Six Penn Kitchen

Six Penn Kitchen is located downtown. This is the second time that I've eaten there. I have to say, both times haven't really been all that great. The first time was for my birthday, 4 years ago. I remember getting the roast chicken with plantains but not really the taste of the dish. Now, for Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, it just reminded me why my birthday dinner was not so memorable. The food really wasn't good at all.

The 3-course, fixed-price menu started with Shrimp Bisque, Surf & Turf and peanut butter mousse cheesecake. The shrimp bisque was good; however, the corn-bread croutons tasted more like rye bread that was not nearly crispy enough to stand up against a cream-broth soup. Other than the croutons, the flavor of the soup wasn't too bad.

The Surf & Turf was not good at all. It consisted of a 4 oz crabcake: malt aioli, brussel, bacon, shallot hash cream and a 4 oz filet: topped maytag bleu cheese and portobellas, and onion mashed potatoes.

The crabcake had entirely too much parsley in the batter and the malt aioli just was not good. There was way too much aioli and it completely over-powered the crabcake itself. The brussel, bacon and shallot hash was probably the best thing on the dish. The brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly and the bacon was a great accompaniment. The filet, which the only way to eat a filet is medium-rare, was medium at best. It wasn't too bad in flavor but if I would have preferred my beef any more cooked, it would have been very tough. And, the onion mashed potatoes, were absolutely just not good. There was a huge mound of them, which was double the ratio as anything else on the plate and the onions that were mixed in were just cooked, not caramelized, and the piece were huge. Overall, disappointing.

Finally, the peanut butter mousse cheesecake. It had an oreo crust and topped with whipped cream. Didn't appear to be homemade, but was, by far, the best thing I ate.

The staff and service were good and the drinks were good. However, my return to Six Penn will only be during the warmer months when the rooftop bar is open! Six Penn has a great atmosphere and is very close to Heinz Field and PNC Park, but the food just wasn't up to par. Let me know what you think!