Happy Valentine's Day! James restaurant pictures and review.

Nick and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday this year because it worked better for us.  He took me to James restaurant on 8th and Catherine.  I've been dying to dine there because it just looks so cute from the outside.  When we walked inside, I immediately fell in love with the simple decor and oh so cozy fireplace area. 

The owner, James, is also the chef.  Our server, Jim, was super knowledgeable and very friendly.  The menu was small but sufficient and changes on a regular basis. The food was mostly exotic--the night we went he had antelope and escargot on the menu. I decided to go completely off my diet for the weekend which was a treat.  I ordered a champagne type cocktail called the Cava Cocktail--dry sparkling Spanish wine and peach bitters poured over a raw sugar cube. Delicious but $14 seemed a steep price to pay for a cocktail anywhere in Philadelphia, let alone Bela Vista.  All of their cocktails ranged from $12 - $14.

Then Nick and I each ordered a Hamachi dish which was a nicely sized portion and also delicious. 


After our Hamachi, we shared the hand-cut pappardelle with duck ragu.

Pappardelle

Pappardelle is a large noodle pasta and if I were to go back for anything at James, it would be this dish.  With the exception of the risotto, they make all their own pasta. 

Then we went on to our main courses--Dover sole prepared in a way I don't quite understand...it was supposed to be "nestled with potatoes, but it was somehow shaped into a cylinder and possibly pan fried?  I was not at all impressed with this $37 entree.  Way overpriced, very small portion and pretty bland.  Our server highly recommended it saying it was one of his favorites, so maybe it was just an off night.

John Dory

We also had the John Dory fish entree, and I forget exactly what went into it...walnuts and cream possibly...and again, I was not very wowed.  It was good, but not great and the price about $30. 

For dessert we shared something with apple and caramel which sounded delicious and was beautifully presented, but just wasn't as amazing as I would have hoped. 

Overall, I had a wonderful experience because I was with my man and we were sharing a nice romantic dinner, but if I could do anything different, I would have cut out the expensive entrees and ordered more of the pasta dishes.  Fresh pasta is so good, and the one pasta dish I had was amazing.   Would I go back again?  Yes, I would go for the atmosphere, maybe to have a cocktail and some appetizers, but I'll probably never return for the full 4 course meal.

The next day my wonderful neighbor and friend gave me a delicious heart-shaped brownie type dessert which I thought was so amazing and adorable I had to post a picture of it.  It was more tasty than our $8 apple dessert!  Thank you April!  It was DE-LISH!!!