Pod

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5fordinner

Joined 6 years ago

Not very impressed. I was really excited to try Pod and so made dinner reservations for a Tuesday night. We arrived 15 minutes early and were sat promptly. Our waiter arrived and quickly took our order, our food arrived soon after. My problem with Pod, four entrees arrived while the 5th ( a pad thai dish) was a no show. After waiting several minutes we flagged down a waiter and mentioned the missing dish. Again, several minutes with no dinner. The waiter who took the original order was then called over and he finally got the 5th entree to the table.

Price? Roughly $50 a person, with only 2 having alcoholic beverages. As far as the ambience, there isn?t any. This might be cool setting by night, but dinner at 6 o?clock while the sun is still shinning makes the interior look kind of dirty. For the prices this restaurant charges I was not expecting to see people wearing shorts and flip flops. I was expecting much more from the place. No complaints on the food, the spicy shrimp sushi was good, but not better than I?ve had at other restaurants. The chicken macadamia stir fry was very good, as was the pad Thai shrimp. Other assorted appetizers were also very tasty. Overall impression, you?re paying for the colored lights and plastic chairs.

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gocrytomommy

Joined 6 years ago

Great Atmosphere, Friendly staff, amazing specials. I signed up to comment on the post by delicatessecritic since he seems like a restaurant troll. I'm a regular at Pod and love it. I dine there about 2 times a week, alternating between dinner and lunch because their menu is a little different. In reply to delicatessecritic's comments about the sushi, I'm sorry to hear your had a bad experience, because I'm in love with this place. Maybe you ordered the wrong items? Maybe your Cali roll or maybe your Philly roll weren't up to standards since I bet that's all you ordered were those "basic rolls". Maybe try something a little different like they're U love Salmon 2.0 or the Pod lobster roll. As for the Sushi Chef comments, I'm not sure who you had behind the sushi bar, but at nightime, I always order the sushi special because they're always extraordinary. Therefore, he puts together some great specials. I also doubt he's there 24-7 so you might not have seen him. I guess you've heard of sous chefs or sushi chef assistants also. I guess not though or you wouldn't have posted your comments.

Here's my long overdue review of Pod. It's an amazing restaurant. Everything about it is excellent besides how packed it gets Friday and Saturday nights. They have a wide selection of food to choose from, even if you're not a sushi eater. They have great "dim sum" which is what they call their apps. I totally recommend the Crab Spring rolls, Short Ribs, and Pork Dumplings! All of their apps are wonderful, but those are the ones that stick out in my mind. For sushi, I would get the Pod Lobster Roll or U love Salmon 2.0. They're amazing. The sauce on the Pod Lobster roll is to die for. For entrees I always order the Sea bass, but have changed to their Crispy Duck and Wasabi crusted Filet. If you like stir fry's, then the Beef stir fry is for you also. Everything is amazing though, especially the drinks. I hope this review helps.

PS.Delicatessecritic, the Lobzilla has been off the menu for about 5 months.

Doesn't Recommend

delicatessecritic

Joined 6 years ago

same owners as Morimoto, same problems. If you have read my review at Morimotos you can already imagine what I have to write here. This restaurant is owned by the same restaurant group. Same problem, the Sushi shokunin (Chef) are japanese students from U of Penn, who never intended to be cooks but were looking for a part time job. It takes according to a Japanese Sushi chef in Tokyo approximately 10years before one is allowed to stand behind the counter and serve its customers. My chef here just like Morimoto has only been at the restaurant for 2 weeks and jokingly told me that this would never fly in Japan. Since we are in the USA it is ok. Well, Actually it is NOT!!! Besides the Sushi, I would say the Martinis are great, and the best dish in the house is the Lobzilla. Risotto of and entire Lobster. Most priciest item on the menu but I guarantee you it will make your trip to POD well worth it. The Ambience just like Morimoto is an A+, the Service A+, The Sushi F-, but everything else is awesome.

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legs2001

Joined 6 years ago

Not worth it! Trending not Tasty!. My boyfriend loves sushi (and he is a bit of an expert), and he was not thrilled by anything served here. In his eyes, everything was over priced and not as fresh as it should be. The atmosphere was lovely, but not worth the price tag. We waited for a very long time to be seated, and then when ordering an appetizer in the lounge area, got passed over by the hostess. She forgot about us! We finally had to sit at the sushi bar, and still got mediocre attention. I have heard that for private parties it is nicer, but I will never return if it is just me and a date.

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m_raven415

Joined 6 years ago

Get into the Pod. I have eaten here a few times and each time was for a different reason. The first was for someone's birthday. Since we have a big group we asked for one of the POD rooms. This is like well a POD. The fun part is that you get to change the lights in the group and make everyone dizzy before the food even arrives. The portions here are big, made for people to share. This is not the best Japanese food that I have tasted but it is above average.

Another time I went for Happy Hour. The have a large varieties of appetizers / dim sum items. More importantly I tasted the "rainbow". POD has these martinis that came in different colors. Some are stronger than others but all tasted great.

The third time I went was for dessert. They have these chocolate dippers that will guarantee to satisfy your taste buds.

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violet_8791

Joined 6 years ago

Can't wait to go back..... I ate here a few weeks ago and can't stop thinking about the place, fun atmosphere, a diverse crowd; I found it to be a really cool spot. The food was great! We started with the calamari salad, which was fantastic, light, and pleasant dressing, very tasty calamari, not chewy at all. We next had the lobster rolls which were awesome and I've literally been fantasizing about them for the past few weeks. For our entrees we had the sesame crusted tuna and the wasabi crusted filet mignon, both were just really excellent. Our waiter was fantastic, attentive but not overbearing and very friendly. I also had a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar, the bartender asked if I wanted bitters in my Manhattan, which no one ever asks, so kudos to him for being knowledgeable! In short, I loved the atmosphere and the food and really can't wait to go back to Pod.

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t_girl_dining

Joined 7 years ago

Great ambiance with okay sushi. I've been told that sushi served on a conveyor belt - while novel - compromises the quality of the product. Sushi should be consumed as soon as it is made I'm told, and should not 'sit out.' Each plate has a cover, so you decide. That being said the sushi was fine, but certainly not the melt in your mouth type, and I found the prices at Pod running 15-20% higher for the quality. The pan-asia menu offers a little bit of every popular Asian ethnic dish (dim-sum, pad thai,) but Japanese is the major influence. I ordered a side of seafood fried rice which I found tasty, but please - at $9.50? I think one pays more for the location & hip ambiance that Pod offers - std. cool cocktails to drink in a white vinyl modern, danish-esque setting - they had the movie Barberella on the plasma. Being in University City, I wonder what coed could afford this sushi - I couldn't have! Pod is great for ambiance, and average for food.

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asd4s

Joined 7 years ago

Delicious!. Even if you're not a fan of Asian food you've got to at least try this one. The sushi was delicious and even my picky husband (who does NOT like asian food) found something to enjoy. The desserts were fabulous and I enjoyed their multi colored cocktails.

Doesn't Recommend

ang2921

Joined 7 years ago

bad sushi twice now. It might just have been a bad month for pod, but all I had was bad sushi. The otoro was clearly sitting out too long, the salmon was a few days too old - the seaweed just was never crispy. Pod really threw my tastes. I'll try once more maybe next month, but come on, I expected better. There are many better places for less money in the city.

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dorygirl

Joined 7 years ago

very modern, hip...great place to WOW somebody...unique experience...food is unique and delicious. love the beef served on a hot flat rock...crazy yummy. i wont have sushi anywhere else! wait staff friendly and knowlegeable about diverse menu. a bit pricey but worth the experience i think. a great place to take friends who u want to impress.....and DO NOT FORGET to use the bathrooms...theyre cool too. i love this place...its my fav place to eat in phily---hands down.