andrewlee's Profile
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch - DE/MD/VA on DE Rt 1/ 113/ 13
foodjack - yeah, thanks. It'll be on the early side of the day when passing through, so I think we'll be breakfasting/brunch rather than seafood at that point in the day, but if we end up later in the day (if plans go completely FUBAR), then thanks for the seafood options. Seems like if we need seafood/BBQ or can at least make it to VA - we'll be okay!
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch - DE/MD/VA on DE Rt 1/ 113/ 13
Okay - thanks for the advice. If I'm looking for breakfast, seems like I should eat in Philly before we get underway, then high-tail it for Virginia or the Clam Shack. I'll let you know in a few weeks how we make out. Might just have to be a Waffle House if we can't make it all the way without food. Wife is pregnant + food requirements every few hours, so I think we'll have to stop. Thanks!
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch - DE/MD/VA on DE Rt 1/ 113/ 13
Hounds -
Heading from Philly down to Edenton, NC (northeastern shore of NC) for a long weekend in a few weeks. Seen some pretty good recommendations on ChowHound for eats in North Carolina and this post http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/726486 on dinners/BBQ along Eastern Shore of Virginia.
BUT - we're going to be in the car mostly in Delaware, briefly in MD, and then Virginia. Need only breakfast/brunch and lunch places. We can shift our timing and our route slightly (1 instead of 13 or 113 instead of one or the other) for the right food, but won't stray too much from those routes. On this trip, not looking to detour an additional 30 minutes for breakfast/lunch.
Search hasn't revealed much along that corridor. Am I stuck with Waffle House? Since I can't fully control where/when we'll be along the route, can you also indicate if a place is good/fine for eats, and if something is epic/worth a detour. I may have some influence over the trip since I'm the one driving!
Thanks!
Kid-friendly lunch near Rt-78 between 287 and Parkway
Thanks for all the suggestions. Ended up shifting directions a bit + a bit north on the Parkway -- at the State Street Grill in Bloomfield. A pretty good diner, which at the end of the day, worked out for everyone. http://www.statestreetgrill.com/
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State Street Grill
9 State St, Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Kid-friendly lunch near Rt-78 between 287 and Parkway
Oh, that Skylark Diner looks awesome. Too far out of the way for this event, but definitely going to hit that another time. Thanks for that suggestion!
Kid-friendly lunch near Rt-78 between 287 and Parkway
Calylecat - Oh, bummer. That looked good, but when I checked their website, it looks like they're not open for lunch on Friday. Ouch.
Kid-friendly lunch near Rt-78 between 287 and Parkway
Meeting up with a bunch of folks (6 of us total, kids included), looking for a place where we can get good food + hang out for a couple of hours. This is for the Sat after Thanksgiving + meeting one car that's travelling along Rt-78, so hoping for a place that's
Food requirements -- pretty straight-forward for this request. "American" (for whatever that means these days), upscale-diner, or gastro-pub. For this request - no Asian, place can have pizza, but can't just be a pizza place (we've got some folks not so good with the cheese...). It's lunch, so everything is sufficiently casual, I'm guessing at that hour, and for prices, let's say food roughly
Remember - we're more looking for a place that'll be comfortable for 6 of us so that we can talk (i.e. being able to hear each other kinda important), and decent food - but it certainly doesn't need to be an epic meal.
Thanks!
Giunta's vs Godshall's for fresh whole turkey at Reading Terminal?
After four years though, learned an important lesson - try to avoid the Reading Terminal Market on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the same Saturday as the Marathon fair. Oh man - that was brutal. Forty plus minutes to exit the garage -- no joke -- machine wanted to charge us $12 for the time we drove down from fifth floor to exit -- fortunately (?) all were in the same boat, so attendants were bypassing the systems to let us out. But yowza. Not doing that again.
Any other day though, Giuntas and Iovines for sure. Even the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was never this bad!
Giunta's vs Godshall's for fresh whole turkey at Reading Terminal?
Giunta's is the best + Iovines produce right across the aisle. 90% of your holiday food shopping within steps of each other + you're good to go. Been getting my birds from Giunta's for years + always been happy from ordering through eating and leftovers.
Doma
This is a review of Doma - 1822 Calowhill in Philly
Just went tonight - a Saturday night at about 6.30. Walked in no reservations, no wait, although - reservations definitely needed after 7.30pm.
Beautiful atmosphere/decor - clean, modern, but also warm, inviting. Contemporary Japanese, fixtures/plates/vibe - all a big step up from "Ikea-chik" - very tasteful decor.
Service was good - helpful and responsive.
Okay - now for the food. Interesting to note the posts on Philly Chowhound about the dearth of really good Japanese non-sushi-focused restaurants in our city + it's true. I was struggling to come up with even a single one. So, after finding this post on Chowhound (thank you sylviag!), we went this evening after my wife stated a craving for udon noodles.
Started with okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese savory crepe + Doma's was quite large + lots of great ingredients (I think we tasted potato, octopus, scallion to name a few), but unfortunately any subtleness in flavor was overwhelmed by a drenching of BBQ sauce. Their iteration didn't hold together at all, so it was basically an effort in shoveling parts of the crepe from th serving plate onto our plats and into our mouths. A so-so preparation, and wouldn't order again nor recommend to others.
Second dish was a fusion tuna flatbread. Slices of flatbread with a flavored mayo (wasn't wasabi mayo, but something mild) with a nice medium-thick slice of sashimi tuna on top. Overall - yummy + good. Maybe a little too much mayo, but would definitely order this again.
Finally - ordered the miso soup. I'm not a fan of thick miso noodles in general, but my wife thought it was a great rendition of the dish + bowl was filled with noodles, veggies, a tempura something (she ate it before I could grab a bite). Overall - good + she would order it again.
We didn't do sushi this time, but lots of folks around us did + presentations were beautiful + really nice cuts of fish (we saw some really really thick cuts of tombo tuna presented as sushi on our neighboring tables).
Wrapped-up with dessert - sorbet: a lemon/pomegranate sorbet filled into half of a giant frozen lemon; and a pineapple sorbet filled into a half of a mini pineapple. Good desserts + a final palate cleanser, but certainly not a must-order.
So - overall - we're definitely going back. Earlier in the evening is better than later (even with reservations, the vibe was nicer when it was mellower and emptier). Okonomiyaki - no; Fusion tuna flatbread - yes. Udon - yes for my wife. Lots of other interesting apps/main courses to try + definitely going to try some of their sushi offerings as well.
Happy Eating + thank goodness we now have at least one Japanese (food/not sushi) place in Philly worth going to!
WRETCHED Meal at Tiffin Last Week
If we're going more regional, I have tended to avoid Indian in the city for the most part (given similar experiences + not knowing which were the goto places), and when in the mood or when in the area have hit Iselin/Edison and Jersey City -- certainly not a quick if you're in Philly, and not an after/work thing coming from Philly, but when you need authentic, you go to the source!
Also - closer to home, I've gone to a Pakistani place (no, not Indian, but some common dishes including samosas, a few similar chutneys, chai, tandoori), Kabobeesh, on Chestnut and 42nd: http://www.kabobeesh.com/
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Near Penn (Solo)
I'd say Reading good for lunch, but they close at 6p, so unless you're looking for an early dinner, look to the other recommendations for dinner.
And yes - I'd agree - 45th to the West, I was off by a couple of blocks...
Dutch Crunch Rolls
I heard of Dutch Crunch when I was in Boston too. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're regional products. Here, you'd go with a Kaiser roll, seeded Italian, seeded French, or other kind of roll, which have similar taste/texture characteristics.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Near Penn (Solo)
I'd say your food options drop off considerably (and you wouldn't necessarily want to walk alone at night):
- to the south past Baltimore and 50th Street (Dock Street Brewing and Satellite Cafe), but there are a lot of great food options on Baltimore Ave, including Ethiopian, West African, some Vietnamese, and coffee.
- to the west at around 42nd/43rd Streets
Other than that most of the other options identified here are in/around University City (
Favorite Chinese places in Chinatown? Not bakeries, not dim-sum, not Thai/Burmese/Fusion
Wong Wong - yup - their salt baked squid are really good, as is the duck!
Barclay Prime and Opentable
restaurants sometimes block peak periods from Open Table as I believe they have a higher no-show rate than calls to a live person...
"Just Good Food" Ideas for 4 Days/3 Nights in Philly?
Fish??? blocks north of my house and in five years here I've never even heard of this place, let alone seen it and it's your favorite place in Philly, perhaps the world? Okay - that place just jumped up on my list.
best fish taco in philadelphia
Sad to say the best baja taco I've had in my life was at the Pink Taco in VEGAS!??? Second best - a gringo-owned place off the beach in Sayulita, MX. Vegas - how is that even possible?
"Just Good Food" Ideas for 4 Days/3 Nights in Philly?
Barryg - Great list + without a doubt those are the differentiated culinary highlights of this city! Friends come in from SF or NYC -- they're still impressed by our offerings in the categories you mentioned.
Maybe add to that list too, the emerging upscale food carts, as well -- done previously only in LA and SF, but I'd say we're holding our own in this category as well.
morimoto vs. barclay prime
Yeah, this is a weird question - to urbanfabric's response - cause it's really about what you prefer. You have a SS gift certificate - where do you use it?
Having said that though -- I've been to Morimoto within past year + was not at all impressed. Word from people who've been there in years past is that it's gone downhill in past few years. Nobody that I know has ever said anything bad about Barclay Prime (but I can't weigh in on Barclay, not having been there myself).
My completely personal ranking of how I'd use a stash of say a month's worth of SS gift certificates with my wife (we have a preference for casual/fun and foofy cocktails over fancy platings and $50 entrees):
- Continental (Old City or Mid-Town)
- Alma de Cuba
- Parc (yeah, yeah, it's Euro Disney or I guess the converse of that, but still, it's alright)
- El Vez - with gift certificate - fantastic; if your own dime - price/value is not right.
Not my speed, but I could be dragged along:
- Butcher & Singer - nice steakhouse, cocktails are STRONG!; but steakhouse nonetheless - just not my thing
- Barclay Prime - as discussed; supposedly epic + oft described as much better than any of Philly's numerous other steakhouses
Pass:
- El Rey (steep prices for faux/authentic Mexican?); pass; Italian market area for the authentic/authentic and 1/2 the price; although Esquire identified the hostess as the BEST IN THE COUNTRY (see current edition) so that might be additional incentive to stop in. Writeup: http://bit.ly/8Z0dj6
- Jones (okay for lunch, but super casual and not really worth spending a gift certificate here)
- POD - nauseating lights/pods/ atmosphere/ loud; food was only so-so; pass
- Morimoto - as stated - for the price, even at any price - disappointing food
Haven't tried/No opinion:
- Buddakan
Food Crawl - South Philly
South Philly is challenged in boundary definition these days. What sub-neighborhood are you talking about? Bella Vista, Passyunk, Grad Hospital? Too many to mention if you're defining South Philly as anything south of South...
Pumpple Cake?
I'm SOOO glad to see other folks who aren't fans of Flying Monkey.... When I moved here everyone raved about it + I was like - THIS is the best you've got? Thankfully it wasn't, but yeesh - the hype over this place -- not good. Glad to hear there's a new owner. May have to go back and try again.
Philly Food Truck Frenzy this Saturday 10.16 on Christian Street
Oh. Good to know. Saw all of those folks + thought it was going to be a feeding frenzy. Glad our local places are happy to sponsor even if they're not the ones vending at this event. Yeah - local businesses - we love you!
Need recommendation on where to hold a work dinner for 50+ people
Separate checks? Probably your best bet would be the food court under the Bellevue. Everyone can order what they want + you can all order at the same time + get as many checks as you want.
Philly Food Truck Frenzy this Saturday 10.16 on Christian Street
This isn't meant to be a shill, but just wanted to let everyone know there's going to be a foodie's block party on Saturday on the 2000 block of Christian Street. Apparently they've lined up a bunch of the gourmet food trucks + quite a selection of breweries as well.
So far, they've announced:
Coup de Taco
Honest Tom's
Sugar Philly
Dapper Dog
Koja
That's in addition to participation by Sidecar, Healthy Bites to Go, Southside Pizzeria, Rittenhouse Market, Beatuy Shop Cafe, Phoebe's BBQ, Betty's Speakeasy Confections, and Old Towne Pizza/Sanna's Middle Eastern.
Okay, now that I look at that list, I'm not sure how that's even all going to fit on one block.
Eleven breweries are being represented, with a total of 33 beers on tap from: Bell's Blue Point, Doc's Cider, Dock Street, Ithaca, Ommegang, SlyFox, Toegs, Victory, Yards, and Weyerbacher.
Definitely not your typical block party food + drink. Details: http://www.bloktoberfestphilly.com/2010/?page_id=226
Favorite Chinese places in Chinatown? Not bakeries, not dim-sum, not Thai/Burmese/Fusion
Mazza3 - Apologies - on DimSum I simply wasn't looking for any. Hit DimSum in NYC with friends, and not usually in the mood for DimSum without a large group here, so I was simply looking for non-DimSum places. I think I've seen a number of other posts here on DimSum though...
Bakeries - almost too many to mention. On the attributes - Price - pretty much all the same.
Then atmosphere (yeah, right - not a consideration). Staff, quality/amount of filling in steamed pork bun, quality/amount of filling in other items.
I'm pretty content with Bread Top House NE corner of 11th and Race -- friendly family, will engage you in English, and more welcoming than some of the others.
oops.Gotta run. More later.
23rd birthday celebration in Center City/Rittenhouse/Old City?
Okay - legit question. Went there twice. And my "nooooo," was based on atmosphere, food, and price -- kind of the tri-fecta of letdowns for me.
Atmosphere felt very generic, too dark, and too open (nothing comfortable, warm, or welcoming IMHO).
Food was uninspired, un-extraordinary, not very flavorful as I remember it (we're going back 2+ years now). And then on top of that we're talking pretty high prices (entrees from mid teens to high twenties).
Sister restaurant though Tierra Restaurante way up on N. Fifth was much more reasonable price-wise, better food, better drinks, warmer atmosphere.
So all-in-all we had no reason to go back to Mixto a third time, esp. since there are such good Latin restaurants down in the Italian Market area now -- read: better food, stronger flavors, lower prices.
Favorite Chinese places in Chinatown? Not bakeries, not dim-sum, not Thai/Burmese/Fusion
I keep striking out in Chinatown, walking into places that look alright on the outside, but ending up with uninspired, same-old same-old faux American overly salty, otherwise flavorless, too greasy Chinese food for the most part.
So - what are your favorite Chinese places in Chinatown?
I'm already covered on bakeries, Dim Sum, and other Asian (Vietnamese/ Thai/ Burmese/ Japanese/ Korean, and mixed - i.e. Sakura), and just looking for Chinese places in Chinatown. Preference for cheaper places, but okay with a few higher end places as well (just indicate that they're higher priced).
Thanks!
Andrew
one dinner near 30th Street Station, Phila
Argan - great for lunch. Light on atmosphere for dinner + actually - not even open every night for dinner, so best to check ahead if you're intent on there for dinner. White Dog - you'll see in other reviews here - has been, not so much anymore -- very traditional fare + definitely not a best-of-Philly anymore.
Also - check out some of the gastro pubs mentioned. Philly does this like no other (speaking as a SF/BOS/NY transplant). And we're not talking wings and burgers (although the burgers in this town are phenomenal). We're talking mussels, steak, catfish, fresh seafood, and a whole variety of chef's specials. Really good eats at very reasonable prices. Check the menus as they're all a bit different (some lean more burgers, some more meat, some more modern fare)...
btw - did you just call your kids dumb on Chowhound?
23rd birthday celebration in Center City/Rittenhouse/Old City?
can you give a ballpark of 'what not breaking the bank' means? $35/person in and out for food? $50/person? Also - drinks in the price?
