One night in for dinner

[Chargenda]

Hey all. I am going to be in King of Prussia and will only have one night to take the train in for dinner and then head back to the burbs. I am in from Chicago and with a coworker. We both want not-stuffy or uptight, but still amazing great food somehwere downtown that we could wander around after perhaps. Supper looks like a great option, but anything else that screams "Philadelphia" would be great. Hope this is enough to go on. I want some inventive creative food, but dont' want to spend 100 bucks a person.

I love BYO, inventive american food, up and coming chefs, places where the food is fancy but the crowd isn't, farm to table dining or local foods.

Thanks!

[barryg]

What day of the week? On a weeknight it sounds like you'd love the Matyson tasting menu--it's themed and changes weekly. A real Philly BYO.
http://www.matyson.com/tasting.html

If you go there you can wander around the Rittenhouse Square area and duck into one of the nearby wine and cocktail bars.

[Chargenda]

Probably a Tuesday or Wednesday.

[Chargenda]

And that looks awesome, that is going on my shortlist! What about Bibou? Tria?

[InSearchOfTacos]

bibou gets booked up early so youll need to make reservations. already booked up if youre coming next week

and i love tria, but its very casual. the food at matyson is a lot more creative and interesting- and the tasting menu is def the way to go

[Buckethead]

Bibou is great but hard to get a reservation, if you'll be here in the near future it's probably not an option. Blackfish is decent but if you're in the area for one night it's not where I'd go.

Kanella would be my pick. It's BYO, not far from the train station, not expensive, and excellent. The only thing it's not is American.

[InSearchOfTacos]

kanella is good but matyson seemed to fit more of the OP's criteria, no?

[Buckethead]

Maybe, I just haven't been there since the original chefs moved out west, so I didn't feel qualified to say one way or the other. As I often joke, "I gotta get back there" (and dozens of other places).

[InSearchOfTacos]

fair enough

i agree with barryg's comment below- kanella is more 'philly' if the menu is appealing. i still prefer kanella during brunch than dinner tho

[barryg]

Agree that Tria is probably more casual and limited than what you're looking for. I like the Kanella suggestion if the menu is appealing to you. The atmosphere and vibe says "Philadelphia" a little louder than Matyson I think, especially if the outdoor seating is setup. The surrounding area is more neighborhoody, too. You can still walk over to Rittenhouse or the 13th St corridor afterward if the weather is nice.

[Chargenda]

Oh, and if you know of places in King of Prussia that dont' suck, let me know!

[cwdonald]

If you are in King of Prussia, and have a car, Conshohocken is five minutes away, and you could go to Blackfish, Chip Roman's restaurant. Great food and its BYO. You will see discussion on this board about a special dinner he is doing with Kevin Sbraga (sp?) a top chef winner at Blackfish.
Also right on the same block is a little Mexican restaurant Limon that is a good mexican taquiera. Further afield you will find lots more mexican in Norristown. Most often mentioned Taquierra La Michoacana

The main King of Prussia area is chain city with all the steak house chains represented (sullivans, mortons, capital grille and ruth chris) , a mediocre legal seafood, cheesecake factory etc.

In Wayne, 10 minute drive from King of Prussia .. Theresa's Cafe and Theresa's next door have nice casual food and an excellent beer selection. White Dog Cafe recently opened in Wayne, and tries to be organic/farm to table type of restaurant.