Today's lunch (7/1) was a place I have not been to in several years. I don't know why other than to say that I don't eat out at lunch time as much as I once did and also there are so many good places to choose from.
Tria (located at 18th and Sansom Street in Phila) is known as a wine and cheese bar; however, they serve very nice lunches as well.
My companion and I ordered 2 different bruschettas to start our meal. One was the Apple goat chees with basil and pesto ($4.50) and the other was the truffled mushrooms with fontina cheese ($5). Both of these were sensational and got the meal off to a rousing start. The bread on both was crispy as one would hope and the toppings were fresh and flavorful.
I then had the salad which had smoked chicken, romaine, lancaster bacon, egg, crispy shallots and homemade blue cheese dressing ($11). This salad was really good and exceeded my expectations. All of the ingredients were extremely fresh and the chicken was a nice thickness and easy to cut. The blue cheese dressing was very good and definitely homemade.
This is a salad worth coming back for which is not typically true for most salads.
My dining companion chose the oak roasted salmon salad ($12) with baby spinach, fregola sarda, feta, fennel and lemon dill vinaigrette. This was tasty as well and seemed to come together nicely, but I believe my salad was the better one here.
Since we both had salads, we decided to splurge on dessert. Good decision for both of us!
I ordered the Brioche bread pudding with banana, caramel and honey marscapone ($6). This bread pudding was extraordinary-- the taste of the bread putting itself was good, but when dipped in the caramel sauce that surrounded the plate along with the honey marscapone, it went to an entirely new level. Just outstanding!
My companion's dessert was excellent also-- this was the flourless chocolate espresso torte with hazelnuts and honey marscapone. this torte is very close to the one I have perfected in my own kitchen (courtesy of the recipe from Mary Donahue). this torte was extremely rich flavor with the addition of the espresso. The consistency of the torte was nice and the hazelnuts on top (these could be taken off if you are not a nut lover) were a nice addition providing a good crunch. The honey marscapone is nice to dip into, but almost unnecessary.
Lunch for 2 before tip was $48. Like I indicated above, we splurged here so the price could easily be less for lunch. also, the bartender (Andy) was great and happy to accommodate us. This is something we are seeing less and less in restaurants so I will go out of my way to recognize stellar service when we see it.
Overall 4.5 Brownies
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Ocean City Boardwalk Highlights/Favorites
Before leaving the shore today (6/29) we had to take a brief walk on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Below is a brief listing of my favorite spots:
Manco and Manco (3 Boardwalk locations)-- I will never get used to this name change from Mack & Manco. This past winter the owners were charged with income tax evasion so I was hoping it would not affect them staying in business. Thus far, it has not. The pizza slice I had (only ate one!) was as good as always. This is a thin crust done a bit crispy and was still as good as I remembered. You cannot go wrong here for $2.50.
Georges (700 Boardwalk)-- expanded a few years ago, but still known for the most incredible and freshest macaroons. Three varieties are served: plain coconut, milk chocolate dipped or dark chocolate dipped. We ordered one of each and were not disappointed. So fresh! Three of them are around $5.50.
Steel's Fudge (1000 Boardwalk)-- much better than the rest! Offer many flavors-- the vanilla, coconut, raspberry and pistachio are the best. Will do up to 6 flavors in a 1 pound box. One pound box is around $12.
Monkey Bread (972 Boardwalk)-- I buy these to take back for my son-- this is almost like a cinnamon roll that is a pull-apart style cake. These are phenomenal when warm. Pack of 4 is approximately $16.
Of course there are many more options, but these are my chosen favorites.
Manco and Manco (3 Boardwalk locations)-- I will never get used to this name change from Mack & Manco. This past winter the owners were charged with income tax evasion so I was hoping it would not affect them staying in business. Thus far, it has not. The pizza slice I had (only ate one!) was as good as always. This is a thin crust done a bit crispy and was still as good as I remembered. You cannot go wrong here for $2.50.
Georges (700 Boardwalk)-- expanded a few years ago, but still known for the most incredible and freshest macaroons. Three varieties are served: plain coconut, milk chocolate dipped or dark chocolate dipped. We ordered one of each and were not disappointed. So fresh! Three of them are around $5.50.
Steel's Fudge (1000 Boardwalk)-- much better than the rest! Offer many flavors-- the vanilla, coconut, raspberry and pistachio are the best. Will do up to 6 flavors in a 1 pound box. One pound box is around $12.
Monkey Bread (972 Boardwalk)-- I buy these to take back for my son-- this is almost like a cinnamon roll that is a pull-apart style cake. These are phenomenal when warm. Pack of 4 is approximately $16.
Of course there are many more options, but these are my chosen favorites.
Crab Trap
Tonight (6/28) we chose one of our shore's favorite restaurants-- Crab Trap in Somers Point, NJ located at 2 Broadway. We have been going to this restaurant for many years and can honestly say that we have never had a bad meal here.
Typical for a very good shore restaurant, this place is just over crowded at dinner time on summer weekend evenings. This is compounded more so at this establishment because they do not take reservations. It is not atypical to wait 90 plus minutes in season here, but they have a very nice outside bar located directly on the bay to help alleviate this wait. Should you wish to go and avoid the wait, a terrific option is to eat at the bar which offers a full service menu This is what we do most times when dining here.
I chose the soup sampler as my appetizer. This is one of the nicest offerings for soup served anywhere ($5.95). This provides a small (approx 3 to 4 oz each) sampling of their 3 soups. There is a manhattan clam chowder, a maryland crab bisque and finally a creamy clam chowder. Each soup is delectable in its own right with terrific flavor. The Maryland crab is a tad bit spicy for my liking, but still good-- the creamy crab is unbelievable. That would be my winner of the three.
My companion chose steamers first which are a dozen littleneck clams in a nice buttery garlic broth. These were quite good ($9.95).
We chose to split the cold seafood combination ($25.95). This is an extremely large platter and did not disappoint. The platter comes with an ample sized lobster tail, 3 large shrimp, 3 clams, a scoop of jumbo lump crabmeat, chicken salad, potato salad, cole slaw, hard boiled eggs and tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.
Everything on this platter was truly delicious. The chicken salad is homemade and the scoop of jumbo lump crabmeat is impressive in the amount that is o The bartender who served my companionn the platter. This dish is also served with a side salad which isn't really necessary and almost seems repetitive since the platter is also a salad in nature.
There is a bread basket served with the meal which has very good rolls along with blueberry muffins.
So, is there a negative here? Not usually, but tonight there was. The bartender who served my companion's wine was nice, but our order was taken by a waitress over our shoulders at the bar. This young server should rethink her career choices-- dealing with the public is not her strong suit. Her name was Tia and in trying to come up with a pseudo nickname to describe her I would call her "Tia-- wouldn't want to be ya or serve ya".
Upon taking our order she asked if we wanted to pay the $6.95 sharing charge. Huh? Of course I don't want to pay an extra fee! She seemed exasperated and finally explained that this was an extra charge enabling the additional person to have a side salad and another side as well. Once we heard this, we politely declined the charge.
Tia's next shining moment came when she brought my side salad with dressing on it-- I immediately told her I ordered the dressing on the side to which she responded curtly, "I'll get you another". There was no apology or admittance of a mistake and the attitude was less than desirable.
Finally, when our check was given to us, I had still not gotten our separate bar tab so I started to fill in the credit card slip for the meal while still awaiting the other. Before I was done with both slips, Tia had come back and tried to take the slip for the meal portion. I told her I wasn't finished-- again no apology and no real thank you for the business. I will say this restaurant is terrific and this blog is about the food, but a server like this can significantly impact the experience. This is also the first time we ever saw poor service/attitude here.
Tia-- I hope we don't see ya again!
Dinner for 2 with 2 glasses of wine was $59 before tip.
Overall 4.25 Brownies
Typical for a very good shore restaurant, this place is just over crowded at dinner time on summer weekend evenings. This is compounded more so at this establishment because they do not take reservations. It is not atypical to wait 90 plus minutes in season here, but they have a very nice outside bar located directly on the bay to help alleviate this wait. Should you wish to go and avoid the wait, a terrific option is to eat at the bar which offers a full service menu This is what we do most times when dining here.
I chose the soup sampler as my appetizer. This is one of the nicest offerings for soup served anywhere ($5.95). This provides a small (approx 3 to 4 oz each) sampling of their 3 soups. There is a manhattan clam chowder, a maryland crab bisque and finally a creamy clam chowder. Each soup is delectable in its own right with terrific flavor. The Maryland crab is a tad bit spicy for my liking, but still good-- the creamy crab is unbelievable. That would be my winner of the three.
My companion chose steamers first which are a dozen littleneck clams in a nice buttery garlic broth. These were quite good ($9.95).
We chose to split the cold seafood combination ($25.95). This is an extremely large platter and did not disappoint. The platter comes with an ample sized lobster tail, 3 large shrimp, 3 clams, a scoop of jumbo lump crabmeat, chicken salad, potato salad, cole slaw, hard boiled eggs and tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.
Everything on this platter was truly delicious. The chicken salad is homemade and the scoop of jumbo lump crabmeat is impressive in the amount that is o The bartender who served my companionn the platter. This dish is also served with a side salad which isn't really necessary and almost seems repetitive since the platter is also a salad in nature.
There is a bread basket served with the meal which has very good rolls along with blueberry muffins.
So, is there a negative here? Not usually, but tonight there was. The bartender who served my companion's wine was nice, but our order was taken by a waitress over our shoulders at the bar. This young server should rethink her career choices-- dealing with the public is not her strong suit. Her name was Tia and in trying to come up with a pseudo nickname to describe her I would call her "Tia-- wouldn't want to be ya or serve ya".
Upon taking our order she asked if we wanted to pay the $6.95 sharing charge. Huh? Of course I don't want to pay an extra fee! She seemed exasperated and finally explained that this was an extra charge enabling the additional person to have a side salad and another side as well. Once we heard this, we politely declined the charge.
Tia's next shining moment came when she brought my side salad with dressing on it-- I immediately told her I ordered the dressing on the side to which she responded curtly, "I'll get you another". There was no apology or admittance of a mistake and the attitude was less than desirable.
Finally, when our check was given to us, I had still not gotten our separate bar tab so I started to fill in the credit card slip for the meal while still awaiting the other. Before I was done with both slips, Tia had come back and tried to take the slip for the meal portion. I told her I wasn't finished-- again no apology and no real thank you for the business. I will say this restaurant is terrific and this blog is about the food, but a server like this can significantly impact the experience. This is also the first time we ever saw poor service/attitude here.
Tia-- I hope we don't see ya again!
Dinner for 2 with 2 glasses of wine was $59 before tip.
Overall 4.25 Brownies
Jon & Patty's Coffee Bar and Bistro
Today (6/28) we chose to eat breakfast at Jon & Patty's in Ocean City, NJ at 637 Asbury Ave. This was a place that we discovered last year on vacation and enjoyed very much.
I chose the "Patty's Baked Apple Pie Oatmeal". This is described as baked whole oats with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon topped with more brown sugar and whipped cream ($6.95). This is done like no other oatmeal I have ever had-- it almost reminds me of some bread puddings I have had over the years in terms of the consistency. The taste is sheer joy and is quite filling for breakfast. This is truly one of the best breakfast items I have had.
My dining companion went the simple route of scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and toast ($8.50). This was enjoyable as well with the bacon being the highlight with a nice taste and texture.
I also had an espresso since this is a coffee bar and found the taste to be quite good.
We chose to sit outside on a perfect weather morning and enjoyed the ambiance a great deal.
Breakfast for 2 before tip was $18.
Overall: 4 Brownies
I chose the "Patty's Baked Apple Pie Oatmeal". This is described as baked whole oats with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon topped with more brown sugar and whipped cream ($6.95). This is done like no other oatmeal I have ever had-- it almost reminds me of some bread puddings I have had over the years in terms of the consistency. The taste is sheer joy and is quite filling for breakfast. This is truly one of the best breakfast items I have had.
My dining companion went the simple route of scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and toast ($8.50). This was enjoyable as well with the bacon being the highlight with a nice taste and texture.
I also had an espresso since this is a coffee bar and found the taste to be quite good.
We chose to sit outside on a perfect weather morning and enjoyed the ambiance a great deal.
Breakfast for 2 before tip was $18.
Overall: 4 Brownies
Friday, July 4, 2014
Chef Vola
Tonight (6/27) we were very excited to be trying the very well known Chef Vola restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ. Chef Vola is in a small house and has no signage out front to let you know that it is a restaurant, but is very well known in the Atlantic City area.
We were seated upstairs on their outside porch. The ambiance is nice enough, but we had a "ten top" seated on the porch also who were all attorneys so you probably have an idea of the volume that we had to talk over most of the night!
My dining companion and I split an appetizer which was the tomato salad. This was very good-- it was a large beefsteak tomato served with maytag blue cheese and some onions. This was very flavorful and was adorned with a tiny bit of olive oil. This along with the italian bread was an excellent start to the meal. The italian bread was amongst the best that I have had with a nice layer of sesame seeds on the top. The bread basket also contained garlic bread as well which my companion said was outstanding.
For my entree I chose a special. I had the crab cake which had a basil pesto sauce accenting it along with 3 nice sized shrimp which were prepared francaise style ($39.95). With respect to the volume of food, Vola is a success. This was one of the largest crab cakes I had ever been served, but bigger is not always better! The crab cake contained mostly jumbo lump crab meat, but there was an attempt to also mix a smaller crab filler of some kind into it. The basil did nothing to enhance the flavor, but didn't really detract from it either-- it simply lacked flavor. The shrimp francaise was simply average-- they had a light batter breading almost on them which is atypical to other francaise styles that I have eaten over the years. This also made it difficult to take the tails off of the shrimp which is always one of my pet peeves when eating shrimp that are hot. Altogether there was a good volume of food on the plate, but it didn't really work that well for me.
My dining companion's meal was the better of the two. This was a special called Veal Portabello. This was a nicely thin pounded veal served in a flavorful mushroom sauce with portabello and oyster mushrooms accenting the dish. The veal was extremely tender and was a much better value ($28) than the crab cake special.
When the waiter cleared our entrees, I was fairly content, but the dessert which was Ricotta pie interested me. One of the specials was the apple walnut ricotta pie which I wanted to try. This dessert was served with some whipped cream and was good, but again not great. The downer to this dish was that it was served hot-- not warm, hot! This seemed odd to me and I think it detracted from the flavor ever so slightly. The topping almost seemed like a struesel one with the way that the walnuts and apples were diced. My companions dessert was interesting. It was a lemon pie with a graham cracker crust. Now let me just say that I am not a lemon person in any way when it comes to desserts; however, there was something about this one that made it very refreshing. The pie was a bright yellow and almost pudding like in texture, but overall just the correct amount of tartness along with sweetness. The blend was terrific and was better than mine. This dessert was served cold and was a nice contrast to the hot dessert that I had.
Chef Vola is a byob place and is a landmark in Atlantic City. I will give it another try at some point because I think that it is worth seeing what has made this a landmark in the town. Overall, it was good, but did not live up to the hyped reviews that some had offered. Dinner for 2 before tip was $109.
Overall: 3.25 Brownies
We were seated upstairs on their outside porch. The ambiance is nice enough, but we had a "ten top" seated on the porch also who were all attorneys so you probably have an idea of the volume that we had to talk over most of the night!
My dining companion and I split an appetizer which was the tomato salad. This was very good-- it was a large beefsteak tomato served with maytag blue cheese and some onions. This was very flavorful and was adorned with a tiny bit of olive oil. This along with the italian bread was an excellent start to the meal. The italian bread was amongst the best that I have had with a nice layer of sesame seeds on the top. The bread basket also contained garlic bread as well which my companion said was outstanding.
For my entree I chose a special. I had the crab cake which had a basil pesto sauce accenting it along with 3 nice sized shrimp which were prepared francaise style ($39.95). With respect to the volume of food, Vola is a success. This was one of the largest crab cakes I had ever been served, but bigger is not always better! The crab cake contained mostly jumbo lump crab meat, but there was an attempt to also mix a smaller crab filler of some kind into it. The basil did nothing to enhance the flavor, but didn't really detract from it either-- it simply lacked flavor. The shrimp francaise was simply average-- they had a light batter breading almost on them which is atypical to other francaise styles that I have eaten over the years. This also made it difficult to take the tails off of the shrimp which is always one of my pet peeves when eating shrimp that are hot. Altogether there was a good volume of food on the plate, but it didn't really work that well for me.
My dining companion's meal was the better of the two. This was a special called Veal Portabello. This was a nicely thin pounded veal served in a flavorful mushroom sauce with portabello and oyster mushrooms accenting the dish. The veal was extremely tender and was a much better value ($28) than the crab cake special.
When the waiter cleared our entrees, I was fairly content, but the dessert which was Ricotta pie interested me. One of the specials was the apple walnut ricotta pie which I wanted to try. This dessert was served with some whipped cream and was good, but again not great. The downer to this dish was that it was served hot-- not warm, hot! This seemed odd to me and I think it detracted from the flavor ever so slightly. The topping almost seemed like a struesel one with the way that the walnuts and apples were diced. My companions dessert was interesting. It was a lemon pie with a graham cracker crust. Now let me just say that I am not a lemon person in any way when it comes to desserts; however, there was something about this one that made it very refreshing. The pie was a bright yellow and almost pudding like in texture, but overall just the correct amount of tartness along with sweetness. The blend was terrific and was better than mine. This dessert was served cold and was a nice contrast to the hot dessert that I had.
Chef Vola is a byob place and is a landmark in Atlantic City. I will give it another try at some point because I think that it is worth seeing what has made this a landmark in the town. Overall, it was good, but did not live up to the hyped reviews that some had offered. Dinner for 2 before tip was $109.
Overall: 3.25 Brownies
Devon Seafood and Steak
Devon is a place I have been to many times over the years and today (6/25) chose to have lunch there. This is a well established Rittenhouse Square favorite and has been around a long time in the Philadelphia restaurant scene.
Today I chose one of the $18.50 Power lunches. This included a bowl of the Devon New Orleans style gumbo. This is a delicious concoction of flavors and is probably one of the only spicy items that I will ever order in a restaurant. The soup did not disappoint and is truly a staple of this restaurant. It comes with a little bit of rice which definitely helps to diffuse some of the spiciness that can exist from the broth.
For my main course, I chose the lobster mac n cheese with truffle bread crumbs. This again is another dish that this restaurant is known for-- this is a terrific mixture of macaroni and not too much cheese to over power it. I would say the restaurant is sometimes a bit cheap on the amount of lobster meat that is served with this dish and should consider adding just a bit more, but this is still a very nice item. The portion size of this is large and I took over half of it home with me.
My dining companion ordered the grilled salmon panzanella salad ($16)which is described as spinach, montrachet goat cheese, balsamic roasted onions, vine ripe tomatoes, basil oil and balsamic vinaigrette. This is a terrific salad and it is served with approximately a 5 oz. portion of salmon over the top. My companion was not disappointed with the salad today and when I tasted it I agreed as well.
Service was very efficient and is truly one of the few nicer Center City restaurants that can accommodate someone trying to get done in an hour. Lunch for 2 today before tip was $40.
Overall: 3.5 Brownies
Today I chose one of the $18.50 Power lunches. This included a bowl of the Devon New Orleans style gumbo. This is a delicious concoction of flavors and is probably one of the only spicy items that I will ever order in a restaurant. The soup did not disappoint and is truly a staple of this restaurant. It comes with a little bit of rice which definitely helps to diffuse some of the spiciness that can exist from the broth.
For my main course, I chose the lobster mac n cheese with truffle bread crumbs. This again is another dish that this restaurant is known for-- this is a terrific mixture of macaroni and not too much cheese to over power it. I would say the restaurant is sometimes a bit cheap on the amount of lobster meat that is served with this dish and should consider adding just a bit more, but this is still a very nice item. The portion size of this is large and I took over half of it home with me.
My dining companion ordered the grilled salmon panzanella salad ($16)which is described as spinach, montrachet goat cheese, balsamic roasted onions, vine ripe tomatoes, basil oil and balsamic vinaigrette. This is a terrific salad and it is served with approximately a 5 oz. portion of salmon over the top. My companion was not disappointed with the salad today and when I tasted it I agreed as well.
Service was very efficient and is truly one of the few nicer Center City restaurants that can accommodate someone trying to get done in an hour. Lunch for 2 today before tip was $40.
Overall: 3.5 Brownies
Village Whiskey
In the continuing quest to find a great burger place, today (6/13) we chose Village Whiskey at 114 S. 20th Street in Philadelphia. I have been to Village Whiskey once or twice over the years, but never was in love with the place because of the seating. Basically in their small booths that they have you are seated on top of one another and I have generally found this to be rather uncomfortable. I did want to come back to try the burger so we chose to sit at the bar which has a full service menu and avoids the aforementioned seating challenges.
I ordered the Chicken sandwich in an effort to keep my new slimmer waistline in shape figuring I would sample the burger that one of my companions ordered. The chicken sandwich was very good and was served on a slightly long roll probably around 7 inches with sharp provolone and mushrooms. The grilled chicken had a nice flavor and was also served with caramelized onions that I added. The flavor was really good overall on this sandwich. The chicken was served in nice bite sized chunks. This was a nice value for $11 ($1 extra for the onions).
My companion ordered the Village Burger which is described on the menu as a burger on a sesame seed roll with boston bibb lettuce, tomato and house made thousand island dressing. My companion ordered cheddar as his cheese of choice and the burger was very flavorful. This was a nice burger, but certainly not the best that I've had in the city. The only complaint with this burger would be for $15.50 that it should fully reach the edges of the roll and it did not come close to doing so. Empty roll without meat is not something that should exist at this pricing point.
In choosing to eat at the bar, one would think that the bartender would be gregarious and pleased to serve people when the bar was virtually empty, but not this guy! Stan really acted like he was doing us a favor today and it is just something that should never happen! I've always said this writing is primarily about the food, but it is tough to ignore a poor attitude when evaluating a business.
Today's lunch was good, but Stan the Man should have take lessons from the real Mr. Stan the Man who ran a restaurant and bar after his playing days in St Louis and was known as being a jovial, outgoing guy.
Lunch for 3 was $42 before tip.
Overall 3.5 Brownies
I ordered the Chicken sandwich in an effort to keep my new slimmer waistline in shape figuring I would sample the burger that one of my companions ordered. The chicken sandwich was very good and was served on a slightly long roll probably around 7 inches with sharp provolone and mushrooms. The grilled chicken had a nice flavor and was also served with caramelized onions that I added. The flavor was really good overall on this sandwich. The chicken was served in nice bite sized chunks. This was a nice value for $11 ($1 extra for the onions).
My companion ordered the Village Burger which is described on the menu as a burger on a sesame seed roll with boston bibb lettuce, tomato and house made thousand island dressing. My companion ordered cheddar as his cheese of choice and the burger was very flavorful. This was a nice burger, but certainly not the best that I've had in the city. The only complaint with this burger would be for $15.50 that it should fully reach the edges of the roll and it did not come close to doing so. Empty roll without meat is not something that should exist at this pricing point.
In choosing to eat at the bar, one would think that the bartender would be gregarious and pleased to serve people when the bar was virtually empty, but not this guy! Stan really acted like he was doing us a favor today and it is just something that should never happen! I've always said this writing is primarily about the food, but it is tough to ignore a poor attitude when evaluating a business.
Today's lunch was good, but Stan the Man should have take lessons from the real Mr. Stan the Man who ran a restaurant and bar after his playing days in St Louis and was known as being a jovial, outgoing guy.
Lunch for 3 was $42 before tip.
Overall 3.5 Brownies
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