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  #11 (permalink)  
Old 07-07-2008, 12:28 PM
Tocchet Tocchet is offline
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Quick review: I stopped by this new venue on the 4th. It was pretty nice, albeit sparsely decorated and feeling a bit cold/cookie-cutterish. They opened up the huge "window" in front (basically four doorways) but then closed them when too many non-patrons were stopping in to use the bathrooms.....which are a topic unto themselves. When you walk into the men's room, you see the sink and mirror -- okay, normal enough -- plus the urinal -- still normal -- plus two toilets with no dividers at all. Okay, that's wierd. And it's that way in the women's room too. Our waiter told us that the dividers are on order, but I would have thought that something as basic as that would have to be installed before opening since it was the topic of conversation for us and the group at the table nearby. You never get a second chance to make a first impression...

That being said, the beer selection was outstanding, and there's a pretty big bar for seating, along with four or five pub tables. There's a good-sized seating area as well, along with an outdoor area. Our waiter said that they may end up opening a beer garden in that outside area, which would be awesome.

The menu was pretty limited, but I'd assume that they'd add more choices to it.

All in all, a great addition to the 'hood and it has tons of potential. It's an amazing difference between this place and Savannah's, and, along with Sabrina's and King of Tandoor, really changes that block of Callowhill.
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  #12 (permalink)  
Old 07-07-2008, 10:08 PM
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Illiniwek Illiniwek is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tocchet View Post
The menu was pretty limited, but I'd assume that they'd add more choices to it.
I've spoken to the owner, and he and the chef plan to add more items as they get up to speed. Better to start with a few well-executed items than to have a wide choice of poorly made ones.
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Old 07-10-2008, 04:28 PM
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KENfmt KENfmt is offline
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Went the other night. Definitely pleased. Tried jerk chicken wings (very tasty, not really jerk, though), crab cake sliders (also tasty) and baked quarter chicken (delicious).

Service was a little choppy (as to be expected with a new place) but was polite and friendly. Did have a dirty plate delivered to us with the wings, but that's my only real complaint.

Beer selection is good. Atmosphere was decent. Though a little noisy from lack of wall decoration, and couldn't hear the juke box. Also, the bathrooms are lacking dividers between toilets which is very odd, but I expect that's just something they didn't get finished before opening.

Overall, a definite welcome addition.
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  #14 (permalink)  
Old 07-21-2008, 02:27 PM
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jtrain jtrain is offline
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I went on Friday after work. I found the inside nicely redone if totally and utterly blank. At first I thought - wait - is it open? Is this IT? And then I sat and had to repeat myself a few times to get my order acroos to the good looking and personable bartender. I then sat with only 15 other people in the bar area and it was loud. When my friend joined me, I had to beg to go out side. We sat out there wiith a few others and split the fish tacos. They were OK and needd a kick. we tried the calamari too - it was very well done.

But the absolutely simple inside - bar and dining area - left me with no desire to go back.

I am sad because the name of the place is superb. But its missing personality (and noise lowering technology), big time.
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Old 07-24-2008, 09:12 AM
KByrd KByrd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtrain View Post
I went on Friday after work. I found the inside nicely redone if totally and utterly blank. At first I thought - wait - is it open? Is this IT? And then I sat and had to repeat myself a few times to get my order acroos to the good looking and personable bartender. I then sat with only 15 other people in the bar area and it was loud. When my friend joined me, I had to beg to go out side. We sat out there wiith a few others and split the fish tacos. They were OK and needd a kick. we tried the calamari too - it was very well done.

But the absolutely simple inside - bar and dining area - left me with no desire to go back.

I am sad because the name of the place is superb. But its missing personality (and noise lowering technology), big time.
You know if you have no desire to go back they won't have much desire to
fix anything that needs fixing! (smile)

I live nearby so any addition to the dining scene is a plus, imo. I went there
for lunch last Sat.(Sabrina's was jammed(again!)). I thought the food
was fine. There were some out-of-towners patrons so that's nice to
see.
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Old 07-31-2008, 01:35 PM
laptopdancer laptopdancer is offline
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So devoid of personality that I felt like it was sucking my own right out of me. Is it, um, finished inside?

Fine but random menu, sadly having nothing to do with English pubbery, as I had hoped the name (which is great) indicated. Are fish tacos the new buffalo wing or what? These were good but bland, the calamari was very good.

Excellent, but again, random tap selection.

Too loud at the bar to hold a conversation or order a drink.

Reading this I'm just thanking god they had the loos sorted out by the time I got there.

The bartender was lovely (skinny dark haired guy) and the waitstaff, sufficient.
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Old 07-31-2008, 06:31 PM
PhillyBillie PhillyBillie is offline
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I tried the Kite and Key this past weekend for a late lunch. Lunch was decent - not good or bad. I ordered a coffee after lunch and when it arrived I went to add some cream and sugar. I couldn't even move the spoon around - there was a napkin of some sort in the coffee!!!! GROSS!!! I showed the server who promptly offered me a new coffee. uhhhh, no thanks. The server then told me that this napkin fiasco happened because of the way they "wash" the cups. I guess this means they don't wash the cups and just reuse them? I was told the price of the coffee would be removed from my bill.

I usually only lurk on this web site but this experience makes me want to get the word out. Dine at your own risk.

I'm still gagging. I will never go back to this filthy place.
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  #18 (permalink)  
Old 08-01-2008, 01:03 PM
kelly13680 kelly13680 is online now
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Originally Posted by PhillyBillie View Post
I tried the Kite and Key this past weekend for a late lunch. Lunch was decent - not good or bad. I ordered a coffee after lunch and when it arrived I went to add some cream and sugar. I couldn't even move the spoon around - there was a napkin of some sort in the coffee!!!! GROSS!!! I showed the server who promptly offered me a new coffee. uhhhh, no thanks. The server then told me that this napkin fiasco happened because of the way they "wash" the cups. I guess this means they don't wash the cups and just reuse them? I was told the price of the coffee would be removed from my bill.

I usually only lurk on this web site but this experience makes me want to get the word out. Dine at your own risk.

I'm still gagging. I will never go back to this filthy place.
That is pretty gross - at least you don't drink your coffee black! But - Don't condemn a whole restaurant based on one isolated experience. Now, if a few more people chime in and say they had the same experience - well that's a huge problem - but cut them a break!
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Old 08-01-2008, 03:00 PM
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Seanibus Seanibus is offline
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I've been there twice and thought it was OK. The service is spotty, the menu is a little off, and the beer list is odd. But not bad. My only major complaint is that in a neighborhood that is so heavy on great beer bars/restaurants - McCrossens, Brigids, Bishops Collar, St. Stephens Green, Belgian Cafe, London, Rembrandts - they're going to have to do better than this. If this were in a neighborhood that lacked a good beer bar, I'd say they're doing all right, but Fairmount is not exactly thin on strong pub scene.
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Old 08-01-2008, 03:19 PM
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five apples five apples is offline
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I went there on July 5th and had a good experience. I actually like the decor, it is simple and spartan, i kind of dig that. The cook used to be the cook at McCrossen's back when they had good food, say two years ago. Then he cooked at Rembrandt's for awhile. He is definitley talented but to judge the menu at this point is just premature, they haven't set on it yet and will be changing it quite a bit until they are were they want to be. Go back in a few months and judge the food then, then again this can be said of any bar or restaurant ever. Having said that, I had the wings, they were freaking awesome.

I saw a lot of promise and if I still lived in the area would go on a regular basis.
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