Archive for the ‘Olde City’ Category

KISSO

Monday, April 17th, 2006

kisso

After wandering around Olde City on Easter Sunday when most of the restaurants that were open had hefty price-tags, were were hesitant to try Kisso at first. But we were also really hungry, and Messy was craving Japanese, so we figured we'd give ourselves a treat. To our pleasant surprise, Kisso is not super fancy: the inside is all rusty orange colored walls with no decorations save for one set of shelves displaying fancy sake bottles. (As far as we know, these bottles were for show only, as Kisso is BYOB). Everything is minimalist and clean (except for the carpet, which is kind of dingy). The space is quite intimate, with room for maybe 30 people or so. The sushi bar was manned by two chefs and a host and hostess who cheerfully greeted each new set of patrons.

The service was absolutely excellent. Our server refilled our water as soon as we got down to 3/4 of a cup. He kindly let us know that our sushi was ready and asked if Messy would prefer to finish her salad first. Speaking of Messy's avocado salad – it was awesome. Not only did it include a full sliced avocado, but it also had all kinds of other goodies like cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, and a piece of lemon, all topped with a delicous carrot-ginger dressing. Messy also enjoyed the veggie maki, which managed to fit in an inordinate number of fillings: avocado, cucumber, asparagus, tomato, lettuce, and at least two unidentifiable pickled vegetables. It was only five pieces, but they were large and filling. In fact, they were a little too large for Messy to comfortably eat in one bite. Messy also had the inari: tofu skins stuffed with rice, which were sweet enough to eat as dessert.

Picky is slowly branching out in his liking of Japanese fare which is normally relegated to California rolls. After our trip to Morimoto where Picky had his first spicy tuna roll, he's wanted to try another one. He ordered a spicy tuna roll, a California roll and a Philly roll. The Philly roll consists of crab strips, cucumber and cream cheese in an inside out roll, which makes for an odd taste and texture combination. Picky's food was brought out artfully, on a large black stoneware circular plate. The mini kettle holding the soy sauce was an elegant black stoneware piece as well.

Kisso is no Morimoto, but what is? Kisso wins out in it's intimate setting and if you snag a window seat on a nice Spring day as we did, you get a gorgeous view of cherry blossom trees. Neither of us are fans of slabs of raw fish on a hunk of rice so we can't tell you how their nigiri is, but rest assured that the maki we sampled were great.

Messy ****
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Japenese food that looks and tastes good, in a simple, welcoming atmosphere.

Kisso
205 N 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-922-1770
Lunch: Mon – Fri: Noon – 2.30pm, Sat & Sun closed
Dinner: Mon -Thu: 5pm – 10pm, Fri – Sat: 5pm – 11pm, Sun: 5p – 10p

WORLD FUSION

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

* * * * * now closed * * * * *

world fusion
We went here for a prix fixe Valentine's Day dinner with three courses and complimentary bubbly (a great deal at a total of $80/couple). Since we didn't go on a normal night, we can't comment on the regular menu items, but we can tell you what we had!

We started off with a "Kiss Martini"– a heavenly concoction of Godiva white chocolate liqueur, vodka and a Hershey's kiss. (Hey, it was Valentine's day!) Messy had a standard salad that was not especially good, although it was extraordinarily large. [Sidebar: Messy will never understand why restaurants insist on serving huge, uninspired salads. It's not like they make good leftovers.] Messy's main course was vegetable risotto– also very large but unfortunately, tasteless. Picky, on the other hand, started off with a wonderful lobster soup. (Not a bisque, don't call it a bisque! There is no cream added, it's just reduced.) The best part of the soup is the homemade sweet potato crisps lying right in it. Picky's entree was a delectable filet mignon with a Hawaiian coffee glaze. All this was washed down with a complimentary bottle of merlot (Picky has connections!)

We finished it off with a pretty tasty dessert sampler and two glasses of bubbly which neither of us finished – we're not big fans of the bubbly, but that's just us.

Messy **1/2
Picky ***1/2

The final word: A much better bang for your buck if you're a meat eater.

World Fusion
123 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 215-629-1100
Tuesday through Thursday: 5 PM to 10 PM / Bar Menu 5 PM to 11 PM
Friday and Saturday: 5 PM to 12 AM / Bar Menu 5 PM to 1 AM
Sunday: 5 PM to 9 PM / Bar Menu 5 PM to 10 PM Closed on Monday
Lounge Hours – Tuesday through Sunday: 10 PM to 2 AM
Bottle Service Available

PANINI'S TRATTORIA

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

panini's trattoria

A taste of Italy admist the hustle and bustle of Olde City. Any kind of panini you could want at affordable prices, delivered to your table – indoors or out – by a cute Italian. Like many other restaurants seeking to avoid Philly's archaic liquor-license laws, this one is B.Y.O.B.

Messy ****
Picky ***

The final word: Like a higher-class, Italian, hoagie joint.

Panini's Trattoria
317 Market St
Philadelphia, PA
M-S 11-9

NICK'S ROAST BEEF OF PHILLY

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

Nick's is like a piece of South Philly in the middle of bougie Olde City. We enjoyed some fairly-priced pub food while we were entertained by the Eagles game on several TV's, wing-guzzling frat boys at the next table, and an attractive-yet-hardened waitress with no time to be charming.

Picky's cheesesteak was too dry, but that didn't discourage him- he's going back for the famous roast beef. Otherwise the food was pretty good. With all of the options in Olde City, Nick's might not be a top choice. But, then again, if you're short on cash and craving beer and cheesefries, Nick's is the place to be. Especially since there is a "French Fry Gallery" section on the menu, with thirteen choices available. It starts off with the normal golden french fries and golden cheese fries, but then the gallery expands. Maryland crab fries, cajun fries, chili fries, gravy fries, pizza fries, chajun cheese fries, curly fries, curly cheese fries, curly crab fries, curly cajun fries and curly cajun cheese fries.

Nick's kitchen is open until 1am all week and the bar closes at 2am, so if you find yourself craving grease while you're out at a club in Olde City, break out a little early and head on over to Nick's.

Messy **
Picky ***

The final word: We'll be back for the namesake. Well, one of us, at least.

Nick's Roast Beef
16 S. 2nd St.
Philadelphia, PA
215-928-9411

CONTINENTAL RESTAURANT AND MARTINI BAR

Thursday, August 4th, 2005

continental restaurant and martini bar

This super-trendy martini lounge boasts surprisingly yummy and filling food as well as attractive waitresses dressed in black. The menu is an eclectic, tapas-style one with zero consistency in terms of portion sizes.

We started off with a mountain of shoestring fries topped with Chinese mustard sauce. Then Messy went for the oversized-but-boring Continental salad, while Picky chose the yummy, normal-sized shrimp pad thai. For dessert, Picky tackled the huge-and-delicious banana-brownie split while Messy took a chance on the weird, overly mint-y homemade ice-cream.

All in all, this is a great date place (and also, apparently a great bachelorette party place- we saw two the night we were there) but you might want to go on a weekday night to avoid shouting over the din and being jostled by overeager bar patrons.

Messy ****
Picky ***

The final word: Trendy and yummy.

Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar
138 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-923-6069
Mon.-Fri. 11:30AM-2AM, Sat.-Sun. 10:30AM-2AM