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Restaurant review time!


12string

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If you're in Philly, and can afford it, and know long enough ahead of time to get a reservation, definitely go to Zahav!

Best Restaurant in the US?  I guess it depends on your tastes.  I can certainly see why it's ranked there, but I liked Arnaud's in New Orleans just a little better.  Though that was much more expensive (for the guy who picked up the tab)

Service was very good, but I kind of expected different.  It's casual, not fancy, so the waitstaff is more engaging.  They have to be, you aren't go to recognize most of the food.  The busgirl seemed new at the job, she was a bit aggressive.  Best service I've ever had was Trio, also in Philly, and that's not an expensive place.

Atmosphere, casual, a bit on the loud side, but we could converse.

We did the Tayim - a chef's tasting.  With 4 people, you'll get almost everything on the menu.  We missed 2 Hummis, and would have missed 2 entrees but the waitress heard us debating between the mushroom and lamb, so she surprised us with both anyway.  It's small plate, but between the Hummis & Salatim,  Mezze and Al Ha'esh  courses, we were stuffed before dessert even arrived.  There was also a couple off menu plates of an orange/fennel/tahini thing, and a cold version of a previous warm dish the kitchen sent out. Ate a lot of food I wouldn't have gone looking for, and loved most of it.  The Moroccan carrots and the Branzino were a bit salty.  The duck hearts were, well, just different, I suppose I could get used to them.  The pickled Turnips, I just didn't care for.  The warm Hummis and a cucumber/fennel salad, persimmon with feta were amazing,  A whole lot of fantastic foods that I'm still not sure what they actually were.

Desserts, also quite different, but quite good.  Would have been able to enjoy them more if we weren't so overstuffed by then.  After dinner coffee - Turkish, or french presses to the table, of course.  Absolutely no rush, they gave us 3 1/2 hours without a hint of pressure.

There's just so many phenomenal restaurants in this area right now, but I'd definitely go back.  Don't know that it's my favorite restaurant, my go-to places are not as pricey, but also on a different plane.  Though even with the $87 wine, we got out of there for  under $400 for 4.

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Glastonbury CT.  J Gilbert's.  It's a steak and seafood restaurant that gets crowded every night at dinner time as many folks stop on their way home from work.  By my standards, it's expensive but the food is very good.  You won't find pasta or mexican there but they come with a high rating for what they do.

You don't need to dress up for dinner, but you won't find anyone there in a t and jeans..............except for my son as most of his clothes are in China along with just about everything else he owns.

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10 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

There are no Michelin starred restaurants around here.  Any other stars are pretentious.

You could use the Silly Scale.  No one can describe the Silly Scale as pretentious.

Based on the review,  I think the restaurant earned 4.3 Sillies.  

 

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6 hours ago, 12string said:

It was an Israeli Restaurant.  I think those are metric stars.

I was in an Israeli Restaurant in Bethsaida, St. Peter's birthplace, at the end of a Sea of Galilee boat ride.  Of course, we were served baked fish, but some of our mostly American group were upset about the fish being served with their heads still attached.  So we all had to send the fish back to have the heads removed so we would not gross out those sitting next to or across from us.

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Haven’t been to an Israeli restaurant, yet. We have hit several great spots on this vacation. 
Saturday - Dr Field Goods in Santa Fe. Southwest flavors in unconventional sandwiches. I had the New Mexican which has a green chile rubbed pulled pork with jimaca/apple slaw. Very tasty! 
Sunday - brunch with a cycling friend living in the Santa Fe area. We ate at Chocolate Maven. It’s a bakery with a great breakfast and lunch menu. It opened at 9:00. We were there by 8:45 to get a window seat into the bakery. I had the eggsadilla. Very satisfying. We skipped lunch so we could eat dinner with family in Phoenix. Mom wanted Mexican food for her birthday. The only place that could fit all the family who showed was Abuelo’s. Imagine a Cheesecake Factory for Mexican. Good but ordinary. 
Monday - brunch with Mom, brother and SIL at Snooze. I had the breakfast pot pie. Basically biscuits and gravy on a puff pastry with some pot pie veggies. It was very good. 
Tuesday we went to Sedona with youngest daughter. Looked for a funky burger place after dark. Found a place called Butterfly Burger. Kind of a pretentious place selling $18 burgers. By the time we realized that, it was too late to look elsewhere. I wound up with a patty melt with greuyere cheese and au jus to dip. I will admit it pretty much wrecked any other patty melt for me!

Wednesday - we ate at Andreoli’s Italian Market in Scottsdale. I had seen it on Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives and it always looked good. I had the Porchetta sandwich. You know how you will say “wow” at the first bite of a meal, but then your taste buds adapt as you eat more? Not the case here. The sandwich kept me impressed all through the meal! The cannolis for dessert were equally tasty  
Today - we were out looking at houses. Future Son in law was not feeling well. We took him home and grabbed a late lunch at a poke bowl place. Imagine if Chipotle made sushi. I loved it!

We are going to look for some Korean or Mediterranean tomorrow before we head to see @roadsue and family on Saturday 

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