Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Olde Bar (Bookbinders, Old City Philadelphia, PA) 2015-01-19

The Olde Bar (Bookbinders, Old City Philadelphia, PA) 2015-01-19

The Olde Bar
25 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215-253-3777
http://theoldebar.com/
Menu: http://theoldebar.com/assets/pdf/theoldebar_menu.pdf

Jose Garces has opened a new bar and restaurant in the historic old Bookbinders in Old City Philadelphia, PA.  There's a focus on seafood with the ambiance of an oyster/seafood restaurant with a deep cocktail menu.

We checked out the venue for Happy Hour and sampled some of their fair.  The service at the bar was great and time will tell how the Olde Bar makes an impression on the Philadelphia dining scene but I certainly have high hopes.

Seafood/oyster/cocktail lovers should definitely check out Garces' latest offering. 


Bookbinders Venue

Old Signage and Facade kept.


2 Beers on Special for Happy Hour, 1 of the 2

$1 Dollar Oysters for Happy Hour

Welsh Rarebit - Sourdough Bread with Cheese and Herbs

Beef Fat Fries with Old Bay Mayo

Fish House Punch Happy Hour Special - $6

Hot Buttered Rum

Fish House Punch with Fresh Grated Nutmeg

Roll Mops - Anchovies, Gherkins, Creme Fraiche

Roll Mop close up

Head of a Ramos Gin Fizz

Amy the bartender agreed to make me a Ramos Gin Fizz

Proper Old Fashioned


They do offer wine as well

Bar at the Olde Bar

Ambiance at The Olde Bar

Bartender Mike Providing Great Service

Whiskey Sour

Meritage (Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA) Restaurant Week 2015-01-18

Meritage (Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA) Restaurant Week 2015-01-18

Meritage
500 S. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Phone: 215-985-1922
http://www.meritagephiladelphia.com/


To kick off Restaurant week, I visited Meritage.  Meritage is one of my Philadelphia Restaurant staples and it didn't disappoint.  I would recommend Meritage anytime for a meal in the Rittenhouse area.



Philadelphia Center City Restaurant Week

Bread and Butter

Refreshing Cocktail

Wild Mushrooms with Poached Egg, Bacon, Frisee

Pate - Chicken Liver, Port, Brioche

Malbec

Duck Confit - Barley, Butternut Squash, Red Wine

Short Rib - Red wine, Mushroom, Potato

French Press Coffee

Sorbet - Raspberry with Chocolate Ginger Sauce

Bread Pudding - Apple with Vanilla Ice Cream




Sunday, January 11, 2015

Bufad (Spring Garden Philadelphia, PA) 2015-01-09

Bufad (Spring Garden Philadelphia, PA) 2015-01-09

Bufad Pizza
1240 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Phone 215-238-9311
Web: http://bufadpizza.com/

Pizzeria Vetri and Bufad have been going at it for a while with similar style pizzas but personally I generally like Bufad's offerings just a smidge more.

Highlights this go around included a farm egg pizza and a brussel sprouts based offering with speck and balsamic.  The Antipasti provided a sampling of various appetizers and standards including sausage and margherita rounded out the pizza dinner tasting.  Lastly, another fun fact is that Bufad is BYOB.
Diseno Malbec

Antipasti

Anchovy Breadcrumbs

Red Pepper Flakes

Sausage - Spicy Italian fennel sausage, slow cooked tomato sauce, sauteed broccoli rabe, and mozzarella. (14)

Margherita - Uncooked San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, torn basil & extra virgin olive oil. (13)


Farm Egg - Slow-cooked tomato sauce, sopressata, ricotta, and a baked egg. Finished with Clara's pangrattato and fresh torn basil. (14)

Brussel Sprouts - Shaved brussels sprouts, taleggio, speck, & scallions. Finished with balsamic. (13)

Wine and Pizza, can't go wrong.



Gran Caffe L'Aquila (Philadelphia) 2014-01-08

Gran Caffe L'Aquila (Philadelphia) 2014-01-08

Gran Caffe L'Aquila
1716 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-568-5600
Reservations by Phone only

Gran Caffee L'Aquila is a newly opened restaurant in the Rittenhouse area of Philadelphia.
The focus is on Italian cuisine with a spin.  The menu is rather large and incorporates gelato into dishes.  A reigining Italian gelato champion chef creates very interesting and delicious gelato.  Highlights included oysters with mojito flavored gelato and the gelato with espresso.  The decor is quite fun and suits the mood of the restaurant.  The staff seems to be working through the kinks and many servers, waiters, and personnel were interested in how the experience was.  Definitely worth checking out again as there are many dishes to try.  Might be worth stopping in quickly for the coffee and gelato.  Time will tell what footprint this new opening makes on the Philadelphia food scene.