Furious Flav-or

Here's another vote for Royal India in Frazer. Their Saturday/Sunday Indian/Indian Chinese buffet is just not to be believed, especially not when two people go out the door well-stuffed for $22 with drinks and tip included. The service is first-rate, as if we were there a la carte, and they have yet to fail to offer us special breads when we come in. They have a really fair selection of things for vegetarians. In fact, three-quarters of the buffet is vegetarian, at least. Given the number of people who rave about Desi in Exton, I'm surprised that more of you haven't stopped in across from the Quizno's on 30 and given it a try. Yes, the dinner prices are a good bit steeper, but the quality doesn't flag in the least. The atmosphere is somewhere between beachfront bar and quonset hut, but the service and quality of the preparation more than make up for it.

The phenomenon of finding Coney Islands and Texas Lunches across PA is essentially the Feltman/Handwerker thing replayed from town to town, although it's principally (to my knowledge) the province of enterprising Greeks. I'd name names and towns, but, well, Holly knows why not. The Coney Island in Shamokin, for instance, is just as you describe the one in Scranton, Rich, a total throwback to another time, and still very popular on weekends, especially at night. The dogs are done up with a beanless chili that isn't a chili, quite, and there's just something about them, and others like them acros the state in dozens of small towns that just says "you're home." Even if it's something the attraction of which I just don't get, like a Yocco's dog — it's somebody's hometown dog, and the affective fondness for nostalgic reminders of childhood tend to override one's capacity for objective consideration of real merits. I spent the first few years of my twenties getting used to Callahan's vs. Hiram's vs. Hank's vs. Rutt's up in North Jersey, a situation that altered my hallmark hotdog ideas more than a bit. Chicago dogs are good, but to judge other dogs by their standards of jazzed-up rolls and two inches of produce on top of everything is unfair. But hand me two PA dogs from two different places with chili, mustard, and onions? Snyder Ave., here I come!

Bump and update: Opens 01/25/06, phone is 610 277 7573 (or 7375, I'm a little foggy).

Yeah, that's where Aman's is. I go there because I think it's quality. You should've gone right next door to Il Cancun. The mexican isn't quite as authentic as the Taqueria, which I love as well. But they give you more food for your money, especially after the Taqueria increased their prices over the last year. This place gives you a staggering amount of food, and I think it tastes pretty good. ← El Cancun? No way. Not even close to authenticity, and La Michoacana is losing theirs step by step, as well. They've tapped into a Friday-Saturday crowd of Anglos and have altered prices and preparation to fit, as well as doing a cut and paste of the external appearance of Tierra Colombiana. Frankly, I've been mourning the changes, and now I'm incensed that three tacos, a bowl of birria, and an horchata should cost me the better part of $20, before tip. That's robbery. I have a hard and fast test to figure out where a Mexican restaurant is coming from. If they feature "Señor porky" on their menu, they generally fail. There's an outfit down South that sells prefab menus to TexMex joints, and "Señor Porky" is a menu item. Seeing that is like seeing a snake in Southeast Asia; there are thirty-three distinct species, of which thirty-one are poisonous. *SQUISH* The other part of the test is to simply ask where they're coming from, in which being bilingual is a big advantage. Hitting them from the unexpected Spanish angle, I usually get an honest reply. I'm not a big TexMex fan, and as I recall, El Cancun failed on one or both counts. I am, however, grateful for the tip on Aman's, a place I've been meaning to find. Meanwhile, we go to Phoenixville and a few other places in Norristown for Mexican more often than we go to La Michoacana these days.

From one of our own: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...68997&hl=minado I was running around yesterday orchestrating the purchase of an SUV, and ran into what looks like a work-in-progress in East Norriton in the strip mall on the northwest corner of Swede and Germantown Pike. The sign in place announces it to be a new Minado chain location, and the bright orange PLCB sticker and the now-hiring sign make me think they're still a bit from being up and running. We shall see what comes from this. As of late, all-you-can-chomp Asian offerings out this way seem to go from bad to horrendous. If anyone lives close by, would you keep us informed of the apparent progress? And if you have any winners in this category, do spill.

Okay. Since we dug this one up with the Waybackhoe™, lemme put in my two cents. I don't get the fuss, either. I tried them on the way to Kutztown one day. I've had better Coney Island/Texas Hots at any one of a dozen different places across Central PA, although the option of pierogies saved the trip for the missus. Gimme two chili dogs from Texas Weiners on Snyder Ave. in Philly, or even a hail-mary drive to a Hoffman's while visiting relatives in upstate NY, but Yocco's is a taste that I don't think I'll ever develop.

Celebre's has changed a bit over the years, but to me, it's still the quintessential South Philly pie. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=30610&st=0 (first page) (discussed elsewhere) http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/showthrea...94&page=1&pp=10

Hmmmm.... Nuns and spicy food. Not necessarily an association I would have made. But whatever works for you... Glad I could help. ← Holly, with such a penance, I'm not even gonna ask. DUCK!

We finally did Tifco Saturday night. Flavette ordered from the American menu (chicken w/ cashews, uninspiring), and I ordered zha jiang mien, a cold dried beef dish (spicy, with cilantro, reminded me of carne seca, delicious), and number 65, the shredded beef with long hot peppers. It took a bit of convincing to get the Chinese menu, and I wish we had had the foresight to go armed with the .pdf translation. The waiter was having a rough time explaining things, and more than a little incredulous at my evidently strange palate. Flavette, of course, grazed on a good bit of what -> I <- ordered. We're going back, and I may have to order the hot rabbits next time in order to get a bite to eat. The zha jiang mien is serious comfort food, as has been noted. The beef dish, 65, was flavorful and hot. It needed nothing but the occasional bit of rice for balance and sanity. Any chances of another group excursion in the future?

I guess left-over banh mi wrappers don't count, huh? We did Phó Ba Le Sunday night before a marathon grocery run at Huong Vuong (sp.?).

Mmm. Churros. I remember having them and buñuelos with chocolate during Fallas in Valencia. Since this descended into a bit of a shouting match concening olive oil, let me add something that should amuse all of you. Here in this part of the US we have been beseiged by a Turkish brand of olive oil that entered the market locally last fall with some excellent prices, so low, in fact, that I bought in bulk. The quality is acceptable, but manzanilla from the first pressing it isn't. In creating a name and marketing their product here, they decided to do what they did in the UK for powdered milk during WWII, to spell it backwards. It was thus sold as "KLIM." Yes, yes, the oil is called "LIO," and I can just imagine how well it doesn't sell in Miami.

I agree with you strongly about the pulled pork and disagree with you on the ribs, although I haven't had Lucy's. Also, they do a mean Southern Comfort cake.

← Some people have appropriate names. ← Maybe somebody should look into the provision of their health and disability benefits. There might be irregularities there, too. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge …

Holy small world, Batman! I know the current owner. Edited because of TMI for little ears on the 'net

Not that I mean to seem to be jumping up and down on your reviews, but I've made Ga Kho Gung (Chicken in a reduced caramel sauce, it's a favorite at Tet) many times, and the version at Green Papaya, which I had three weeks ago, is a weak imitation. What should have come out as a nicely darkened, almost earthy chicken dish prepared with heavy soy sauce and nuoc mam came out, instead, like a collection of chicken bits in watered down RC Cola. Granted, the Cha Gio were fine, but they're not a stretch. Ga Kho Gung really requires one to observe certain standards of preparation, like a long marinade, and clay-pot preparation, and as such it's probably a tough plate as a regular menu item. While talking to the waiter, I learned that they are owned by the same people that own Le Saigon. Had I known that, I would have probably taken the rolls to go and skipped the entrees. Considering my experience with the other place in Frazer, whose name I'm apparently blocking (it's around the corner from Cheeburger Cheeburger and right next to a Japanese place), I'm starting to think that Vietnamese is not a suburban experience.

I'm not sure of exactly where it is in the neighborhood, but a woman I met recently told me that there's a Greek specialty store somewhere in the Fairmount/Art Museum area. Of course, you could always call a Greek Orthodox parish and ask if they know.

As some of us think it should. Sorry, but we gave it a shot, and it's in no way anywhere near the caliber of a Los Mariachis (love the picnic tables) or even a Tata's/Mexico Lindo. I wound up looking wistfully at Veracruzana across the street and moping. It's been long enough that I don't even remember what we had, but it was memorably insipid. We've moved since last I was around the boards, and got turned onto Los Mariachis by two guys at a Hess station filling up a delivery truck with Jumex splattered on its sides. I asked them where to go in that end of the world, and it was the first place that they mentioned. The one thing that I haven't seen them do yet are soups/broths. I really love a good birria or pozolé. Oh, and we tried Sarape in Blue Bell, thinking that it might have a shred of authenticity. Nope. On to Tamarindo's next. Anybody else been?

And where is their Haddonfield location? I get over there on occasion. ← That would be what used to be called Bruno's when I was growing up, just on the west side of the tracks. Haddonfield is traditionally bone-dry, due to its Quaker past, although there are liquor stores perched just outside the town limits on either end of Haddon Avenue for everyone's convenience. I'm loving this thread to death, BTW, and I just hope I can find room in my "diet" to try half the places listed.

Thanks for the tip. I'm up that way often enough to make it worthwhile. We wound up punting and going to an unknown quantity, La Fontana in Collegeville. Reviews were mixed, but father was happy, and so, all was bliss.

Anything slightly less formal/gourmet? I'm looking for a place somewhere between this and *BLECH* Red Lobster, sea-crud-on-walls optional. (I'm tuckin' this one away for US!)

The 'rents are coming to visit soon, and I promised them seafood. Unfortunately, the place that I was counting on is undergoing a liquor license switch (big orange PLCB sign, etc.) and renovation. If you can give me good suggestions in Chester/Montgomery/Northern Delaware counties, I'd be most appreciative. "Reasonable" in Philly would work, too.

Their choice is mine, as well. Size, flavor, atmosphere there, central location in the city, decent beer list — what's not to like?

Thanks, Andrew. I was going to mention them, but I wasn't sure what all they did, but I've driven past them a million times. There's also good Jamaican take-out at Sunday Best, up 52nd on the other side of Market, last I remember, and another place whose name escapes me. The Jerk Hut is okay but seems to cater to a different set of expectations. Mmmmm… bring on de Guinness Punch, mon!

so it is! i missed that on my first pass through the website. i'll definitely ask! thanks! ← being the computer geek that i am, i went to http://babelfish.altavista.com and did a loose translation of the chinese menu. it doesn't get all the words right and some don't make sense, but it did translate a good deal of it. if you'd like a copy (it's a word doc), please email or PM me. thanks! lauren ← You could always host it at http://www.uploadtemple.com/ and post the link here, so long as it's smaller than 30MB. It's a free service. This looks like a great restaurant, and I'm glad that someone touched upon one of my major complaints about eating Asian food out. If I can pronounce it well enough to be understood, and I ask for it, do you think that maybe, just maybe, I actually want it? I was told once, after having ordered bun bo hue at International Smokeless (it was late, everyone else was closed or closing) and then complaining when it was served and half of it wasn't there, that "you people don't eat that stuff." "You people"? I've never been back.

Colonial city, colonial drink? I don't know. The only thing I can think of is that Philly was an important port (as in ships coming in with cargo) that might have had a lot of commerce in port (as in the fortified wine). Wishniak soda would make a decent mixer with Bourbon I think. Kind of an alternative to Jack & Coke. Has absolutely nothing to do with Philadelphia though, other than the substitution of the soda as a mixer. ← Thus the call sign "WIP." Anybody remember Ken Garland? How about Sally Starr? Chief Halftown? Noah's Ark? Gene London? Lorenzo the Clown? Wee Willie Webber? Those were the days. Oh, yes, food, sorry. Did anyone mention pepper pot? Don't know if this is a good recipe or not: http://www.kitchenproject.com/kpboard/reci...perPotstory.htm. The Inky ran a recipe a few years ago, which I think I still have saved somewhere. Oh, almost forgot, the best part of Tasty Baking Co. are the fruit "coffin pies," pronounced in some 'hoods like "coofin piyus." Much preferred to anything from Hostess or Drake's. Speaking of which, Entenmann's has started making individual fruit pies, and they're pretty good for a sugar fix.