James

09/14/2008 Posted by phillydiner22

My wife and I recently went to dinner here for a birthday celebration. As the title states, I really really wanted to like this place. When we first walked in we thought the hype was legitimate: a beautiful looking bar, an exceptionally friendly host and hostess, an immaculate and spacious dining area. The service, while somewhat slow, was still far above average. Our waiter was very nice and helped us pick out a nice bottle of wine from a pretty extensive list (a little red heavy for the height of summer, but still plenty of options). However atmosphere, service, and drinks can only take you so far. After all, the point of dining out is to ultimately eat! I will get to prices and portion size in a second, but I should start by saying that the food was just not that good. As appetizers my wife and I got a tuna dish and a beet dish with goat cheese. Both were bland and flavorless. Salt might have helped ~ but of course, this was not available on the table (a pet peeve of mine). An hour later our entrees arrived - a chicken dish for her and the lamb for myself. Her chicken was the best thing we ordered. It had a nicely seared and crispy outside with perfectly moist chicken on the inside. Nevertheless, the dish had its drawbacks, as it was filled with a stuffing that neither of us could identify because it tasted like dry cardboard. I didn't even finish my lamb, which is amazing considering how small of a dish it was. It was WAY TOO thick. I ordered it medium rare, but the outside was more like medium well and the inside was completely rare. It was presented on a bed of flavorless beans, I think. This brings me to portion size and price. Our meal, with tip, came to over $200. Yes, we had a bottle of wine, but it was the cheapest one on the list. And we left feeling hungry. For this amount of money, we could have eaten at some pretty fantastic places in Philadelphia. I wish them the best but this place was just a huge disappointment.

Pros: Good service, great atmosphere

Cons: Prices, portion size, and quality of food

09/12/2008 Posted by phillyreview

The night was filled with anticipation as my wife and I headed to the popular James restaurant in South Philly. After reading about this place in Philly Mag and being excited to try another Top 50 restaurant we decided to take the plunge and enjoy the experience. As we walked in we admired the architecture and the ambience. Simply stated it was quite beautiful. We were seated promptly and our server immediately came by to ask how he could help. Although quick, their ability to interact with the servers was stifiled by their lack of personality. A dining experience should be filled with laughter and good conversation, not simply a plate brought to your table at your command. To begin the night we tried James' cocktail specials. Flavorless and expensive. We moved on to the wine by the glass and were once again disappointed by the choice. At the beginning of the meal we informed our server that my wife was pregnant could not have raw food. Lucky for us 5 minutes later they brought our a free tasting of scallop ceviche, followed by the raw scallop appetizer. Although slightly cooked by the citrus we were still surprised that they did not listen to our information. Next was the famous duck pasta. I understand sticking with what has made you famous but this was July. Although we were satisfied with the dish we would hope the chef could adjust to the seasons and offer lighter fare. Our entrees were the tasteless lamb and flavorless dorado. I am known to always finish my meal but specifically saved room to have a snack at home. I have never done this in my life and that should tell you how unsatisfied we were. It is a rare occurrence for us to skip dessert but we decided against and further trial and error. Although I wish them the best the experience did not live up to their reputation, at all.