ELA Restaurant : A Luscious Dinner

Ela, one of the TOP 50 restaurants according to Craig LaBan’s list, now offers 30 dollars menu on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. With beautiful presentation, perfectly combined balance of flavors, and fresh, seasonal ingredients, this menu is absolutely delectable! The value is great, the food is delicious, and the restaurant decor is warm and cozy; this place is a must-go for every foodie in the city.

For starters,  we were both attracted by the lobster cauliflower soup but with advice from our lovely waiter, we chose to try the coffee beet salad too. The salad was enlivened by some salty and tangy goat cheese semi freddo and tossed with sweet pear and pomegranate. The play on texture was original and the flavors were unique.  The goat cheese semifreddo definitively added a wow factor to the salad.

The soup was also delicious, served with crispy bites of cauliflower.  The pairing of the creamy and rich soup with the crumbly delicate bites  provided an interesting play on texture.

For the entree, we chose to go for the short ribs. They arrived perfectly cooked, crispy and caramelized on the outside and tender on the inside. The combination of this savory meat with the silky sweet potato puree and the cyrolein onions was exquisite.

We also ordered the chicken, which was equally as good. The succulent chicken was served with a barley risotto, bacon and some brussel sprouts. Juicy and plump with the skin grilled to crispy perfection, the chicken could not have been more perfectly cooked.

Finally, the desserts arrived.
The cookie dough dessert was the only permanent item on the menu as Ela is constantly updating their menu using seasonal ingredients and experimenting with new flavors. Ela  once tried to change it but had to renounce due to consumers’ complains. We can understand why! It was decadent. The association of this warm souffle like cookie, crunchy on the outside and melting in the inside was delightful.  It turned out to be the perfect comfort food for those cold winter-days.  Served with an excellent banana ice cream and a crispy meringue, the dish  was incredibly gourmand.

The chocolate Majahri ganache served with banana cream, Szechuan jelly and chocolate cake was surely one of the best dessert I have tasted in Philadelphia so far. The  texture and flavors balance was just perfect. Sugar was well dozed, enhancing the real chocolaty flavor of the ganache.  The six was well-sized. A go to for real dark chocolate lovers!

Ela is definitively a must-try: the food is luscious and well sized. The prices are affordable for such an amazing quality. From brunch, to catering or special menus, everyone will find something to their liking!