Common Wealth

319 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 372-7581
Website

I was asked to check out a tasting of the menu at Common Wealth in Old City, a "Lowcountry" style bar/restaurant I had not heard of before. As I LOVE Lowcountry food (and living), it did not take much coaxing.

I was offered a drink ticket for myself and a guest. Which was a little strange. Usually if you are invited to review a joint, they at least get you a couple of drinks. Get ya nice an liquored so the food tastes better, right?

Well, unexpectedly, this event took almost three hours and one drink ticket didn't cut it. So I ran up a healthy bar tab drinking some beers after trying some signature cocktails that were recommended. The Queen Anne’s Revenge is on the left – Bulleit Rye, sugar cube, squeezed citrus and bitters and the Travelers Passage on the right – house infused pineapple vodka. I was a bigger fan of the Queen Anne, because I love bourbon and don't particularly enjoy sweet cocktails.

The pork belly with citrus salad and hoisin glaze was first up. It was probably one of my favorites of the night. Although when isn't pork belly? It was crispy on the outside and succulent in the middle. Plenty of fat, though maybe a bit under salted. All in all, not a bad pork belly.

The hush puppies were likely my favorite of the evening, though I am not sure they are still on the menu. The tender interior was contrasted by the crusty fried shell, and the creole style sauce was delicious.

Next up, chicken and waffles. Usually one of my go-to's, can you tell what my complaint was with these? Yo waffles, where's the chicken? They should have been open faced, and served with a spicy/sweet side sauce. It was DRY. But the chicken was delicious. The honey-sriacha aioli was good, but those waffles needed a drizzle!

Open faced was more realistic, but I was left wanting for sauce.

You can see in the cut-away shot the chicken to waffle ratio is way off.

The oysters "Bienville" were next, in a roasted shrimp sauce with Creole butter. I thought these were okay, but they were so rich, they needed some acidity to cut the fat. Also, an oyster on the half shell, which gave me the zing I was missing with their heavier counterparts.

The oysters were fresh and the sauce tasty.

A lot of care went into these, but they were a bit heavy.

The shrimp gumbo was a disappointment. The roux was under developed for my taste, and lacked heat (and flavor).

I mean, almost every course had shrimp in it.

Fried green tomatoes with pickled shrimp were another highlight. The "pimento" was a sauce rather than a cheese spread (as I had hoped when I squealed with delight when I saw it on the menu), but the dish worked.

Crispy, well fried green tomatoes, and tart shrimp, with enough greens to cut the grease. But the tomatoes themselves were not great. Mealy. not even worth showing you that photograph.

Seared scallops on hoecakes with collards and a bacon cream sauce were, again, okay (who doesn't love scallops), but not all that memorable. This could be that I already ate about eight courses (doubles and triples of some), but it was just scallops.

Definitely cooked the right way, but under-seasoned.

Least favorite of the night (and biggest disappointment) was the shellfish and grits. The shellfish sauce lacked a discernible direction, and the subtleties of the lobster etouffee were not enough to save it. The texture of the Anson Mill Grits were great, think pastina but needed some more salt and punch to carry the dish.

The fried bread pudding dessert was well executed, but it was a lot of filler to eat after a meal.

All in all, this was a pretty okay spot, but I don't know that I would be rushing back. It was filling but lacking that lowcountry depth of flavor all around.

Smokey Bones

252 Montgomery Mall
North Wales, PA 19454
(267) 436-4630
Website

I was invited to the opening month of Smokey Bones, a BBQ place in a mall. As usual, I am interested in free food and BBQ (even if it is from a chain, I don't discriminate).

The place was very well put together. Tons of TV's, a huge horseshoe shaped bar, and good lighting. The first problem encountered was that it was really cold in there. I mean frigid. I am fat, so I can take the cold, but the staff and customers were all complaining about it. Not a big deal, still working out the heating kinks.

I hated the menu. It was like a cross between Applebee's and Famous Dave's. The font was all over the place, the menu itself was like a rubix cube. Order this, get that. Some things were more with certain fries etc. Not a fan.

Next up came the beer. They had a good selection, and I chose something to drink while I waited for my wings. It is a good thing. Because the wings almost never came. It was over 45 minutes from ordering to having to remind the bartender I was waiting on an app. It was not just me. I heard tables screaming at the servers, asking for managers, and generally causing a scene all over the restaurant. It was a Tuesday night at about 25% capacity. There should not be a staffing issue. The manager was all over the place. I have never seen more angry customers in one sitting. It was embarrassing to be a part of.

Finally- the wings came. I was all ready to load up my criticism cannon, but damn if these weren't some damn good wings. Actually, I was shocked with how good they were. Smoked after a dry rub and coated with a sweet glaze, I would definitely order these if I were stranded at the mall while someone was shopping. You can see how well rendered they were with the meat pulling back off of the bone. Delicious.

Next up was a pulled pork and hot sausage platter. The pork was good (though if you mess up pulled pork you should be shut down), however the Texas toast it was served with was a bit much.

They had the standards of BBQ sauce to choose from- vinegar, sweet, spicy, mustard.

The babyback ribs were part of my second combo order. They were again, well cooked. Tender, fat rendered out, and the collagen was nicely cooked down.

A good smoke on these ribs (check the pink ring).

The baked beans were okay, but nothing special.

A vat of mac and cheese was another decent side, but very greasy and heavy.

The slaw was okay, vinegar based with a sprinkle of celery seed.

The hotlinks just didn't do it for me. They were too coarsely ground, and had been sitting (like most of the food that night for everyone).

Just to top it off, the loaded fries. The fries themselves were undercooked, which led to a bad intro for the rest of the crowd. cheese and bacon alone can't make loaded fries good.

Below is an idea of where this place is located. Some guy was waving when the pic was snapped, so he was hit with the anonymous dot. Despite the food being better than I had expected, the service and poor management was hard to get over. It was the first time I have seen a number of different tables literally yelling at the manager. If they got that sorted out (remember, it was the first month open), it might be a passable place to eat at the mall.

DCity Smokehouse

8 Florida Ave NW
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 733-1919
Website

I had a chance to hit up the DCity Smokehouse on a recent trip to . . . DC. It is a hole in the wall that cranks out some amazing BBQ. Definitely a breath of fresh air from the usual DC eateries (Ben's Chili Bowl aside).

This place gets packed. You get in line, order, and shuffle aside to wait for your food.

It smells so good in there.

The "Tommy Gun" comes packed with house smoked turkey, crispy fried onions, melted cheese, BBQ sauce, and cilantro ranch on buttery, griddled Texas toast.

The turkey was very moist, and the sweet BBQ mingled with the creamy ranch just about perfectly. I was surprised I liked this sandwich so much, as getting turkey at a smokehouse seems like sacrilege. Let's just say there might have been someone else involved in that ordering process...

Look at the beautiful onion rings.

The "Brisket Champ" comes with onion straws and house made pickles, with a healthy serving of brisket. The meat was very tender, the pickles gave some crispy snap, and the fried onions added to the salty deliciousness.

Very well cooked brisket with a nice smoke ring. It was almost a shame to eat on a sandwich.

Perhaps my favorite was the fried brussel sprouts. These were shredded and deep fried to a crispy, paper thin result.

Even if you don't like brussel sprouts, you would probably devour these without a second thought. It is like a fried salad. Finally, someone made a salad that actually tasted good. All it took was a bath in hot oil and generous seasoning of salt.

House made pickles were another side. These were quite good as well.

A side of hush puppies erased any doubt that this was a glutton-fest. I will just finish with some fried dough please. Again - well salted, nicely cooked and they were oh-so tender inside. Highly recommend checking this place out if you are in DC looking for something that doesn't suck for lunch.