Shove OFF for DevON Seafood Grill and the Oddities of Philadelphia Eating

Another week of travel brings me to Philadelphia, home of cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and brotherly love. The weather was cooperating this week, 70s all day, it was impossible not to spend my after work hours walking the bustling city, and taking advantage of eating outside when I can.

My first stop brought me to Square 1682 for happy hour. Connected to the Hotel Palomar in Center City and situated on the corner, the restaurant has large windows on two sides, giving an ample view of the street outside. The mussels I ordered came with a lemon basil butter that was soft, rich, and paired perfectly with the beer-soaked mussels. Finished with some roasted onions and parsley, as usual, my favorite part of the dish was the broth. The interesting part was the fried calamari. Ordered by a gentlemen seated next to me, it came with a mayonnaise-based tartar sauce. When he asked for marinara, neither the bartender, waiter, nor chef knew what he was talking about. We explained that it was the same sauce that mozzarella sticks come with, halfway between tomato basil soup and Bolognese as far as consistency. Still perplexed, the chef made a valiant effort to accommodate, producing what amounted to cream of tomato soup with some hot sauce in it. Not only had no one heard of the combination, but they hadn’t heard of the condiment!

Another day, another meal. This time, I met a coworker at Devon Seafood Grill, just off Rittenhouse Square. Getting a table outside facing the park, we ordered a variety of seafood appetizers. The tuna tartare was fresh, not fishy, and was served on pickled cucumber. I don’t mean that it was served with pickles. The shaved cucumber slices were flexible, yet still firm and crunchy, with both a sweet and sour note. They reminded me of pickled ginger. The cilantro oil added an herbaceous note with a smooth, yet slightly bitter counterpoint to the sweetness of the cucumber.

The eight oysters (four varieties, one for each of us) came with lemon, a sweet chili sauce, a brown/red cocktail sauce with small slivers of shallot and one of those cute miniscule bottles of tobacco. Originating from Mexico, New Zealand, Virginia, and California, each had their own degree of sweet, brine, size, liquor, and thankfully, no grit. Personally, the large, Pacific oysters, with a little more sweet and a little less brine were my favorite.

The last dish of note was the lobster tamale (by which I mean corn husk tamale, not green insides tomalley). It was like dessert. The corn masa was steeped in shellfish flavor and had the consistency of firm grits. Smothering it was a concoction of cream, corn, green onion, roasted poblano peppers, and large chunks of lobster claw. Plated to the side was an avocado crema, which only added to the unctuousness of the dish. Sweet, crunchy corn played with the rich lobster, and the smooth avocado, while the pepper and onion softened the fatty blow to the pallet. It was truly a dish to be savored. Paired with a crisp white wine to act as a counterpoint and cleanse the tongue for the next bite, it was a wonderful way to end the meal.