Marigold Kitchen

Elite '08

6

54

Jay C.

Philadelphia, PA

Marigold is a very very good BYO and very small. Reservations are a must.

I believe a new chef is on board but when I ate there last, which was quite some time ago, the presentation was impeccable, the preparation was perfect, and the service was excellent. Everything was tasty. I most remember my starter... an avocado 1/2 carved like a sea shell, on top of the bright green was orange salmon roe, and the whole thing was stuffed with fresh trout (I think). They used to have a very good Sunday Brunch as well.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

17

66

Michael C.

Palos Verdes Estates, CA

I never expected to find a classy BYO here in West Philly right on the edge of University City. Set in a converted Victorian home, the atmosphere is very crisp and at the same time romantic. Tables are spaced out nicely, and the quiet hum of other diners' conversations acts as a nice drone. I came here with a fairly large group (6 people) before, and somehow the experience didn't match up to my past experiences of a two person dinner. I don't think the restaurant lends itself well to groups, so stick with a date.

Waiter service at Marigold is attentive. The food portions are what you'd expect at a classy joint, and accordingly meticulously prepared. However, I've found the taste of the dishes to be average. Dessert was blah as well. Bottom line - there's nothing spectacular here in Marigold - except that it's probably the best get-dressed-up, romantic BYO in West Philly. Plop this restaurant in Old City and it would ooze mediocrity.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

4

12

foodie m.

Philadelphia, PA

Just had a great meal at Marigold Kitchen BYOB.
I had a good experience before but now that there's this new chef and she focusing on "southern" cooking, I was curious to see what all the buzz was about.

One may thing southern influence would be heavy and rich, this menu seemed light and fresh.  The chef puts her southern accent onto the dishes rather than only supply authentic heavy southern food.  

So, with my friends, we shared everything to enjoy it all as much as possible.  
The appetizers were great:
Byrd Mill Stone-Ground Grits and Shrimp= great shrimp and the creamiest grits my one friend had ever had.  I don't eat grits but these were great.
also had: Vidalia Onion Soup with Grape Tomatoes and Scallion and WOW.  This was incredible.  The creaminess made it perfect as soup experiences go.  When we commented on it, the server explained the chef's forte was soup and that was easy to believe.

As for 2nd courses:
-Halibut with Beluga Lentils, Poached Grape Tomatoes and Creamed Ramps =this was light, flaky and my friend compared it to great Chilean sea bass.
-Beef Hanger Steak with Creamer Potatoes and Fiddlehead Ferns = this was super tender and with a wonderful flavor.  Even the carrots were tasty.
-Chive Gnocchi with Spinach, Red Bell Peppers and Shiitake Mushrooms = these are great.  They're light, creamy and potato/chive flavor is super.  I'm getting hungry just typing this.

The cheese plate was also a treat that included unexpected pairings that seemed like culinary ecstasy.  White choc, dried apricots and sliced dates all set off each of the cheeses.  We felt guilty eating all this, but not enough to completely skip dessert.  
We ended with great La Colombe coffee and ordered the Orange Blossom Cake with Coconut, Boiled White Icing and Honey Ice Cream.
This was light and richly sweet and definitely made us think southern sweets.  The accompanying honey ice cream was enough in of itself.

However, when we asked questions and showed curiosity concerning the sour cream ice cream that came with the tart, the server was generous enough to bring a small dish of that too for us to try.  
This meal was really flawless.  Service was great and the atmosphere pleasant and relaxing.  
I'd have to recommend pretty much anything Steven Cook is connected to, that guy is gold.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

0

17

M W.

Lansdowne, PA

Had a fantastic dinner here with my girlfriend this past Saturday.  We both ordered the tasting menu.  Everything was excellent.  The chicken liver toasts with apricot were remarkable.  I loved the halibut with beluga lentils.  The cheese plate was fantastic, especially the Maytag Bleu paired with dried figs.  

Our waitress was great too.  The whole waitstaff did a great job of changing our silverware and clearing our plates.

Chef O'Shea should be congratulated for such a wonderful job.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

Elite '08

55

129

Nate F.

Philadelphia, PA

I never made it to Marigold to check out their old chef, so I can't offer much of a comparison.  The older menu does seem to be more varied and appetizing in my opinion- especially that avocado starter that Jay C. described.  The new chef, Erin O'Shea, specializes in southern-inspired cuisine, which amounts to a lot of "candied" this and "fried" or "pickled" that.  On the menu this looks pretty heavy and didn't really excite me, but the excecution is what matters, and all of our food was delicious.  For an appetizer I had veal sweetbreads over a tangy lentil concoction.  The sweetbreads were sauteed, the yummy salty batter locking in the moisture of the tender meat.  The lentils provided a nice contrast, both in flavor and texture.  Overall, a wonderfully executed dish in perfect proportions.  My entree, the braised beef short rib, was also delicious.  My only complaint with this (and I can't believe I'm saying this) is that there was actually too much meat in proportion to the sides.  The enormous hunk of tender meat was great, by all means, but I could have done with a more substantial amount of the delicious pureed cauliflower and shitake mushrooms.  
I was a bit apprehensive for my vegetarian girlfriend, as there was only one veg appetizer and entree listed on the menu (it doesn't take a massive amount of intuition to presume that you'll have a significant vegetarian clientele in West Philly, folks), but our waitress kindly took us through the menu and offered several of the dishes that could be prepared vegetarian, which was awesome.  My gf was very happy, needless to say, and enjoyed her meal.  
Dessert left something to be desired - tasty, but by no means transcendent.  I ordered the banana bread pudding with coffee ice cream, thinking that it was pudding made from banana bread.  In acutality, it's challah bread pudding with carmelized bananas in it.  It was ok, but I don't think I'd order it again.
Overall, Marigold is a nice BYO option in West Philly.  The food isn't the best you'll ever have in your life, but it's excellent nonetheless. Service was polite and attentive.  Pacing was slightly slow, perhaps becuase we had a party of 8 and they wanted to bring out everything together.  Despite this, all of our dishes arrived hot and beautifully plated.  Make reservations - we went on a Thursday night and the place was full.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

1

31

Totally I.

PA

It was years ago, but it was downright scrum-diddly-umptious!  The Lobster bisque was a mouth-watering work of art and the Barramundi - ahh, spectacular.  I went during the west Philly summer version of restaurant week.  It was one of my best restaurant experiences.

Edit: I've returned since the chef and 'style' shift - modern southern-inspired.  It was still quite good.  The overall experience wasn't as 'perfect' but it's winter now and the ambiance just isn't the same.  That's said, I'd still recommend it, just maybe not quite as high on the list as before.  no change in 'star' rating either.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review

 

9

160

Keith R.

San Francisco, CA

We ventured out of our comfort zone, actually crossing the Schulkyl to try Marigold Kitchen, a highly recommended BYO. It's in an old house in West Philadelphia and is surprisingly big inside. The small seasonal menu was interesting with many fresh ingredients but each preparation seemed simple so as to allow you to fully enjoy the flavor of the main ingredient. We were started off with an amuse bouche of lamb & feta wrapped grape leaf. I wish we could have gotten several more they were great starters. For appetizers we had an asparagus salad and carrot soup. The carrot soup was the best carrot soup I've ever had and I honestly thought about licking the bowl. For main courses we had salmon poached in olive oil with morels and pickeled fiddleheads. I wasn't a big fan of the fiddleheads but the salmon was amazing being so moist and perfectly cooked that the pieces seemed to melt in my mouth. It was new on the menu but cooked flawlessly. We also tried the halibut en brik which was also cooked perfectly. Both servings were generously sized, but despite that we polished off the plate completely. I had chocolate cake with seasame ice cream and a tuille which was good but not the best chocolate cake I've ever had. We also had white chocolate mousse with rhubarb and almond cobbler, that was amazing. We had never had anything like it and it really impressed. The waitstaff was great and we would go back again in a second.

Bookmark   Send to a Friend Link to This Review