Doma
Before I forget -
we went to this new Japanese restaurant on Callowhill Street, and we loved it!
We ordered many of the suggested dishes from Craig LeBan's review.
My husband went nuts over the oyster appetizer and the day's special fresh scallop.
My favorite was the pancake with the long name.
It's a small place, so I suggest making a reservation. The owners are from Shiroi Hana on 15th Street, which is one of our favorites. But the unusual dishes, many for sharing, make this place very special.
Easy street parking.
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Domaine Hudson - New American Fare, Wine Bar & Spirits
1314 N Washington Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
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This is a review of Doma - 1822 Calowhill in Philly
Just went tonight - a Saturday night at about 6.30. Walked in no reservations, no wait, although - reservations definitely needed after 7.30pm.
Beautiful atmosphere/decor - clean, modern, but also warm, inviting. Contemporary Japanese, fixtures/plates/vibe - all a big step up from "Ikea-chik" - very tasteful decor.
Service was good - helpful and responsive.
Okay - now for the food. Interesting to note the posts on Philly Chowhound about the dearth of really good Japanese non-sushi-focused restaurants in our city + it's true. I was struggling to come up with even a single one. So, after finding this post on Chowhound (thank you sylviag!), we went this evening after my wife stated a craving for udon noodles.
Started with okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese savory crepe + Doma's was quite large + lots of great ingredients (I think we tasted potato, octopus, scallion to name a few), but unfortunately any subtleness in flavor was overwhelmed by a drenching of BBQ sauce. Their iteration didn't hold together at all, so it was basically an effort in shoveling parts of the crepe from th serving plate onto our plats and into our mouths. A so-so preparation, and wouldn't order again nor recommend to others.
Second dish was a fusion tuna flatbread. Slices of flatbread with a flavored mayo (wasn't wasabi mayo, but something mild) with a nice medium-thick slice of sashimi tuna on top. Overall - yummy + good. Maybe a little too much mayo, but would definitely order this again.
Finally - ordered the miso soup. I'm not a fan of thick miso noodles in general, but my wife thought it was a great rendition of the dish + bowl was filled with noodles, veggies, a tempura something (she ate it before I could grab a bite). Overall - good + she would order it again.
We didn't do sushi this time, but lots of folks around us did + presentations were beautiful + really nice cuts of fish (we saw some really really thick cuts of tombo tuna presented as sushi on our neighboring tables).
Wrapped-up with dessert - sorbet: a lemon/pomegranate sorbet filled into half of a giant frozen lemon; and a pineapple sorbet filled into a half of a mini pineapple. Good desserts + a final palate cleanser, but certainly not a must-order.
So - overall - we're definitely going back. Earlier in the evening is better than later (even with reservations, the vibe was nicer when it was mellower and emptier). Okonomiyaki - no; Fusion tuna flatbread - yes. Udon - yes for my wife. Lots of other interesting apps/main courses to try + definitely going to try some of their sushi offerings as well.
Happy Eating + thank goodness we now have at least one Japanese (food/not sushi) place in Philly worth going to!
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