Vino Volo: in the airport!

Matt and I usually get to the airport with tons of time to spare, so on Friday, before we boarded our plane to Pittsburgh, we stopped at Vino Volo for a quick drink and bite to eat. This wine bar chain currently has locations in about 10 airports in the U.S. and it’s a welcome change to the overwhelming fast food options you usually get.

Impressive, albeit small, wine list with some fun flight options. (Heh, get it?)

These are cute and come with each glass.  Not your basic, run-of-the-mill wine guide with standard terms, but still user-friendly.

Matt’s artisan cured meats (small size for $8) were yummy but really just made him more hungry for a real dinner.

My brie & prosciutto sandwich (small size for $6) was surprisingly tasty. The brie was slightly melted and warm and the fig spread was ooey and gooey (in a good way).

It’s nice to have Vino Volo in the Philly airport, because when we were early in Pittsburgh coming home, we sat in a Friday’s. Not as nice.

Makiman Sushi: Take 2

Makiman Sushi is right down the street but we rarely eat there because it is a bit pricey. We had a good experience with their take-out a few months ago but this most recent try was a little dicey.

Their sushi is good, but we are going to stick to traditional maki from now on. The Caterpillar (pictured below) was supposed to have eel in it but we could really only taste the avocado. Not that I’m complaining, because I would stand a good chance at winning an avocado-eating contest, but I also wanted to taste some eel.  The sesame seeds on top and tobiko on the inside were a nice touch.

Matt’s report on the tako su was disappointing. Usually the octopus is soaked in enough citrus to semi-cook it (kind of like a ceviche) but this version was not even close. It was completely raw and rubbery.

The tonkatsu was really tasty, but we like our breading crispy. We concluded that tonkatsu is not appropriate for takeout as, even though the flavor was spot on, the breading got soggy on its way from the restaurant to our house.

The tempura that came with the udon had a nice variety: shrimp, broccoli, green pepper, sweet potato, carrot, and onion. The consistency was nice, too, and we were happy that it came in a separate container from the soup so it maintained its crispy breading.

We loved the udon because the broth tasted completely authentic and the noodles were nice and doughy.

Makiman deserves another try, but we have definitely learned that the quality is hit or miss depending on what you order.  The next time we eat here we will stick to more authentic and standard options and forgo the fancy and flashy.

Meritage

Matt and I have been talking about the new menu by executive chef Anne Coll at Meritage for a while.  It’s a cute little restaurant on the corner 20th and Lombard–a bit dark, but romantic and quiet on the night we were there.

I am hoping that the empty tables were directly connected to the World Series game. We had been planning to go out on this night and no stinkin World Series game was going to stop us! (It was only game 2.)

The restaurant was very dimly lit so in order to get clear shots of the food I had to use my flash. Not happy about that.  I am a bit out of practice at food photography in restaurants, too.
The wine list was extensive and Matt chose a smooth French pinot noir:

We ordered two starters and one large plate to share, which was the perfect amount of food for the two of us.  First up were the grape leaves with Kobe beef and Breakfast:

The grilled grape leaves ($5) was luscious, tasty, and medium rare.  I wish we had ordered another plate of them.  I didn’t even bother with the sad slaw and dipping sauce because the beef alone had plenty of flavor.

Breakfast ($5) was a taro panko pancake, pork belly, fried egg, and syrup reduction.  The egg was meh. The taro pancake was good. The pork belly was scrumptious but it’s a little hard to mess up pork belly.  The syrup reduction tasted like, well, syrup. We were not completely in awe over this dish.

Our duo of pork ($19) came next:

Matt and I should have known better.  We’ve come to the realization that whenever we see “duo” or “three-ways” on the menu, it’s not going to live up to our expectations. If you’re going to put this concept on the menu, the flavors should go together without “matching.” But it should still make sense to put them on the same plate together.  This dish didn’t make sense.

The tea smoked pork tenderloin was cooked to perfection but there was no flavor to it aside from the lightly drizzled dark cherry sauce.  Five pieces of loin was a bit much of one piece of food. I devoured the braised pork belly with its soft and melty fat and crunchy, caramelized top.  The sweet potato puree was a nice touch. This half of the “duo” needed no other seasonings and could have held its own with the slaw as a garnish. 

We were content with our meal at Meritage but we wouldn’t miss another World Series game to go back.