I live in mt. Airy. I checked with Cake and The Night Kitchen, and they both will have it. Just thought I'd hear from Chowhounds. Near suburbs are okay, but further out becomes unknown territory for us, so no Southampton, or horsham. The Main line is possible. I'm ESP. Interested if anyone has tried the cake, because beauty w/o flavor is so disappointing. Thanks

Meringue mushrooms are a must. My ideal would be a no-flour chocolate roll filled wi whipped cream, dusted with cocoa powder and confectioners sugar, decorated with meringue mushrooms, and maybe some holly leaves and raspberry holly berries.

Anyone encountered one like this? I don't want a too heavy, too rich, miles of buttercream and ganache. No one will eat it, after a big meal.

Okay, I've been and I have to agree, meh or even meh minus. Several dishes had ingredients that were too old to be served, seafood salad with unpleasant mussels, chicken satay that seemed spoiled. That being said, the person whose birthday we celebrated enjoyed her crispy duck, so that was nice. The large restaurant was largely empty, maybe not surprising for a midweek evening. I would not go there again.

Thanks. I agree Pho and Beyond is good. I've got plans w/ friends to try La Fusion. I'll keep my expectations low and report if we hit on something good.

Anyone tried it?

I'm hoping for recs very close to the theater for a pre-theater meal, so not a leisurely-paced place.
The theater box office rec Square Peg, and that seems okay, but I thought I'd ask the Chowhounds.
Thanks.

Geechee girl is dinner Wed.-Sun. and Sunday brunch. When you go, keep in mind that the pace is relaxed. It takes a while. We like the Crispy Hoppin'' John,

I agree about Tiffin. Plus, I ate there a couple of months ago and the floor was extremely sticky. I would have walked out without sitting down, but we were meeting people who'd chosen it. Reminded me of down at the heels movie theaters where generations of children have spilled sodas and no one ever washed the floor. We get takeout Indian from Bhagya's Kitchen on willow Grove Ave in Wyndmoor.

On the other hand, we like Geechee Girl: a pleasant room, genuine cooking with fresh ingredients, not a huge menu but enough variety and specials to keep things interesting.

I asked back in April about an ADA accessible, near 30th Street, good for a group/party restaurant, and the answers I got were very helpful. Now I want to report that the party finally happened, they held it at JG Domestic, and I got big credit for suggesting the restaurant. But really the only credit I deserve is for asking the dedicated chowhounds, the people who are really in the know. I've never gotten a bum steer. Thank you so much. I didn't attend, but they said the food was great and they were very well taken care of. It was "expensive but worth it.". I didn't ask how much.

I would have attached this to the OP, but I couldn't figure it out. A person of a certain age.

Thanks a lot. Just what I wanted to know.

So funny that the readers can be expected o know who Shola is. I am one of them. What is he up to, did you eat at a Studio Kitchen type of set up.? Care to describe the meal?

How's the seating, etc.? The food sounds great, but is it pleasant to eat there?

We like Bar Ferdinand and this evening(late afternoon), we were there for drinks and food. David Ansill has started adding specials of his design, so there was a great shrimp, artichoke, onion salad with very thin slices of dried tuna, salad. I've forgotten the sauce, sorry, but it was imaginative and delicious. And some good bacalao croquetas. We had a very good time, nice service, great sherry, wine and beer. The other Tapas we ordered from the menu: pan tomate; duck hearts; chicken livers with bacon and caramlized onions; assorted vegetables with romescu sauce(really yummy, veg perfectly cooked, but if you order, the sauce is at the bottom of the generous pile of veg, so be sure to unearth it when you start to eat). We ate every scrap, and then Ansill sent out a couple of comps, a great squid with chorizo and bits of red pepper, and finally a blood orange and rosemary sorbet, the sort of mouth experience where you taste a sequence of flavors rather than an amalgam. My husband thought it was too sweet, but I think he couldn't rise to the challenge--we were too full. But still lovely to try it.

Maybe three hours.

A friend is traveling to have lunch w/ me. I'm picking her up at the Bolt bus. She is a vegetarian and she loves good food. Please suggest restaurants, because I am feeling clueless.

Thank you!
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Thank you, everyone. My sister seems to be choosing btwn Fork and JGDomestic, which I'd never heard of before it was rec., so thanks very much.

Sorry I don't know but I think moderately priced and 25 to 30? It seemed that the other qualities were paramount, wheelchair accessible.

My sister just tasked me with this question for a party she wants to host, and I am mulling it over. So far I thought of Fork, but I know Chowhounds have lots of ideas. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Thanks. I've tried Knudsen's and I agree--very good. And I will look into Cherry Republic. Thanks for the replies.

Has anyone taste-tested some of the gazillion sour cherry juices and juice concentrates that are for sale? I've tried Cheribundi, which tastes great, very $$$, and Smart Juice, much less expensive, which tastes okay, not as excellent. I mixed them. I'd like to find sour cherry juice (usually called tart cherry juice or Montmorency cherry juice) that tastes good w/o added sugar. I tried Lakewood's (??) and that was not good--mixed juices, and didn't taste like sour cherry. All these juices are quite expensive, but there are big health claims (e.g., Dr. Oz) for sour cherry juice, for arthritis pain, antioxidants, and even melatonin, for sleep aid. Can anyone contribute information on what they've tried and liked? Thanks.

Thank you both for the replies. We ended up having lunch in Phoenixville at the Sly Fox Brewery/Pub. We shared the beer sampler, which we liked, and had lunch, which was okay, for my husband, and not so okay for me. The chicken Caesar salad had grilled chicken breast that was overcooked to the point of not being worth eating. Since we don't know the area, and it was raining, it was fun anyway. If I lived nearby, I might go back for the beers and get to know what's good on the menu (my husband had chicken wings and fish tacos, and those were good.) I rec. the beer sampler!

On Sunday, we're going to an afternoon performance in Pottstown, an area we don't know at all. Can you rec. restaurants in Pottstown or not too far from? I thought we'd go early, wander around and have a bite before the performance. We'll be driving from Philadelphia.

Thanks.

I'm wondering how Granite Hill is, and where people like to eat in the neighborhood of the Museum.
Thanks.

I don't think this discussion has cost them customers at all. Most people wrote about how much they enjoy and appreciate Saffron, so it was wonderful publicity for them.

I am amazed, sort of flattered and also embarrassed by the wealth of attention and consideration that my post received. I don't think I've ever written anything else that received close textual analysis. I must sound obnoxious, and I didn't mean to, so it's unfortunate.

Thanks a lot for your responses. I found them informative and useful. i think maybe you're right, I was expecting too much. I'm not eager to go back there, but now I know what to expect.

Last night we had an odd and unpleasant experience at Saffron in Ambler. The food was okay--a not so good potato dosa, but decent tandoor chicken and a very nice vegetable dish. After dishes were removed from the table and we were offered desserts, I asked if they would remove bits of food that had fallen to the tablecloth, thinking that they'd overlooked this. But they essentially refused! Ordinarily this would happen, without a patron asking for it, in most restaurants. I ended up asking for an extra napkin and cleaning it myself. I won't go back. Despite convenient location, decent food, low prices--it was unpleasant. (They also requested that we pick up our knives and forks and hold them while they changed plates--but I've encountered that before, so I wasn't too surprised: often it's finer and more expensive restaurants that include fresh cutlery in the service.)

It seemed like the owner or manager thought I was asking for something that was beneath him rather than normal. It wasn't a huge mess--just a few crumbs of food, and a stray pea. Bring your own scraper.

thanks so much for posting this. I'm still interestied in seeing what qi cai looks like fresh. I looked at some seed company websites and didn't find it, but I'm still hoping.

We had dinner with guests from Atlanta. We enjoyed it so much, including very nice pacing of the dishes, not slapping down everything at the same moment, as many Chinese restaurants do. Very nice and healthy dishes, not fried or steeped in oil (though of course fried and steeped in oil can be delicious). The best dishes: an appetizer of chicken in wine sauce, very plain and light; soup dumplings or juicy buns, a novelty for our guests; pea shoots (also a novelty for them); fish fillets with Shanghai vegetable qicai--this was really great, so light and perfect for this weather. I don't know what qicai is--can anyone enlighten me? I thought it was cilantro, but others thought it was cilantro plus something else. And eggplant in garlic sauce, also beautifully prepared. The children had sashimi, egg drop soup, eggrolls, and tasted the rest of the food, and they seemed very happy too. Oh--we also had shumai, which they made stuffed with rice, not pork--a nice surprise, but verging on bland, and regular potsticker style dumplings, also good. What a nice place!

I'm from out of town, I have to meet a friend there (near a memorial event), so recommendations would be very appreciated. Thank you.