Grand Gastronomy at North 3rd
N. 3rd seems to have everything going for it. Located in Philadelphia’s hottest, growing restaurant neighborhood, N. 3rd is one of several gastro pubs that have opened in the last few years. Gastro pubs have been taking the city, and to lesser degree the country, by storm. Our very own Standard Tap was featured in a recent Food and Wine article about the recent proliferation of gastro pubs around the US.
Matt, Alexandra, and I decided to finally check it out to see what all the hype was about. Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting my return to N. 3rd since we all had an excellent time. This review could easily have been littered with qualifiers such as “good for a bar”. However, N. 3rd is more deserving than that and I have no reservations about dropping all such qualifiers. N. 3rd is just plain good.
At first glance, the décor of N. 3rd looks like a standard Philadelphia bar. A small room, with a few tables and a bar opposite the door greet you as you open the door. However, upon further examination, one notices a wide variety of local art that is displayed on the walls (including some interesting paintings of human body). The dining room was packed on this Friday evening although we had no problem getting a table since the restaurant is fairly large (there is a second room in the back). Unfortunately, I was forced to wait for our entire party to arrive before being seated, which seemed unnecessary and slightly annoying due to the narrow entryway and frequent bursts of cold, winter air that chilled my body whenever the door was opened. As expected with a bar, the room was quite loud but we were able to hold a conversation at a reasonable volume level.
Upon being seated we were quickly greeted by a friendly server. Throughout our meal, I was constantly impressed with her knowledge of the menu and wine list, attentiveness to our table, and attention to detail. Matt and Alexandra each ordered a beer and I enjoyed a reasonably priced, $6 glass of 2001 Malbec ~ Valdivieso, from Central Valley, Chile. The wine was accurately described by the tasting notes on the menu: “plum and black cherry flavors with lots of structure and a long finish”. All of their wines cost $6 per glass and $20 per bottle so there are plenty of bargains for cost conscious diners.
Matt started out with one pound of the signature wings. He was quite impressed with the wings, which says quite a bit since Matt is a wings connoisseur. Alexandra and I both had a bowl of the French lentil soup with chives. We were both pleasantly surprised by the enormity of the bowls that were brought out. The soup itself could almost be a meal by itself. We both enjoyed the freshness and creaminess of the well pureed lentils. The soup was a little bland in my opinion and could have benefited from some additional herbs or a heavier hand with the chives.
Once again, we were impressed by the portion size when our entrees arrived. Matt loved his tuna burger piled high with French fries and Alexandra enjoyed her roasted chicken breast with mashed potatoes, vegetable of the day, and rosemary jus. I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled Florida Marlin with shrimp and scallion risotto and curry sauce. The marlin was perfectly cooked, moist, and meaty. The risotto was fragrant, had the perfect amount of creaminess and nicely complemented the marlin. Finally, the mild curry add nice flavor that pulled the dish together. This was a $19 entrée that easily could have been $5-$10 more expensive at other restaurants in town. I finished off the meal with coffee and then we headed home.
Overall, I recommend North 3rd since it exemplifies all that is good about the Philadelphia gastro pub scene. With its polished, attentive service, excellent food, and reasonably prices, it should be on everyone’s speed dial.
The Facts
Name: North 3rd
Address:
3rd and Brown Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Phone: (215) 413-3666
Price: Appetizers $4-$9, Entrees $8-$19
Cuisine: Gastro Pub
Website: http://www.norththird.com/
Labels: Reviews
