We like Laser Wolf a lot, but some of that is that it is walking distance from us, and I like that you get a bunch of vegetables. Of course, Zahav is also walking distance and we haven’t been in many years.
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Now I have to get back to Philly! Haven’t been to either place, but just sent this to my daughter. Thx.
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This thread hasn’t been touched in a while, so here are a few very brief impressions of recent restaurant visits:
Fosythia - very comfortable place with a lovely bar and excellent hospitality. Unfortunately, the food suffers from Glop Syndrome. Almost every dish had too much/many sauce, aioli, toppings, whatever, obscuring the base materials. Their signature duck was so coated in sugar that it could not be paired with red wine, and the sauce on the side belonged over ice cream, not over duck. I sent feedback after the meal, and they gave me a gift card, but I’m not sure we’re going to use it.
River Twice - our first time here in a number of years and we were very happy to see the food is even stronger now. All dishes were balanced, creative, delicious, and attractive. We had a few small critiques, but overall we liked everything we ate. It ended up being quite pricey, mostly because we added a few supplements, but you could definitely get out of there for less than we spent.
Honeysuckle - From start to finish not a great experience. The room is crazy noisy, from other diners, not from music. Service friendly, but a little awkward - we got talked through the entire menu dish by dish, and then each dish we ordered fully explained again when it was delivered. The food was merely okay, and some of the service concepts were just stupid. For instance, an otherwise nice salad mounded high on a very small plate, with all the dressding on the bottom. To dress the salad, you had to mix it up, but the plate was so small that it was impossible. I asked for a different plate and dumped the whole thing onto that. One main course was also so confused with huge plates and little elements that didn’t fit, that it was hard to take it seriously. And the sweet potato main course deserved to be thrown across the room.
Ama - Everyone is very excited about this place, and they have invested heavily in the space, which is indeed very impressive. A lovely room, open and airy, and a gorgeous kitchen. The front of the restaurant fully opens to the street, which is nice from the standpoint of getting a beautiful breeze, but also means you hear the train going over the elevated tracks every few minutes. The wine list is awful, one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and no BYO permitted. The cocktails are good. As for the food…it should have been better. Everything tasted good enough, but lacked in depth of flavor and complexity, though it was all very pretty. If you are going to present yourself as elevating a cuisine like Mexican, do it by using great ingredients, and wowing us with taste/texture/complexity/depth of flavor/subtlety of flavor when appropriate, not by adding more carefully choppped up and positioned elements. The chef seems to be playing it totally safe. Even the assorted salsas were tame, and I don’t mean in terms of heat, I mean they had very little punch as far as flavor goes. And the lamb neck birria, while a very good lamb neck, had nothing to do with birria. I would go back for a cocktail at the bar and one or two small plates, which were good, especially the salads, but not for a full dinner. Of course, it was and will be packed, so what do I know?
Vernick Food and Drink - our first time here in at least a year or more. I emailed them in advance and they were kind enough to waive the bottle limit for corkage. We brought 4 bottles for a 4 top, which was perfect, and they charged us for 4. Not complaining, just telling the story. Service was good, not great, though everyone was very nice. The food was good. All but one dish was solid in conception, execution, flavor, and balance. The grilled octopus dish, while perfectly cooked, made no sense and didn’t work. The duck main, again perfectly cooked, was lacking in any duck flavor. We left a big slice on the plate, which is not something we normally do, because it just wasn’t tempting enough to finish. The server overheard me talking about the duck’s lack of flavor, and said she was sorry to hear that. Then she took it off the bill, which totally wasn’t necessary, but was very nice. They also comped desserts. Our bill ended up being half corkage as a result, lol. It’s a very nice restaurant. Not as special as it used to be, slightly tired, but still a solid choice in Philly, and the bar remains one of my favorite places to grab a drink and a bite. Oddly, the beverage director, who was very nice, didn’t seem to know all that much about wine. The stems are also not what they should be - okay, but I’ll bring stems next time.
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When I was up to Philly in March for the Flower Show, I met with college friends at Forsythia for dinner. I was excited to go because I heard that it was by the same guy that started Will’s BYOB. But, I guess I heard wrong when I asked about it. I recall none of us were impressed with our meal.
I heard that as well, though I never went to Will.
You are correct. It’s the same chef. I’ve been to both places and was pretty underwhelmed both times. Beautiful platings though.
Kinda low brow, but we’ve been in the slow process of moving my kid into her college apartment so we were in Philadelphia the past two Sundays. On our first trip we celebrated our success with a cheesesteak from Del Rossi’s. Yesterday we tried Angelo’s. I would say both were very similar products. The bread was better (softer) at Angelo’s but the interior of the sandwich was slightly better (to my tastes) at Del Rossi. The onions were more cooked, the steak had some crispy bits in there and there was a more nuanced application of Cooper Sharp. The two other factors that benefitted Del Rossi were that you could eat inside (it’s a dump) as opposed to sitting on a stoop somewhere in the Angelo’s neighborhood and that Del Rossi’s didn’t have a line as opposed to the 15-20 minute line at Angelo’s. The pizza looked very good at both places as well.
The diet starts today.
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The cheesesteak is not low brow!
Next time get a roast pork with sharp provolone and broccoli raab (and longhots 
). I also think the Italian hoagie and the chicken cutlet are 2 other elite sandwiches we have here. What we lack in brotherly love we make up for with sandwiches
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When we moved her in for her freshman year, we went to Reading Market and I had a roast pork sandwich from John’s. I’m guessing I didn’t order right (no brocolli rabe or peppers) cuz it was a bit dry and I didn’t love it. I’m certainly open to trying one again.
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Yeah that doesn’t sound right - it’s one of the juiciest sandwiches when done properly. The place inside reading terminal is called Dinic’s, the “John’s” I think you’re referencing is John’s roast pork in south Philly which is a great place to get one as well as a top tier cheesesteak. If you have to take your kid to ikea for any reason it’s right near there
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Is Koch’s Deli still good? I remember some great sandwiches back in the mid 80’s!!!
4th Street is good. Bordering on very good. Given the choice of John’s Roast Pork, though we usually opt for the latter. Strangely, it is easier to get good deli here than a really good cheesesteak
I don’t understand this comment. Are you saying it’s easier to get great deli than a great cheesesteak? In Philadelphia? There is exactly 1 great deli in the city limits (Herschel’s) and there are at least 10 great cheesesteaks in the city, maybe more. 4th st is ok but the owners sold it and opened a new deli in Cherry Hill called Radins that is phenomenal but in New Jersey.
When did you move to Philly??
No, I am saying that where I am getting decent deli is possible. Getting a great cheesesteak is oddly more difficult, so when we are in Philly, we opt for the latter.
Sorry, I don’t know where you are. I took “here” to mean Philadelphia since this was the Philadelphia thread. My mistake!
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hardly
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One of the brothers died years ago. I believe it shut down. Someone may have bought it and reopened it, but it’ll never be the same if it’s still open without them and the corny jokes.