Archive for the 'Reviews' Category

Adam Erace has nothing bad to say about Quahog’s Seafood Shack in Stone Harbor, a seafood restaurant with a conscience.

This isn’t the place for farmed salmon and Chilean sea bass. Instead executive chef/owner Lucas Manteca and his chef de cuisine Carlos Barros prepare Jersey gems like blue crabs, oysters and Great Sound steamers as well as the “trash fish” nobody wants to take to the prom. Whiting, pollock, Brazilian pacu and Atlantic croaker—a buttery weakfish relative roasted whole—are streaked with bright chimichurri and served alongside peppery watercress salad.

Quahog’s [Philadelphia Weekly]
Quahog’s Seafood Shack [Official Site]

Craig LaBan discovers a coffee shop where home-spun Ethiopian food is the star. Kaffa Crossing in West Philadelphia is a hit for the 7,000 Ethiopians in the area as well as local adventure eaters like LaBan and company.

But the real double-take came when we asked for our kitfo to be left raw. Essentially, kitfo is Ethiopian steak tartare, a mince of lean raw beef blended with spiced butter. But most local restaurants begin cooking their kitfo, usually without asking, the minute an American places his order - and then it’s little more than a hopped-up sloppy joe.

Tasting the kitfo raw is the ultimate barometer for the level of an Ethiopian kitchen - where the true quality of its meat and the chef’s mastery in spicing are put on naked display. And Kaffa’s kitfo was an adventure eater’s delight. The finely chopped beef, mounded over injera next to some pleasantly bitter steamed collard greens, was so fresh it was almost like an exotic melon. Glossed to a deep ruby hue by clarified butter infused with a musky spice called “mitmita,” a complex and traditional seasoning blend, each bite rang with shades of ginger, cloves, cardamom and a finishing snap of chile spice.

Two Bells - Very Good

Kaffa Crossing [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Kaffa Crossing [Official Site]

Trey Popp visits New Delhi in West Philadelphia which has recently been redone and can’t say enough good things about the lunch buffet. Unlimited naan would be enough for us but read his description of the rest of the buffet.

the lunch buffet proved its worth. The dishes are familiar, but the colors shine and the flavors pop. A creamy navratan korma is a kaleidoscope of green zucchini, orange carrots and pale broad beans swimming in a sunshine-yellow sauce. The meats are tender, there’s a tangy sauce for the samosas and there’s mango ice cream for dessert if the cashew-studded rice pudding doesn’t tempt you — or even if it does.

Reincarnation [City Paper]
New Delhi [Official Site]

This week, City Paper’s Elisa Ludwig spends some time at Time finding that only about half the time that things arein sync.

Sometimes, though, the dishes are less a clever “take” on a cliché and more of an inspired improvement. Crabcakes, golden, crisp-shelled patties filled with fluffy seafood mousse, are ingeniously paired with pickled jalapeño slices, acidity cutting the richness. Veal cheeks are braised in IPA until fork-shreddingly soft, slathered with a syrupy bourbon fig confit and served with browned fava beans and cippoline onions. Both are worthy matches for the well-chosen beverages here.

Stopped Clock [City Paper]
Time [Official Site]

Saturday marks the third annual Wheat Beer Festival at South Philadelphia Taproom. There will be over 30 varieties of wheat beer on draft, each for the low price of $3. The fun starts at 2pm.

South Philadelphia Taproom [Official Site]

Adam Erace tries out Union Gourmet Market & Cafe and finds a tale of two settings. As a lunchtime market Union Gourmet is a series of letdowns with logistical problems to boot. But at Sunday brunch the food shines as much as the aluminum tables.

Completely cooked to order, the food at brunch shines, from the crunchy applewood-smoked D’Artagnan bacon to the tangy natural Greek yogurt livened with Bear Naked granola, fresh mint and juicy berries. More berries—straw, black and blue—are served over fluffy whole wheat pancakes in a warm compote. With butter-crisped edges and soft spongy centers, the short stack is a highlight.

Perfectly poached Lancaster County eggs perch atop rich, lightly tangy crab-and-artichoke dip and toasted Thomas’ English muffins in Union Gourmet’s signature benedict. The smoked paprika-freckled huevos pop like water balloons, sending a sudden rush of yolk into the tangerine-hued hollandaise and breakfast potatoes.

Union Market [Philadelphia Weekly]
Union Gourmet Market & Cafe

Craig LaBan checks out Swallow, Northern Liberties newish French BYOB on Liberties Walk.

The food can still be a savior. Swallow’s menu, though, has struggled with consistency and the kind of culinary inspiration that entices diners to travel farther than a few blocks for dinner.

Some of the French-inflected dishes capture the satisfying essence of a simplicity done right. The big pork chop, for example, is tender and superbly moist, crusted in peppercorns and mustard with a side of sweet potato fries - a fair deal at $18. A starter of grilled fresh head-on sardines needed little more than sweet red peppers and roasted garlic to evoke a snack on the Mediterranean.

One Bell - Hit or Miss

Swallow [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Despite a few missteps Trey Popp says Les Bons Temps is off to “an admirable start.”

The food is right out of Louisiana Creole country — think jambalaya and étouffée — but 23-year-old chef Brett Naylor has deftly carved out some room to inject a few ideas of his own. A fried catfish special made for a perfect example. A crisp, lightly battered fillet rode atop a superbly fluffy pillow of vegetable-studded couscous, and a quenching watermelon and pineapple salsa surrounded cool clumps of crabmeat in an inspired stab at cutting through the record-setting heat of early June.

I’ll Stand Bayou [City Paper]
Les Bons Temps [Official Site]

Adam Erace has nary a nice thing to say about Time, the successor to Ludwig’s on Sansom Street.

The cumbersome country club-inspired menu executed by Keith Murphy (from the couple’s wine bar Vintage) feels as heavy as a cable-knit sweater at an Independence Day barbecue. Eighty-degree Center City nights don’t exactly ignite cravings for braised veal cheeks and rack of wild boar, you know?

You’d think a place called Time would know what month it is, but forget about the calendar for a minute. I could maybe dig it if the wintry items were especially delicious. They’re not.

Time Out [Philadelphia Weekly]
Time [Official Site]

Craig LaBan discovers that Asian Fusion still has some life left, especially in the hands of Pearl’s Chef Ari Weiswasser.

Not that Pearl’s “pan-Asian” concept exactly offers fresh turf for an ambitious young chef to roam. The menu touches every cliche in the Asian fusion playbook, from tuna tartare to miso-glazed black cod, tempura-fried rock shrimp, and calamari salad.

But it is in the execution that Weiswasser’s pedigree shines through, his years in the rigorous kitchens of Restaurant Daniel, Gilt, Striped Bass and Le Bec-Fin giving new life and a little elegance to these old water chestnuts.

There is an extra succulence to the Peking duck spring rolls, for example, thanks to two duck preparations for the stuffing (involving lots of molten duck fat), a dash of sweet corn puree, and a finishing inner wrap of Thai basil that gives each bite an herby freshness.

Two Bells - Very Good

Pearl [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Pearl [Official Site]