Izumi Sushi

While my restaurant attendance has done anything but wane over the past two years I am embarrassed to admit that my blogging has suffered. Well, worry no more, I'm back to blogging (or at I'm least trying to)!

I visited Izumi Sushi for the first time yesterday and after a little web-review-hunting it seemed like this East Passyunk establishment is the place to fulfill your raw fish craving these days.

Well, I have to say, I left satisfied but not that impressed. The menu did have some interesting special rolls, most notably the "Remy Roll" which featured an array of eel, whitefish, and crab meat along with eel sauce, spicy mayo, bonito flakes, and seaweed powder. While I did find the combination of flavors and fish enticing and delicious in this roll, there weren't many other menu options that seemed new or different from other sushi restaurants. I found the scallop sashimi fell flat and did not have the sweetness I usually expect from raw scallop. To top it off, when we asked our server what her favorites or must tries were, she told us she was not big on raw fish. (So...why are you working at a sushi restaurant...or can't you at least pretend to like sushi?) Other than this odd statement, she was a very pleasant server.

Regardless it was a nice evening to sit with my friend, chat on the sidewalk, enjoy a bottle of wine (BYO to boot), and have dinner. I was satisfied, yet not raving. B-

Izumi Restaurant

1601 East Passyunk Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19148

www.izumiphilly.com

Plaza Garibaldi

Plaza Garibaldi was actually my first Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia. A friend of mine, from Puebla, Mexico, brought me here because it is one of her favorite restaurants that prepares the dishes that remind her of home. The decor evokes a kind of 70's Mexican vibe with tables covered in sarapes and sombreros hanging from the half-mirrored half-wood-panelled wall. Let's face it, you don't really visit Garibaldi's for the decor. When you enter, you can seat yourself wherever you please. The servers promptly bring you red and green salsas and tortilla chips to hold you over while you salivate over the menu-and (sigh) there are too many delicious options to choose from. On this particular occasion, I went with my mom and my sister. The former, a typical immigrant-fabulous-cook-and-very-picky-person makes me anxious wherever I take her.

My sister ordered the Fajitas de Res which came sizzling in a cast iron skillet accompanied by fresh tortillas, guacamole, rice, and refried beans. The meat was well seasoned and full of spice without being hot. The vegetables were sauteed just enough to take out the raw bite but were still crisp and not like limp wet noodles. Let me just mention that this huge portion (that was heavy on the meat) was only $12.00. While, I wasn't in the mood for a fajita, I was envious of the smell emanating from her sizzling platter.

My mom ordered the Enchipocladas which were 3 chicken enchiladas (again stuffed with meat and only $12.00!) smothered in a spicy-and I mean spicy- chipotle sauce, topped with cheese and creamy avocado, and served with rice, pico de gallo, and refried beans. This is one of my husband's favorites and...wait for it...my mom loved it! She appreciated that they did not dumb down the spiciness of the dish and could not get over the value.

I decided on the Enchiladas De Mole which were 3 tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken, dripping with mole sauce, topped with cheese, and served with rice, pico de gallo, and refried beans for the bargain basement price of $11.00! The chicken was perfectly cooked, not dry. The mole was complex, tangy, and sweet. Actually, my mother and I shared our enchiladas and it was nice to go back and forth between the mole and the chipotle sauces.

Just to reiterate, this place is a steal. The portions are huge (we all had leftovers) and every item on the menu is less than $15.00. I always leave Plaza Garibaldi stuffed and satisfied and looking forward to my walk home to digest. The ladies are always sweet and smiling. Even if the decor is a little outdated, it is definitely cozy. This is a great place to have a casual, authentic Mexican meal with friends or family. Speaking of family, as we were leaving, my mom turned to me and said, "Next time I'm getting the shrimp fajitas. Did you see how big those shrimp were! And how many you get!" It puts a smile on my face just knowing that she's already planning a 'next time.' You know it must be good.

Overall: A-

Plaza Garibaldi

935 Washington Ave.

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 922-2370

Uzu Sushi

Uzu Sushi has been one of my favorite BYOs for some time. Even though it is located on Market Street in Old City, it is quietly tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the area restaurants, making it a convenient hidden gem. I frequent this restaurant, sometimes on a weekly basis, because since I discovered it, no other sushi place is able to satisfy me. From their sashimi to their creative rolls, everything is light, fresh, often spicy, and leaves me smiling. As you enter, the owner greets you with a warm smile as he shows you to your table. He is attentive, but never rushes you through your meal. As he presents you with your dish, his smile always widens with pride at his carefully constructed masterpieces. While the restaurant is tiny, it is a cozy haven where you can bring your favorite bottle of wine, and leisurely relax and enjoy a top notch meal.

When ordering, I generally skip the bound menu altogether and go straight for the paper strip that lists the sushi items available. To be honest I've really only had a few items from that menu (despite the countless times I've been there) because the sushi is really the star.


Here we tried (clockwise from top) the Spicy Scallop, Rainbow, and Devil's Delight rolls. The Spicy Scallop is one of my husband's favorites. The scallop is sweet, and the spicy sauce is a careful balance of creaminess and spiciness that highlight the scallop. The Devil's Delight is one of my favorites. The meaty sweetness of the tuna, the spicy jalepeno, combined with the tempura crunchies give you spice, sweet, and crunch all in one delicous bite.

On the left we have the Fireman Special (top) and the Raising Arizona (bottom). Similar to the Devil's Delight, the Fireman Special combines tuna and crunchies on the inside with more tuna on the outside and spicy sauce. The Raising Arizona has yellowtail, masago, scallion, and jalepeno on the inside with spicy sauce. The light, firm yellowtail with the bursting beads of the masago and the fresh spice of the jalepeno are a perfect combination.

I saved the best for last-just looking at this makes my mouth water! Pictured here are the Toro, medium fatty tuna (top left), Hamachi or yellowtail (bottom left), and the Spicy Scallop (center line). The Toro is a luxuriously rich and meaty piece of tuna that is worth the splurge. The yellowtail is a more lightly flavored, tender yet firm fish. Finally, our favorite of all rolls/sushi is the Spicy Scallop sushi. Mouthfuls of melt-in-your-mouth sweet scallop tossed with masago, that dances around your tongue and pops at just the right moments, are bathed in the creamy and spicy sauce, and presented on top of a bed of lightly vinegared sticky rice and surrounded by the seaweed wrapper that somehow manages to delicately secure everything on the trip to your mouth. This is what you MUST have when you go here. This is also what will keep you coming back.

There are items on the menu, like the Spicy Scallop sushi that are outstanding and deserve an A+. Most items fall into the A category with very few, mainly because they are the more common rolls, that I would give a lower rating. Rolls range from $5-$15 with most hovering around $9. The Sashimi will cost you around $6/2 pieces. While its not the cheapest sushi you can find (do you really want to eat the cheapest sushi you can find?) it is still a bargain for the quality. Every experience here has been pleasant. In fact, this is my go-to restaurant for out-of-town sushi-friendly guests and every single one of them has left happy. My guess is, you will too.

Overall: A

Uzu Sushi

104 Market Streeet

Philadelphia, PA 19106

215-923-9290

www.uzuphilly.com

Taqueria La Veracruzana

As I continue my search for authentic Mexican food (without actually having to travel to Mexico) I thought I'd try the place where Jose Garces supposedly goes to get his taco fix-Taqueria La Veracruzana. The first thing I noticed upon entering was that the decor was a bit better than the average taco joint. I then took the liberty of standing awkwardly in the doorway for a full 2 minutes waiting for some sign of what the "system" was here. Should I seat myself? Wait for a server? Order at the counter and then sit down? I also couldn't tell which tables were really even available because many of the vacant ones hadn't been cleared yet. I went to the window, asked if I could just sit anywhere (which seemed like the system? I'm still not sure) grabbed some menus and we were on our way.

The server was really sweet, although she was overwhelmed with the million things she had to do at once. She spoke english pretty well so we avoided any ordering problems. She brought us some tortilla chips with red and green salsas. The salsa verde was refreshing and spicy while the red salsa was more earthy with a strong chipotle flavor. Since we weren't organized enough to have brought-our-own we went for the nonalcohlic drink list which contained cokes imported from Mexico. I could not tell the difference between the Mexican version of a Coke-a-cola and the American one, but I did appreciate that it was in a glass bottle. I don't know why but it just seems extra special and vintage.

The Tacos al Pastor came three to an order. The pork itself was seasoned with spices like cumin without any heat. However, it seemed as though the pork was shredded instead of shaved off of a spit like a traditional taco al pastor which was kind of dissapointing. However, the addition of fresh pineapple gave it a nice sweet note. The taco as a whole was pretty dry. B-. Parrillada Nortena- Nortena Syled Grilled Meat was a heaping portion of grilled beef, chicken, and Mexican sausage with cactus, onions, cheese, and sacapostlena sauce. The beef and chicken were fine. They had a nice grilled flavor, but it was not surprising that they were on the dry side. The sausage mixture was the best of the three meats. Covered in chihuahua cheese and sauteed with vegetables, I wished this was the only meat in the dish. One of the reasons we chose this dish was for the cactus, which neither of us had tried before. I couldn't really distinguish the flavor with everything else in the hash, but I did notice it reminded me of okra with that kind of slimy mouth feel. I didn't mind it though for some reason. The pico de gallo was a fresh addition. B.

To top it all off we ordered the Chilaquiles Rojos which were under the breakfast part of the menu, but were still available for dinner. This was another heaping portion, with enough food for 3 people. The red sauce with soaked tortilla chips sat underneath a mound of shredded (and dry) chicken. The red sauce had a real kick to it, which I really appreciated. The queso fresco and sour cream rounded out the dish to cut the spicyness and add a creamy texture. B-.

Tacos, burritos, quesadillas and the like are all around $6-$7.50. The larger dishes are more in the $12-$15 range. The dishes were what I would expect from this sort of Taqueria. It lies somewhere in between the Qdobas and real Mexican street food. Something with a hint of Mexico to keep the actual Mexicans coming but not enough to make them stop yearning for chilaquiles the way mom makes it.

Overall: B-
Taqueria La Veracruzana

908 Washington Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19147

215-465-1440

Mercato

My husband had bought tickets for us to see Seinfeld at the Academy of Music. I saw this as the perfect opportunity (or excuse) to try a new restaurant before the show. I mean who ever heard of a show without dinner, right? As I began looking for something near Avenue of the Arts, I realized that I never tried Mercato. I guess that with all of the new cuisines from around the world that are available, Italian-inspired doesn't really interest me anymore. I figured it was time to try this place, since people do seem to love it, so we made our decision and our game plan for the night was finalized.

We were the first diners to arrive at the restaurant (OK, so 5pm is a little early to eat on a Friday) which meant we had the luxury of picking from the many seats carefully arranged in the small space. We chose one near the completely open, or really missing, window/front wall. The decor was simple and comfortable. The open kitchen greeted us towards the back, a nice setup. It was a pleasant cool evening. The sun was shining in at just the right angle to give the restaurant a kind of angelic glow. Our wine was opened and poured, glistening in the glass. I was happy. We were served a dense slice of warm bread with a delicious olive-garlic butter. It was a nice beginning to the meal.

We started with a charcuterie/cheese plate which we were able to construct ourselves. I really liked that we could pick our quantity of and specific elements for this plate to ensure we got what we liked. We opted for the spicy chorizo with two of our favorite cheeses, the grassy and buttery Pierre Robert and Caciotta al Tartufo a harder cheese with the decadent flavor of black truffles. The three items were $15. Not bad, considering the portions of each were pretty generous. Bread was not served with the plate, but the server was quick to offer us more as soon as we had finished our initial slices. The cheeses were served with a pomegranate jelly which was sweet, thick, and crunchy. The house-made mustard was excellent. While I didn't care for it with the chorizo, I did eat it on its own. It wasn't too tangy but had a mellow mustard flavor with pieces of what I thought were mashed apples. It was like a mustard flavored apple sauce. All in all a nice plate with well done accompaniments. B.

For my entree I decided to try the Pasta of the Day which consisted of house made fettuccine, mussels, shrimp, cherry tomatoes and spinach. The plate was nicely presented with a big piece of crusty bread on top to sop up all of the drippings. As I dug into the pasta, I found it had become one big clump of mush. It had turned into an overcooked solid mass that I had to carefully pry noodles from without splashing myself with the red sauce-I was not very successful and my dress became speckled with red dots. The shrimp were incredibly tiny like you would find in a deli shrimp salad (I've had nicer shrimp for Chinese take-out). Both the mussels and the shrimp were overcooked and dry. To top it all of the dish was incredibly spicy. I do love heat, but I wasn't expecting it here. Beads of sweat began forming on my forehead and the previously angelic sun now seemed to beat down upon me mocking me for thinking everything was off to a good start. I couldn't eat the dish and was glad I had filled up on the cheese and chorizo. C.

My husband had better luck with the Pan seared Diver Scallops. Aside from a slightly burnt parmesan tuile, everything was nicely done here. The scallops were seared nicely, perfectly cooked and sweet. The wild mushroom risotto with peas was creamy and rich. I have always been a sucker for the explosion of peas in your mouth in a perfectly rich, slightly al dente, and creamy risotto. My only citicism would be that it had a touch too much parmesan in the risotto. The dish was beautiful. At least he had an edible dish that didn't attack him when he tried to eat it. B.

We ordered two cappuccinos and a selection of gelatos to finish the meal. Sugar cubes made from raw sugar were presented with the cappuccino's which I thought was really cute. The cappuccino itself was not the best, the foam lacked the indulgent thick and creamy texture that I love. As the server brought the gelatos, he quickly turned and left without telling us the flavors, and then seemed to disappear so we were on our own to discover them for ourselves.

The meal had a nice beginning, the atmosphere was pleasant and quiet when we arrived (but much more lively and crowded by the time we left). But after the pasta of the day, I was turned off and disappointed. My husband's meal was better, but for around $25 an entree, I expect all the kinks to be worked out. Especially at a place with this much interest. I can see the appeal of the open windows, the BYO atmosphere, sidewalk dining, and lively scene, but I think people get too caught up in this alone. If the food doesn't leave me anxious to go back again and again, then I think the restaurant has missed the mark. In my opinion, a little fine tuning is needed here.

Overall: B-

Mercato

1216 Spruce St.

Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-985-2962

www.mercatobyob.com

Little Fish

My first experience at this restaurant reminded me of why I love dining out. It was New Years Eve 2008. My husband and I did not have any specific plans. We knew that we wanted to see our friends, who were in town for the holidays, and watch the fire works at Penn's Landing. Aside from that, we had no agenda. To fill our time we settled upon one of our favorite pastimes-searching Opentable.com for a hopeful last minute opening. While this hunt is usually unfruitful, on this night the stars were aligned. There was an opening at Little Fish for a party of two. They featured a special lengthy tasting menu for New Years Eve. We had always wanted to try this highly rated establishment, so we decided to give it a try. We were hooked after this night. It was my first memorable meal in a long time, and for me that is nothing to laugh at.


I love the feel of this place. First and foremost, it is small. You have to push your way through tables and people just to get to the restroom. The fact that the employees squeeze themselves into this cramped space, limited in nearly every sense of the word, and yet are still able to turn out wonderful dishes that surprise you, make you close your eyes and really say "mmm" is a remarkable feat. It shows that the proprietors really love what they do. This tiny restaurant allows chef-owner Mike Stollenwerk the freedom to create mouth watering dishes that leave us wanting more. Followers willingly wait their turn for a reservation and pack together in the restaurant, eager to try his creations. Nothing describes the Philadelphia dining scene better than grabbing a bottle of wine, walking around the corner to your favorite BYO, and dining casually in a cozy yet classy restaurant, all the while enjoying delicious food with good company. Little Fish is the epitome of what a Philadelphia restaurant is today.

Upon entering, we were greeted by one of the pleasantly eclectic servers. The handwritten menu was presented on a charming strip of cardstock (and also posted on the wall for those who prefer to gaze across the room to test their 20/20 vision). After we ordered our appetizers the journey began. We received a slice of warm bread. It was dense and chewy. Normally, I prefer my bread a bit crustier. However, the combination of the warm soft interior was the perfect vessel for sopping up the fresh and vibrant dipping sauce of parsley, garlic, lemon and olive oil. This simple start was enough to get my mouth watering.

It was time for our appetizers. I started with the Maine scallops which were beautifully centered on the plate. They had a perfectly crisp sear on the outside with a tender and sweet center that practically melted in my mouth. Crunchy and salty marcona almonds intensified the sear on the scallop while the sweet orange segments played nicely off its succulence. The mache provided a little bite of lightness to round out the dish. I think there was a drizzle of some sort of sauce, but there was so little I couldn't really tell. Although I wouldn't have minded more of a presence in a sauce, I didn't really miss it. I give it an A. Next, we had the Peekytoe crab. The crab 'salad' was wrapped like a package in a single thinly sliced cucumber. Inside, the crab mixed with the flesh of the creamy avocado, the fresh cucumber, chives, and sharp crunchy julienned radishes. The creamy avocado heightened the sweetness of the crab while the radishes gave it a nice contrast. This was a more subtle dish but still as elegant and indulgent as the first: A-.

For my entree I had the Halibut. The fish had a nice crust but unfortunately I found it to be slightly dry and over salted. I would have been disappointed, but the other elements of the dish were really the star. It was served with light as air, pillowy gnocchi, crisp yet sweet fava beans, plump and tender chanterelles and the most delicious, buttery, creamy truffle sauce I have ever tasted. The sauce with the gnocchi could have been a dish on its own. I could eat this every night and still never grow tired of it. The richness of the mushrooms, with the tantalizing crunch of the vegetable and luxury of the truffle were exquisite: A. My husband had the Suzuki, a fish neither of us had ever tried before. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin and light flesh. The flavor was similar to a striped bass. It was served on a bed of tender fingerling potatoes, spicy merguez sausage, and wild little neck clams in a red pepper sauce. This sauce was light yet carried out the spices of chili and paprika from the sausage. It added a vibrant red color to the dish that reminded me of a bouillabaisse. The heat from the sausage was a nice contrast to the light flavor of the fish and was delicate enough not to overpower it. While my dish was full of rich flavors, this one was showed another side of the chef with a spicy-light note. It is nice to see both ends of the spectrum at one meal: A.

Since I am a pastry chef, I normally do not order dessert, especially at BYOs. I find that dessert is an unfortunate after thought at many places. I generally avoid it in an attempt to save myself from the almost guaranteed disappointment at the end of a good meal. While I was not blown away by the dessert menu options (creme brulee, cake, panna cotta) or flavors (coffee, vanilla, lemon, chocolate) we did decide to share the chocolate truffle torte. I have to admit that despite any sort of innovation here, it was surprisingly satisfying. The torte was slightly warmed. The cake was moist and smothered in a rich ganache. It was served with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries. While I am not a chocoholic, it did leave me wanting to lick every last bit of gooey chocolaty-ness from the plate.

This meal, like each one that I have enjoyed here, was marvelous. And while it was not inexpensive (appetizers around $13, entrees around $27, and desserts $7) it is a BYO which saves a few bucks. The total meal with tax was around $100, which for me means it is not an everyday restaurant. However, this is still a bargain for this caliber of meal, especially when you consider that similarly rated restaurants are upwards of twice the cost. Every meal here is a memorable treat for the senses, sure to please even the most discriminating palates.

Overall: A
Little Fish
600 Catherine st.

Philadelphia, PA

215-413-3464

http://www.littlefishphilly.com/