Fare

 Wade's Take:

The concept of Fare is a good one. Take good, clean, organic foods. Prepare and cook them as they are meant to be cooked. Keep the dishes straightforward, the infusions to a minimum and let the natural flavors present themselves.

Fare's blog expounds upon this decision-making process in great detail (and has an interesting section devoted to Philly tap water's improved purity to bottled water). The interior of this Fairmount restaurant reflects this ethos as well. Clean lines and simple design are abound with hearty wooden tables and comfortable booths and chairs.

This is all well and good - but we were there to eat. And that's where it didn't (the pun can't be resisted) fare well.

I began with the scallops. They were great. Two scallops pan-fried with a crisp edge and melt-in-your-mouth center. The scallops sat on a sweet pea puree that was good enough to constitute it's own soup. 

I couldn't resist the idea of an avocado crab cake, and had to order it as my main. The crabcakes were very good. The hunks of fresh avocado were in equal proportion to the crab meat, and there was a punch of wasabi in the mix as well. Although pan-fried, the crabcakes weren't too oily. All of these flavors I describe above took some detective work to uncover, though, because the crabcakes came doused in sweet chili sauce. I am a great fan of chili sauce - I will dump it on anything edible at home. However, it wasn't necessary for this dish and overpowered it. 

The sides for the crabcakes included a rice pilaf and julienned summer vegetables (squash, cucumber and company). Both were plain and unremarkable. Not offensive, not memorable... just simple sides. I suddenly understood why there were salt and pepper shakers on all the tables.

Dessert came in two forms - semisweet flourless chocolate cake and some sort of sage candle-like pudding. Dave nailed it when he assessed they weren't house-made. The flourless chocolate cake was mediocre. It was on the dry and crumbly side and served with a whipped cream (good) and strawberries (which somehow tasted out-of-season).

Overall, my take is that this is a place where you'd take a finicky Aunt from out-of-town who likes nice restaurants but prefers dishes on the simpler side.

Two out of four organic fares.

Jess’ Take:

Wade pretty  much said it – great concept, but I can make it at home. I was very excited when this restaurant opened because not only do I love the organic/local trend that has overtaken Philly, but it’s also in my neighborhood! Unfortunately the whole meal was good, but not great.  

I started with roasted cauliflower and chickpeas over a dill yogurt sauce. I’m not a huge cauliflower fan unless it’s roasted, and I LOVE chickpeas, so this dish sounded perfect. It was nice, but needed a little oomph. There just wasn’t much there, there.

For my main entrée I went with grilled salmon with a tarragon caper sauce served over brown rice with a side of roasted corn.  Again, I was un-wowed. It was good, but something I could have thrown together at home in 30 minutes while I’m running around the house getting other things done. And the tarragon caper sauce was more of a tartar sauce, which I ended up scraping off midway through.

I know that our review is much like others written recently and I hope that the chef listens and gives a little more effort into flavor and simple creativity. I would love for this restaurant to turn it around because it’s only a hop, skip and jump away from home.

2 out of a possible 4 roasted chickpeas.  

Amis

Jess' Take
Marc Vetri is one of my favorite Philly Chefs, and Osteria is one of my favorite Philly restaurants, so I was super excited to try his new restaurant Amis, billed as the more affordable of his three spots (which also includes the fantastic Vetri). Unfortunately Amis disappointed.

The menu is compiled of tapa style plates in a variety of categories such as bruschetta, salumi and formaggi, several types of antipastis, pasta, carne, pesce, contorni and dolci. We took our servers suggestions and ordered 4 of the antipastis, 2 pastas and 1 carne.

Of the 4 starters that we ordered, mortadella mousse, trio of pecorino, mixed salumi plate, and artichokes alla guidaida, the mortadella mousse was the most interesting and tasty. What Dave would describe as a “meat hummus” the consistence was a little more yogurt like than hummus, with a pink hue. It had a subtle sausage flavor without being overpowering. It was very tasty smeared on the toasted bread it was served with (although I have to say, they were a little skimpy on the bread, with just 2 pieces for a pretty sizable bowl of mousse). Also interesting were the artichokes, which were battered and fried twice at two different temperatures. I really liked the concept, but the final product was a little bland. The best flavor to come from it was of funnel cake, which I assume has everything to do with the batter. The only salumi that I could enjoy (but not for long!) was the pork live terrine which I did not care for at all. At best it tasted like something from a can.


On to our pastas. Again, we took the recommendation of our server and ordered what she said were two of the most popular pasta dishes: Bucatini alla “matriciana” with pork jowl, chili flake and pecorino and gnocchi alla romana with oxtail ragu. The Bucatini was the winner of the two in my opinion. At first I didn’t like the flavor, but after my second bit I got into it. It had a subtle spice that hit the back of the tongue and the pasta was cooked perfectly.
The gnocci on the other hand was not so pleasing. First of all, it resembled no gnocci that I’ve ever had. Instead of delicate little balls, it was two, larger balls of what looked like cream of wheat covered with sauce and cheese. It oxtail was undetectable among the mush on the plate.

For our carne we went for the guinea hen leg saltimbocca with prosciutto and sage. I’ve never had guinea hen before, so was very interested to try this dish. Now I have to preface this with the comment that I’m not a big saltimbocca fan, so that may have played into my opinion of the dish. Although I didn’t love the taste, the consistency was what really got me. The battered outside was soggy and the inside was chewy. I only had a few bites and gave the rest to Dave.

In my opinion, dessert saved this meal. Although we were tempted to throw in the towel and not have dessert, I convinced my fellow foodies that this is my last meal to eat guilt free and we must! So we decided on the olive oil torta with whipped cream and quince butter and Belgian style waffles with nutella, vanilla semifreddo and toasted hazelnuts. Both were delicious, but I will give an extra shout out to the waffles. Yes, I’m a nutella freak, and it was everything I hoped it would be.

Amis, I’m not sure that I’ll decide to step inside your doors again on my own. However, I’m also willing to give you another chance given the opportunity. The menu has a lot to offer and I am certainly willing to try other offerings – I’ll just steer clear of the gnocci and guinea hen.

Because I’m partial to Vetri and the desserts were great, Amis you’re getting a 2 out of 4 from me.

Dave's Take:
Amis was A-miss. Mark Vetri has failed where the other restaurateurs have succeeded, the recession-friendly medium-tier tasty restaurant. Garces did it with Village Whiskey, Starr did it with Pizzeria Stella and they did it well. Reasonably priced eateries with great food and just a slightly less polished feel than their brethren.

What Vetri did do right was the look and feel. A nice bistro style almost reminiscent of a smaller Osteria. A natural feel with warm wood panels and comfortable surroundings was exactly what we were looking for on the snowy day we visited. The menu sounded great, the wine I got by the glass was superb and reasonably priced. Things were going great until the food came. We started off with some small plates of Mortadella mousse, pecorino cheese plate and Artichokes alla guidaida and a mixed Salumi plate. Nothing was bad but nothing was that good either. The artichokes were tasty but Jess called it exactly when she said it tastes like funnel cake.
I'm thinking maybe the chef was inspired during a recent trip to the Iowa state fair. The Salumi plate holds a special place in my heart and Osteria is one of my favorites. This one on the other hand, was disappointing. It was ridiculously small. I know house cured salumi is expensive to make but for $16 I was expecting at least enough for my stomach to know I ate something. The pork liver included in the trio tasted like it should have come out of a tube.

Our next round came. Bucatini alla “matriciana” with pork jowl, chili flake and pecorino, Gnocchi alla romana with oxtail ragu and Guinea hen leg saltimbocca with prosciutto and sage. The Bucatini pasta was good but nothing special. My local pizza shop Angelino's in Fairmount makes a similar tasting dish with everyday ingredients and much cheaper. I love pork jowl and have had great preparations at Osteria but this was a waste of the tasty cut. Speaking of pizza shops, the veal parm, I mean Guinea hen saltimbocca was unimpressively mediocre. I really thought it should have come on a bun wrapped in aluminum foil. The gnocchi I thought was going to save the day. After all, Vetri is famous for his gnocchi. That too disappointed. The goopy cream of wheat or Metamucil or whatever it was totally ruined the tasty oxtail ragu that accompanied it.

Dessert was pretty good. I'm glad we decided to give it a try since it left we less disappointed. The Belgian style waffles with nutella, vanilla semifreddo and toasted hazelnuts was extremely tasty. The Belgian waffle was light, sweet and hot. The melting, very delicious semifreddo and nutella really added a richness and moisture and resulted in a great dessert. The olive oil totra was good too but less memorable. The pastry chef was obviously the only one in the kitchen that really took a new look and food cost rather than just trying to dumb down Vetri signatures with disappointing results.

OK, so it wasn't vile and wasn't too overpriced and the interior was nice but there are too many great places out there to make those my criteria for revisiting a place.

1 disappointed Dave's out of 4. If I didn't know this was a Vetri endeavor, I might give it a 2 out of 4.


Wade's Take

Whats left to say? My co-bloggers were on the mark with their comments above.

I was having a good time pre-meal, eating marinated olives and sipping a fancy Belgian beer in Amis very comfortable, warm atmosphere. The space is open, with exposed concrete beams and worn metal framed windows. Yet despite its openness, it is still a small, intimate space. There are great views of the kitchen and the bar - you could see every table in the house from my seat (which proved true when I spotted a fellow Narberthian). We saw Vetri several times (I admit I was very excited each time). I say all of these things because I too really wanted to like the place... but the meal didn't synch.

The defining moment came when the salumi plate hit the table. Where was the rest of it? A measly sampling indeed. In fact, the pork liver terrine was a flavor clone of Oscar Mayer's braunschweiger. A tube of liverwurst you can buy at your local grocer for $2.29.

There were other highs and lows, captured perfectly in the words of the reviews above. At the end of the day, though, I have to give Amis a 1 out of 4.

Novita Bistro

Jess' Take:
For my birthday foodie dinner we hit up Novita Bistro, a Mediterranean influenced BYO at 16th and South. The restaurant is very typically BYO, small and cute. I was disappointed to see that they didn’t have hummus on the menu, since that may or may not have been the reason that I chose the restaurant, but I was still intrigued by the menu’s other offerings.

I started with the Merguez, which was described as a Moroccan lamb sausage. It was served on top of a chick pea puree. Now, if you can get past the way this dish looks then I think you’ll enjoy it. However, that may be a bit of a task. Fortunately I’ve got a strong stomach. The sausage had a really delicate flavor that included mint, which was really nice. However, it was also on the dry side, which is where the chick pea puree came in handy. To really enjoy this dish each bite of sausage needed to be accompanied by the puree. Despite this, it was a nice starter.



Keeping with the Moroccan theme, I went for the Moroccan Tagine for my main entrée. This might be the first time in five year’s I’ve ordered chicken in a restaurant, but I’d heard good things about the dish, and the waiter gave it high marks. It arrived in a super fancy painted dish, which I assume is traditional Moroccan. When the lid was lifted the smell of the dish hit me and it was delicious. Although the taste of the chicken was nice, I found myself wanting a little more flavor (maybe this is why I typically don’t order chicken?). I loved the preserved lemon that was served with it, which gave a nice added flavor; unfortunately I can’t say the same for the potatoes, which were very bland.





Although I love the concept of this Novita Bistro and the possibilities of the menu, I’m not sure I’d make a special trip back. If I have a craving for Moroccan I’m going to hit one of our old standbys, Fig, before heading back to Novita Bistro.

2 gross looking sausages out of 4.

Zot

Jess' Take
Last night we hit Zot in Head House Square. You can’t miss this restaurant as the sign is enormous and bright – whether you should miss this restaurant is another story. The bar is a perfect spot to hop into on a blustery winter day to enjoy a full-bodied Belgian beer, of which there is a selection to rival Monks. Wade was especially happy to see Le Chouffe available. The dining room is also cozy, with exposed brick and wood beams, you just have to try and ignore the seriously freaky print of what is possibly a tripped out Richard Simmons.

I started the evening with an Allagash White (yes, an American beer – I know) and perused the menu. While the offerings aren’t extensive, the set up of the menu is time consuming. First you choose a meat, of which there is a very interesting variety, then pick a sauce, of which there are about 20 too many choices, and finally decide on a side. If you’re not in the mood for meat, there are mussels – many, many mussels. I couldn’t even begin to navigate through the mussel menu, so I started with escargot for an app and then went with a filet of bison, black peppercorn sauce and two sides: Brussels sprouts and sauteed mushrooms.

The escargot arrived nestled between a fluffy biscuit. Instead of the usual rich buttery flavoring, this dish was served with a smoked sauce and fabulous paprika undertones. The biscuit was perfect to sop up the extra sauce. Although a hearty dish, it was a nice portion, so I wasn’t too full when my main dish arrived. Very satisfying.



The bison arrived cooked to a perfect medium-rare, which I really appreciate. So often restaurants overcook red meat, which is totally disappointing. The best part of my dish was the black peppercorn sauce, which I had them put on the side. It was spicy and not too heavy – the meat, very similar to steak, was a perfect compliment. The Brussels sprouts were swimming in bacon fat, which meant that they were inherently tasty, although not very impressive. Ditto on the mushrooms (sans the bacon fat). Overall a tasty dish – but nothing I can’t make myself, probably even a little better.



Dessert was certainly nothing to write home about. Berries and cream and a pot de crème that was more like dense chocolate mousse.





If I find myself back in the neighborhood I would happily stop in and grab a beer, but I’ll probably save my appetite for Xochitl, which is a block away and a world tastier.

Zot gets 2 out of 4 possible brews from me!

Dave's Take




Jess hit Zot pretty much dead on. One thing about the decor that could be a turn off for some but really appealed to me was the front bar. It had old school skiing memorabilia on the wall. Think a hard rock but for skiing which is much cooler. That combined with the looping Warren Miller videos will make we want to go back for a drink. If I'm there for a drink, I might get some food again, but certainly wouldn't make the trip for the food especially since I have to pass Bridget's and Monks to get there.

My first course was the bone marrow. Now, my other run-ins with bone marrow have been spiritual. That could be from the stem cells packed in there or the delirious feeling of my cholesterol tripling with each bite but whatever it was, Ansil and Distrito pack so much rich flavor into each bite it is amazing. I call bone marrow meat butter and if Ansil is the Kerrygold, this was the parkay. Sure, it was rich and warming but lacked the flavor of the others. Not bad, just a little bland and not worth it here.



I also had to create my modular main meat (MMM). I love the idea of exotic meat. I think it's cool to eat crazy stuff (probably why I like "Strange Foods" on the Travel Channel). Zot did not disappoint there (Kangaroo, Boudin, Bison, Boar Sausage, etc). I got the ostrich med rare and it was cooked perfectly and very tender for such a lean meat. Here is where I take issue. The 20 sauces Jess mentioned came with no guidance. Looking at them, I knew that all 20 would not work. When I asked which one would work best I got a few choices but the server did not recommend anything with confidence. I go to a place to be guided by the chef on how to best experience what they envision a dish should be. This was more like- hey, yeah sure you want that meat. OK- now you have to decide what will taste best on it. Sure, there is an optimum choice or two but we aren't gonna tell you what they are. You have to guess. That's seems like more work than I need. Also, if you get one of the less exotic or cheaper meats, you're totally getting ripped off since they are all the same price. Even with my complaints, my perfectly cooked ostrich did go well with the mushroom cream sauce.

I wanted to skip dessert. Jess & Wade fought to include it. I should have remained strong but gave in. The berries and cream were just fair as you could tell the berries were not in season by the mushiness and lack of flavor. As we ate to the bottom, the lack of taste issue changed but for the worse. Some type of distilled liquor was waiting to sicken us. I think it may have been Aquavit. OK for a shot but nasty when you want the taste of berries. The other dessert was a Pot de crème. It looked way too big for a pot de crème when it came out and was only a partial success. Once I was making a Pot de crème for a dinner party and I screwed it up by cooking it too long. It got a little more dense like Crème Brule often does. I called it Chocolate Crème Brule and my guests were none-the-wiser. Zot should have done that on us. Tasted good but too firm.

If you live in the hood, put it on your rotation. Go for the bar. Go for the beer and possible stay for the food. If you live in another area, I wouldn't make a special trip unless you want to drink while watching Warren Miller films at some other place than your friends couch.

2 out of 4 Après-Ski's

Wade’s Take:

Here’s the thing with Zot. It’s a free market economy. The menu is wide and open for you to invest in however you’d like. There’s no egomaniac chef forcing you to subscribe to his communist pairings. It’s all on you, baby.

What’s that you say? Your hungry for a piece of wild game, perhaps bison, with some sort of sauce… maybe bearnaise or caper sauce, and something starchy… not sweet potato fries, not gnocchi… garlic frietes, that’s it! There you go, you’ve just designed your own dinner. You have the power, you see, because Zot let’s you mix it up. They have over 15 meats on the menu (many exotic – bonus points there!), 20 plus sauces to add-on and then a dozen plus starches to finish your plate.

I opted for the kangaroo (I’m new to kangaroo) with a blue cheese sauce and some garlic frietes for the side. Kangaroo Jack was a long cut of meat, grilled medium rare. I enjoyed it, and the blue cheese sauce was straightforward, but good. My garlic frietes were no Monk’s fries, let’s get that straight. A bit soggy and lacking the garlic I so desired, they perked up when I swiped them in Jess’ black peppercorn sauce.

I had a first-rate onion soup that was my appetizer. The onions were caramelized and oh-so-sweet, cutting the normal sodium-fest of onion soup down to a minimum.

Technically, I suppose, my real appetizer was the smooth extra large bottle of La Chouffe I had as my first course. Brimming with an 8% APV, this strong Belgian pale ale is a new favorite of mine. If this were my world, I’d be sitting on a hilltop in Switzerland right now, eating a tasty apple, some raclette and with a bottle of La Chouffe at my side. Instead, blogging about it is cool, I guess.

I went to the upstairs bathroom bar after dinner to check it out. It’s a great event space with an actual bar made out of bathroom pieces. The countertop is all mirrors (yahoo for all you coke heads out there), a massive claw foot tub houses the bottles and atop that is a spigot/tap of beers. The whole thing rests within a shower basin, with various rub-a-dub-dub accoutrements flanking it. I want to go back. In an odd way, though, it reminded me of one of those shooting galleries that Knoebels is famous for. You know the type, the ragged hillbilly home exterior with the outhouse, squirrels in the broken down car and bullseyes all around to aim your air pistol at.

Final answer… Zot is a fun place, don’t miss it. It’s good food, not the best around in this town of great eats, but a great hang out spot, nonetheless. Go, drink beer, makes food selections, be happy.

Two out of four exotic meats.

Raddichio

Wade's Take:

It was a somewhat Deb Downer that our last meal of the year was one of my least favorites. Now that I think about it, our first meal of the year was Cebu, another unappealing gastronomic adventure. Two of the lesser places started and ended 2007. That’s fine with me – let the less-fine places sandwich the rest of this year’ goodness.
I’d been hearing good things about the Raddichio café for years. Unfortunately, those whispers of good food didn’t pan out. The meal was fair to partly cloudy, not the joie de vie I had expected.

I began on an upnote with the insalata di mare. Take an orgy of squid, scallops, shrimp, mussels, and clams – toss them in some extra virgin olive oil, add lemon juice and you’ve got a party. It was light and the seafood was fresh (thank you to Sasha Isenberg’s “The Sushi Economy” for teaching me how to tell good seafood from the flash frozen stuff). The insalata di mare had me started in a good direction, despite the grumblings of one of my dining companions (rightly so) about his subpar appetizer and the waiter’s assault on Jess with her glass of red wine.

My entrée was Gnocchi ai funghi – potato gnocchi with spicy marinara and porcini mushrooms. It was a dish I could have easily prepared at home in 20 minutes with some basic ingredients from my local Trader Joe’s.

Although dessert set the bar higher (particularly a chocolate tartufo – dusted with cocoa and a crème center), I still cannot rate Raddichio above a 2 out of 4 italian accents.

In the end, I think the Raddichio Café is a place you’d take nervous traveler friends when they are in town. You know the type – those that only want to eat at Spaghetti Warehouse and any other “safe” chain restaurant when they have ventured into parts unknown.

Let’s see what guest writer Chris has to say. That Little Bit is full of sass, and I know she will have words about Radicchio’s lack of climate control (air temperature that went from burning to freezing and back again).

See you in 2008!

Dave's Take:

First I would like to start off with the positives. Radicchio is a very cute and comfortable. The prices are reasonable and the wait staff is very nice and attentive. If you want a nice place to go for a dinner with the family and do not need great, knock you socks off food, it's a safe bet. If you are looking for dynamic dishes with pronounced and interesting flavors, you might want to move on.

First we started off with some wine and they brought some bruschetta as an amuse bouche. The amuse bouche is always a favorite of mine because it's like a bonus taste. You didn't order it, you weren't expecting it, and bam bonus taste. The bruschetta was very nice. Plump tomatoes, roasted red pepper and onions obviously marinated in some heavy garlic and olive oil. Tasted great.

Things were looking up and I ordered a bruschetta for my app so I was very excited. The description read, Cannellini beans, arugola, onions, fresh tomatoes, oil and garlic and I'm thinking damn, that sounds awesome. I was anticipating a simple mix of those, perhaps with a nice flavor of rosemary and freshly ground pepper atop some petite bread slices. What I got was Progresso minestrone soup can dumped on some burnt white bread slices. Ok, maybe not actually progresso soup but you could have fooled me. It did not necessarily taste bad, but was not good. Would have been an OK lunch at the desk at work, but not an app at a restaurant. I guess for $6 I shouldn't be complaining, but I would have much rathered a smaller portion size and some more refined flavors.

OK, at this point I'm a little disappointed but still looking to my entree. Fusilli Positano. Long fusilli with jumbo lump crab meat, oil, garlic, arugola, fresh tomato sauce. Sounds tasty. It was just OK. Again, not bad, just not as exciting as it should be. The crab meat was top notch but the flavor were dull and the pasta was not fresh and a bit under cooked (not al dente). Tasted like something I would cook at home. Now, Jess's Whole Roasted Branzino was REALLY good. Although, I have not had a whole roasted fish that wasn't. I would certainly recommend that.

2 out of 4. I would go back with friends/family, but not if I'm making the reservation. For you Italian lovers out there, I'll give you a key. If you love Joey Italiano's Maplewood(s) (Jersey) then go to Radicchio. Food is on par or slightly better and prices are cheaper. Plus you can bring your own. If you are more the Osteria kinda person. Make another reservation.

AND... tonight we were joined by a special guest and good friend Christine Gronwaldt. And so, we are happy to present... our guest blogger:
Ok, ok, I know I’m only the guest blogger, so I should probably not be too over the top or critical in my first posting and be henceforth known as the “BitchFork”…but the Foodies know I am nothing if not blunt…
Radicchio is on the list of places that I‘ve heard most of my friends say they’ve been to and loved. And all I have to say to them is “what Radicchio did you go to?”
Feeling a little lazy in my ordering and wanting to just catch up with friends instead of reading and rereading a menu, I thought I’d just get the salmon. It’s nearly impossible for any restaurant to do salmon poorly. Sometimes you’ll even get the nice surprise of a great salmon dish that has an inspired flavor that’s enough to make you want to recreate it at home. This was not that dish. I was a little disappointed when my blandly, grilled piece of salmon arrived at the table. It was sitting in a pool of tomato juice and asparagus spears and none of the flavors tasted as if they were cooked together. The chunks of tomato and juice seemed more like they were poured in from a can and the asparagus was more than al dente. My salmon sat on top of this without much ado. I was unimpressed, and chocked this up to healthy eating since there was nothing creamy, cheesy, salty or otherwise unhealthy about my dish that would have made it taste better. At least I was happy that I hadn’t wasted a ton of calories on a mediocre selection.
I think Jess may have actually been glad to get the red wine shower that our waiter gave her since our table was positioned in front of a heating unit that could have doubled as a jet engine.
It’s always nice to end on an up note, so for a BYO, Radicchio is quant and spacious unlike many other BYO’s that try to pack the customers in like sardines. I loved the free little biscotti that came with coffee and our desserts. They were orange and nutty and a nice end to the meal. I also love when waiters have heavy accents so you have to strain to understand the specials. It somehow makes the food seem more authentic.
Thanks for the invite, Foodies, the company far outshined the food! Next time another friend tells me how great Radicchio is I’ll finally be able to correct them and point them to the much better Italian BYO selections in town like Porchini, Melagrano or Farmicia of which I’m still drooling over from last night’s portabella and eggplant dish.

Zento

Jess' Take:

This week it was just Wade and I for dinner, as Dave was stuck in NY traffic (not to worry, I brought him home some sushi, so he could share in the culinary experience). This was a tough one, because we had just recently eaten at Uzu, one of the best sushi joints in town. The look, feel and location of Zento were familiar to Uzu… small (although not quite as small), BYO, Old City. Unfortunately, the similarities ended there.

Wade and I shared identical meals, beginning with the Miso soup, which was good, but nothing to write home about (and what is next to Morimoto’s miso soup?). We then ordered several pieces of sushi and several of their more unique rolls. The first disappointment came when we tried to pick up the sushi. The rice fell apart almost immediately, splashing into the soy sauce. So we ended up eating a piece of sashimi and clumps of rice afterward. While the fish was good, it was not excellent (again, Uzu was fresh in our minds). The rolls provided a more enjoyable experience. However, I’m picky about my rolls (who isn’t?) and hate when tuna is in the form of small, left over pieces, rather than whole, cut pieces. I just imagine the sushi chef taking all of the remains from the tuna sashimi and sushi and mushing it together inside the roll… which may very well be what happens. Although we weren’t completely stuffed when we were finished (as we like to be), we decided not to order any more, but for a hot second did contemplate making a quick stop into Uzu for a roll… for the road.

Overall it was good, but not impressive. If you’re in the neighborhood, there are better choices.

I give it two pieces of fallen rice out of a possible four.

http://www.zentocontemporary.com

Cebu

This week we ventured to Cebu (123 Market St). The massive space previously housed World Fusion and Rococo. We were excited to try the restaurant because the chef was from Cuba Libre, one of Philly's best restaurants.

Dave's Take:

The building was very open and inviting so I was surprised when I kept needed to slide my seat in for people to get by, especially when there were only 3 other tables at the restaurant. The decor was cool at first glance but then you notice things like the half vase on the wall with extremely fake looking flowers. Wine list was reasonable with a good selection of Spanish and South American wine. Still very hopeful. The appetizers were a let down. Especially since I was craving some good Ceviche and got what was really just seared tuna with some sauce and little gelatin cubes that taste like gummy bears. Don't get me wrong, I love gummy bears, but not when billed ceviche. So far, not that big a fan. Here comes some redemption. The skirt steak entree was good. Marinated and grilled, piled on top of mashed potatoes that had a hint of wasabi and generous lumps of back fin blue claw. Final thoughts: 2 out of 4. Outlook: This is a doomed space and it needs a dynamite or creative revamp to survive. This is not it. Let's hope the next restaurant is.

Jess' Take:
We got an appetizer trio, or what they call the Cebu Trifecta, getting to taste the Shanghai Lumpia (by far the best of the three), Ceviche Kinilaw (which, as Dave mentioned, was really seared tuna) and Tokwa. This ended up being a most cost effective way to try the three appetizers. They were nothing special, but we were starving, so we scarfed it down. Also, they served guava butter with the bread... pretty tasty. My big mistake was ordering the Paella. I was intrigued by the description, but it turned out to be very unenjoyable. Very fishy tasting and dry. I ended up eating a good portion of Dave's dish (more than my allotted 20%!). No dessert included chocolate, so we declined, which was a good move once we got the check and realized how much pricey it was. Over all I give it 2 dry mussels out of 4.

Wade's Take:

It had me at hello. At first, anyway. Walking into Cebu makes you feel grand. The beams of colored light, enormously high ceilings, snaking wooden bar and gargantuan vases make the ambience memorable (with some cheesy details).

Cebu’s interior makes for great distraction up and away from your plate. I guess it's needed, because I liked only about a third of the dishes I tasted.

Of the three appetizers we tried – only the Shanghai Lumpia was memorable. There were three sauces served – one tasted like some Bath and Body Works product a sorority girl would rub on, the other was too tart, but at least the third was a spicy concoction to my liking.

When it came to the entrees – guess what? I only truly liked Dave’s skirt steak. Jess' Paella was subpar. The Kare Kare was good, but if I’m dropping these kind of bucks I want something more than what tasted like Philipino potroast.

We skipped dessert – where are the chocolate options, I ask?

Even after all that - I’d give it another shot. Cebu is one of those places that is your back-up to your back-up. When out-of-town guests demand ethnic food in Olde City, and Morimoto and Cuba Libre are full – I guess that’s when you head to Cebu.

Two oxtails out of four.