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.
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