Giorgio on Pine

Washington Square West, Philadelphia-- So tonight we decided to check out this little BYOB right behind our house. It's a small and quaint Italian restaurant, and though it was crowded, it wasn't packed.

Let it be known that the appetizers at this place are not very big. Stan ordered the grilled calamari and when it came to the table, there were literally two pieces of calamari "the size of walnuts" on top of a sparse bed of lettuce. Granted the calamari was stuffed with scallops and shrimp, but still...ONLY TWO?!?!

For our entrees we decided on:
-Linguine with prosciutto, peas, and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. It was very creamy and very tasty. The portion was plentiful, which suited the price ($13.50).

-Bucatini with pancetta, shaved onions, white wine, and spicy marinara. The noodles in this dish are on the thicker side and they seemed a little al dente. However, it worked for this dish and the flavors complimented each other well.

-Veal with melanzane (grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella, basil and white wine tomato sauce). It also came with steamed broccoli and scalloped potatoes. The potatoes were seasoned well and tasted great. I've never had veal before, but this was a decent first experience. It wasn't that great, it just tasted like very lean beef sirloin. (Louie)

Overall grade:
C+ (Louie) - I didn't think this place was anything special. The pasta was very tasty and filling. In contrast, my meal wasn't that great. The veal was interesting but the steamed broccoli and scalloped potatoes were not worth the price of the dish ($20). Basically, I paid a lot of money for a little portion of mediocre food. It was a good thing that the girls didn't finish their pasta. By the way, there is a nice little pizza shop right next door called Paolo's. It has much better food.

B (Steph) - I was very happy with my linguine. It was delicious and more than enough for me to eat. I also liked how they give you a lot of bread. I didn't love their dipping sauce (4 whole cloves of garlic submerged in olive oil), but it was very unique. Also, I had heard that the owner sometimes gives free appetizers and desserts to customers, but we weren't so lucky tonight.

Positano Coast (Guest Blogger)

Old City, Philadelphia -- Finna eat: Positano Coast, fine dining in a casual setting. Italian food with an emphasis on seafood.

So tonight I joined my good friend Cari and Anthony for dinner at Positano Coast. I'm sure you have seen it if you have ever walked around Old City. Its the restaurant with the blue and yellow sign near the Ritz theater. I had passed the restaurant several times but never ventured inside, I'm glad I did tonight.

As I'm sure you know, restaurant week is when several participating restaurants in Philadelphia have a fixe prix menu of some of their finest dishes. You choose an appetizer, main course, and then a dessert. The standard rate is $35.

For the first course I chose the grilled shrimp with mixed greens and palm hearts. Anthony got the potato croquettes, and Cari got 2 oysters and yellowfin tuna tartare (not included on the restaurant week menu). The appetizers came out promptly after we ordered them. My shrimp was perfectly grilled and seasoned and topped with mixed greens and vinagrette. 3 shrimp was definitely a perfect size for an appetizer, but not for sharing. I ate them shits all to myself. Anthony's croquettes were fried balls filled with mashed potato puree and cheese. There were 3 large croquettes and they were presented beautifully with thai basil puree as an accent and sauce (sawce). To borrow a phrase from my colleague, green alien semen. The outside of the croquettes were very crispy without being oily or greasy and then innards were creamy and savory (thats what she said). Its sort of like a fried mashed potato ball but mo betta. Bougie-ass Cari got 2 oysters and yellowfin tuna tartare. I didn't try them shits cause it wasn't on the menu and I felt bad wretching over. Overall I would fux with the appetizers. Perfect portions, perfect seasoning, perfectly cooked (or uncooked in the case of the tartare and oysters), perfect start to a meal.

In between our appetizer and main course I ordered a mojito; lime juice, crushed mint leaves, rum, sugar, and sparkling water. At first I blanked at the name of the drink and made a fool of myself in front of the attractive waitress, but she was able to understand what I was tryna say. It was one of the better mojitos I have had, well balanced with none of the ingredients overpowering the other. The mixture of the lime juice and sugar offset each other in a pleasant sweet and sour mix, while the mint classed up the joint. The rum was not overpowering or even noticeable but I felt a slight buzz after the first one. Thats right, I ordered 2. Shoulda axed how much they cost. Total for the 2 drinks? $20 dorrars.

For the main course I couldn't decide between the grilled branzino (Mediterranean sea bass) or the grilled lamb loin (lamb's junk). The waitress suggested the lamb's junk. It came out medium rare, as I had asked for, with hwipped potatoes and sauteed leeks. The hwipped potatoes were so creamy and smooth that Spiderman's webbing could not compare in terms of consistency. It was light and creamy with a pleasant garlic flavor that didn't overpower the potato. The leeks were sauteed until fork tender. The combination of leeks and potato with the lamb was a perfect match. The lamb provided a solid and moist chewiness, paired with the barely there consistency of the potatoes and the tender leeks. My only complaint would be that while the lamb tasted great, not too gamey, I would have preferred a chewier cut of meat. Maybe it was cooked closer to medium than medium rare. Anthony got the roasted pork shoulder and Cari got the grilled skate. I tried neither of them but they looked good. The presentation of the pork shoulder was too simple and utilitarian for my liking but Anthony said it was very good. Overall I would fux with the entrees as well. The serving sizes were more than I expected and enough to fill me up after being starving at the beginning of the meal.

The dessert course was chosen from their regular dessert menu, and all dessert menu items were included for Restaurant Week which I thought was very cool. I ordered the Nutella/hazelnut/raspberry crepes with hazelnut gelato and raspberries. Anthony order something whose name I don't remember, but basically rice pudding with cinnamon and apples fried in a croquette with vanilla gelato. Cari got the Kahlua chocolate pudding. The rice pudding croquettes were very good especially with the gelato but everytime I put it in my mouth (pause) it reminded me of Popeyes apple pie. The only problem with that is Popeyes apple pie is the best dessert ever and nothing can compare, so while good on its own merits, it paled in comparison to Popeyes. My dessert, the crepes, were pleasant but not spectacular. The crepe itself was moist and well made, the Nutella was nutella-y, the hazelnuts were nutty, and the raspberries were sour. As separate ingredients they work but combined they weren't that great. The raspberries provided a sour suprise (suplise) when you bit into the crepe. Its like when a friend says hes moving to Oregon and you throw him a big going away party, and at that party he tells you one by one that he is actually going to die, and you all share an emotional moment, but then next year at school you show up and surprise surprise, your friend is not in Oregon and sho nuff he ain't dead. So its kind of like that. The best dessert was the chocolate pudding, I couldn't taste any Kahlua but that didn't matter. The consistency of the pudding was almost like chocolate frosting but lighter and creamier, you could feel the slight grittiness of the sugar in the pudding. It was addictive and I had to force myself to not eat all of it. I fux wid it.

Overall the restaurant experience was great. The service was fast and attentive, the waitress and hostess attractive, and the food delicious. I ended up spending way more than I thought I would because of the drinks. Plusses for the restaurant were the really jacked, 50 year old Mexican busboy and the spaghetti.

At the end of the meal the executive chef came out and asked if we enjoyed the food, of course we said yes, and then he dropped the bomb. All the food from tonight was actually made by Pizza Hut! Blew my mind.

Rare - A Weatherman guest review (Guest Blogger)

Midtown Manhattan, N.Y. -- Rare, located on the corner of 37th street and Lexington Ave. in New York, specializes in meat, burgers or cut -- as you could probably guess from its name. I went here on a legit date with a jaun and it was pretty good. It’s actually part of a larger hotel but you don’t notice that at all. The place is kind of small with dark lighting. It has a single-door entrance that reminded me of the All-American Rathskeller, because it’s set back off Lexington Ave. a little bit. But that’s the only thing that reminded me of the Rathskeller. Repeat: The only thing.

Before I speak about the food, which was very good, here’s a diddy about the service. It was a weekday night, and before I picked the jaun up, I stopped by the restaurant, which was on the way, to check out to see if this place would be crowded. I heard good things before and thought it would be good to try out. I walked by and it was crowded so I went in and asked how long the wait would be. 20 or 30 mins, I was told. I said I was just going around the block and would be back in 20 mins or so, which was true, so they put my name down on the list and said it will be here when you come back. Service a plus.

When we returned it took about five minutes to get a table and when were quickly asked for drink orders. There was a nice variety of bottled beers. I had a Stella. She had a Hoegaarden, a pleasant surprise.

For dinner I had what was called an M&M Burger – a burger flambéed in whiskey, topped with caramelized shallots, cheddar cheese and bacon. Oh yeah, bacon. It tasted as good as it sounds, cooked medium rare. And came with fries. If there was any complaint it was that the burger was a little too greasy overall.

The lady had a turkey sandwich of some kind, devoured it, and said it was quite good. I, of course, didn’t finish the burger being my normal slow-eating self. “I’m making you look like a girl,” she said. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the food was darn good.

It was kind of late so we didn’t get dessert, but it was offered. All around, a pretty good place. Kind of an unexpected small spot right in the middle of Manhattan kind of close to Times Square, but far away enough from the tourists, giant plasma screens and what not.

Total price: $58 for the two dinners and two beers each. Outstanding.

Overall grade: A

Sorry, I didn’t take pictures. I wasn’t thinking about this.

Alma de Cuba

Center City, Philadelphia -- Tonight, we went to Alma de Cuba for Restaurant Week with a bunch of our friends. Since we went with a large group, our reservation was very late (8:45pm). When you first enter the restaurant, you will notice the trendy, comfortable furniture and there were a lot of pictures of Cubans. The decor was very peaceful looking and full of clean lines. The restaurant's lighting was very dim, which is starting to annoy me a little bit. It makes it somewhat difficult to see the menu and take pictures of the food for the blog. Also, the floor plan was interesting because the restaurant had four levels and you could see the other levels from where you were sitting, creating a very open environment.

While we were waiting and engaging in inappropriate conversation about our friends first date, they continuously serve you these bread balls (about 2-3 per person). The bread balls were soft and very doughy because the inside had cheese mixed in with it (I was not a big fan of this). They also gave you a dipping sawce of olive oil, basil and other spices that was grrrreaaat.

The restaurant week menu was not that extensive, which allowed us to try the entire menu among the six of us. Out of the three choices for appetizer, the best one was definitely the Royal Palm Dates (Almond stuffed dates wrapped in bacon with blue cheese). This dish was served to you on a wooden platter with the six Royal Palm Dates resting on lettuce boats. When I first bit into the jaun, I noticed that I got a boner. I'm not sure if the actual dish tasted delicious because of all the ingredients or if it was just the bacon. But, you can never go wrong with bacon.

For the entree, there was a selection of three different dishes: Vaca Frita “Fried Cow”, Panela Chilean Seabass, and Cuban Shrimp Enchilado.

Personally, I had the Panela Chilean Seabass, which (in my opinion) was the best out of the three choices. The fish was served with creamy quinoa with cubanelle pepper puree and pickled cucumbers. Unfortunately, the portion of food was about 1/4 the size of the huge plate it was served on. I hate when you go to fancy places and you get something and the plate is bigger than the table but the food is smaller than an acorn. Regardless of the size of the meal, the actual fish itself was so tender and juicy and cooked to a perfection (melted in my mouf). The quinoa that it rested on tasted a lot like risotto and the sawce that it was in was delicious. The consistency of the grains were not as soft as risotto, which is an interesting feature of quinoa. Lastly, the crunch of the thinly sliced, pickled cucumber complimented the dish very well.

Next, Steph got the Cuban Shrimp Enchilado. It came with verde clam rice with spicy tomato and pepper stew. The spicyness is a little bit too much so you gots to be ready for that. But, the rice was alien green and tasty. Also, I always thought that Enchilados had tortillas but apparently Cubans have beef with that.

Lastly, there was the Vaca Frita “Fried Cow”. This meal had the twice cooked crispy skirt steak, onions, white rice, avocado and tomato escabeche. Honestly, I think that the steak did not need to be cooked twice. It had a great taste but some of it was burnt. The rest of the meal was pretty standard, nothing special.

I thought the dessert was average at best but Steph thought differently. We tried the tapioca pudding and the caramel flan. The flan was very pretty and topped with HWIPPED cream and a wafer. The thing I enjoyed the most about it was that it was served with blood orange and pomegranate salsa.


Overall Grade:

B/B+ (Louie and Steph) - The food was interesting and very artistically plated, but that didn't make up for the fact that the service was not that great. Our waitress didn't fill our water cups very often and was rarely around. Who knows? It could have been due to the fact that it was so busy for Restaurant Week. The place is definitely a very posh establishment for whippicle activity. Also, the drinks were very expensive (glass of cabernet = $12 WTF?????) Do you know what I could do with $12? So many things. I could buy 11 pieces of fried chicken at Popeye's for $9.99 and still have $2 left over. Then with those last $2, I could buy a Turkey Hill Green Tea with Mango. That would be so much more satisfying than a glass of wine.

Sidenote: Our bill ended up being $381.90 including tax and tips (those grimy ass people added a 20% tip!)

Bread Gloves

PHở HĀ

Bella Vista, Philadelphia -- One of my favorite things to eat is phở and I think the best place to eat it in Philly is PHở HĀ on 6th and Washington. The restaurant is located in a Vietnamese shopping center and the area is usually pretty busy so finding parking can sometimes be an issue. When you enter the joint, it has the look of a cafeteria (a very busy cafeteria). It's not a fancy schmancy place, but who cares? Phở me, it's all about the taste of the Phởởd. When you are seated at a table, the waiters come right away to take your order. We ordered our phở and got our phởởd within minutes. The service is incredibly fast (probably because they have the broth, noodles and meat already prepared so they just mix them together and bring them to you).

Unfortunately, every time I go, I get the same thing so I can't really say much about the other stuff on the menu (steak phở). Except this time, I tried some of Stan's pork chops, which were very tasty, but somewhat dry. Anyway, the phở comes in a huge bowl (small or large but the small is way more than enough for 1 person). For the n00bs out there, phở always comes with fresh basil, chili peppers, lime, bean sprouts and onions. Usually, I just mix a bunch of that into the broth along with hoisin sawce and sriracha hot sawce. The steak is kind of rare when they first give it to you, but it slowly cooks in the very hot broth. It's a lot of phởởd so come hungry! The other great thing about PHở HĀ is that it is very cheap. Most of the phở on the menu is around $6-7 and everything else is under $10. Also, it is cash only.

Overall grade:

A (Louie) - Great phở, large quantity of phởởd, cheap prices, extremely fast service = my kind of place. Phở real - if you're tryna get your grind on with Vietnamese phởởd, go to Phở HĀ!