Fork in Old City has a nice private room in the back. The menu is at: http://www.forkrestaurant.com/menu.htm

I've only been to Amada about four times. My experiences on the whole have been very good, though not entirely consistent. Some of this is probably attributable to poor selection on my part. I think that judging the merits of the place on restaurant week and the chef's tasting selections is probably not the best strategy. The most memorable of all the plates was a blue-cheese icecream with fig compote--simply all of my favorite things wrapped up into one.

Reading Terminal is great for lunch, but on the whole I would skip it for breakfast/brunch. Go to Morning Glory or Sabrina's for breakfast. Warning: get there early or expect to wait. I also agree with the Honey's suggestion for breakfast. I can take or leave Ansill. Chloe is one of my favorite restaurants, and it will be an interesting foil to your Morimoto experience--both financially and "culinarily".

I agree that Chloe is worth a visit. I think Dmitri's is one of the most over-rated places on the board. Their grilled octopus is great, but beyond that, I just don't get it. I've only been to the Queen Village one, never made it to the one near Rittenhouse Square.

It's a shame Petit 4 in Old City closed, they had wonderful scones. I like Pink Rose in Queen Village for fruit tarts and cakes. The cream puffs are huge and tasty, too, as long as you share.

Go back to Southwark next time, and make sure George makes your Negroni! It's the Sicilian thing.

It's unanimous--Southwark. I think they have something like 18 different brands of rye whiskey. Have a rye Manhattan. This is what I would call the "wonton soup in a chinese restaurant test". It was like rediscovering Manhattans for the first time. Gin fizzes--really--egg whites and all. Vespers, Sazeracs, Negronis, etc., etc. This is the real deal.

I was with an out of town guest (an elderly lady) and she asked for a Mohito. I was mortified. The bartender begrudgingly mouled some mint and sugar, and it was the best Mohito she had ever had. If only she could have ordered a real drink!

I've never had a good bialy in Philadelphia (and I've looked)....you'll have to make an excuse to visit NYC and bring some home. Sometimes Famous 4th Street has them, but there doesn't seem to by any rhyme or reason as to when or how many.

The hoagies at Salumeria are ok, but you should go to Sarcone's for a hoagie. It's close to the Italian Market, so it's an excuse to head that way; (9th and Christian area). Get mozarella at Claudio's (hot out of the bath), gnosh at Di Bruno brothers, and have a great afternoon.

The gnocchi at the eponymous Gnocchi off of South Street. (5th? 6th?) Not for the low-carb set.

Where are you from? Old City is a sub-district of Center City. The boundaries for Center City are William Penn's original survey of 1682. Vine Street (then Valley Street) on the North, South Street on the South, and river to river. And, technically, since Jim's is on the south side of South Street, it's not in Center City. Because the original building codes didn't apply to this area (previously Southwark and Weccacoe) all the theaters and rowdy 18th c. pubs were down there--and that's why the area still looks like it does (well, now it looks like any other mall). For one day visits, go to RTM.

I'll second someone's recommendation about Franklin Fountain. Not only do they make all their own stuff, but they know a lot of icecream and confectionary history that would be of particular interest to you as an historian. Make sure you ask for one of the brothers--Eric or Ryan. A note about City Tavern--it's not the original building. You can't even get the old-school Philadelphia stuff anymore--Pepper pot soup (tripe), snapper soup (still at the Union League, but it's a private club), all the oyster houses are closed (except Snockey's which is no great shakes) and there are some famous punch recipes from the old Boat House Row private clubs that may pop up from time to time. There are lots of beer choices, but Yards is great and they are in an old 19th-c. brewery so it's a good tour.....Philadelphia is truly blessed by its food renaissance, but some of the history is gone. I can't believe no one said Sarcone's for the best hoagie experience!

Sabrina's, Honey's, anyone been to Morning Glory lately?

Think about cab fare as part of your budget. The Orange Line runs up to Temple, so you'll probably get the train at Cecil B. Moore Ave. and Broad Street. When coming back to campus keep in mind that this (inexplicably) is a LOCAL stop, so not all trains stop there. Trust me, you don't want to miss your stop. Get of at the City Hall stop for Reading Terminal Market and, 10 blocks east, Old City restaurants. Alternatively, go to the South Street stop and, 10 blocks east, South Street/Queen Village restaurants. In QV, the bar/dining scene at Ansil and Southwark is pretty friendly for single diners (both at 4th and Catharine).

For a real hound experience, there is (if it's still open) a Pakistani kabob place on Cecil B. Moore just west of Broad on the south side of the street. I think it's called Kabobeesh. It is a DUMP, but the kabobs and lentil dishes are, IMHO, fantastic for like $6.

Be careful around Temple.

Famous 4th is good. I love the hamentaschen (sp?) and some of the other baked goods. It would be nice if the sandwiches weren't SO ridiculously over-stuffed, but that's the gimmick.

Absolutely second the DiNic's. Get the sharp provolone with the broccoli rabe if they have it.

Where is there better icecream? Different styles, maybe (e.g. Capo Giro), but for Philadelphia-style ice cream Franklin sets the mark, IMHO. If you're serious about good wine, Panorama might be an option. It's in the Old City neighborhood close to Christ Church, Elfreth's Alley, etc. It's a bit more formal for dinner, but lunch may be more casual.

Country Scrapple: An American Tradition
by William Woys Weaver. Pretty much the definitive word, I think. But I still don't know where to eat in Charles Village.

Wikipedia as a source. Oh lord help us. "Tradition" implies more than presence. You can get mint juleps in Philadelphia, but hardly would I consider these a Philadelphia "tradition."

Scrapple a Baltimore tradition? Wheat? Are you kidding? As someone who just moved to B'More from Philadelphia (scrapple is PA Dutch; think more snouts and teets and less wheat germ), I'm disappointed in the Baltimore culinary scene, and the apparent lack of informed foodies. Please prove me wrong!!!!

I always enjoy Imperial Inn on 10th for dim sum brunches.

I've recently moved to Baltimore from Philadelphia. I must say that I did not enjoy my meal at Teatro Tapas, but it was more than a matter of taste. By any objective standard, my meal was just bad.

Spinach with raisins and apples. The apples were excessively spiced with the usual suspects--nutmeg and allspice in abundance. They were entirely overhwhelming, and in fact amplified the naturally occuring metallic taste of spinach. As evidence of sloppy preparation, the pignoli were entirely raw (and didn't taste fresh--nearly rancid, actually). Toasted pignoli are not a lot to ask.

Simple tapas of dates, figs, almonds and cheese. What could be simpler? Four ingredients, five different temperatures. The figs were the generic store-bought, dried out, tasteless pieces of cardboard that I remember from 1970s cookie recipes. The dried figs were, at one time well before our meal, grilled. Starting with poor quality figs and then drying them out even more on a grill (and then serving them ice-cold), is a mistake.

Eggplant with mint-yogurt. The eggplant was entirely undercooked. Tough to the tooth, and slathered in store bought (??!!) tomato sauce and minted yogurt. Cold eggplant + hot reheated sauce + yogurt = sloppy unappetizing mess. I should have stopped eating with my eyes, because it got worse.

Roasted Beets. Well, there were beets there, somewhere. Formed into a timbale, the finely sliced beets were smothered in a thyme and mayonaise sauce. When I order beets, I like to taste beets. This was as if someone was trying to get a kid to eat them by smothering them in enough thyme-mayonaise goo that you may as well have been eating something else.

It got worse.

I don't get it. Philadelphia was a great food town, and I miss it. Amada for tapas was outstanding. At Teatro Tapas my neighbors (seated closer than most NYC establishments, where I lived before Philadelphia) were raving about their dinners. What gives? My tastes must be way off, or Baltimoreans are so starved for anything besides crabcakes that they'll oo and ahh for, what in my opinion, was one of the worst meals that I've ever paid for.

(Restaurants I like in Philadelphia: Southwark, Gayle, Ansil, Tangerine, Dinic's Pork, La Lupe, Plaza Garibaldi, Amada, etc.--a pretty eclectic taste at all price points). And to think, that the meal at Teatro Tapas was about the same cost as a meal at Southwark! I've been depressed for a week.

You put your finger right on it. If you like the "rougher/courser" consistency you'll go for Fiorella's every time. That's my preference. Canulli's is also great, and you're right that it seems to be a finer-grind. Different strokes for different folks.

As you and everyone can tell from the widely divergent posts, this place elicits strong emotions. Personally, I think very highly of Southwark. The range of opinions stems from the fact that the restaurant, from the decor to the menu to the preparation to service, is an intensely personal reflection of the owners. If you share their vision of dining, then the experience is one of the best in the city. If you don't share that vision, then you're likely to feel otherwise. There was an old art journal whose tagline read, "making no concessions for the public taste." Southwark shares the same sentiment. They have VERY high standards and a particular vision. If you don't share it, then tough. Would you tell Jackson Pollock, "a little more red down there"? So how is that different than asking, "a little more sauce down there"? It's not. If your love of food permits you to move beyond yourself as the center of the universe to share the communal experience of tasting the world through another's palate (or to continue the analogy, palette), then you'll love it. If your goal is to satisfy your own cravings at the expense of a chef that is willing to compromise his or her vision, then this is not the place for you.