NECTAR: Take 50 percent off menu-listed prices. Enjoy half-price appetizers 4:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and all day Sunday in the bar and lounge, plus a $12.95 Express Lunch Special with soup or salad and sandwich or entrée (menu below) Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m. 1091 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn; (610) 725-9000, tastenectar.com.
Choice of soup or salad:
• Cinderella pumpkin soup, crispy goat cheese
• Shrimp miso soup, bok choy, scallion ($2 supplement)
• Baby greens salad, panko breaded goat cheese, nectar vinaigrette
• Crispy potato dumplings, vegetable salad, soy glaze
Choice of sandwich or entrée:
• Grilled fresh calamari salad, chorizo sausage, frisée, arugula, lemon virgin vinaigrette
• Pork tenderloin sandwich, gruyere cheese, Chinese broccoli, home-baked rosemary potato bread
• Crispy chicken, serrano chilies, black bean, Thai basil, Chinese broccoli tips ($4 supplement)
• Pork and Chinese sausage fried rice
• Nectar vegetable fried rice, ginger egg
• Saffron infused basmati fried rice, light curried chicken
• Salmon, tuna or spicy tuna sushi roll
• Petite branch creek baby greens salad, panko breaded goat cheese, nectar vinaigrette
• Nectar lo mein, smoked wild boar, Chinese sausage, baby greens
• Vietnamese beef tenderloin petite sandwiches, rosemary potato bread ($4 supplement)
• Moo shu chicken, leeks, shiitake, bean sprouts, sweet peppers, serrano chilies, cucumber salad, pancakes ($6 supplement)
• Lobster fried rice, fresh yellow corn, tomatoes ($6 supplement)
• Maryland jumbo lump crab cake sandwich ($6 supplement)
GYPSY SALOON: Savor the $5-at-5 p.m. bar menu 5-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and Sunday for dinner (menu below). Plus, there’s a Pizza and Stromboli menu with $20 bottles of wine on Sundays for dinner and half-price off the entire wine list on Tuesdays. And Monday-Friday is half-off small plates from 5-7 p.m. at sib Stella Blu (101 Ford St., West Conshohocken; (610) 825-7060, stellablurestaurant.com). 128 Ford St., West Conshohocken, (610) 828-8494, gypsysaloon.com.
Drinks:
• Rubylicious: Absolut Ruby Red, Triple Sec, Cranberry & Pineapple Juice
• Pears & Apples: Absolut Pear, Sour Apple & Ginger Ale
• Mango Twist: Absolut New Orleans, Orange & Pineapple Juice
• Mandarin Crush: Absolut Mandarin, Peach Schnapps & Orange Juice
• POMtini: Pearl Pomegranate Vodka, Triple Sec, Roses Lime Juice & Pomegranate Juice
Food:
• Panko Crusted Crab Cake, served with a chili lime sauce and micro-greens
• Ground Chuck Burger, served with ketchup and cheddar cheese on a potato roll with chips
• Buffalo Shrimp (3) on a grilled crostini topped with crumbled Gorgonzola
• Calamari, tossed with reduced balsamic
• Chicken Quesadilla, chicken and cheddar cheese tortilla, topped with corn and mango salsa, sour cream and guacamole
Wine:
• House Red or White
Beer:
• $2 Yuengling & Miller Lite Drafts
SAVONA: Each Friday at 5:30 p.m., sommelier Melissa Monosoff explores wines from around the world, featuring different grapes, regions and themes—$25 for six wines and a sampling of hors d’oeuvres. 100 Old Gulph Road, Gulph Mills; (610) 520-1200, savonarestaurant.com.
BISTRO CASSIS: Enjoy another $5 food and cocktail menu from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. 175 King of Prussia Road, Radnor; (610) 293-9411, pondrestaurant.com.
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Sunday Savings in the City
Another great meal deal can be found at Marigold Kitchen (501 S. 45th St., Philadelphia; 215-222-3699, marigoldkitchenbyob.com), where executive chef Erin O’Shea is now serving a Southern-inspired brunch menu. Brunch items range in price from $9-$12 and include: coddled eggs with Virginia ham, spinach cream and warm cornbread; maple-glazed, hot smoked salmon with poached egg and potato casserole; Surry sausage and mushroom bread pudding alongside Granny Smith apple and pecan salad; stewed okra and Beecher cheddar frittata with potato casserole; and brioche French toast with cardamom-poached apples and Highland Country maple whipped cream. Marigold serves brunch everySunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and dinner Tuesday-Sunday from 5:30 p.m.
For those who prefer to sleep in, Marigold offers 3-for-$30 prix-fixe dinners every Sunday night. Diners are treated to a three-course meal from Marigold’s dinner menu (one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert).
You Can’t Drink and Vote, But You Can Drink After You Vote
And do so in style at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Center City and King of Prussia. Change your mind three times and enjoy a triple play of partisan cocktails: the Republicantini, with Absolut citron, PAMA pomegranate liqueur and sour mix; the Democratini, with Absolut citron, blue Curaçao and sour mix; and The Undecided-tini, with blue Curaçao, PAMA pomegranate liqueur and pomegranate syrup. These special election cocktails are available thru Tuesday, Nov. 4. mortons.com
Or Skip the Tip and Make It at Home
LACROIX chef Matthew Levin has a couple of lovely recipes up his sleeve for enjoying fine dining at home. (I’m drooling already.) Of course, he’d much rather see you on the Square where you can relax at the restaurant’s new lounge, Bar 210, and soak up the royal treatment while he inebriates you with his sultry cocktails made from house-infused liquors and eclectic ingredients, plus innovative bar fare. English pub, this isn’t. Swank, it is. Stay cozy—and lazy—while enjoying a picturesque view of Rittenhouse Square amidst a backdrop of mahogany, granite and ultra-comfortable chairs. For serious conversation, you might want to nab one of the four see-and-be-seen stone-based cocktail tables set up around the bar area and surrounded with light plank wood and hand-woven rattan chairs. Other luxurious design elements to lull you into the big chill include the Edelman chocolate-brown herringbone leather floor and golden-toned wall upholstery. If that doesn’t motivate you to get in the car and head east, then stick with the original plan and the recipes below. Otherwise, start salivating: the bar menu is posted after the recipes. 210 W. Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia; (215) 790-2533, lacroixrestaurant.com.
Lemongrass Martini
• 3 oz. Mandarin Blossom vodka
• 1 oz. Chambord
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• ½ oz. lemongrass syrup
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ¼ tsp. fresh lemon zest, grated
• 2 drops lemongrass oil (on top of drink)
• Edible flower garnish, optional
• Chilled martini glass
Directions:
• Combine first five ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake or stir to your preferred degree of chilliness. Pour into chilled martini glass and garnish with lemon zest, lemongrass oil and an edible flower if available.
Tuna Tartare
• 3 oz. minced yellowfin tuna
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tbsp. basil, chiffonade
• 1 tsp. ginger, grated
• 1 tsp. fresh wasabi, grated
• 1 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce
• ½ lime, juiced
• 1 tsp. Grand Marnier
• Sea salt
• White pepper
• 3 slices cucumber
• 1 tbsp. tempura crunches
Directions:
• In a stainless steel mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
• Top with tempura crunches and cucumber slices.
• Serve with crusty bread.
And just for fun, here’s a peek at Bar 210’s Snacks:
• Crispy Chick Peas, Aleppo Pepper ($4)
• Spiced Lavash ($4)
• Shiitake Tempura, Coca Cola, Soy ($4)
• Handmade Potato Chips, Whipped Ranch Dip ($4)
• Meatloaf Gratin, Greens, Cipollini Onions ($14)
• Barbecued Rib Dumplings, Pickled Cabbage ($12)
• Squid Salad, Tomato, Basil, Black Chimichurri ($11)
• Pork Belly, Onion Caramel, Togarashi, Romaine ($15)
• Tuna Tartare, Creamy Spicy Sauce ($12)
• Shrimp A Ĺa Plancha, Tabasco Syrup, Lime ($12)
• Bar 210 Burger, Salami, Aged Provolone, Pickled Pepper Ketchup ($16)
• Giant Buttermilk Fried “Chicken Nugget” 3 Dips ($14)
Link of the Day
Check out “Wrapped in Prosciutto and Looking Elegant” for an über-yum, impress-the-boss—or a new love interest—dish.
