herbacidal

The only food with dragon in its name that I can think of is dragonfruit. Although I vaguely recall a dragon candy, but not what it actually looks or tastes like.

Just because no one has done it, it does not mean that any such attempt will fail. In fact, that means that the first attempt that melds together the right management and the right plan has a greater probability of success, because there's no room for more than one such venture in the market. But I think I see where your emphasis was in the statement about a Babbo-type place having less chance of success in Philly than a Buddakan in NYC. I assumed it was on one end, you put it on the other.

So you're saying that there is no restauranteur in Philly capable of producing quality Italian food that would not be considered Italian American? Is that correct? No one's disagreeing with that. Bridge and tunnel crowd and its effect on bars and restaurants is more about the personality and attitude than geographic home base, but to date they seem to go hand in hand, in general.

How so? I'm intrigued by the idea.

I concur.

Philadelphia Inquirer Craig Laban highlights one of the pioneers, Astral Plane. Rick Nichols looks at an Indian kitchen. Philadelphia Daily News Sono Motoyama visits Amada and loves it as much as we all do. City Paper (Philadelphia) Elisa Ludwig checks out the Center City version of a popular South Jersey eatery, Pelican Fish. Carolyn Wyman visits cult favorite Wing Bowl’s supplier, the Rib Ranch. The Philadelphia Weekly Lauren McCutcheon visits the Sidecar Bar & Grille. Kristen Henri waxes poetic about escarole soup at the Fitzwater Café. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Karin Welzel finds salmon 3 ways when 3 chefs present different styles of preparation. Karin Welzel advises those less familiar not to cut the noodles. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette David Douglas Shannon focuses on a Steeler bar in the land that film built. Marlene Parrish talks about yet another inter-city sports championship wager as the Gazette and the Post-Intelligencer throw down. the Morning Call (Allentown) Susan Gottschall finds everything satisfactory at Billy’s Downtown Diner.

Actually, Prasantin was right. While this thread was inspired by the NYC vs Philly debate within that Morimoto and Buddakan coming to NYC thread, it was not intended to bring that debate to General Food Topics. It was, however, intended to get people to advertise the strengths of their cities' food scenes, as a way to better understand where to eat when visiting a particular city. Combined with knowledge of particular restaurants (touristy spots and otherwise), I thought it would be a fairly useful guide to understanding where to eat in that city. A guide much better for the second-tenth time tourist in a city than the first-timer. While I have an opinion on the NYC vs the world debate, I will decline to express it.

That's still there? I coulda sworn that's not there anymore. I remember that one there when I was a wee lad.

Yea, Korean fried chicken is so good. I like it a lot better than Chinese fried chicken. Not sure yet how it compares to Peruvian fried chicken. ← Yo herb,give me a call and we could go with my sushi guy ,he knows all the good latenight korean joints ← Definitely in the next few weeks.

Glepore, I'm assuming that an available MontCo license has not been found, or is it just that you've been so wrapped up with your current situation that you haven't had the time?

The Morimoto and Buddakan in NYC thread made me start thinking. When visiting cities, we tend to pick particular places we want to go to eat. A good complementary way to organize our food visits would be to get a better idea of the food scene's strengths. Here's a start. The strengths of the Philly food scene: 1) BYOBs because they serve food (in some cases) on par with 2-3 star restaurants, just without alcohol service 2) gastropubs, where if you want to be even more casual than a BYOB, but yet have food far superior than most general bar food (smelts or roquefort burger, anyone?) 3) sandwiches and other cheap eats/lunch foods (roast pork, cheesesteaks, chicken cutlet, Italian sausage, etc.), not to mention banh mi, falafel, and tacos, the latter two which I'm slightly jealous of NYC about, just because of the possibility of getting it really cheap from a truck Both 1 and 2 are to some extent reactions to the state store alcohol system.

Other than a type of goldfish (I think), what's a guppy? I've heard of yuppies and buppies. Scratch that, I just answered my question.

Yea, Korean fried chicken is so good. I like it a lot better than Chinese fried chicken. Not sure yet how it compares to Peruvian fried chicken.

Probably not. It seems to me like in most foreign countries, people pick up fresh ingredients the day they plan to use them. From what I've seen, Chinese are the only ones that have kept up that habit here in the US, and even that is significantly less than in the native country. I don't know about Koreans, Turkish, and others. The American lifestyle co-opts many a foreigner living in the US.

I think that's the Artisan Boulanger Patisserie mentioned above... ← No, I think Greg's referring to a different one. I didn't know they had bread though. I thought of it as more of a coffee shop than a bakery. It's where Passyunk, 7th and Carpenter(I think) all meet. I also think Ba Le's rolls are underappreciated. They're half the reason I love their banh mi more than other places. Not to mention their buy 5 get 1 free deal.

good luck with that on a wednesday. ← Tru dat. As far as V and VP, I thought V's spring rolls weren't crispy enough the one time I was there. VP I thought was solid back in the day, if a little expensive. Do either V or VP have an off day?

Probably the guy at 12th and Morris, roughly. Baker Street in general seems to be underapprciated in Center City. Out of sight, out of mind, for the most part.

I usually skip both and go to Xe Lua. Back in the day, I did frequent Van's Garden, which is where one of the Chinatown bus companies are currently HQ'ed at 11th and Cherry.

From someone in the biz, leaving a penny for a tip, tails up, is suposedly to say that service sucked, as opposed to the possibility that you might have forgotten. I, of course, never learned this until after I stopped waiting tables. So, it was just generally slow? Sometimes the kitchen is slow for whatever reason, although for it to happen in a near-empty place is inexcusable. The server should know and explain if there's a problem beyond her control though. Was she pleasant? Did she help explain things? What kind of restaurant? White tablecloth? Diner? Just based on that slowness, I wouldn't leave my normal 15-20%, but I would probably leave something. A buck maybe. Or two. The only time I've left nothing, I wrote my reasons why all over the credit card receipt.

Oh, it's originally a 'burghian thing? That's interesting.

Get there by 5:30pm or there is a good chance you will have a long wait. ← Definitely good advice on a Friday. But if you had to wait, I suppose you could always give your cell number and wait at Charlie's Pub on 3rd, assuming they'll allow that.

Well, if they do turn out to be unresolvable, what about the places Chris mentions above?

That'd be interesting. Actually with modern renovation costs, liquor license expenses, etc. perhaps $15-20 above cost would probably be more doable for the owner and still reasonably priced.

I thought they were both wine geeks. Where is Melissa jumping to? I concur with everyone else.

Yea, really good wings, with your own ranch dressing. Other than that, all my other food suggestions are covered. What about a fireplace? Don't install one, but it's a big plus if there is one already. I miss Palladium's.