Victor Cafe

Victor Cafe
1303 Dickinson Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19147
Monday – Thursday: 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Friday: 5:00pm – 12:00am
Saturday: 4:30pm – 12:00am
Sunday: 4:30pm – 10:00pm

The Victor Cafe is a music lover's rendezvous.  It features Italian cuisine complemented by performances every half hour or so of opera by the waitstaff. The restaurant is over 95 years old.  It has a rich history not just in opera, featuring such greats as Joan Southerland, Luciano Pavoratiti, but also is famous for its camero appearance in the Rocky Balboa movies.

The Victor  Cafe started as a record store which is significant because above the entrance there is a dog sitting in front of a phonograph player, symbolizing the history of the restaurant.

The restaurant is perfect for a birthday or celebration as the Victor Cafe rendition of the "birthday song" sang operatically is unforgettable. Several tables were having birthday celebrations on the day we were there.

Cold puree of roast pepper with garlic. Tasted similar to gazpacho.  Nice start to the meal.

Victor Salad* Iceberg lettuce, tomato, and hardboiled egg in our house Gorgonzola cheese dressing.

Cannelloni Fresh pasta stuffed with ricotta, spinach and veal, served with marinara and béchamel $17. Béchamel sauce, also known as white sauce, is made from a roux and milk. It is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine. It is used as the base for other sauces.  Roux is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces.

Chicken Cacciatore: means "hunter" in Italian. In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style" with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine. Cacciatore is popularly made with braised chicken or rabbit.

My favorite dessert- creme brulee of course. Not bad here.

My uncle got the Strawberry panna cotta. Pretty good choice here.  In all, the restaurant had above average food, nothing to write home about though.  However, the big plus is the live music performances and if you are an opera aficionado or music nut, this is your spot.  Even the music / record industry history adorning the walls is enough to keep you busy for hours.

Of Note:

Marsha Brown

Marsha Brown Creole Kitchen and Lounge 
15 South Main Street - New Hope, PA 18938
http://www.marshabrownrestaurant.com/

This is one of the fanciest restaurants in town, and one of the best tasting.  The facility, a 125 year old stone church right in the center of New Hope, Pennsylvania features a main dining room with 40-foot ceilings, an impressive 30-foot mural, antique furnishings and stained glass windows.  The painting on the wall is a local artist's interpretation of St. George Slaying the Dragon.

We sat on the second floor, and there are actually a total of 3 floors.  The biggest area is the second floor where the main dining room is, and the first floor is the bar area and a few meeting rooms.

Real Gumbo Ya Ya. What says New Orleans better than gumbo? Chicken, andouille sausage and rice in a slow cooked Cajun roux.  My uncle ordered this dish which he stated was excellent. He orders gumbo frequently so I trust his judgement here.

The shrimp cocktail was decent as well,  not extraordinary, but decent.

For my main course I got the special, a Chilean Sea Bass with a risotto type sweet, cheesy sauce.  Perfectly complimented the fish.

French Quarter Surf and Turf: Twin filet medallions paired with a heavenly crab cake and crawfish risotto. My uncle's main course which he said was delicious.

Of Note:

 The downstairs bar area was very well appointed.

 Lush side meeting rooms.

Some spaces downstairs for diners who prefer a more bar type environment.

Taste of the World

Taste of the World
http://tasteoftheworld.co/
Union Square Dr, New Hope, PA 18938

We stopped in here for lunch today after a delightful sightseeing tour along the New hope and Ivy land railroad. If you have not seen it I would highly recommend going there. We were walking back to the car in the large public parking area that is only one dollar per hour and happened upon this place on the way to the car. It is a lovely inside and outside venue that clearly does a lot of catering and meetings as well.

We sat inside a well decorated orange colored room with white tablecloth gorgeous flower display at the bar and some Cubist and impressionist paintings on the wall. The cozy restaurant was very well appointed.

We started with the tomato bisque which was out of this world. Sweet creamy and quite possibly some of the best tomato bisque I have had in a while.

I followed the tomato bisque with a chicken sandwich. Chicken - ancho rubbed and blackened breast with roasted garlic mayo and topped with sautéed spinach and fresh tomato. Very tasty and the side order of potato salad was fresh and tasty.

My uncle had the BLT sandwich which was very good as well. It was also served with a side of the potato salad which was fresh and had traces of red pepper which was tasty.

For dessert I had a caramel apple treat that was baked to order. Apple Tart Tatin a la mode - caramelized apple tart in puff pastry - vanilla ice cream. Fantastic.

My uncle got the meringue and strawberries which he said was very good but gave him a sugar high. It was very sweet. The coffee after dessert was worth mentioning as well as it was a nice bold blend and certainly of a higher quality than I normally expect. This was by far my favorite restaurant of the day after visiting here for the weekend and I would definitely return again.

Porterhouse Restaurant

Porterhouse Restaurant
5775 Lower York Rd Lahaska, Pennsylvania
Open at 11:30 AM Tuesday through Sunday
Closed Mondays
 (215) 794-9373

We stopped in here for dinner at the start of the weekend excursion to New Hope, Pennsylvania. The outside of the restaurant was very well decorated for fall and festive haystacks, pumpkins and lights adorned the exterior. The restaurant upon entering was full and rightfully so for a Friday evening at around 730. We had made a reservation prior to coming to the restaurant so our table was ready quickly but people were being told there was a 45 minute wait to be seated. We were taken to the upstairs dining area which was quite large and from the exterior it does not appear to be quite as big as it is inside.

 Shrimp cocktail we had to start was perhaps the highlight of the meal.  The cocktail sauce was house made with some horseradish sauce.  Had just enough kick to it--good but not overpowering. This was the best shrimp cocktail I have had in awhile.

I started with the cream of chicken soup with crackers which was OK. Nothing to make a fuss over but it wasn't bad either. It was just average.

For my main course: $28- A Dry Aged 18 ounce Rib Eye steak, mesquite & spice rubbed, served with garlic butter & crispy tobacco Onions. Accompanied by garlic mashed red potatoes. Unfortunately I ordered the steak medium and it came out extremely well done. The steak was dry and not very flavorful and there was certainly not enough au jus at all. The best part of the entrée was probably the crispy tobacco onions which were thin onion ring like fried onions with a bit of sweet seasoning.

My uncle got the fillet mignon which was a step up from the Delmonico but not much better. $24 5 or 8 ounce Filet Mignon grilled and topped with bubbly Maytag Bleu Cheese & toasted walnuts. Served with mashed potatoes.

Nothing tempted on the dessert menu so we had to decline dessert and the coffee after the meal was sub par as well. Overall the atmosphere was nice and dinner for two was just under $100 so the price was right as well. However the food left much to be desired especially the steak. I can't speak for the beer since I am not much of a beer drinker but it does appear the restaurant caters to those who like a good brew.

Of Note:

 The main dining area.

 View from our table upstairs of an adjacent vineyard.  Very pretty.

 Upstairs dining area.

 Downstairs dining area.

Outside lit at night.

Townsend

Townsend
1623 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
(267) 639-3203
http://www.townsendrestaurant.com/

Townsend restaurant on E Passyunk Ave is the French foodie's dream.  This converted town house features a seasonal French menu with emphasis on wine pairing.  A well stocked bar stays open until 2am, a hallmark of the typical restaurant/bar combinations in the South Philly area.  We arrived a little after 8pm for our reservation.  The ambiance was upscale business casual.  Certainly no place for tank top and shorts but a button down and slacks will do.  Even a nice polo shirt for those so inclined.

Upon entering it at once felt like we had entered the home of someone living there.  I really enjoy these converted home-business establishments.  They retain some of the character of the house that once was there and I admire that.

White table clothes and the de rigueur candle lit tables dotted the restaurant.  We were taken upstairs and seated on the second floor at a decent sized table for two.   Service started immediately, was consistent and excellent throughout the meal.  Never too obtrusive but exceedingly attentive and well paced.  Exactly the way service should be. First water service and then bread service promptly thereafter.

The bread service was nothing to write home about.  In fact, the most memorable thing about the bread service was the stainless steel basket it was served in.  The bread...not so memorable however.  With the exceedingly high quality of the other components of the meal, I was actually surprised the good people at Townsend did not step this part of the meal up a notch.

For the first course we both got the Andalusian Gazpacho. Basil Oil and Croutons.  Fantastic. Well chilled and the tomatoes were so fresh.  The basil leaves while adding some flavor I could have done without.  Maybe strain them through the soup and leave them out next time.  I'd rather have a hint of basil than get full basil leaves stuck in my mouth.  Just my preference though.

My second course was the Potato Gnocchi.  Roasted beech mushrooms, oven dried tomatoes, caramelized onion, thyme. Well done. No complaints here.  Perfectly executed.

My uncle got the Jumbo Lump Crab Risotto.  Truffle asparagus Salad.  Pretty tasty as well. I will say the portion sizes were not the largest however.  But three courses and a dessert later, I found myself pretty well satiated.

Rabbit Pot-au-Feu.  Loin Roulade, braised rabbit, carrots, potatoes. Our server informed us this was the chef's favorite dish to prepare. I was pleasantly surprised at how tender the dish came out.  Rabbit tends to be on the drier side of meats, so this was a nice treat.  Pot-au-Feu is a French beef stew and the loin roulade is the center piece of the dish with a wonderful creamy filling.

For the main course, my uncle got the roasted organic chicken. Leg Galantine, speck, artichoke barigoule, carrots, lemon. A galantine is a French dish of de-boned stuffed meat, most commonly poultry or fish, that is poached and served cold, coated with aspic.

For dessert, I got my standard creme-brulee. I have had creme brulee at at least 20 restaurants so I consider myself a bit of an expert.  Well executed, perfectly torched, and the creme was of decent consistency.  A well executed dessert.

For dessert my uncle got the lemon torte which was a nice finish to his meal.  We both polished off our desserts in no time.

Of Note:
My cocktail of the night the Hotel Nacional: white rum, apricot liquor, pineapple, lemon, lime, angostura bitters.  Fantastic. Must try.

Bar area