This is going to be a short post. Not much to say about Le Virtu except it is not a good place. It looks lovely, but that's about it. Food was horrible and over priced. Service was lousy. Le Virtu is the most overrated place I've ever been to in my entire life.
First when you walk in, there is no clear indication of where you're supposed to go to be seated. We had an 8 p.m. reservation, and we arrived promptly. Once we found the hostess stand and were checked in we continued to wait for 15 minutes to be seated. It took 15 minutes even though Le Virtu had six 2 top tables available. We were finally seated in a table that had been empty the whole entire time we were standing there. Plus an older couple that came in after us, and didn't have a reservation were seated before us. That is unacceptable.
Once we were finally sat we were ignored by our waitress. At this point I wondered if we stood out like people that didn't belong, but that was impossible, we were dressed up, in fact there were few people there dressed nicer than we were. Maybe we were over dressed? I don't know, but I doubt that was it.
Waitress comes and we order food. Food comes and we hardly eat it. Nothing was good. Food was under cooked/chewy. We didn't even stay for dessert, that's how bad it was. I will never go to Le Virtu again. The place sucks. Thinks it's way to fancy.
Next week, our real trip to Victor Cafe. We actually made it this time!!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Fond 8/31/2013
Good news, made it to Fond. I kept my drinking on Friday night moderate this time. But on Saturday that was a different story. College football started this week, and I like to place a little action on college football, so as my games were coming in (or missing) I started drinking to calm the nerves a little. You know what it's like to have the dice dancing on the table for 12+ hours over the course of an afternoon? If yes, then you know why I needed a few drinks, if not, well try it sometime and then you'll know.
So back to Fond. I absolutely loved this place. The food was simply fantastic. The ambiance was amazing. It was quaint and cozy, but yet private and tucked away. We had a little later reservation, but everything turned out splendid. The only thing that I wasn't thrilled about is they are advertised as a BYOB, but yet have a full bar so they charge you an uncorking fee. The uncorking fee was only $10, so still cheaper to buy a bottle and take there then buy a bottle there.
Now if I can just remember what we had to eat, sorry it was a while ago, and if you've read my other posts you know I enjoy the bottle on the weekends so not all details are clear okay? Okay!
That's right I had the Skate Wing. Now, let me tell you, I ordered this thinking it was chicken. Why did I think that, well it has the word wing in name for starters, and I never thought of fish as having wings. Well I was wrong, I ordered fish. Bit of a surprise when my plate was brought to me. Want to know a secret? It was delicious. I'm glad I made the mistake and ordered it. I wish I had more at the end, but needed to save room for desert.
What I ordered was a bit easier to remember because it's an everyday offering on the menu. The appetizer and what my girlfriend ordered are another story. Those were off the specials menu, and I have no idea what they are. I can tell you that I ate about 1/3 of my girlfriends dinner and loved it. I can also tell you that the appetizer was good, whatever it was. We ate all of our appetizer and dinner, that's how good it was.
For dessert we got the cannoli's. They were good. Not like you can screw up cannoi's, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ones they offered.
That's it, all I got. Not the best I know, but best I can do. I will say this, Fond is an absolute gem. A great place to go for a special occasion, or just a night on the town. It is a little on higher side for dinner, but it is worth it. We will be going back to Fond, I can guarantee that.
Next week we visit Le Virtu.
So back to Fond. I absolutely loved this place. The food was simply fantastic. The ambiance was amazing. It was quaint and cozy, but yet private and tucked away. We had a little later reservation, but everything turned out splendid. The only thing that I wasn't thrilled about is they are advertised as a BYOB, but yet have a full bar so they charge you an uncorking fee. The uncorking fee was only $10, so still cheaper to buy a bottle and take there then buy a bottle there.
Now if I can just remember what we had to eat, sorry it was a while ago, and if you've read my other posts you know I enjoy the bottle on the weekends so not all details are clear okay? Okay!
That's right I had the Skate Wing. Now, let me tell you, I ordered this thinking it was chicken. Why did I think that, well it has the word wing in name for starters, and I never thought of fish as having wings. Well I was wrong, I ordered fish. Bit of a surprise when my plate was brought to me. Want to know a secret? It was delicious. I'm glad I made the mistake and ordered it. I wish I had more at the end, but needed to save room for desert.
What I ordered was a bit easier to remember because it's an everyday offering on the menu. The appetizer and what my girlfriend ordered are another story. Those were off the specials menu, and I have no idea what they are. I can tell you that I ate about 1/3 of my girlfriends dinner and loved it. I can also tell you that the appetizer was good, whatever it was. We ate all of our appetizer and dinner, that's how good it was.
For dessert we got the cannoli's. They were good. Not like you can screw up cannoi's, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ones they offered.
That's it, all I got. Not the best I know, but best I can do. I will say this, Fond is an absolute gem. A great place to go for a special occasion, or just a night on the town. It is a little on higher side for dinner, but it is worth it. We will be going back to Fond, I can guarantee that.
Next week we visit Le Virtu.
Victor Cafe 8/24/2013
Okay so a few things. First I'm way behind in writing about the places we've been on date night. Second, we never made it to Victor Cafe on 8/24/13 for our second date night. That's right, date night was missed on it's second date. I can't believe it. Well actually I can. I was invited to go to the Phillies game with a couple of buddies that I don't get to see that often on 8/23, the day before date night. So what happened? Red bull and vodka happened. I think I had 20 of them. Okay that's an exaggeration, but I had a lot to drink. So as my 31 year old body found out, while I can drink through the night like the old 21 year old me, a decade later the day after drinking all night I'm useless. Seriously useless. I had to bail on date night, just couldn't do it. I was looking forward to visiting Victor Cafe too. Next week Fond, and I will be making this one, I guarantee it. How do I know, because it already happened and I made it, so boom.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Chiarella's Ristorante 8-17-13
On Saturday, August 17, 2013, my lovely girlfriend and I had our first date night since things have settled down for us after purchasing a home in South Philly. I knew that she wanted to go to Fond or Le Virtu, but those places are impossible to get a same day reservation on a Saturday night, especially when you don't think of the idea until mid day. So I scrambled for a bit, even called Fond and tried to sweet talk/bribe my way in for a table there that night, but with small restaurants that is hard to accomplish. So I tucked my tail between my legs and got us a reservation kiddie corner from Fond at Chiarella's Ristorante.
Before making the reservation I bounced between Chiarella's and a few other places before finally deciding to pull the trigger on Chiarella's. The reviews were good, mostly 4 stars on Open Table, and the people took the time to write a review along with giving a star rating. The reviews were consistent, and after my visit I will say they were accurate. Before I talk about the food/atmosphere/hospitality let me disclose that I did have a few adult beverages before going out for the evening (what do you want for me, I couldn't deliver on the 2 restaurants on the top of my girlfriends list I needed a drink to take the edge off, and you know you can't stop with just one), but that didn't sway my judgement of Chiarella's in any way.
I thought the place was terrific for the start of the weekly date night. It didn't set the bar to high or to low for future places, but since it was the first place we went to, all other places will be compared to it, whether that is fair or not. The food was great, but the portion sizes were a little small. We started with the bruschetta, but it wasn't your typical bruschetta. I can't remember what they put on top of it, but after the first bit my mouth was salivating for the 2nd. My girlfriend didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but she said that was probably because she was expecting something different, no problem for me just meant I didn't have to share the 3rd piece. Small portion, only 3 pieces in total.
For dinner I had the chicken parmesan, and my girlfriend ordered one of the specials, it was a crab meat and shrimp farfalla. I can't remember what kind of sauce it was in, but it was delicious. My chicken parmesan was good, but I would've like a bit more pasta than what was provided to me. The good thing about not getting enough pasta was that I had plenty of room left over to eat her leftover farfalla. The shrimp and crab meat were fantastic. For desert we each had a cannoli, which was also amazing and the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
Now the one thing that could've made the experience better would've been service. The service wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. They had 1 server in the area we were sitting for about 10 tables. Way to many for 1 person to handle. Now the bar tender/guy that seated us/I think he was the owner or manager also pitched in and took orders, but he wasn't very helpful at all. If anything I would say that he was constantly judging us, probably because we were dressed up (I wore shirt and tie, she was in skirt and heels) and everyone else was casually dressed.
I would eat there again, and with expectations lowered I'm sure I will have an amazing time. Next date night dinner is at the Victor Cafe.
I'm just one man, and this is my opinion. Thanks for reading.
Before making the reservation I bounced between Chiarella's and a few other places before finally deciding to pull the trigger on Chiarella's. The reviews were good, mostly 4 stars on Open Table, and the people took the time to write a review along with giving a star rating. The reviews were consistent, and after my visit I will say they were accurate. Before I talk about the food/atmosphere/hospitality let me disclose that I did have a few adult beverages before going out for the evening (what do you want for me, I couldn't deliver on the 2 restaurants on the top of my girlfriends list I needed a drink to take the edge off, and you know you can't stop with just one), but that didn't sway my judgement of Chiarella's in any way.
I thought the place was terrific for the start of the weekly date night. It didn't set the bar to high or to low for future places, but since it was the first place we went to, all other places will be compared to it, whether that is fair or not. The food was great, but the portion sizes were a little small. We started with the bruschetta, but it wasn't your typical bruschetta. I can't remember what they put on top of it, but after the first bit my mouth was salivating for the 2nd. My girlfriend didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but she said that was probably because she was expecting something different, no problem for me just meant I didn't have to share the 3rd piece. Small portion, only 3 pieces in total.
For dinner I had the chicken parmesan, and my girlfriend ordered one of the specials, it was a crab meat and shrimp farfalla. I can't remember what kind of sauce it was in, but it was delicious. My chicken parmesan was good, but I would've like a bit more pasta than what was provided to me. The good thing about not getting enough pasta was that I had plenty of room left over to eat her leftover farfalla. The shrimp and crab meat were fantastic. For desert we each had a cannoli, which was also amazing and the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
Now the one thing that could've made the experience better would've been service. The service wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. They had 1 server in the area we were sitting for about 10 tables. Way to many for 1 person to handle. Now the bar tender/guy that seated us/I think he was the owner or manager also pitched in and took orders, but he wasn't very helpful at all. If anything I would say that he was constantly judging us, probably because we were dressed up (I wore shirt and tie, she was in skirt and heels) and everyone else was casually dressed.
I would eat there again, and with expectations lowered I'm sure I will have an amazing time. Next date night dinner is at the Victor Cafe.
I'm just one man, and this is my opinion. Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Purpose of Phood Dining with Dustin
Welcome to Phood Dining with Dustin. First let me say that I'm no food critic. I'm a country boy, that grew up on meat and potatoes. I know what tastes good to me, but I'm a very picky eater, so my opinion on food will probably differ greatly from yours. I am not afraid to say what I think though. I'm also not afraid to try new places, mostly at the urging of my girlfriend, but I have fun too so why not.
My girlfriend and I recently bought a house in South Philadelphia in the East Passyunk area. There are a number of great little restaurants throughout the area. After a few months of painting, sanding, staining and moving we are finally getting settled. Since things are starting to settle down, we started date night. Now every Saturday we are going to get dressed up, and try a new restaurant without repeating a restaurant. We are making one exception to this though, we decided we are going to become regulars at Stoagie Joe's on Passyunk Ave. It's close to where we live, the food is smashing and they have great drink specials. We've already been to Stoagie Joe's quite a few times, so I will write something about them later, I will warn you though, that blog will be heavy in favoritism.
Since we live in such close proximity to great restaurants in the East Passyunk section of South Philly, we are starting here. As we go out more we will expand our area of dining, but for now we are looking at places within walking distance.
Why dress up? Why not. Who doesn't like to get fancy every now and then.
Our first date night was this past Saturday, August 17, 2013. I will write a review later in the week. Reservations have already been made for the next 3 Saturdays, and I'm really excited about the upcoming places.
So welcome, and come back each week for a review of another great restaurant in Philly.
My girlfriend and I recently bought a house in South Philadelphia in the East Passyunk area. There are a number of great little restaurants throughout the area. After a few months of painting, sanding, staining and moving we are finally getting settled. Since things are starting to settle down, we started date night. Now every Saturday we are going to get dressed up, and try a new restaurant without repeating a restaurant. We are making one exception to this though, we decided we are going to become regulars at Stoagie Joe's on Passyunk Ave. It's close to where we live, the food is smashing and they have great drink specials. We've already been to Stoagie Joe's quite a few times, so I will write something about them later, I will warn you though, that blog will be heavy in favoritism.
Since we live in such close proximity to great restaurants in the East Passyunk section of South Philly, we are starting here. As we go out more we will expand our area of dining, but for now we are looking at places within walking distance.
Why dress up? Why not. Who doesn't like to get fancy every now and then.
Our first date night was this past Saturday, August 17, 2013. I will write a review later in the week. Reservations have already been made for the next 3 Saturdays, and I'm really excited about the upcoming places.
So welcome, and come back each week for a review of another great restaurant in Philly.
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