If you haven’t found my Google reviews profile yet, then I have to share with you that one of the best reviews that I’ve ever given for Google reviews was for the restaurant “Vedge” in Philadelphia. In the beginning of October this year, I visited Philadelphia to have dinner there once again. On my way there, I noticed that there was a new restaurant nearby. I love anything that has anything to do with the mystical world and so I was completely intrigued. The new restaurant was called: “The Cauldron”. I thought at first, that it was a temporary new hotspot because of Halloween being right around the corner. To my surprise, it was going to remain as a permanent new place to dine there in that area of the neighborhood. I didn’t get a chance to go in because I already had my reservations made for Vedge.
I kept the name of their new restaurant in mind, and when I got home I started looking it up on the Internet to do a little research. According to some of the ads and YouTube videos that I found about it, it was supposed to have been quite a magical experience. Apparently they offered a dining experience with the option to do a craft which included making your own witchy cocktail. I was really excited at the thought of this. I also saw that they had a kids menu where they offered a little smoking cauldron of punch. I truly thought it would be an exciting family experience.
I decided that I wanted to go and check the place out finally one night randomly out of the blue. I called the restaurant and asked him specifically if I had needed any reservations prior to coming in, and the girl on the phone told me that I didn’t need any. It was a first come, first serve basis. I grab the kids and we drove from New Jersey across the bridge into Philadelphia excited to finally get a chance to check out this new and exciting place. Yeah, when I got there they told me that I needed a reservation! Even after explaining that there was a mixup caused by her own employee on the phone, they didn’t even offer to accommodate me based upon the fact that her restaurant had caused the misunderstanding and made me travel many miles to get there for absolutely no reason. I expected that they would had offered us a spare table knowing that we drove up there with children and that it was her employees fault that we went out of our way like that just to be there. They didn’t offer us a table at all. Even seeing that I had kids with me, they told us that we had to go and that reservations were needed to dine there. As a business owner myself, I certainly would have tried to find something for a family with children especially if it had been the fault of my own restaurant. We ended up dining somewhere else that night.
I didn’t want to scratch the collagen off my list yet though. I figured that it might just still be worth a try. So I went on their website and booked the reservation. They offered only two options. You could either mix the cocktails as the craft, or you could go in for restaurant and dining. For the price of the dining experience, I expected that we would still be able to mix the cocktails as I thought it was included as a full package. When we arrived, I was told that the dining tickets did not include mixing any cocktails.
Sitting there I observed my environment to see what type of atmosphere the restaurant had. I certainly was under the wrong impression that’s for sure. I totally support the LGBTQ community, but I hadn’t intended on going to a restaurant that was 100% created just for members of the community itself. In other words, I was hoping for more of a mix of people. Families, LGBTQ community, young and old crowd… However it seemed that there were a lot of members of the LGBTQ community more so than any other type of visitor. I certainly did not see any other children around in the restaurant. If it hadn’t been a place to bring children, I would have kindly appreciated that they stated that on the website. I also felt that even though people are entitled to love whoever they choose or be affectionate with whatever partner they’ve chosen, that there should be an overall ethical conduct especially in a restaurant experience. Instead, we had two men sitting directly in front of us, with one man sitting on the other’s lap. Again I totally support People in whomever they choose to love and be with, but I wasn’t there for that type of environment where people were hanging all over each other like that. I again thought it was going to be more of a family-like atmosphere. Otherwise, I still would have visited but I probably would not have brought my children. if they offer a children’s menu though, then one would only be able to assume that it was a child friendly environment?
The dining experience was not all that fantastic either. The food seemed like it came from someone’s mom‘s house with things like macaroni and cheese and cheeseburgers. I truly had expected something a little more aesthetic considering that they offered a magical type of environment? I would’ve thought that they would have had some kind of rare and special dishes that really complemented the name of the place. I am also vegan and so they did not have a lot of options for me there. It seemed that my children did not really like the food either.
The overall setting was in a very small room with tables that were very close together. I liked that it was cozy and it seemed like it would have been a pretty cool hangout spot for some kind of club or something of that nature rather than to host dinner. It was extremely noisy, but the music was pretty cool. It had more of a medieval style to it and complemented the idea of the place.
As far as the staff goes, my waitress kept calling me a wizard with a very high pitch tone at the end of the word which made me quite uncomfortable. I understand that they were trying to promote an idea of something but I am an adult lol. I definitely wasn’t given a magic wand to feel much like a wizard either, which they promise on their website. But I guess I had to pay the additional $50 for that? I also thought that the people at the reception area where are extremely cold and rude. They weren’t friendly or welcoming whatsoever. I truly feel that this was a totally overrated idea that did not deliver at all. I would recommend this place for anyone to go and have a few drinks at, but be prepared to spend a lot of money. Especially, if you want the whole experience. Apparently paying $150 for tickets to eat there isn’t enough to include getting the opportunity to mix a cocktail and hold a wizard’s wand.
I think the place is still rather new and if they made improvements, they could truly put together the idea that they have as the foundation, but they certainly haven’t brought it fully together yet. I won’t fully give up on the place as of right now. They only just opened recently. Perhaps maybe I’ll return in a year or so and see how it’s developed? Only next time, I won’t bring my children
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