best of philly 2009

[coookie]

i saw this posted on the boston board, and thought it might be fun to do the same for philly. to keep it interesting, try to constrain yourself to selecting just one for each category!

best overall meal of 2009:
best dish of 2009:
best high end restauraunt of 2009:
best low end restaurant of 2009:
best cocktail of 2009:
best wildcard of 2009 (that is, someplace you stumbled upon blindly):

i'll go first. this is from the perspective of a recent transplant to philly:

meal: bibou
dish: XLB at sakura mandarin
high-end: matyson (over la croix and vetri, frankly)
low-end: cafe estelle
cocktail: whatever i had last at the franklin
wildcard: lorenzo pizza

[jl0328]

Here are my picks:
meal: Fond
dish: Pixin con panceta (Bar Ferdinand)
high-end: James
low-end: Good Dog (best burger!!)
cocktail: pear martini (smokin' betty's)
wildcard: cafe lift

[Seeker19104]

meal: Caffe Casta Dive
dish: Peruvian chicken (Chifa)
high-end: The Prime Rib
low-end: Rangoon
cocktail: Tamarind margarita (Zocalo)
wildcard: Tavern 17

[PhillyA]

Meal: Zahav
Dish: Revuelto de Champinones (Bar Ferdinand)
High-End: Amada
Low-End: Rangoon
Cocktail: My own Tom Collins (sorry, cop-out)
Wildcard: La Veracruzana or Plaza Garibaldi

[rabidog]

this topic makes me sad when i realized just how few new places i discovered in philly in 2009 (granted, it's not philly's fault - i spent a lot of time not here and the rest of the time flat broke). i don't think any of these were discovered this year, but at least revisited recently:

meal: modo mio
dish: how could i have almost forgotten: the lobster mac n cheese at sonata
high-end: zahav
low-end: gojjo
cocktail: not much of a liquor drinker, so i'll say the pinotage on zahav's happy hour wine list. can't remember its name, purple label.
wildcard: trios trattoria's square tomato pie

my new year's resolution in 2010 is to get out more.

...good thing there's not a category for worst, because i'd be hard-pressed to break a three-way tie. nothing's worse than a bad meal... except three bad meals. :)

p.s.. i had some really excellent sushi out at a place in the burbs, but someone else was driving so i'm not even sure of where it was, much less its name.

[barryg]

best overall meal of 2009:
Amada tasting menu -- as good or better in 2009 as it ever was. Just a fantastic meal from start to finish.

best dish of 2009:
Moussaka at Kanella.

best high end restauraunt of 2009:
fish.

best low end restaurant of 2009:
Royal Tavern, rediscovered by me to have really great food. I could eat here 3 days a week.

best cocktail of 2009:
Cappuccino @ Ultimo Coffee (I'm not a big cocktail drinker).

best wildcard of 2009:
Bomb-Bomb BBQ, Wolf St. btwn 10th & 11th. Although they apparently have great ribs (I didn't try them), it is really a old-school red-gravy Italian joint. Great friendly service and great food. The Calamari & Peas I had was amazing; the squid literally melted like butter.

[megmosa]

Oh man, I love their ribs!

[somastarr]

meal: James
dish: Shrimp and asparagus risotto at Da Vinci
high-end: Parc
low-end: Royal Tavern. (I'm biased; it's my absolute favorite spot.)
cocktail: Last Resort at Rouge
wildcard: La Locanda del Ghiottone