Philly RW Part Deux

Sadly, last week capped off my very last Restaurant Week in Philly. My motto, of course, was "go big or go home" so I knocked off three places from the list in the span of three days. Blew through quite a bit of cash in one week, so will be recovering from this extravagance for awhile.

Barbuzzo

Barbuzzo is hands-down one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia - I don't have a #1 choice, but it definitely falls within the top 5. The menu is very carb-heavy (at least the good dishes are), but also gives you a pretty good portion for the price. I was only able to finish 1/3 of my main entree pizza, so if you count the fact that I technically got two meals out of this dinner (I had the rest for lunch the next day), $35 for the pre-fixe menu is not a bad deal at all.

The place has a very rustic feel and the tables are rather close together - I have found that it is a more ideal lunch spot than a dinner date

Top: Sheep's milk ricotta; Pear, pecorino & walnuts salad
Bottom: Roasted beet salad, roasted bone marrow (ordered a la carte)

Paccheri al Forno, wide pappardelle -type pasta with braised lamb and greens
Capricciosa Pizza, mozzarella, olives, basil, meats

The famous Salted Caramel Budino, one of the most decadent and amazing desserts every created

Just a few highlights: the sheep's milk ricotta is a must-order item. It is lightly whipped and slightly sweet (almost like mascarpone) and also goes perfectly with the bread they provide as well as the leftover crusts of their pizzas. I always love getting one of their pizzas because of the sheer size as well as the crispiness of the crust - I usually prefer thin crust over the normal density, though won't say no to deep dish now and then (Chicago represent!). Finally, their salted caramel budino alone is a great reason to visit Barbuzzo. I believe they offer them for take out as well, which is extremely tempting.

Kicking Off Restaurant Week

So I might have gone a bit overboard in terms of "calorie-splurging" the past couple days... no regrets.

Round One: Bridget Foy's

First stop of Philly's Restaurant Week was the eclectic Bridget Foy's, a Philadelphia landmark that has been situated at the corner of 2nd and South St since 1978. The decor was pretty interesting with a lot of colorful photos, including one that looked like a family of olives singing together (unfortunately don't have a photo, but I'll let you use your imagination on that one).

Top: Cheese Steak Croquettes, these were great - the perfect combination of crunchiness on the outside and melted cheesiness on the inside. I usually do not like cheese steaks (I find them too salty), but this variation was really enjoyable
Bottom: Crab and Corn Bisque, nothing too memorable about this dish... especially because there wasn't very much crab

Butternut Squash Risotto, Dulche de Leche Cheesecake, Apple Crumble, Steak Frites

Overall, it was a nice experience being able to check this establishment off my list. Would I go back? Probably not. It's rather far from campus and the food wasn't anything that I would make a second trek all the way over to 2nd Street for. 

Wine & Dine at Melograno

I have been wanting to try Melograno for ages... ever since I saw they had a truffle mushroom pasta on their menu that people have literally swooned over. Finally managed to make my way over for a quiet Sunday date night with the boyfriend and was pleasantly surprised that they were offering their Restaurant Week menu, even though it was Sunday.