Monday, October 12, 2015

A few Philadelphia restaurant micro-reviews

I've hit up several very good to great restaurants in Philadelphia the last few months, so I figured I would post some quick thoughts.

Will: This French-inspired BYOB on Passyunk Avenue features a seasonal menu with really well prepared food.  Nothing outrageous, just very, very good.

Townsend: Another French restaurant on Passyunk Avenue, but this one features an interesting wine list and a very wine-savvy staff.  Great food, but my favorite part might have been the wine descriptions offered by our server.

Le Virtu: I've been meaning to visit this Passyunk Avenue Italian restaurant for some time now (this Passyunk Avenue sure has a lot of great places to eat).  It did not disappoint.  For places known for their pasta, like Le Virtu, I often go whatever pasta con vongole dish they offer.  At Le Virtu, the maccheroni alla chitarra con vongole was outstanding.  Chitarra is "guitar cut" pasta, basically like spaghetti but with a square cross-section.  This dish had a little bit of heat and the pasta was perfectly cooked.

Lo Spiedo: One of Marc Vetri's newest ventures, this restaurant located in the old gatehouse of the Naval Yard specializes in grilled and spit-roasted meats.  The menu is pretty funky -- it reads like Italian grilling meets Southern classics.  I really enjoyed the polenta cornbread (with fatty meat drippings), the grilled chicken wings, and the pork ribs with rosemary.

Buena Onda: Buena Onda is Jose Garces's taco joint and my new favorite local place to eat.  They specialize in fish tacos -- my go-to so far are the grilled mahi mahi tacos.  Big bonus: they have a soda fountain stocked with Boylan sodas.

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