as it was dead-quiet both times g and I visited in November. Regardless, we were pretty darn impressed with the food and the pricepoint. I’ll smoosh together the visits to show you what kinds of things are going on over there.
November 2011, Saturday Brunch – Multiple Visits. Monsu features a “tourista” menu in which one gets three courses for $22 (actually, it was $20 the first time, $22 the second time – no idea what the real price is). In our visits, we’ve tasted a variety of dishes and all are quite good. Here are our two favorites:
polpo
So it doesn’t look like much … but let me tell you that it was a radical kick to the mouth. Aside from Koo Zee Doo’s milk-poached polpo at dinner, this is the best octopus I’ve ever had. I mean, it beat out Amada’s polpo for crying out loud! I’ve only had it once, so maybe I should re-try it just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before making such statements … The octopus, itself, is nicely cooked, being tender and not rubbery, but what really makes the dish is the “everything else”. Now, there was a lot going on and at the time, I didn’t scrutinize the menu enough to memorize the ingredients, but there was some fennel, some sundried tomato, and something with a bit of kick. It was zingy and light and sweet and spicy all at the same time. No, it doesn’t look pretty (it looks kind of ugly, actually), but it was awesome!
steak and eggs
Similarly, the steak and eggs doesn’t look like much. The skirt steak was medium-rare-to-medium, and the potatoes looked bored next to the eggs, which had an odd paleness to them. I was pretty unimpressed when this plate showed up in front of me … but then I took a bite: it blew me away. I’m not sure if it was because I was hungry or if it was because it looked so “bleh” that I had zero expectations, but I was shocked. There was a wonderfully textured and nicely seasoned steak, perfect potatoes, and eggs that were clearly cooked in some kind of meat-fat drippings. g felt her steak was over-salted. Mine was not. I consumed the entirety of my dish (the portion you see above is the tourista-sized portion – if you ordered it alone, it would have been larger). So approach this dish with closed eyes, and you’re good-to-go.
Yes, there were starches and desserts offered at our visits, including a delicious pork belly and scallop dish and some classic tiramisu. I think lc joined us for one of the meals and left quite content. And, of course, one of the best things is looking out the window at those people waiting to get into Sabrina’s. Ha! When will they learn?
EDIT: I found more photos!
chocolate mousse, profiteroles
?scallop + porkbelly?
something g liked involving poached eggs, basil, toasted bread, roasted potatoes
And now allow me to introduce the next contender: Parc. PARC?!? Yea, that’s right, Parc. Now, I must admit that there are a lot of things we dislike about Parc. It is a Starr restaurant, so you pay big moneys for EtOH and it’s a little pricey overall (e.g. they charge a ridiculous amount for their “pastry basket” at brunch). Additionally, because of its Rittenhouse location, it tends to attract a slightly older, posher clientele that’s just not quite our crowd. And then there’s the food that I’ve bad-mouthed in the past, including a boring burger and boring French Toast. Don’t get me wrong – they’re still boring and we’re probably never going to order them again – but we’ve been recently going back to Parc again and again (and will do so in the future) for two specific dishes …
January 2011, Saturday Brunch, Party of 2. g loves the “warm shrimp salad”. As far as naming conventions are concerned, this is perhaps the most boring name ever. I think it’s because it sounds a bit like two adjectives and a noun instead of an adjective and two nouns. Also – it should be noted that this is no mayonnaise-laden shrimp salad – this is a completely different animal, being more like a traditional salad with delicious shrimp and dressing Furthermore, even I, who generally hates salads, have been known to enjoy the dish every now and then. Fresh greens, avocado, shrimp, truffle [oil], and buerre blanc sauce. It just can’t go wrong. It’s neck and neck with Tria’s “grilled asparagus salad” as our favorite Philly salad (and might win just by virtue of being closer to us than Tria).
The second dish is one that I encountered just recently:
pancakes!
That’s right – it’s just a pancake. No bananas foster sauce, no bacon ice cream, no chocolate anywhere on the plate. This is a new, more mature t in town – let’s call him “fuddy-duddy-t” (can anyone guess precisely what I’m referring to when I say “fuddy duddy”?).
fuddy-duddy-t says: Sometimes you just want a pancake. And that’s it. You want it a little sweet and a little buttery. You want it to be rich like a bisquick pancake, but still light and fluffy. You want it to be thick, but perfectly browned on the outside and still cooked the whole way through. You want it to remind you a simpler time when you were 7-8-9 years old and would eat McDonald’s Hotcakes with your grandparents before heading to the mall to play video games … except you don’t actually want to eat McDonald’s Hotcakes because their texture is that of a sink sponge that’s on it’s fourth week of use … This is that pancake. Lightly dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with plain maple syrup, it is an homage to all that is good and holy about pancakes.
Meritage’s Korean taco mediocrity
t says: Over a disappointing $5 glass of zweigelt at the wine-room-formerly-known-as-Biba (it must have been a “special” for a reason: it sucked), cm lifted my spirits with news that Meritage was bringing back their Korean tacos for a single dinner – that very night! Whoa! g and I were psyched. We’ve loved Meritage’s Korean tacos from their first release over a year ago. Unfortunately, we just were too busy to drop by and enjoy some this past summer. This was a second chance! Woohoo! We paid the bill at Biba and weathered the winds whipping across the Schuylkill as we crossed the bridge.
November 2011, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 3. We reached our destination without incident and sat down in a surprisingly empty restaurant (we were the only diners). This made me a little sad – I had always secretly hoped that Meritage was doing swimmingly despite not garnering any recent foobooz or PhillyMag love, and this was not a reassuring sign. Then we didn’t find our favorite server. Darn – that guy, whatever his name is, is so awesome.
While we did sample a few dishes while we were there, I think the whole point of this post revolves around these:
korean tacos!
They had some vegetarian Korean tacos and some shortrib ones. I ordered two shortrib ones and looked forward to the happiness that would almost certainly ensue. I was served these two tacos, and, with a smile creeping across my face, wrapped one up for the first bite. I went for it. I chewed and chewed. But something was wrong. It had the same ingredients as before: tortilla, sauce, kimchi, shortrib, shredded veggies … what was wrong? The ratio of shredded veggies to shortrib was off, with a substantial amount of shredded greens filling up the taco. The meat, itself, wasn’t as tender as I remember and, weirdly, it didn’t taste as succulent as before – it was drier and not booming with Korean flavors (the shortrib didn’t taste anything more than shortrib). The kimchi and sesame seeds were nice and all, but only a small amount was included. What happened to my beloved Korean taco? I don’t know. It was … mediocre! Egad! It wasn’t the stuff that’ll invade my daydreams and make me salivate as I type. I guess it’ll have to live on in my memories …
The other food was ok – but at this point I have long forgotten what we ate (there may have been a dumpling dish that was delish!) as I was crushed at the tacos had changed. I feel especially bad for cm as this was his first Meritage Korean taco, and now it’s likely his last. Maybe Meritage is out of practice? I really want to give them another chance next year – maybe this time was a fluke? Regardless, I sincerely hope that their Korean Fried Chicken hasn’t changed, as that might actually bring a tear to my eye.
t visits Momofuku and Ippudo
t says: I found myself in NYC last month so I visited two awesome venues in the local food scene. First, I made it to the fabled Momofuku Noodle Bar.
November 2011, Thursday 4:22pm, Party of Me. I rushed over to Momofuku with roller-suitcase behind me. I made it in there just before the kitchen closes at 4:30pm (it closes for an hour before dinner). I took off my jacket, and, despite eating a mere three hours prior, was in the mood for some pork buns (sorry – with the onset of December, it’s winter in my book, so Pork Caps is over). The ramen was calling me as well, but I didn’t want to have to walk around the city with the slosh of liquid in my stomach – so pork buns it was! Having had a number of Tyson Bee’s pork buns, I figured that I was prepared for Momofuku’s. Actually, I was readying myself for disappointment, as surely this is one of those things that’s way overrated, right? COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG.
pork bun = pork belly + pickle + sauce + ?scallion? + bao bun
HOLY CRAP. I was so moved by it that I pulled out g’s iPad and started writing myself a note so I could try and capture what it was that I was experiencing.
“Holy bejesus. Never have I seen pork belly this tender. EVER. I’m shocked to admit it but it kind of wrecks a LOT of other pork bellies for me – even those at restaurants. So soft. The softest ever. Maybe not the crispest crust but among the best that haven’t been Fondified. But not totally fatty – surprisingly little fat actually. Puts Tyson Bee’s to shame. No wonder they don’t serve it there anymore – someone must have sued them for having such an inferior product under the same name of ‘pork bun’.”
So yea, the buns had two of the awesomest pieces of pork belly ever. If this pork belly and Fond’s got in a fight, I honestly don’t know whose would win. Fond’s got the crust, but these have the fluffiest texture ever. To boot, these tiny slabs were perfectly balanced little bites of heaven (sweet, sour, salty, savory – it was all here). No wonder they cost $10 for 2. They’re worth every penny.
I also ventured the “roasted rice cakes” appetizer.
roasted rice cakes
I do like the idea of this dish. One would figure: if you take gnocchi and then brown them, they get a nice crispy outside, a soft pillowy inside, and an added layer of flavoring from the caramelized sugar. Obviously, rice cakes could be done up the same way, right? Eh … kinda … The way it was done on this particular visit shows that the process added a crispy outside, but it didn’t quite add any flavor [that I could tell]. Then again, it also wasn’t really browned, either, so maybe it was ineffective application of heat? That said, the sauce and sesame was spectacular. I think that because of these, I’ll label these as “good”, but look forward for [hopefully] a future visit that will prove to have a denser browning that the above.
So overall, I was satisfied with Noodle Bar’s offerings. As I left, I was already dreaming of the return visit – after all, the ramen needed to be conquered, right? During my stay in NYC, I got into a conversation with another about my recent visit to Momofuku. He said, “yea, they have good ramen there – but if you want even better ramen, go to Ippudo.” Whoa. Better than Momofuku? And this was professed to me by a native San Franciscan who also confessed to being food-centric. I just had to go. A few days later, before leaving NYC, I made the trek to Ippudo to confront their ramen.
November 2011, Tuesday Dinner, Party of Me. As I stood around in the waiting area of Ippudo (i.e. the bar), I felt the energy of the place. I was clearly in a hot-spot. I was clearly out of my element. It was loud and people were packed in tighter than sardines. Patrons were willing to lie, cheat, and steal so they could get in – I heard the hostess tell people wait times of an hour or more. Of course, maybe it was just a fluke and maybe this place is not as thumping/bumping/jumping as I perceived, but I just picked a bad night? Regardless of the reality, I stuck with it and waited, silent and patient. Why? Because when you’re by yourself, the wait time is “5-10 minutes”. It’s one of the few perks of eating alone. But I wondered how many single-tops or bar-seating they had available for singletons like myself. As the minutes went by, I missed g. She’d probably like going to a noodle bar, and here I was about to go to two within five days. Also, it was times like these when we’d look around an analyze things like the decor or patrons’ attires. Later I found out that she had gone to Barbuzzo with some friends … I didn’t feel so bad anymore …
In 10 minutes, they took me to the main restaurant area. As I walked in, some of the servers began shouting some sort of incoherent Japanese greeting. Gimmick or legitimate or both? Who knows? That’s when I saw the communal tables. Suddenly it made sense! With all of the random-numbered parties in there, squeezing one here or there made it so they could fill the open gaps of the table with strangers. And I didn’t mind, as I was here for one thing and one thing only: ramen. Forget “socializing”.
I ended up ordering the “Akamaru Modern” which is their contemporary take on ramen (I think it’s one of the ramens they are most known for) and added a side of braised pork belly (“kakuni”).
akamaru modern ramen + kakuni
This ramen’s kind of different than what I think of when I say “ramen”. It’s in a cloudier-sauced broth. Furthermore, my addition of the the brown-sauced-shortrib yields a collision of the dark and light browns that you see in the pic above. I must admit that I was totally digging having two porks in a single dish (the kakuni I ordered and the “chashu” which is included – I think both are belly). What’s also fun is the additional soup spoon thing they give you. While I’m not sure what the “right” way to use it is, I used it as an intermediate platform on which I set my noodles on so I can visualize how much I’m going to put in my mouth before I do it. Like this:
the soup spoon is the last stop for those noodles and pork before my chopsticks lift them to my mouth
The ramen was pretty damn good. The noodles had that alkali noodle taste and were perfectly al dente. The broth was savory and had some weight to it in the mouth (?miso?). The veggies still had bite while the porks were right on – perhaps not as soft as Momofuku’s, but respectable. I felt that everything was in place for a nice solid bowl of ramen. Mind-blowing? No. It’s not like there were unexpected tastes and textures, but it was very well-done indeed. It was good enough that I’d definitely go back and try out some of their other noodles to see what kinds of flavors they might bring in (I think the special of the night was a wasabi one). I suspect, however, that Momofuku’s is going to be a little more complex with the pork being more tender and flavorful (they use the same pork in their buns as they do in their ramen). Alternatively, I recall Momofuku have a dinner special the night I went which was beef shank and gruyere … in ramen … crazy! … so that would have pushed the envelope a little.
I was about to leave but wanted a little something sweet and cold to close the meal. I saw a number of sorbets and ice creams, but they looked a bit boring. For $8, I’d rather hit walk around until I found some other dessert place. Then I saw the “matcha brulee” which featured green tea brulee with green tea ice cream. Gimicky? Sure. But I’m a sucker for green tea sweets.
the matcha brulee
You know – this was the surprise of the evening. The green tea ice cream had that bitter green tea taste, but wasn’t very sweet. The creme brulee had more of creamier/sweeter profile and, obviously, a different temperature. Add in the texture of the crust that kept the two from co-mingling until after they got in your mouth. It was surprisingly good! By themselves, the two components would have been a snooze-fest. But together, and it was fun! I’d say it’s worth 6 of the 8 dollars it cost.
In summary, what I found particularly interesting while I sat and ate and people-watched at Ippudo is that I feel like Philly desperately needs a noodle house like this. Yea, we have some Asian-themed restaurants (e.g. Sampan) and some actual noodle houses (in Chinatown). But we don’t have something like this. This is like if Barbuzzo was a noodle bar. It’s loud, it’s hip, and it’s a place to be. That said, the food is good and it comes out fast. Make sure it serves some vegetarian options (lookin out for you, dz!) and have the same servers that are friendly [enough] while executing exceedingly efficient service (they ran like machinese). Considering what seems to be reasonably large profit margins (seriously – how much does it cost to make good ramen if Ippudo’s going to go and charge $15+ for it?), I think they could really do some damage on the Philly scene. Maybe it won’t have the longest life cycle, but for a well-heeled restaurant group, it might be easier to get in and get out. Ok, I’ll stop talking out of my derriere now – I just want someone to make a comparable ramen house here so I can get some ramen!
Korean hoagie face-off
t says: There was a week in time where I found it convenient to eat at a lot of Philly food trucks. Perhaps I am not as well-trucked as a, but I nevertheless found some pretty interesting handheld foods that are worth mentioning.
As I was walking by Koja’s truck (it’s got some pretty bright colors), I was distracted by their advertisement of a “America’s Top 10 New Sandwich”. Check it:
KoJa promoting its bulgogi sandwich
I couldn’t let the opportunity pass, so I ordered one and consumed it as I walked:
Koja bugogi steak sandwich = steak + onions + peppers + cheese + bread
This sandwich was interesting because it’s kind of like they made an ordinary cheesesteak except that you replace the standard meat with sweet, succulent bulgogi meat. Sounds like a good idea, right? I must say that the bread was wonderful on this sandwich – super soft. The meat was surprisingly tender (bulgogi is commonly overcooked). What was interesting, though, is that there was still cheese on the sandwich; the Korean flavor + cheese combination took some getting used to. In the end, I feel that it was a solid sandwich, and a great deal! (Something like $5, or maybe less than that?) I’d give it another go if I needed to.
The next thing I needed to do was to find another Korean-inspired hoagie. I knew just where to go: Tyson Bees. But there was one problem. Actually, there were two. The first was that they discontinued the steamed pork buns – a favorite of mine, even if the quality of the product had gone down substantially since the truck changed owners (it was never as flavorful as it used to be, but still pretty good for $3). They did, however, have a Korean bulgogi burrito. I’ve had it before, but this time I asked them to put the filling onto a hoagie roll. They did, no problem:
Tyson Bee's bulgogi burrito on a hoagie roll = steak + rice + special sauce + kimchi + other stuff + cilantro
As you can see, this is definitely not like KoJa’s. While KoJa’s paid homage to the classic cheesesteak, this is very different. There’s meat and some kind of “special sauce”, kimchi, and a mix of veggies and herbs. Unfortunately, Tyson Bee’s meat was fairly tough – it didn’t have the give that KoJa’s had. Bummer. The bread was also not as soft on the inside or as crackly on the outside. However, the redeeming qualities were the kimchi and cilantro which added a nice zing to the sandwich. The rice was superfluous, but of course, this was meant to be a burrito, so I can’t ding them for that. I can ding them for expense, though, as I think it costs more – something like $7-$8.
Conclusion: When push comes to shove, I’m actually going to give KoJa the nod for the bulgogi burrito – I just couldn’t wrap my head around Tyson Bee’s inferior beef. That said, maybe I should suggest that KoJa should just toss some kimchi in their sandwiches – maybe at the last second. Or maybe allow patrons to choose kimchi vs. cheese? I mean, they’ve got to have kimchi because they’re a Korean food truck, right?
supper’s brunch disappoints [despite a big dog]
t says: adsz likes Supper’s brunch, having recommended it in the past as a great place to go for Saturday brunch, as our perennial brunch favorite (i.e. Cochon) is closed on Saturdays. Having a hankering for some red velvet waffles, we went again. Here’s how it went down.
November 2011, Sunday Brunch, Party of 2. g and I strolled in and confirmed our opentable reservation (another 100 pts! yes!). We were seated within 60 seconds and had our heads in menus in another 5. Exxxxxcellent. The menu had some new sweet breakfast items that I had to choose between: Pumpkin Pie French Toast and Gingerbread Pancakes. Feeling in the mood for some pumpkin pie in breakfast form, I opted for the French Toast:
pumpkin pie french toast = pie crust + spiced sour cream + chunks-o-pumpkin
The dish came out and I was ecstatic. It looks awesome, right? Sure did! Unfortunately, something about it just didn’t deliver. The spiced cream was very subtle – mostly because my brain kept wanting it to taste like pumpkin, but it didn’t (that’s probably my brain’s fault). The pumpkin, itself, didn’t really have much oomph to it, either, adding more of a textural element than any real “pumpkin”. And the pie crust was just that: pie crust. Actually, the crust crumbles were a little on the anemic side – more like the pie crust on the bottom of a piece of Pumpkin pie and not that fluted edges that get brown and tasty. So basically, I was left with the French toast as the main harbinger of flavor (with maple syrup, of course). Normally, that’d be ok, as I’m a sucker for egg-dipped bread. In this situation, however, the bread, while browned to perfection, suffered from the same fate that Distrito’s French toast had in the past: too heavy/oily/fatty. It’s the kind of thing that you bite into and immediately react, “whoa, that’s rich” … which is surprising because it’s not a piece of PORK BELLY or chocolate cake – it’s French toast! It’s most certainly a side effect of the cooking process and likely intentional – some will love it and some will hate it. After the first bite, I kind of hated it. To illustrate just how overwhelming this sensation was, I only finished one of the slabs, and the other one I opted to not take home (and I normally take everything home). Yea, that’s some serious aversion. So in the end, what I had was some exceedingly unctuous French toast but not a a single thing to take the edge off of the richness (n.b. the toast, itself, didn’t really bring much to the table – it was more like a vehicle for fried-ness). Damn.
g went for the chilaquiles navidad, fondly remembering the chilaquiles from San Francisco’s Ferry Building Market. Supper’s rendition was a bit more, shall we say, “refined”.
chilaquiles navidad = eggs + tortilla + red salsa + green salsa + chorizo
I want to say first and foremost that these were not bad, as g did get around to eating the entirety of her plate. That said, these did not quite live up to her memories and were certainly not worth the $14. The problem list is long. The chorizo was cold (i.e. cooler than room temperature), which is a big error. Neither of the salsas were as cooked down or as deep as she was expecting – but they weren’t fresh and zingy, either. g takes the mic: It’s like they put together some Mexican ingredients, but it didn’t really have that punchy flavor that they had in San Francisco. t yanks the cord to steal the mic back: My question – why serve the cilantro with stems? I mean, maybe I’m just a sissy, but I don’t like trying to chew stems. That’s the second time they’ve done this, so maybe it’s their style: no sissies allowed.
g and I also shared that Supper Dog. We loved their Supper Burger, so we figured the Supper Dog would be a smashing success as well.
supper dog = PORK SHOULDER dog + BACON + bbq onions + sauerkraut + bun + fried pickles
I have to confess that this dish looks a little ridiculous. It’s clear that it’s composition is for wow-factor moreso than practicality. Seeing no way that I’d be able to distribute the bread to the unclad parts of dog, I was forced to attack this thing with a fork and knife. As far as taste goes, g was particularly surprised with how “hot doggy” the hot dog tasted, and I guess I was as well. It’s like you’d imagine it would taste like straight-up PORK, but there’s no mistaking that the inspiration was indeed “hot dog”. sr would have been proud. But that’s where the similarities end, because no hot dog tastes this good (it had a meatier, sweeter taste to it). Couple the dog with those bbq onions and I was in heaven. The sauerkraut and BACON, on the other hand, were a bit superfluous, as I would have easily traded in either/both for more of those onions for my dog. I’m normally not one to turn down BACON, but, as usual when bacon wraps things, the side touching the bacon (i.e. not exposed to heat) wasn’t texturally pleasing, coming across very chewy/slimy/unappetizing. The sour and delicately fried pickles were a great way to reset the palate, while the aioli really didn’t do anything for me, so I skipped it. The bread, let’s face it, was unnecessarily fussy; give me a softer bun that actually promotes the use of my hands instead of a fork and knife and I would have written a title of, “Supper’s Super Dog Saves Brunch!”. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that the dish was a little “too much”; “over-accessorized” is what g would say – but there’s something here for sure.
In conclusion, I’m a little disappointed in this brunch, overall. Actually, maybe I’m more than a “little disappointed” – I am going to have to remove Supper as our Saturday choice for brunch. Sorry guys. On one hand, I feel bad about it because the proprietors seem like such nice, hard-working people. Then again, I’ve also heard that they claim to have “started” the farm-to-table concept in Philly. While I’m not Philly-food-historian, I think that may be a bit untrue. While I don’t know exactly who “started it”, I’m pretty sure that White Dog Cafe has at least been doing it longer, having had its roots from even before Fork opened its doors. Be that as it may, we’ll be back around to Supper eventually to give its brunch another go. In the meantime, stay tuned for the brunch spot that will take Supper’s spot on our “gold standards” list.
after dinner sneeze 