Paloma

After a long hiatus (thanks grad school) I found some time to write about my best dining experience in a while.

Other than a bit of an identity crisis, Paloma is fantastic.  Honestly, it's been quite some time since I've felt compelled to tell so many people about my dinner.  Paloma defines itself as "Haute Mexican," while Zagat and Yelp both give a nod to French.  Honestly, it's a fusion restaurant that does have leanings towards Mexican with the glazes and spices, whatever you call it: it's damn good.

I dined at Paloma on a thursday night, and it was oddly empty inside; only two other tables.  Still, the decor is nice.  Steve, our server, has an excellent knowledge of wines.  Bring a few bottles and he'll be able to pair one best with whatever you order.  The service overall is fantastic.

During week days, Paloma runs a 3 course fixe prix menu at an even-better-than Restaurant Week $30. it's BYO to boot, so this is really one of the finest places you can dine on a budget.  Even the regular menu is filled with reasonably priced options.

I started with the mushroom flan and my date had the Caesar salad.  Both were great, just depends on how you want to start you meal. The portion on the salad was generous.

I had a 12 oz New York strip in a red wine reduction.  The chef recommends medium rare, and I heartily second that.  This dish is fantastic.  My date had the salmon glazed with hoisin and chipotle, which was also a really great choice.  Any dish will likely be of high quality.

Bottom Line: I can almost taste my food again by just writing this.  Bella Vista BYO offers delicious food with one of the city's best "bang for your buck" deals.  Get here soon.

763 S 8th St (at Christian)
(215) 928-9500
http://www.palomafinedining.com and on opentable
BYO: Yes
Cash Only: No

Buddakan

Buddakan is the quintessential Steven Starr restaurant. The food is goodish, and the atmosphere is great. The price is more than it should be, especially for drinks, but the majority of your money is going to decor and ambiance.

Nonetheless, I have been looking forward to dining here for a while. I was treating myself, and really wanted to enjoy the whole experience. I made my way to the bar and ordered a cocktail, awakening. It was made with Jose Cuervo, a thai chili, and pineapple juice, and was well made. Still, cocktails here are 10-13, plus tax and tip, which seems to be a bit much. There are some decent beer options available, I remember 60 IPA being $6. I was out with my friend Lena, and once I got to the table I split a pitcher of sangria, which was good an lasted the whole meal. Our server was attentive about filling up our glasses through out the night.

The service over all is good here. All of the dishes come out with good timing and are set in the middle for sharing. For starters we ordered the Kobe beef skewers and dumplings. Both of these were fine, nothing amazing, didn't have incredible flavor. My favorite part of the whole meal was my entree. I ordered the sea bass; it had great flavor, and was served with butternut squash. Lena ordered the Asian Pork BBQ, which was served medium rare and was good. The BBQ flavor was light but tasty. The weird thing about this dish was it was served with huge onion rings, and they seemed out of place.

For dessert we both went with a dish called Crying Chocolate. It was a small lava cake served with a dollop of Vietnamese coffee ice cream. We both really liked the dessert, Lena said the ice cream had a really authentic flavor; it was strong. I liked the cake a lot and it was a great way to finish out dinner.

Bottom Line: Service is decent, and atmosphere is great. The food isn't going to amaze you, but like all Starr restaurants, it's a nice experience.

Chifa

Chifa was my first stop for restaurant week. I was excited for my first stop at a Jose Garces restaurant, as the man has quickly become Steven Starr's main competitor over the last few years. Restaurant week is when over a hundred restaurants over the city offer a three course, prix fix meal for $35. However, portions and quality vary greatly.

I met with my friend Bryana and we were seated quickly, right on time for our reservations. The atmosphere is weird here. Low lights, modern/trendy decorations, terrible but trying to be

cool and in the background music. Overall, it just wasn't my thing. This doesn't make a huge difference though. Our server was excellent. Attentive and friendly, she made the dining experience better.

The menu is Peruvian/Asian fusion food, which sounded random until our server explained. You should ask during your visit. The menu

is set up for sharing, and between the two of us we ordered four different first courses, four seconds, and two desserts. I also opted for the wine pairing which offered a glass of red and white wine. While not amazing, they were modestly prices and matched well with a majority of the food. I also opted for the wine because the beer list was average and overpriced: Flying Fish, Dogfish Head, PBC, ect for $6 or $7.

Dishes are brought out in the order they are prepared, which was a bit faster than I wanted to eat them. We started of with civiche, which was deliciously well prepared. Our pork belly bun came out next, which is a star of the menu. The meat was delicious, but I thought the bun was bland and in poor ratio to the rest of the dish. Despite my complaint, Bryana declared it her favorite dish. We had spring rolls next, which were my favorite. They were flaky and perfectly seasoned. The BBQ ribs were the last of the first courses. It was good, but if you want ribs, go to a place that does ribs, because I wasn't impressed. The meat wasn't memorably tender, and the sauce was average.

Pho started our second course. This dish was poorly made. The spiciness from the jalapenos

overpowered any other taste it might have had. Further it was made from noodles only a few inches long, making it almost impossible to eat with a fork or the provided chop sticks. We were served mussels next, which were great. The sauce was thick and flavorful, the best mussels I've had outside a Belgian joint. Another fantastic dish came out next, seasoned rice mixed with scallops. Chifa did the best job with the seafood dishes. Our last dish before dessert were mushrooms, and they come out in a dish that looked like a pot pie. The crust was unnecessary, but the mushrooms were cooked in a great sauce and were excellent wild mushrooms.

We had hit and miss dishes for both courses. We sampled both desserts from the menu. The first was coconut and passionfruit sorbet dish. This was nice and tangy, but not the way I love to end my meal. I was much more into the other dessert, chocolate ganache with hazelnut brittle.

Bottom Line: With the offerings of a lot of different dishes, the portions are small, but the meal ends up being adequate. Our server told me that the restaurant week menu was a good representation of the regular menu. The whole night was good, but hit or miss. I would have been disappointed if I paid full price, and I honestly can't see myself going back again. If you do have a strong urge to try this place out, opt for the small $18 lunch special. It's almost exactly half of the restaurant week dinner offering. Chifa cooks up interesting fusion dishes, but doesn't quite hit the nail on the head.

Essentials:

707 Chestnut St

215-925-5555

Avg dinner: 35-55

Cash Only: No

Reservations: Required