Twenty Manning
25.Feb.08
261 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, PA
Dear friend Michael from chorus is heading north to raise money for that pauvre little school called Harvard (OK, the Divinity School, but still). So, Mike and I decided to treat him to dinner. Where to go? First stop was Open Table because I hate talking to people. Turns out there were quite a few tables open for Sunday, including Twenty Manning: Michael said he loved it there, and we’d never been but always wanted to, so it was a match made in heaven.
I arrived first and immediately ordered a bottle of Cava ($40) chilled to fete Michael. The boys arrived shortly and we sipped our very balanced bubbly while perusing the menu. So, TM has two special “deals”: Sunday-Thursday there is a $30 prix fixe special that doesn’t let you choose everything on the menu, but an awful lot; tonight, they were also offering a $100 prix fixe for two that included a bottle of wine and anything off the menu. We were sort of confused as to what this would all mean for a table of three, but the waiter basically said to tack on another prix fixe (hence $30) for the third person and have at it. I lucked out with the cava already being one of the wine selections for the special, so we basically got the regular prix fixe price with our choice of entrees.
Either way, it was a steal, because everything was delicious. We started with a lovely cheese plate, with nary a figurative stinker in the bunch, accompanied by some bread, grapes, raspberries, and apple. We also shared the veggie spring rolls which were perfectly cooked and nicely flavored. This course may give an indication of the Asian influence here: if it makes sense to add Asian flavors, they do it; if not, they’d rather provide something delicious and not been hamstrung by a concept. This is not an Asian restaurant, but instead an upscale restaurant with a chef specializing in Asian cuisine. It fits.
After polishing that off, we dug into our entrees. I had a delicious hanger steak (what is my deal with beef lately?) that was in a rich, slightly fruity jus that perfectly accompanied it (the glass of Malbec I ordered didn’t hurt either). Mike devoured his duck, and Michael delicately dealt with his tuna — all raved.
I can’t even remember what the boys had for dessert because I was obsessed with my strawberry shortcake that was just fabulous — not overly sweet, with flavorful and not gritty shortcake.
The service was very good, as one would expect on a slowish night; the room is very nice — upscale but not stuffy; stylish but not pretentious.
Overall, I was really impressed. For around $200 total we were bowled over by well-prepared and flavorful food, nicely selected wines, and wonderful staff. You can’t ask for much more than that. I can see why it’s become something of a reliable friend for many Philadelphians, and now I want to try Audrey Claire.
