Posh Lunch Monday: XIX at the Hyatt

Posted: April 30th, 2009 | Author: Bone | Filed under: Food, Philadelphia |

After a short break (the dim sum Tigg and I ate in New York the week before was nice, but it certainly was not posh), PLM made a triumphant return with a visit to the highest restaurant in Philadelphia (though I would guess that the staff-only cafeteria in the Comcast Center is actually higher), XIX at the Hyatt Bellevue.

Despite the temperature being a sweltering 31c, I donned a short over my tee, which did garner a compliment from the hostess (she said I was handsome, and to be fair, she was right). I was offered table on the roof deck, which I gladly took even though no one else in the restaurant seemed to be that enamored with the thought of al fresco dining on the lunchtime sun. Obviously, there were umbrellas, so the sun wasn’t an issue, and there was a decent breeze as well, so the heat was a lot more manageable than you would imagine. The view was great, I could see the top of my apartment building (which aparently has a large mural on it, they haven’t opened the roof deck yet), and all the way over to the Delaware river.

The lunch menu is either a normal menu where to pick appetiser, entree, maybe dessert, or the ‘express’ menu, which is 3 courses for $19 (including soft drinks or tea). The first course (above) is a buffet, there was a lot there to go at, prawns, salami, parma ham, salads, all good stuff. I could have got more, but I didn’t want to look greedy.

You picked your main course from selection of five or so, I went with the flat iron steak in red wine jus with asparagus and fingerling potatoes. Whenever I’m served a steak which is pre-cut, I always just presume that it was an odd shaped piece of steak, which was too ugly to be served whole. It was okay, but nothing startling, I would have liked to get a couple more potatoes and asparagus spears, it seemed strange to get more meat than accompaniments, but it was still a well sized dish.

The desserts were really fun. On the whole they tasted good but nothing amazing, especially considering all the great desserts I’ve eaten around town over the past few months. Desserts were a buffet affair again, so you could pick and choose from lots of different little desserts, I picked up 5, but there was quite a few others that I didn’t get, and a few bowls of cookies as well. I like getting a selection of desserts, since they’re usually a bit of a treat, so trying lots at the same time lets you experience lots of new things without feeling like you’ve eaten too much.

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