West Side Gravy's casual meals don't quite match the comfort of home

With a name like West Side Gravy, you might be looking for the Sharks and Jets. Instead, look to Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen" and season seven contestant Siobhan Allgood.

Allgood first came to my attention when she turned out fantastic fish tacos at McKenna's bar in Fairmount. I was saddened to learn the tacos had packed up and gone to "Hell's Kitchen." Now they are back in a new location.

West Side Gravy is the second venture for Alex Capasso of Blackbird in Collingswood, N.J. In September, he put Allgood in charge of this kitchen, which turns out casual meals grounded in comfort food.

There's never more comfort than Mac 'n' Cheese ($6.50). While this can't rival my grandma's recipe - whose can? - it's an acceptable substitute. Plump pasta and creamy cheesiness might have you wishing you could lick the bowl. Don't, grandma would scold.

While we all enjoyed the Fried Green Tomatoes ($7), we agreed the coating was too thick, or as one taster noted, "It should be dusted, not encrusted."

I like my fried green 'maters barely coated with flour and sautéed in butter, lotsa butter.

In other dishes Southern, the Shrimp and Grits special ($7) was pleasant, but we all thought it could have used a hint of heat.

And, of course, we had to have the Fish Tacos ($8). OK, now memory and desire can play cruel tricks, so I might have been looking for something elusive.

Still, the fish was a delightful coated crunch with moist meat inside that was a perfect foil to the slightly spicy sauce. I seem to recall a hint of lime and cilantro from my first taste, and the ratio of sliced cabbage was too much for the small tacos. I think I like the down and dirty bar presentation better than the gussied-up one.

Unfortunately, after a promising opener, the main course fell apart faster than "Hell's Kitchen's" foulmouthed chef Gordon Ramsay can drop a curse word.

The Tuna and Coconut Rice special sounded divine and arrived with the tuna cooked as requested.

Unfortunately, the rice was completely undercooked. The server immediately took it back to the kitchen, as she should have.

And here's how a reality show would have played out. Someone in the kitchen wasn't tasting the rice because he or she would have known immediately it wasn't al dente, it was al dentistry - tooth-crunching underdone. Inedible.

Now you have a table with everyone else's entrées served and no good option to fix the undercooked rice. The worst choice is to water it down and try to cook it off - which seemed to be what happened. In the meantime, however, the perfectly cooked tuna had deteriorated and probably should have been refired, but wasn't.

In the end, what could have been a stellar entrée was a sad mess of watery rice and disappointing fish.

Voted off.

Our server, to her credit, apologized for what was clearly a dish that should never have come to the table and took the cost of the entrée off the bill. Again, as she should have.

The next challenge was the Beef Stroganoff ($14). Now, I'm all for the comfort theme of this restaurant, but this came out more like Beef Stroganoff Helper: a little on the bland side, and in need of some sour cream or crème fraîche with a garnish to break up the brown landscape in the bowl.

The Fried Chicken ($12.50) held promise, but was dry and lacked the crunch of a perfect batter exterior. The accompanying potato salad and coleslaw saved the dish.

If you are a fan of "Hell's Kitchen," you'll want to try the Tuna from Hell sandwich, a riff on the episode in which season seven's contestants Benjamin and Siobhan had issues that ultimately led to her being bounced from the show.

Not wanting to stir up any more controversy, we opted instead for the Tattoo Chicken Sandwich ($9), another one of Allgood's sandwich jumbles.

All of us at the table were in agreement that the sandwich innards were good, but the bread was a disappointment. There's no excuse for bread that isn't perfect in an environment that has an assortment of Italian bakeries at the ready.

Undaunted, we tried the desserts, which are overseen by Capasso and Allgood.

The homemade Snickers ($7) is a wedge of peanuts and chocolate with a side of vanilla ice cream. There's nothing to snicker about here - a slightly less sweet and adult version of the caramel peanut treat. The Caramelized Banana Pudding ($7) was one of those addictive concoctions that insisted your spoon keep dipping in.

On to Cheesecake ($7). This is a stellar dish, served "stacked" with graham crust to contrast with the creaminess of the cheese base. In a unique taste twist, there is just a floral hint that comes from a basil syrup.

If basil in your cheesecake seems over the top, the Coconut Cream Pie ($7) fits the bill.

The winning team in this episode would be the appetizers and the desserts. Certainly, you could make a meal out of the Mac 'n' Cheese or the Shrimp and Grits, especially if you added a salad. You'd definitely have room to indulge in one of the decadent desserts.

Overall, as one of my tasters noted, there's something about West Side Gravy that makes you want to root for it.

In all fairness, this was one visit on a Saturday night that turned out to be the busiest Allgood's kitchen had seen in the short month she's been there. In a reality show, one event might get you voted off the island, but in this case, Allgood's short tenure in the kitchen gets a save for a second look.

The concept of comfort food in an old Woolworth's sets the tone for nostalgia and, personally, I'd run with that. Skip the overly styled plate presentation and offer sloppy tacos that you can pick up in your hands. A little attention to the lighting and some muffling of the sound is in order as well, but there's promise here.