The Plough & the Stars

The Plough & the Stars
123 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 733-0300

The plough and the stars. This Irish Pub and Restaurant is situated conveniently in the Old City area of 2nd/Chestnut St. Plenty of bars and nightclubs surround it, it is a short walk from the Arden Theater (which is why we were in the area), and for the hopeless romantic, it is a short distance walk to the water front area.

When you walk into the premises it is clear from the start this is primarily a pub/sports bar.  I am only reviewing it because I felt the food was of its own merits good enough to include in my blog.

Large TVs dot the wall and the upstairs features 2 huge projection televisions for all the diehard sports fans.

We grabbed a corner table upstairs to people watch, and it was a little less noisy than the aficionados watching the world cup below.

 This is the view from the 2nd floor balcony of patrons below.  A birthday celebration was underway and some couples and businessmen enjoyed a few brews.

Up on the second floor, the large projection screens showed the game while a small bar kept those who wanted a quieter setting while watching the game satiated. 

Interestingly enough, the upstairs features some large paintings, one of which can be seen here and you can see the Greek architectural elements with the columns.  After a little research, I found the original building here used to be bank so the Greek columns approach made sense. On the lower floor there is a large fireplace which I imagine is quite cozy in the winters. 

Calamari salad: coated and deep fried with a provencal sauce. Liked the alvocado touch.  Not quite sure about the grapefruit.  Didn't seem to go along with the rest of the salad. 

Well the soup de jour (spring vegetable) gets a B+ for taste, a C- for presentation. You couldn't throw some parsley flakes or something on top?  Even a little greens (maybe basil) on the side to add some pizzazz?  Come on Plough, step it up!  It was nice and creamy, cooked in a chicken broth reduction and had some notes of pepper.  Not bad, but hardly worth going out of your way for it.

(above) Organic Hudson Valley Duck Grilled Duck Breast in a caramelized Pear Sauce served with Pears Poached in Lemon and White Wine, Mashed Potatoes & Vegetable du Jour.  Now we're talking.  I had mine cooked to medium, and it came out medium-well but that is a minor blemish on an otherwise delicious dish.  The duck itself was tender and juice and the the sweet caramelized pear sauce mixed nicely with the duck with the occasional poached pear adding an explosion of flavor to the meal.  This is probably the Plough's best dish and would highly recommend if you go.  One minor detail of course is presentation--certainly could have done more on that part.  Form the potatoes into some sort of shape (square, circle, more appropriately, soccer ball to honor the World Cup).  It looks like they were just dumped on there. Also, if you are going to slice the duck, arrange the pieces nicely, it takes two seconds and would really give the dish the bump it needs to move from that B+ to an A grade dish.

(above) Atlantic Salmon & Crabmeat Baked Salmon stuffed with Crab Meat in a Lemon Caper White Wine Sauce served with Basmati Rice & Wilted Spinach.  The salmon was not bad although again, the presentation really could use some work.  I'm not sure if there is a disconnect between the kitchen staff and the food expediters (those who prepare the dish for serving), but certainly could have done this better.

Some closing remarks:

• I'm told on Fridays and Saturdays the tables are pushed aside and the bar becomes a night club on those nights. 
• The bathrooms were adequately clean, though a few paper towels were on the floor. 
• The service was terrible. I don't say that as a general rule, but tonight was BAD. I've eaten here maybe 5x and usually never see the same server twice. Probably not making much in tips if the turn around is that fast.  Our server this evening did not know if the restaurant had a "Syrah" and did not care to make conversation with us at all.  Our food was simply brought and dumped on the table.  The coffee was served long AFTER dessert was complete and more than once the server came to check if "we were ok" but the implication was that we were being rushed through our meal (even though the restaurant was sufficiently empty). 
• The redeeming qualities: PRICE. The portions are large and the prices reasonable.  Dinner for two (depending upon the number of drinks) can easily be had for under $100.  The food. For the price asked, the food is quite good. This is the perfect bar as well for an after work brew, and I'd imagine happy hour is quite the lively event.