Before dinner we had everyone over to our place for some snacks and cocktails.
In preparation for our little shindig, B and I went to the Old City Cheese Shop and picked up a manchego cheese, a blue cheese, some hazelnut and fig spread, and some mild chorizo. Coupled with grapes, crackers, and pretzels with spicy mustard dip we had the perfect pre-dinner nosh.
For dinner we headed to Koo Zee Doo in Northern Liberties - a 2010 James Beard award winner for Best New Restaurant featuring Portuguese cuisine served family style. As an added bonus, Koo Zee Doo is byob. Here's a shot of our friend KIR, getting ready to enjoy some vino:
While we perused the menu, the server brought over bread and a small dish of pickled lupini beans.
Described as the Portuguese equivalent of edamame, the lupini beans are eaten by piercing the tender outer shell to pop out the buttery bean inside. They were... interesting, but a little too much work for the return.
For starters, the table selected two orders of Rissóis de Batata Doce, fried sweet potato turnovers, two orders of the Camarão com Piri Piri, shrimp with hot sauce, and an order of Moelas, braised chicken gizzards.
With their light and crunchy outer "shell" and creamy, yet spicy, vegetable filling, the turnovers reminded me of ramped-up individual-sized vegetable pot pies.
The shrimp were nicely cooked, not at all chewy, with a great kick.
The braised gizzards were the most talked-about starter of the evening. They were tender, and incorporated just the right amount of seasoning and spice. We loved them so much we ended up dipping our bread in the braising sauce once the gizzards were gone.
For entrees the table chose the Coelho à Caçador, rabbit stew, the Bife à Portuguesa, steak with ham and fried eggs, the Lulas Estufadas, braised squid and fried calamari, and the Carne de Porco à Alentenjano, pork and clams.
The stew, a weekly special featured only on Saturday nights, included braised pork belly with the rabbit meat. I'm not sure I completely agree with the characterization of this dish a stew - the thinness made it more akin to tender meat served in its braising liquid - but no matter what you call it, the rabbit and the pork were both very tasty.
Obviously B loved the clam and pork dish, and he wasn't the only one. The pork in this dish was probably the best thing we had all night - it was tender and worked wonderfully with the clams. This dish also came with some crispy fried potato cubes that were perfect for soaking up the clam jus.
The steak, served medium and layered with ham, was accompanied by two nicely over-easy eggs and crispy fried potato rounds. This dish was such a crowd pleaser that I was only able to snag two bites!
The braised squid and fried calamari was served in a cumin marinara sauce over mashed potatoes. The marinara had a great taste (I love cumin) and the calamari provided a wonderfully crispy contrast to the mashed potatoes. Despite those high points, this was probably my least favorite dish of the night because the squid was far too mushy.
For dessert we enjoyed some champagne, compliments of my friend MMA, and sampled the Pudim de Pão de Chocolate, chocolate hazelnut bread pudding, and the Tarte de Côco, the coconut tart. I loved the coconut tart, which was very much akin to a sophisticated macaroon. As for the bread pudding, I am a bread pudding fanatic so I was a little disappointed at first because Koo Zee Doo's version tastes more like a flourless cake. That being said, I did enjoy the cumulative dish which incorporated figs cooked in port that provided a great accompaniment to the rustic flavor of the "pudding". Here's a shot of MMA with her champagne:
At the end of the night we were satisfied and stuffed, having paid only $35 a person (which included tax and tip) for the entire meal. I would highly recommend that anyone looking for an inexpensive and delicious alternative for group dining grab a bottle (or two) and head to Koo Zee Doo.
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