Overview: The candlelit tables of this five-year-old Malvern bistro are full of diners who, having tucked into slow-cooked lamb with plum mostarda, murmur to themselves: Who needs Philadelphia restaurants, anyway?
Recommendations: The Gnocci, especially if it is made with Chestnut and Potatoes.
Beth's Thoughts: Restaurant Alba was fine, but quite honestly, I will never go there again.
The food was very good. The ambiance was, well, ok. The place is just too damn far away!
Now, this is the second time that we have traveled to a 50 Food Dates restaurant. The first - #39, Sovana Bistro, was totally worth the journey. Additionally, it is in an area in close proximity to other attractions...and my parents' house. I find myself "in the area" spontaneously and have since returned to Sovana.
I don't know a soul in Malvern. To top it off, the town just looked, well, depressing. It amazes me that an area I know to be so wealthy takes such little pride in their downtown area. In my opinion, your towns are supposed to be the showcase of your area. You should care for these areas and encourage out-of-towners to visit your Main St. as a destination.
David's Thoughts: I'm in agreement with Beth: Restaurant Alba is a perfectly enjoyable restaurant, with a terribly inconvenient location. Malvern feels like an eternity from Center City Philadelphia. We anticipated an hour of driving (early evening on a weekday). For this excursion, we spent as much time in the car as we did in the restaurant.
Restaurant Alba, itself, is unassuming and pleasant. Indeed- it reminded me of our earlier visit to Sovana Bistro- classy but casual with an enticing menu. Nothing here was quite as satisfying as Sovana, unfortunately, and I wouldn't consider returning (Sovana, on the other hand, I've been back to several times). We started our dinner with an appetizer sampling, which was delicious but too small to share.
We moved on to the Grilled Octopus- something of a theme for us. We had a nice discussion with our waitress concerning the dish, before it was ordered. Her assessment was accurate; the dish is neither large nor small, and not particularly memorable. It was tastier and more substantial than several of the octopus plates we've ordered elsewhere- but as I've said many times, when it comes to octopus I want to be impressed. I wasn't this time, unfortunately.
We moved on to entrees: Beth tried the fish and I went with a ragu pasta dish. The pasta was quite tasty, and I find that made-from-scratch pasta is appearing on a lot of upscale menu's nowadays. It was perfectly satisfying- not particularly special, but a good dish. And I think that is an excellent way to describe Restaurant Alba. If it were in the city, I would probably go again. If I lived in Malvern, I'd be there twice a month (limited options will do that to you). But when the distance is part of the equation, things just don't add up- and I doubt that I'll make a return visit here.
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