River Twice

A Michelin recommended restaurant that lived up to its name! So happy we took the chance to walk in Monday night to River Twice! It was the best dinner I've had in Philly in awhile! Started off sooo strong with the oysters! I could've eaten dozens of them by myself! Never would've though green strawberry on oyster would be a bit but here we are. The soft shelled crab came highly recommended and though we were a bit worried about the size, it was phenomenal! The char and sauce really came together so well. Before our next dish came out, we were concerned we'd need to order more food. Then the halibut collar came out and squashed that thought. It was such a great meaty white fish that paired so nicely with the sauce. Last came The Mother Rucker: this meaty burger was named as one of America's Top 10 Burgers by Infatuation and rightly so! What a great way to end our meal, and for the record, we were quite full! (Only served on Monday nights.) Be careful though bc they add 20% service fee already into your bill and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll double tip them like I did 🥴 My fault for not looking over the bill more carefully.

We went for their restaurant week dinner cuz this is a spot that we always want to try. We are glad that we picked here and would love to come back for other special occasions. The food was carefully planned, cooked and then paired with wine. As opposed to many other “fine dining” that makes you feel like you ate a bunch of air after a whole expensive meal, this place actually had the food do its original job: feed people. The service was also great. Both the hostess and our server that night were really friendly, very helpful and answering any questions about the menu, the dishes, and the wine pairing. We felt taken care of through out the night.

We went for restaurant week and it was so delicious! Started out with incredible sashimi, grits with crab, and a welcoming savory broth. For entrees I got the lamb and my partner got the halibut. Both so dreamy and perfectly cooked! The dessert was a chocolate truffle mousse which was divine - my partner doesn’t like chocolate so they accommodated him with a raspberry yuzu sorbet! We both got pear martinis! Fabulous :)

it’s a small, cozy open-kitchen restaurant with a warm atmosphere — but unfortunately the food and service fell far short of expectations. Overall, the seasoning was overwhelmingly salty, which made it hard to appreciate the actual flavors or character of the ingredients. Each course felt unbalanced, and even the rice grits were inconsistently cooked, with some parts almost like raw rice. The halibut dish was especially surprising: the cabbage served with it tasted like pure salt, while the halibut itself had almost no seasoning at all. Half of it was warm and the other half was completely cold, which was really unexpected. Only chopsticks were set on the table, and no one explained that other utensils were stored in a drawer — we only realized after watching another table take theirs out. For a restaurant with so many positive reviews, the service felt unprofessional and careless. Even though I had stated the reason for our reservation, the staff randomly asked whose birthday it was, which felt awkward and out of place. The highlight of the night was actually the bill — a receipt that already included a 20% service charge, yet still had the extra tip line marked and emphasized as if we were expected to add more. I couldn’t help but wonder when it became normal for restaurants to openly push for additional tipping on top of an already-included charge. It just felt unnecessary and uncomfortable, especially after such a disappointing meal and experience. To top it all off, both of us experienced stomach discomfort and diarrhea later that night after the meal. Overall, it was a disappointing experience on what was supposed to be a special occasion.