After the Friday night “dinner” and Saturday morning “breakfast” I was hardly impressed by the cuisine at the Ritz. I was glad I had such a fabulous lunch and could really care less what they had to offer at our closing dinner. I arrived at the cocktail hour with low expectations for the hors d’oeuvres. I was pleasantly surprised with the various options. While I was unable to take pictures – didn’t want my coworkers asking too many questions – I assure you the offerings, which included shrimp wonton, California rolls, chicken satay, salmon tartare, short ribs and fresh mozzarella with cherry tomatoes, more than lived up to my expectations.
After about an hour of chasing around the servers to maximize my intake of shrimp wontons and California rolls, it was time to head down to the dinner table. The salad was already waiting for me.
The usual mixed greens, a sprinkling of cranberries, shredded carrots, a couple of tomatoes and a sherry vinaigrette. It was so cold in the dining room and I wasn’t in the mood for a salad, but this was pretty good. Many of the people at my table cleaned their plate. I was waiting for the entrée.
Slowly but surely our plates were cleared and I started watching the surf and turf plates pass by. I was pleasantly surprised, because I really didn’t think they had it in them. Finally, my entrée arrived.
Two (rather small) pieces of Chilean sea bass, a red pepper sauce, scalloped potatoes and one small tomato. The sea bass was perfectly cooked, the sauce tasted remarkable and the potatoes were perfect. While I didn’t quite lick my plate, it was definitely clean, save the lone tomato.
This dinner was strikingly similar to Ms. O and Mr. M’s wedding, though the ballroom was certainly not as nice as NYAC and while I enjoyed spending time with my coworkers, there’s nothing like the company at the wedding of your childhood friend J After dinner, we went back upstairs for dessert. The dessert set up was excellent. I HAD to take pictures, but was reluctant because I didn’t want any questions. Luckily, my buddy Mr. A’s wife snapped some excellent shots.
The crème brulee was by far my favorite dessert. I only wish they had given me a spoon not a fork so I could have completely cleaned out the contents of the little plate. There were several other treats that I didn’t get a chance to try, but that doesn’t mean I’d pass up the opportunity to let you see for yourself.
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| Some sort of strawberry shortcake treat |
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| Fruit tart |
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| Chocolate!! |
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| I believe these were eclairs, but I didn't try them so not sure. |
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| It's not a party unless there's fondue! |
Congratulations Ritz Philadelphia, just as I was about to give up on you, you redeemed yourself. Hopefully next time, you'll do better.
Hungry yet?
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