Tag Archives: restaurant reviews

Philly Noms: Continental

8 Apr

On our first morning in Philly, we decided to try a restaurant that a coworker recommended, Continental.  There are two locations in Philly, and we took a trolley tour (to get a lay of the land in the city and hear some good history) and we took most of the loop before going to the midtown location on Chestnut. 

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I was instantly enamoured with the decor.  It was so modern yet such a throwback to the 50s era diner.  We sat at the window facing the bar.

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And the sculptural bubbles in the middle were awesome (Quick… Where’s Waldo on the below pic to find Mike).

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We were on vacation, so we had to get some brunchy drinks.  I went with the Aviation, which had Bluecoat Gin, Luxardo Maraschino Liquor, Creme de Violette, and Fresh Lemon.    It was good but a little sour for my taste.  Mike got the Shanghai, which came with Bacardi O, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur (our fave), Green Tea, and a Honey Sugar Rim.  I LOVED this.  Licked the rim clean.  Mike wasn’t too much of a fan. We should have traded.

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We were served a chef’s special watermelon sorbet to begin.  It was nearly flavorless, but a nice touch.

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We started with the french onion dumplings.  These were AWESOME.

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They came in a dish I usually see escargot served in.  They filled dumpling wrappers with a thicker version of french onion soup and topped it with cheese.  Besides being scalding hot for a LONG time, this was a creative and delicious dish.  Highly recommended.

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I chose the poached eggs with smoked salmon hash.  It came with crispy yukon potatoes, poached eggs, and dill hollandaise.

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Everything was perfectly cooked and a great combo.

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Mike went with the crispy calamari salad which came with a ginger soy vinaigrette.  I would have never ordered this, but it was really great.  Perfectly cooked calamari and excellent dressing.

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We were very pleasantly surprised by this place.  It wasn’t at all what we expected, but it wound up being some of the best bumped up diner food.  I wish we could have tried the philly cheesesteak eggrolls that they are famous for, however, they are not on the brunch menu.  Bummer.  Just means we’ll have to go back!

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Philly Noms: Alma de Cuba

6 Apr

I love NYC, but sometimes, you just need to escape for a weekend.  Without a car, our choices are a bit limited (and renting usually comes to nearly $300 for a weekend, and wasting $300 makes me feel like we should be flying someone cool).  So when I had the urge to leave a few weeks ago, we did some digging and found out that the train to Philly was easy and cheap, and hotels were SERIOUSLY cheap (we stayed at a Le Meridien for $125! Thank you priceline.com.)  Neither of had ever been, which is odd since I grew up about an hour away.  We decided to take a weekend in the city to explore the history, museums, and, of course, the Noms.

Mike did some great research and booked a few recommended places.  Our first stop on the night we got in was Alma de Cuba. I’m always a little wary about Cuban food due to the peppers allergy, but Mike assured me the menu would be safe.  (Alma de Cuba is a Starr restaurant, which seemed to be a very popular thing to be in Philadelphia. Note to self: Further research this Starr guy)

The interior was modern and beautifully done.  They did a great job with the space.

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And they left in some old touches, including the staircase.

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The bread came out and I knew already that Mike had made a great choice.  It was sweet and warm and doughy and everything RIGHT about bread.   I could have eaten this for dinner and been happy.  But I was good and saved room.

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Mike began with the chorizo sliders.  He was totally in love with these things.  I wish I could have tried them.  He talked about them the rest of the weekend.

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I went with the Royal Palm Dates, which were almond stuffed and wrapped in bacon with blue cheese.  Holy cow! These were amazing. And such a portion.  At this point in the meal, we started singing Philly’s praises.

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We moved into the mains and Mike chose the Sugarcane Tuna which had a Costa Rican coffee-rum glaze, malanga fondue with shrimp and roasted tomato escabeche.  This was very good, but I think it was a bit of a let down after the apps. 

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Mike and I split the yuca with creamy mojo.  It was DELICIOUS.  Just the right crispness with a very slightly sour sauce that was perrrrrrrrrrrrrfect.

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My main was mind blowing.  It was the Lechon Asado which was crispy roasted pork, congri rice and sour orange mojo.  I had to switch out the congri rice for white rice due to peppers, but it wasn’t lacking in flavor ONE BIT.  It was so perfectly crisped on the outside and so perfectly slow cooked and tender on the inside.  It had so much flavor.  My only regret was that I was way too full to finish it and was trying really hard to save room for dessert. (I wound up doing something I never do in NYC and gave my leftovers to a homeless man because I seriously could not stand the thought that a bite of this would go to waste)

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Every review and comment we read about Alma de Cuba mentioned the chocolate cigar for dessert.  How could we not? 

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It was described as award winning almond cake wrapped in chocolate mousse, dusted with chocolate and served with dulce de leche ice cream.  What we were not expecting was the cute little matchbook that came out on fire.  Flames and all.  Quite cool.

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But the taste?

Oh

My

Goodness. 

This was hands down one of the best desserts I have ever had. And you know I am a harsh dessert critic!  This was just a perfect blend of flavors.  I want to go back to Philly just for this.

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Overall, our meal here was sensational.  On par with some of the best meals we have had in NYC and I am confident it will make the top 10 list of 2011.  I would probably skip the tuna next time, however, everything else I would go back for in a heartbeat.  This meal alone was worth the train ride.

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

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Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto

4 Apr

While Mike and I watched Top Chef Masters last year, we really had a fondness for Jonathan Waxman.  We were thrilled to learn that he had a restaurant in the West Village which was quite reasonably priced.  Barbuto is located on Washington Street at West 12th Street and has big garage doors that must be awesome in nice weather.

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There is also a nice open kitchen.

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I also appreciated the logo, which had an adorable cartoon dog, and was on all the plates.

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The menu changes often and tailors to what is freshest.  As I looked through, there were far too many things that looked far too good.  We then saw a note in the bottom left corner that said that a tasting menu was available for $65 per person.  As far as tasting menus go, that seemed like a steal.  When we inquired about it, we were informed that the tasting menu includes 2-3 dishes from each section… and then the waiter went on to tell us that it was a LOT for two people and he wanted to make sure we were aware that we would probably be overwhelmed with the food quantity.  Seeing as though we hadn’t eaten that day, and it’s hard to resist TOO MUCH food, we went for it.

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There was also an extensive wine menu and our waiter guided us in a direction that I’m still not sure how to pronounce, but it was FANTASTIC.

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Our first course was the salumi, which had prosciutto coppa, cacciatorini and rosemary focaccia.  Very fresh. Very delicious.

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Next up, we were delivered the bruschetta which came with butternut squash and marinated gorgonzola.  MMMM this was good.  Great combination of flavors.

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Our final antipasti was the cavolini crudi, which was shaved brussels sprouts with pecorino, lemon, and breadcrumbs.  While this was DELICIOUS (and the vinaigrette impeccable), we both agreed that we enjoy our brussels sprouts roasted rather than shaved.

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Our first pasta was lumaconi alla cavolfiori.  Lumaconi is “snail shell” pasta that looks like opened shells.  It had a GREAT texture and ours came with roasted cauliflower and cream sauce (they, thankfully, remembered to hold the chilis!)  I’m always concerned that when a dish loses peppers that it will lose its substance.  But this was great even without the spice.

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Our second pasta was the gnocchi con zucca which came with roasted fall squash and sage.  The squash here was SO. GOOD.  And I really liked the gnocchi.  It was slightly browned and had a great texture, with awesome pecorino cheese and a delicious sauce.

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Our first main course was pollo al forno which was a roasted chicken with salsa verde.  We heard good things about this chicken, and it was VERY GOOD.

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Ok… not Zuni good… but still very good.  Though I think I’m always a wee bit let down when I get chicken on a tasting menu, since I don’t think chicken is ever really special enough (and I make a damn good roast chicken myself, thanks to the Zuni recipe).

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Our second entree was coda di rospo, which was seared monkfish with bacon and savoy cabbage.  I LOVE monkfish, and this was one of the best I had ever had.  It was seared and cooked perfectly and the slight sauce on it was awesome.  And it all went so well with the delicious cabbage. 

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We also received sides, and I was very happy to see that we got the roasted brussels sprouts and colatura (anchovy sauce!)  The salty anchovies with the brussels sprouts was very good.

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Our last side was crispy potatoes with pecorino and rosemary.  It looked like these were hit with a hammer and then roasted to perfect crispness. 

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Our dessert was a hazelnut torte of some kind with chocolate sauce. I don’t remember the specifics, but I remember thinking that it was very good, but not GREAT.  I kind of wanted just a little more texture in this.  But I enjoyed it.

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Overall, as far as tasting menus, especially at a celebrity chef restaurant, I thought this was incredibly affordable and did an amazing job of showcasing the REAL menu by picking selections from the actual menu.  While I do love the specialness of getting a tasting menu to try out some things that you can’t get a la carte, there is something comforting about knowing that the menu is good enough to be its own tasting menu.  Nothing was earth shatteringly delicious or original, but it was all cooked and flavored perfectly. 

I can’t wait to go back.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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