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Last night's restaurant review


12string

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Taking my daughter out for her birthday, her choice.  There are hundreds of really good small restaurants in Philly.  A great scene, small places with good chefs.

She chose a bigger place.  Real fancy, brass & wood everywhere, waitstaff in black & white & bow ties.  Roomy, quiet.

Our waitress was very nice.  Many times.  Too many times.  Can you just leave us be for a couple minutes?   Had to comment on everything we selected and ate.  "Wasn't that gnocchi SOooo tender?!"

We did their "chef's tasting".  Which was really just a couple extra dishes shared.  But it meant extra busboy interaction, more than once that had to be stopped so we could actually finish eating.  I saw a hand grab the wine carafe, by then I was conditioned, so I stopped the waitress, who only wanted to fill our glasses.  2 different people, don't know what their actual job was, came over to see how we were doing.  More than once.  Did they know something about the food and expected us to suddenly fall ill?

I think someone trained the waitstaff to be "proper", but really don't understand that proper waitstaff is never noticed and doesn't interject themselves into your dinner.

Food was OK, but I'd pick a few dozen other Italian restaurants first.  Broccoli Rabe was really Salt with Broccoli Rabe.  Artichokes were squishy.  Salmon was dry.  Gravy was watery.  Gnocchi WAS tender - but tasteless.  Aroncini was excellent, Chicken Parm was very good, Salad was good, cannolis were excellent (but not theirs)

It wasn't a BAD dinner, but considering what's available - nope, I won't be going back there.  Wasn't worth $200 for 3 people.

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You do have my sympathy as I have had similar experiences.

In my small town, there is a small, very expensive restaurant where the chef is French-trained and excellent and his wife serves at table. Local produce and superb cooking....however while the wife is a very friendly person she does tend to intrude a wee bit too much. A friend of mine, who is a  gynecologist by profession, took his wife along there for a romantic anniversary dinner and was engaged in conversation by the wife/waitress who propped one substantial buttock up on the table while recounting the gory details of her last gynecological operation. Apparently, this did little to sustain the romantic mood.

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56 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

 

No car issues?

Not this time.   But I've always wanted to request taking my car for a wash or change my oil when they tell me they'll be "taking care of me tonight"

I suppose the extra attention may also have had something to do with the weather keeping the number of patrons down a bit.  But really, go check your Facebook and leave me a lone.

Props to the Trio restaurants in Philly for waitservice.  Some of the best ever, and very unpretentious restaurants

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Now that I am retired, I miss the rock opera of fine dining, costs too much. I don't miss the expensive places that don't perform up to the level they are charging, tho.

I've never seen waitstaff that intrusive, but then I've never had a waitress regale me with the details of her gynecological adventures. I think that would be the end of dinner right there.

 

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It's fun to try new restaurants once in while, even though some disappoint.

We were watching my nephew play high school football away at Annapolis High and wondered if there was a cheap Chinese restaurant nearby. We did a search by smartphone and one was in a neighborhood I knew very well and was in a safe location so, on that recommendation alone, we went there after the game.  We became worried because the prices were really cheap. But it turned out to be very good has become a favorite now, even though it's a 30 minute drive for most in our group.

Otherwise we're very lucky to have some excellent Italian, Greek, Mexican, and Seafood restaurants centrally located among our houses and a lot closer.

 

 

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3 hours ago, onbike1939 said:

You do have my sympathy as I have had similar experiences.

In my small town, there is a small, very expensive restaurant where the chef is French-trained and excellent and his wife serves at table. Local produce and superb cooking....however while the wife is a very friendly person she does tend to intrude a wee bit too much. A friend of mine, who is a  gynecologist by profession, took his wife along there for a romantic anniversary dinner and was engaged in conversation by the wife/waitress who propped one substantial buttock up on the table while recounting the gory details of her last gynecological operation. Apparently, this did little to sustain the romantic mood.

Pray tell, did he happen to order Boudin Noir per chance?

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14 hours ago, jsharr said:

Pray tell, did he happen to order Boudin Noir per chance?

I would doubt it but then the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Boudin noir....if made around the Lyon region, is a favourite of mine. Made with cream and eaten with sauteed apple and mashed potato it is delicious and I miss it a lot. All French Boudin noir is really good but the Lyonaisse one is special.

 

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