birthday on broad street

For my birthday dinner, I went to not one, but three restaurants on Broad Street. I just couldn’t pick one place, so it worked out that Evan was up for a restaurant crawl on a Tuesday night.

I decided that on my birthday I was going to eat all the foods that I feel guilty eating on any regular day as a gift to myself. I ended up not eating as terribly as I planned, but wasn’t shy about going for the bread basket.

For cocktails we hit Bistro 27 (27 W Broad St) for their “Meet the Chef” happy hour. Chef Carlos wasn’t there when we first arrived, but that didn’t stop us from having beverages. I had the Sparkling Duke from their cocktail list and Evan had a beer. Chef did show up and told us that his daughter has sprained her ankle and he had spent his afternoon in the hospital with her, poor thing.

I hadn’t eaten beef for the past three months, but on my splurge for my birthday, we had their Kobe Beef Carpaccio for a starter. Not just beef, but raw beef. I also helped myself to 2 pieces of bread with their house made bread dipping oil that was made with eggplant, garlic and some other deliciousness. The whole scene set a great tone for the evening.

Our second stop was Tarrant’s Café (1 W Broad St). We just missed happy hour, but still decided to sit at the bar. I had a glass of Pinot Noir and another beer for Evan. We had their Fried Polenta appetizer that came with shrimp, scallops and a lobster cream sauce. I don’t love shrimp and Evan is not crazy about scallops so sharing this works perfectly us. We divvy up the seafood and it comes with two triangles of fried polenta. I think this is my favorite thing on their menu, which is saying a lot because they have easily over 100 items.

The final stop of the night was Comfort (200 W Broad St). I know, I know. I have posted that I don’t really like this place, but people in multiple circles of friends have raved to me about their Banana Pudding Crème Brule. I had to see what the fuss was all about.

Comfort had a nice little bar crowd for a Tuesday night and their bartender was quirky, funny and friendly. I had a glass of Prosecco with a splash of Chamboard to finish the evening and Evan had water. (He is so responsible.)

There was not a morsel to be seen in the dish after we got a hold of that dessert. It was the perfect amount of sweet without overdoing it. I have to retract my statement about not liking Comfort. It was the perfect end to an absolutely wonderful birthday.