Two p’s in this Pod: pricey and pan-tastic

by LEN LEAR

I had heard that the “pods” at the futuristic, five-year-old pan-Asian restaurant in University City called Pod were usually as hard to get into as a senior citizen trying to get a linebacker’s job in the National Football League. The restaurant at 3636 Sansom St. (attached to the Inn at Penn), which looks like a set in a Star Trek episode, features seven “pods” that seat two people and three more that seat parties of six, eight and 12 people, respectively.

Each “pod” features white upholstered banquettes and high-gloss white epoxy walls with wraparound clear horizontal windows, like window slits in a bomb shelter. The ultra-modern design uses unusual materials like molded rubber, sculpted plastic and smooth finished resin to create its conversation-starter effect. Once inside your “pod,” you may choose from nine switches of different light colors to illuminate the enclosure. The interactive, glowing “pods” radiate bursts of bright colors throughout the restaurant. Each “pod” also has six screens that play fast-paced videos. The 90-seat “non-pod” main dining area features white acrylic tables decorated with brilliant color bursts, a 16-seat communal table and white foam chairs.

I had heard that eating in a pod was more fun than rubbing a dog’s belly but that they are scooped up faster than steroids in a major league baseball locker room. As a result, we waited until a weeknight between Christmas and New Year’s Eve last December, figuring that almost all of the students and faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania would have gone home for the holidays and that we might actually be able to dine in a pod. We were certain that Pod would be pretty much empty.

That shows you how much I know. We entered the restaurant at about 7 p.m. and quickly discovered that all of the pods were occupied, and by 8 p.m., just about every other seat in the restaurant and at the bar was also occupied — mostly by Penn and Drexel students. (When I was in college in what seems like a century ago, I could barely afford a candy bar from a vending machine, but these jewelry-encrusted kids at Pod were ordering pricey sushi and cocktails as if they were slices of toast.)

In addition to the pods, another fascinating innovation is the oval, 34-seat white sushi bar with a conveyor belt that delivers fresh sushi directly from the kitchen. Above the sushi bar, a five-foot tall video screen shows non-stop Japanese animation that includes images from the 1960s’ classic Speed Racer, a robot making sushi and scenes from Godzilla and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I discovered that Pod’s owner, the peripatetic Stephen Starr, had hired famed New York architect/designer David Rockwell to create this unique restaurant design. Rockwell had a career developing lighting for Broadway shows before moving to the restaurant world, and at Pod one certainly feels like part of a theatrical production.

Although first-time diners at Pod invariably chatter about the restaurant’s futuristic design, food is never an afterthought at a Stephen Starr restaurant. And the food that comes out of executive chef Michael Schulson’s kitchen is both pricey and pan-tastic. (If all Pod had to offer was the science fiction-like design gimmick, the pods would not be filling up like cups of coffee at Starbucks after five years.)

Sushi combination platters start at $12.50 and range all the way up to $65. Dim sum appetizers go from $8.50 to $16, stir-fried dishes from $16.50 to $25 and other entrees from $17 for crispy scallion chicken to $36 for a whole Peking duck. Also available are multi-course price-fixed dinners for $45, $55 or $65 per person. There is an extensive wine list as well as a huge variety of sake by the glass, carafe and bottle; beer on draft and by the bottle and specialty cocktails.

Everything we tasted was wonderful, but the one unforgettable dish was the spicy tempura rock shrimp with grilled pineapple and candied walnuts, a pricey appetizer at $15 but divine. And desserts were also amazing, particularly the chocolate toffee bread pudding and chocolate mousse with edible gold leaf.

Some diners at Pod would probably call the restaurant’s unique design cold or even antiseptic, but if you eat there, I am certain you will tell your friends about the experience. I looked up “pod” in the dictionary, by the way, and one of many definitions was “a school of seals or whales,” so I guess you could say you’re bound to have a whale of a time at Pod. For more information, call 215-387-1803.