These restaurant reviews were originally published in 2014. A lot has changed since then. If you have any restaurants you think should be featured, let us know!
Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House
I’d never had Nan Zhou noodles before, that is until I found myself in the Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House. I had no idea what to expect since I was only in town visiting and had never been there before, but my friend assured me that it was something I had to try while I was there because she’s never found another place like it.
I am so glad that we had dinner here because it was honestly the best noodles I’ve ever had in my entire life, and the rest of the food that wasn’t noodles was just as good. The spring rolls and dumplings were the perfect way to begin the meal, and the meatball noodle soup was just as good. My entrée was the beef stir-fried noodles, and she had a rice dish, and every part was just as good as the one before it; highly recommended if you’re in the area.
Bardot Café
If you’re looking for a great place in Philly to enjoy happy hour, or even a high-class, delicious dinner, I’d tell you to check into Bardot Café first. I frequent Bardot Café for happy hour because I love the drinks and the ambiance of the whole place.
I’ve met dates, clients, friends, and just about anyone you could imagine here and never had a bad experience no matter the time of day or night we come by, and they’re open. They even offer brunch with some of the most delicious egg dishes I’ve ever eaten, and the cocktails are to die for no matter when you get the pleasure of drinking them. If I had to pick my favorite place to eat or drink, I would say that Bardot Café is in Philadelphia.
Helm
This is the best concept for a restaurant that I’ve seen in years; as soon as I heard about Helm, I knew that my family and I would have to try it and see if the food tastes as good as the idea sounds. Upon arrival, we were greeted with friendly faces, a beautiful restaurant, and some of the best, freshest food any of us had eaten while eating out for as long as we could remember.
I love that the menu is constantly changing based on what is available for the time of year and from the suppliers they use, so you know that you’re really eating for the time of year like humans are supposed to. Every person in my family absolutely loved their meals, and we can’t wait to go back again; there is so much left to try.
Zahav
Even though I’ve tried food from just about every part of the world, Israeli food was something I hadn’t had the pleasure of trying until I started dating someone from Israel. For our first date, he wanted to meet at Zahav, and after looking at their menu online, I absolutely had to try it, so I agreed to give it a shot.
It turns out that the food, and the date, was some of the best I’d ever had. The bottle of Israeli wine we shared was delicious, and it just enhanced how amazing our entrees were; I had the Chicken Shishlik, and he had the Duck and Foie Gras Kebob, and both of them were some of the best food I’ve had in my life, seriously. Since our first date there, we’ve been back to Zahav at least half a dozen times, and every time we go, it was just as good as the first.
Miles Table
I love taking my family to Miles Table because they have such a great variety of different meals to choose from; even my pickiest eater has more than one thing that he loves here. Plus, if you’re bringing a rather large family like mine with you, the prices are really great so everyone can really get what they want to eat and it’s much more reasonably priced than many of the other restaurants in Philadelphia.
We actually love their food so much that we’re considering using them to cater my daughter’s wedding reception; it’s her favorite restaurant in the whole world, so why not get to enjoy it on the most important day of her life? I’ve heard great things about their catering, so I think we may be calling them up soon to set it up. In the meantime, we’ll be back for more as soon as we can.
Wedge + Fig
My friends wanted to meet for dinner to catch up and enjoy a really good meal together kid-free, so I went looking for somewhere we’d never been before, that had food we would all enjoy and was located relatively close to all of us in various areas of Philadelphia.
After doing my research and checking reviews and menus, the answer was clear; I absolutely had to try Wedge + Fig, and everyone else agreed. We all got different things from different parts of the menu, and everyone fully enjoyed their entire meal. We came for dinner for our first experience, but after seeing the brunch menu and tasting how good dinner was, we quickly decided our next meeting would be for brunch one weekend, and we can’t wait!