Laurel, Chef Nicholas Elmi's 7-Course, $85, Prix-Fixe French-American BYOB in Passyunk

[wahoo2000]

My wife and I had dinner at Laurel last night, which I've seen consistently seen reviewed as one of, if not the best, restaurant in Philadelphia.  We had a positive experience, though it definitely did not live up to the hype.  On the positive side, it is rare to dine at a restaurant of this caliber that is also BYOB, and the $85/8-course price fix is exceedingly reasonable by the standards of refined dining in major American cities.  The restaurant is a tiny hole-in-the-wall place devoid of any character or ambiance whatsoever, and it's a pretty tight squeeze.  The service was good - servers were attentive, provided a helpful explanation of each dish, and weren't overbearing when monitoring our wine glasses.  Generally speaking, Laurel tends more toward the food-as-art concept than food-for-enjoyment.  The first two dishes were frozen - hamachi with frozen horseradish powder and green apple and shaved frozen foie gras with granola and champagne grapes.  These were two of the most unusual dishes I've ever eaten with very complex flavors and textures that would be a challenge for even the most refined palette, but I would be hard pressed to describe either as "delicious".  The high points were the smoky sea scallop with ginger and the arctic char with seaweed butter, and the pork cheek with blueberry miso to close out the savory portion of the meal was also a nice dish.  In summary, Laurel is good value, lacking in ambiance, and best suited to adventuresome eaters who are really into refined, experimental cuisine.  

[astrid]

Funny how much experiences can vary.  I liked the atmosphere at Laurel, it's fairly minimalist but in a very tasteful way.  I think the restaurant did put a lot of thought into designing a nice tranquil space for its diners and it pairs well with the style of food served here.  It's the nicest BYOB restaurant I've been to, most of them feel more jammed in and frenetic.

We loved our meal here.  Certainly in my top 5 for the year.  I particularly liked the hamachi with horseradish snow and the shaved frozen foie gras - I enjoyed the interplay of temperature/texture/flavors, and how they change between bites.  We also ended up splurging on two additions, the ricotta gnocchi with shaved alba truffles and the grilled Kobe beef, they were expensive but soooo worth it.  The snails, scallop, cod, and pork dishes were all very well done, but not as nearly as interesting as those 4.  The huckleberry/olive oil dessert was interesting but had an odd bitterness that I didn't like.

I would definitely come back here, especially if someone else was paying for the meal with additions.