French bistro with a romantic vibe offering a seasonal menu with modern versions of classic dishes.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 1623 Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
Phone: (267) 534-4175
Website: https://www.townsendepx.com/
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Order and Reservations
Reservations: resy.com
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Elegant French Dining | Townsend | Philadelphia
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Reviews
Dined for Valentine’s and initially glad that we were able to reserve a table here a week before. Come to find out, having reservations available for a busy Valentine’s weekend was an ominous sign.
Food was nothing spectacular and forgettable. The oysters were so tiny and were just masked by the espuma. The lamb was a tad bland for my liking. They also made a mistake of serving dessert laced with alcohol when I remember noting in my resy non-alcoholic beverages only and ordering non-alcoholic options. I guess they assumed I can have alcohol in my food. Good thing I asked and they changed it out.
Service-wise, the service was quite slower than we’d like. We noticed that 4 out of the 5 courses, our food was being served after the table beside us even if we were finishing our courses quite ahead of them which made our waits in between courses quite long. We let the server know and they finally corrected for dessert. Even more delays with paying the bill as their system apparently wasn’t working and the manager had to process our bill.
All in all, $300+ for a mediocre experience. Tons of places in Philly that will give you a better experience at the same price or cheaper.
I brought my two elderly friends to the restaurant and the people were professional and attentive to them. My two elderly friends didn’t know how to speak much English and so the waiters gave us extra time to read the menu and let me translate the menu for them. I didn’t expect that level of service in Philadelphia. The welcoming atmosphere, not silent, is warm and welcoming.
The pace of the meal was spot on. The food was amazingly deep and good. It has depth.
Overall, I highly recommend it to anyone going to Philly.
Me either, until last night, at Townsend. It was that good.
Fois grois mousse, amazing. Sweet, savory and silky, rich and addictive.
Escargot: my wife said it was possibly the best dish of her life. Really well balanced sauce and flavors, the fava beans were perfect with it.
Steak tartare: rich, decadent, delicious.
Scallops: nice sized seared scallops with a citrus sauce and tomatoes. Great flavors, colors, and perfectly seared.
Beef marrow bones, mushroom croquet. OMG, first time trying thearrow bones and I will order it any chance I get. Amazing flavors, just spooned it on the fresh sourdough….and closed my eyes in thanks.
Ribeye: I’m a steak guy, and I make a lot of steak, bbq etc. It’s hard to find a really good steak, IMHO, at a restaurant. This was just a ridiculous beautiful perfectly cooked ribeye, for 2 people. The absolute best steak I’ve ever had. No doubt.
Dessert……the souffle was so smooth and decadent.
Hamachi – really well balanced with the addition of apple and seasonings
Potato gnocchi – such a flavorful dish. It had fantastic texture differences, it was such a delight on the palate. I would totally eat this over and over.
Scallops – these medium size scallops were perfectly done and over seasonal vegetables and a fish broth.
Half chicken – this was surprisingly (and impressively) the best executed dish of the night. The chicken was prepared two ways and was so incredibly moist and flavorful.
Faroe island salmon – honestly, this was probably the most underwhelming dish. It was unique to pair with muscles, however the flavor profile was very dull.
Dessert – this was described to us as the “gold bar“. Better than your traditional poundcake with tons more flavor. Perfect dessert to share.
We were really happy we did not do the tasting menu and rather ordered à la cart. The reason for the four stars, however, was there were no curtains on the first floor back of the restaurant, so guests were looking at an alleyway and into a tattoo shop, coupled by neighbors that were smoking cigarettes and you could smell the cigarette smoke which was very disrupting to the ambience of the dinner. The small was so strong at one point that it tainted our food. Very disappointing.