Forsythia — Restaurant in Philadelphia

From start to finish, Forsythia delivered what I would consider one of the most elegant, yet simple fine dining experience we've ever had. The restaurant was beautifully constructed, with aesthetically pleasing decor spread all throughout where the lighting was warm and the seating spacious, providing a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. The service provided by Andrianna was reflective of what exemplary service looks like, for she was consistently sweet, friendly, funny, and understanding; her warm and kind smile helped us feel welcomed and helped us get comfortable with our little 22 month old child. I want to take this moment to thank you, Andrianna, for helping provide us with such a memorable birthday celebration experience to end our little trip.

Now lets talk about the food. We opted for the tasting menu which was a surprise and based on chef's choice. We started off with the Escargot a la Provencale, which was creamy and had a nice textural contrast, but mild in flavor. I had a bite of escargot that had a bit of sand in it, but that seemed to be a solo incident for the rest of them were fine. Andrianna was kind enough to convey that to the chef who was empathetic and receptive, which highlights just how seriously they take constructive criticism and how they stride to provide the best dining experience possible, reflective of what 5 star dining looks like! We also had the cod beignets, japanese eggplant crepe, deviled eggs, and gazpacho, which they each provided such a fun and melodic contrast in terms of texture, flavor, and artistic presentation: the gazpacho was cold and tangy (perfect for my pregnant wife haha), the cod beignets were warm and fluffy, and the Japanese eggplant crepe and deviled eggs were rich and creamy. The main course was the duck confit, which was not only perfectly crispy, but still maintained its moist interior which is incredibly difficult to pull off. This highlights the masterful cooking technique that the chef was able to infuse each of the courses with, making every one of them a beautiful work of art in terms of both presentation and flavor. We ended the night with a Baba Au Rhum and Popcorn Cheesecake, which were both aesthetically beautiful, but on the sweeter side which boils down to just personal preference (many Asians are used to desserts that are not too sweet).

At the end, they provided a tailored menu highlighting the courses that were served, and a sweet happy birthday message with our names on the menu. They also provided a very sweet yet simple birthday card with all the staff's individual messages saying happy birthday. We've dined at a lot of fine dining restaurants in the past, some that even have Michelin Stars, but this was by far the most personalized, welcoming, and elegant dining experience we've ever had. The price was extremely reasonable and the selections were generous. Our only suggestion is that the first courses were served quite rapidly, which gave the unintentional sense of feeling rushed even though we both know that was not their intention. I also empathize the desire of serving everything fresh and optimally warm, so I understand how difficult it can be to time things appropriately, especially if the restaurant was busy. Nonetheless, everything else was flawless and I can confidently recommend the tasting menu at Forsythia to anyone who is in the area.

Thank you to everyone at Forsythia for being so professional, friendly, and welcoming; thank you for giving us the perfect dinner to end our little birthday celebratory trip!

Will definitely be back in the future to relive such an amazing evening and to try out all the many other wonderful selections Forsythia has to offer!

Thank you for reading and...

Visiting Philly for the first time and decided on this restaurant after reading up on various well-reviewed joints in town. The vibe of the restaurant was quite cozy, and I really liked the ambiance with the intensity of the light and the music they were playing. The restaurant appeared to be busy on a Saturday evening dinner service and the staff looked like they were working hard, so I may attribute some of the less-than-ideal parts of the experience to that.

I decided on the Chef's tasting menu and had a cocktail (Boozy Suzie) while waiting for my meal to start. The drink was pleasant enough, and I really enjoyed the nice grassy note to it as well as the smokiness from the torched orange peel.

The first course arrived and it was an oyster on the half shell and the tuna carpaccio. I thought that was a good start, then two minutes later, another three dishes arrived: the focaccia with honey butter with espelette pepper, the cauliflower veloute with puffed grains, and the ham and cheese beignets with mustard remoulade. As someone who was dining alone, i was surpised that all five dishes came down at once and felt like I had to scramble to eat them before they lose their life. Some thoughts on the food:

Tuna carpaccio: great texture on the fish and the lump crab underneath was yummy. However, the kumquat tasted like they were candied, and the dish ate a bit too sweet.

Oyster with Fresno chili: the oyster was cold and briny, and the chili had a great kick. However, there were bits of broken shell mixed in which made the experience a bit unpleasant.

Cauliflower veloute with crab and puffed grains: smooth, creamy, and tasty. Definitely could have been hotter though; it was served lukewarm at best.

Focaccia with honey butter and espelette pepper: the bread was stone cold, and I was told they are made in batches and not warmed when served. The butter again was too sweet (tasted like buttercream) and needed to have more salt and/or pepper.

Ham and cheese beignets: the best of the bunch--it was puffy and cheesy and delightful. And that remoulade was so, so good!

After the first course, I got the wagyu with bacon and sweetbread stuffed morels. The beef was really tender and well-seasoned, and I liked how smoky the duxelle was in the stuffed mushroom. The sauce was a nice consistency, but again was on the sweeter side--really could've used some salt to balance that out. I was also disappointed that I only got one main course--I definitely thought it could have been a larger portion or at least have a second dish of the tasting portion size to give it some variety, instead of having 5 dishes in the first course.

Dessert was an espresso creme caramel--it was luscious in consistency and coffee-forward, however, I thought it was really rich and needed more crunch. Wasn't able to finish it as it got cloying.

Overall, I think the quality of the ingredients was really good, and each dish was well-presented. However, it's hard to overlook the issues with pacing (5 dishes coming down at once), distribution (5 first course plates, 1 main, 1 dessert), and taste (a lot of the dishes ate too sweet, some were served cold). At $150 (meal, 2 drinks, taxes and tip), I unfortunately left the...

Please read if you have integrity and pride!!!! My gf and I have been craving French for so long so tonight was the night we dedicated for it. It was a toss up between Forsythia or La Belle in Media. The menu stood out more at Forsythia so this is why I am describing our experience- a disappointing one, which I will thoroughly explain. The greeting and ambience of the place was welcoming. The very limited seating both indoors and outdoors made it seem more inviting, but truth be told I made an easy reservation few hours prior to our Friday night arrival. We were introduced with complimentary focaccia bread and house butter. Let me begin the criticism. Focaccia is a very delicious Italian bread smothered in EVOO, salt, and herbs. THIS BREAD was very thick and it did not show signs of bubbly fermentation. The bread wasn't airy as Focaccia should be but had the appearance pf spongecake. The butter was complex and light which I liked. It had a slight citrus and coffee note to it. Now for our appetizer. The Lamb Neck ragout - a pasta like dumpling with sweet potato and shredded beef like lamb. The sweet potatoes was too sweet, the lamb neck tasted different in a bad beef kind of way, and the pasta was dry and hard like it was made a few days prior. Lamb neck is meant to be eaten medium rare to rare with very little added to it. The menu mentioned lamb neck with porcini which we both didn't see nor taste in the dish. Next comes the entrees. She ordered the short ribs and I ordered the Rohan duck. Both meals came out and her short ribs visually looked better. The server described our dish and we were both immediately turned off when they mentioned Lardons were in our duck dish. LISTEN!!! THERE ARE A LARGE MAJORITY OFF PEOPLE THAT DONT EAT PORK. ITS A MEAT. ITS A PROTEIN. WHY WOULDNT THEY ADD THIS TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE DISH. POOR TRANSPARENCY!! They did kindly return the dish back for duck without Lardons. The duck leg was a bit dry. Yes it was fall off the bone but that doesn't matter if the meat was dry/boring. The small cubes of duck breast wasn't tender and I had to apply a good amount of force to cut through the chewy meat. Enough of the duck. Her short ribs were average. It was just another dish of pulled beef with extra salt. But the weird part was the slight fishy flavor. As if the chef pan seared fish in a pan, wiped the pan off with a towel and then threw the beef on it to cook. The pearl onions were delicious though. I don't know what else to say. The whole experience was mediocre at best. Even her cocktail, a $14 cocktail, an Espolon tequila mix drink, tasted nothing but cheap blanco tequila mixed with table sugar. Espolon is seriously worthless tequila. I beg of people to read this. The only way to spread good food is through honest word of mouth. I've been disappointed alot. And I've also been surprised alot as well. This isn't the place to go for french, let alone modern french. I regret my choice here tonight. We deserve alot better...