07/14/09

Had a great time

by pepperoni2215

Loved this place! Got there just as it opened for lunch. The chef was stuck on the subway and the owner came out to explain and offer drinks while we waited. The waitress was fantastic. The peolple watching as we waited on comfy sofas outside made the time pass quickly. The food was great and prices comparable to other big city restaurants we have been too. The staff was so friendly, I would recommend this place to my friends.

• Pros: Excellent staff - good food
• Cons: A bit disorganized

06/11/09

Ehh... Ok

by philly92

My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant for Dinner. I must admit we hated the mushroom soup, BUT the waiter (who was absolutely awesome) saw we weren't really touching the soup and offered to bring out a different kind at no additional cost. The soup he brought out was really good and we both ate every bite. The entree was ok too, but the price is definitely on the high end. The atmosphere was nice though.... The experience was definitely...different.

• Pros: They saw we weren't satisfied and tried their best to fix it
• Cons: Expensive, Small portions

05/25/09

terrible expensive food

by julie82

I went to Anjou for a lunch with a friend. The potstickers were drenched in oil and tasted as if they were frozen and reheated. The accompanying sauce would have been bad for Trader Joe's frozen food. I ordered the salad special which was what had drawn us there -- mixed greens with mangoes, tomato, and fresh mozzarella. There was barely any fresh mozzarella, the tomatoes had clearly been frozen because they were still icy, and the mangoes were brown. The portion was small and I was charged $14. My friend ordered 3 rolls of sushi which were mediocre at best. She also ordered 2 ice teas which tasted funny and was charged $3 for each (waitress did not tell us refills were not free). This lunch came to $60 before tip. Most overpriced bad meal I've had in Philadelphia.

• Cons: overpriced, food quality

04/10/09

Ridiculous

by fredsamford

Not sure what the owners of Anjou are thinking. I went there for an early dinner in Old City and they informed about the martini specials. The "special" was a mini Martini for 7 dollars of shelf vodka or gin. Kettle one in the miniglass was 9.75. What in gods name are they thinking? Food was basic Asian-Fusion. Good, solid sushi, but small portions. Word to the owners: you cannot compete when you have overpriced portions and tiny watered down drinks. No Wonder your place had 8 people at 630 happy hour. Since you have a worn out theme, you need to seperate yourself from the pack. We went right around the corner to Buddakhan where they dont skimp on drinks or food.

• Pros: Nice service
• Cons: small overpriced portions and drinks

03/01/09

You want mashed potatoes with that?

by NYCFRILLS5301

My friends ordered the "Chilean Sea Bass w/ Tarot puree, heart of palm salad, atop a miso glaze [26]," "Pan Seared Red Chile Norwegian Salmon, Sweet peas & couscous in a sun dried tomato, red pepper sauce [22]," "Bi Bim Bap- A medley of vegetable & egg julienne, served with two traditional Korean sauces and a bowl of miso soup (available without beef) [16]." I opted for the "French Cut Chicken Breast, Wasabi gnocchi, wild mushrooms, & asparagus in a sweet garlic ginger sauce [22]."

They had no gnocchi and tried to push the mashed potatoes. I can make that at home for a dollar. No thanks. So they said they can do risotto. Fine, no biggie.

One friend had ordered the salmon because of the couscous. She had been craving couscous all day and was very excited that they had it on the menu. When we finally received our entrees after an hour, She received a plate looking very barren with a piece of salmon the size and shape of a sleeve of laffy taffys and NO COUSCOUS.

The chilean sea bass was NOT served with mashed taro and hearts of palm salad. Just a ring of MASHED POTATOES. Maybe I should have asked what "french cut" meant because now I know that it means "slice a chicken breast as thin and flat as possible to try to cover the plate and keep down costs." My wild mushrooms must've gone loco because they were nowhere on my plate. Maybe they were partying it up with my asparagus because they were also m.i.a. My risotto? Oh it was there all right, resting on my plate like a pale, sticky dome of something that resembled MASHED POTATOES! Since when is it okay to be able to scoop risotto with an ice cream scooper??

We were told "they ran out of the couscous, & the mashed taro" AND the gnocchi? And the wild mushrooms? What exactly do you have back there besides mashed potatoes?

We left without eating and went to soho pizza down the street for better quality food at 2.50 a slice.

• Pros: They have a bathroom.
• Cons: bad food for absurd prices, sneaky tricks to save costs like MASHED POTATOES as the only side!

02/05/09

Anjou has some Indentity Issues.................

by mstutzman

Got there at 6:00pm and the place was completely empty all but a few people at the extremely prominent bar that takes up the majority of one sides of the room. The interior was typical Old City; old brick industrial space, and hard to transform with a few token Asian influences. It was bright and pop music playing, and continued to play over top of the three televisions, hunting, sports and the news, and just like any pub in town there was a gentleman loudly discussing the programs with the bartender.

I had Miso Soup and Filet Mignon. My wife ordered something they were out of and settled for Strip Steak. I was surprised that with a menu that contained four Entrees, one of them was unavailable. The soup was rather good, large amount, maybe too much, hot, fresh and flavorful. The steaks came out and they were definitely fine dining portions, piece of steak, and ration of bland potatoes, onion rings? I ask for my steak cooked medium it came out medium rare, closer to rare, no steak knives, good Pittsburg sear though. All of the food was tasty, the sauces were very nice, a great compliment for a so-so plate of steak and potatoes. I?m guessing that?s what makes it French, the use of flavorful sauces that have a lot of butter in them. Just in the same way that the Asian influence meant using Wasabi in creative ways.

After dinner the waitress asked if we would like dessert, we said sure, and she just stood there. She said "Oh yeah, we don?t have dessert menus, its in my head". It was three items, Creme Brule, Chocolate Mousse and Ice Cream. I got the Creme Brule and my wife got the mousse. The Mousse tasted like chocolate flavored Cool whip, and the Creme Brule was tasty but the attempt and caramelized sugar on top was a mess, and thin.

For a pub with some good steaks that are sometimes cooked how you want them, not bad. But for a "French Asian Fusion Restaurant", with $25.00 Entrees it failed miserably.

• Pros: Large selection of Mojitos, wait I thought those were Cuban?
• Cons: Expensive, so-so food and selection. No visible Sushi preparation.

01/27/09

Worst food ever!

by outandaboutphilly

Went mid-afternoon for lunch, and needless to say it was all around HORRIBLE! The miso soup we ordered had more greens in it than a salad, the tofu was still frozen and the soup itself was so cold I didn?t even eat it. You would think since we were sitting at the bar with no one else around, the bartender would have noticed that I pushed my soup away and didn?t eat it, NOPE. Then came the sushi, I don?t even know how to explain how retched it was. I truly think it was not sushi grade at all. We ate maybe 3 pieces total of the 5 different types of sushi and rolls we ordered, and again the bartender didn?t even blink when we didn?t eat it. Not to mention we had to ask for napkins, chopsticks, etc.; she was too busy talking to her coworkers instead of waiting on us. We weren?t in the mood to argue, so we just paid and left, but ill never ever go back there again! Please save yourself, don?t eat here!

• Pros: location
• Cons: EVERYTHING

11/17/08

No thanks

by DrJosh

My wife and I have given this restaurant 3 tries. We always give people the benefit of the doubt...everyone has a bad day or you order something and it isn't quite right. But in 3 attempts at this place we were not only unimpressed, but downright disappointed. One one visit I had a pasta dish with a clam sauce...the sauce was a wine and butter sauce and the "clam" was clearly a canned concoction that was ice cold. The sushi has always been less than stellar...especially compared to other places in the area. The only saving grace for this establishment is the martini list...but with Bleu Martini literally around the corner, its good for a single drink at best. The one star rating is for the ease of finding a table...I imagine because people who live in the area know better.

• Pros: Easy to find a table
• Cons: Everything else

07/18/08

Pretty decent food, friendly service.

by emmakat

My boyfriend and I attended this restaurant on a Friday night. We had 8 PM reservations and when we went in there were 4 other people dining. I guess we were sort of past the major dinner rush. The ambiance was nice but a little dark. The waitress was great- very prompt and friendly. I guess that isn't that difficult when we were her only table. Anyway- the food came out quickly and it was pretty fresh tasting. The tempura we got as an appetizer was crispy and hot, not at all seeming like it had been sitting around like other reviewers commented. I got the New York strip steak which was pretty good. I did order it medium and it came more medium well but thats OK You'd be hard pressed to find a restaurant outside of a steak house that doesn't overcook steaks. My boyfriend got the Bul Go Ki and said that he enjoyed it. We used a $25 "gift certificate" from restaurants dot com that we purchased for only $3 or $4 on sale so the meal which typically would have been a little overpriced was very reasonable. We didn't get any drinks but the specialty drink menu looked pretty extensive so it might be a fun place for just a drink and dessert.

I'm not sure we would go back because this place didn't stand out incredibly in my mind but it certainly didn't really leave us wanting for much. The main reason we wouldn't go back is that there are so many places to choose from in Philadelphia.

• Pros: Good service, tasty tempura
• Cons: Just a handful of entree choices, low lights, slightly overpriced

02/25/08

lousy

by eterout

fish seemed old and unclean. there was old crusted stuff on the banana leaf on my plate. service was horrible. owner was a creep

• Pros: location?
• Cons: everything else