When I was up in Philadel­phia on busi­ness a few weeks ago, I always take the time to try to find some­where I can chill out and enjoy time with friends and great con­ver­sa­tion. I’ve learned that with what I do, some­times just hang­ing at a club or at someone’s house doesn’t always fit the bill. For me, a club often feels like work and just chillin‘ at someone’s house, while it’s nice, I want to get out and explore the city.

On the last night before I departed my favorite city, I needed to chill out after the hec­tic event we had just had the day before. So, after dis­cus­sion with Meowmix, we decided that din­ner at this hot spot called Bour­bon Blue would be in order for the evening. Not only does it have a rockin’ bar atmos­phere but the food was sub­lime. Man­ayunk has this vibe – where it’s city but not city – and you just instantly feel at home when you enter. It’s warm, invit­ing and the peo­ple there are gen­uinely nice.

Let me pref­ace this with I’m always appre­hen­sive when it comes to trav­el­ing and restau­rants. Yes, I do use “Google” to my advan­tage and I just wasn’t find­ing much in the way of reviews of this restau­rant albeit some var­i­ous arti­cles from its open­ing 5 years ago. Also, Cajun/New Orleans food in Philly? I mean, c’mon – I know Philly is eclec­tic but NOLA food in PA? As my friend SL would say “What do they know about Cajun Cui­sine?” I was a bit wary. Around Florida we have some good Cajun restau­rants but I wasn’t sure if the North could actu­ally cre­ate that mood.

Let me say for the record: I was wrong.

Bour­bon Blue hit it out of the box AND then some. I apol­o­gize as I didn’t take any pic­tures that night but I was so caught up in every­thing that whip­ping out my cam­era just didn’t seem right. Not to men­tion, the lovely black­berry froze on me again ren­der­ing pic­tures impos­si­ble. We were lucky to secure a late reser­va­tion on one of their busiest nights as they had a num­ber of grad­u­a­tion par­ties. While there was a very brief wait to be seated, it was to be expected. We were a few min­utes late, and, of course, we were there on the busiest night of the week.

First of all – YOU MUST try the espresso mar­ti­nis. BB’s fab­u­lous bar­tender Heather whipped up this liba­tion that had me bug­ging her for the recipe. Has the Espresso Mar­tini replaced my favorite Cable Car Mar­tini, one might won­der. No, but it’s hit my sec­ond favorite cock­tail sta­tus – knock­ing out my Egypt­ian mar­tini that I’ve loved for so many years.

Our server, Mark, paid atten­tion to the most minute detail – and for my friend Meowmix, after a server we had a few days prior, that meant a lot. When he saw her som­brero was run­ning a bit low, he had another quickly whisked over. He knew that a som­brero was Kahlua and milk, NOT tequila. Vegas obvi­ously didn’t get the memo a few years ago.

Now, let’s get onto what y’all want to know about – the food. First of all, the bread is this warm, fresh out of the oven, corn­bread served with a Cre­ole But­ter that had me again pes­ter­ing for the recipe (which I learned how to recre­ate when I returned to Orlando and no I am not shar­ing – their chef might shoot me!). For appe­tiz­ers, we decided to start with the Black­ened Chicken Que­sadil­las. Meowmix is not­so­much a fan of spicy food (which I’ve just started to love) and some­times with a que­sadilla it can be hit or miss. This was per­fect. Savory yet sub­tle – the fla­vors melded per­fectly with the cilantro sour cream and fresh salsa. For the entrée, per rec­om­men­da­tion of Mark, we elected to try the Parme­san & Corn­meal Encrusted Scal­lops. They were per­fectly seared on a bed of veg­etable orzo. To end the meal: What else, another round of cocktails.

I can tell you that when I have to go back to Philly in August, I’m sure that a night out at the Bour­bon will be on the agenda. Great food, great atmos­phere and great peo­ple. When you find some­thing that good, you don’t hes­i­tate to go back.

Bour­bon Blue
2 Rec­tor Street
Philadel­phia, PA 19127

215–508-3360 / www.bourbonblue.com

Rat­ing: 4.5 Stars…