Nestled in the suburban quietness of Berwyn, Nectar, 1091 Lancaster Ave., brings the kind of Asian fare that matches its polished and upscale décor, but with an unexpected and surprisingly welcome French twist.
We admit it is kind of strange to see cheese plates offered alongside sushi rolls, but you get used to it. Things start off on a traditional note with the steamed pork buns ($9.50), an Asian slider that has a nice, smoky flavor and is pleasantly tender.
Nectar has some interesting takes on sushi, including solid traditional rolls like the seared tuna roll ($15), with spicy tuna on the inside and a nice eel sauce on the outside. But the rolls that take more chances really capture the imagination. The King Kong roll ($23) delivers a commanding high-end surf and turf experience stuffed with filet mignon and Nova Scotia lobster, dusted with sea salt and flying fish roe. On the other side of the spectrum, the Matsutake roll ($14) is a vegetarian sushi roll made with the titular mushroom that they tell us is only available in Japan or on the West Coast. However long the trek was to get them here, it was well worth it, as the mushrooms, rolled up with pickled avocado, gave us one of the most interesting bites we had. The flavors and textures were unique enough that it still felt like sushi but delivered a lovely, earthy flavor profile that left us not missing fish in the slightest.
The entrées at Nectar also are well put together. The shrimp pad thai ($19) hit all the right notes with a slow-building heat that doesn’t threaten to burn out your palette. The wild striped bass ($28) was perfection: seared crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The accompanying oyster mushrooms and black truffle sauce added a nice, decadent richness to the dish.
Like we said earlier, cheese in any form and sushi usually don’t fly in the same circles, but here cheese plates are recommended to start or end the meal and, surprisingly, it works. The Chester County artisan cheese plate ($19) offers a selection of five local handcrafted cheeses with bread and seasonal berries to round it out. We challenge anyone to finish their meal with the cheese plate and not leave satisfied.
Nectar definitely has the goods to keep Philly suburbanites swarming.