beercancan

This is probably your best bet: http://www.unionleague.org They need $30,000 inclusive for a Saturday night, but this is for an open bar, 4 courses etc. Call them and they'll work with you. You may need a member to sponsor the event, but of course that is the easiest obstacle.

Nice to see all the hype, but I ate at the Swann Lounge (Four Seasons Philly) a year ago and topping their menu was a $40 cheese steak with Fois. I didn't eat it cause I heard their pizzas were what to get, and the desert tray, but when I went back to NYC I met a yoga instructor who said that the Four Seasons had this item, so I guess that means there was a bzzzzz

Carman's rules! OK! I will send anyone there. If $12 is too much for food that great served by a RED SOX FAN (GO SOX! KILL THE YANKEES!) I guess I'd send 'em to a Coffee Shop instead. The going price for a hamburger at one of the "gastro-pubs" is $9+ (maybe a few extra bux if it has a proper name for cheese or a pepper) so $12 Carman's shouldn't be a big surprise. As Holly Moore points out it is similar to the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth NH, which rules too, but is not as badass as when they used to be in the old stilt-fish-house in Kittery MAINE, overlooking the Piscatiqua, and served cubes of their hommade bread with a huge yard sale ceramic bowl of fondue. Man, I miss those days. And there is another sister restaurant in Portland OR called Dot's, home of the burrito in a bowl and $1 Rainier pounders...green death. So go eat at Carman's!

That is a great list. I was lucky to have a personal culinary guide when I was looking for a place to live in Philly. Guy drove me up here and brought me by a lot of those places and we ate at quite a few too. Didn't help me find a house but I sure ate well. Had John's for lunch today even. Don't try to go to Chinatown on Monday. Did anyone read LaBan's Wife's piece today on where to bring kids to eat. Pretty funny stuff. Throwing rice around and all, and my buddy is visiting with his daughter tomorrow, so timely for me. Don't think we'll be bringing her to Pod though, even if the young LaBan's go for it.

If this a collection at Penn, please post. I'd love to browse.

There are 2 threads going here about these Spice Markets. One is Rice and Spice on Chestnut. The other is International Market on Walnut. They are both around 41st or 42nd.

There are 2 threads going here about these Spice Markets. One is Rice and Spice on Chestnut. The other is International Market on Walnut. They are both around 41st or 42nd.

Kaluystan's is great but if you're going all the way to NYC you should also check out Sahadi's at 187 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn www.sahadis.com It might be even better

There is another post like this, but I tell you the same, and have the lamb chobs at Kabobeesh. RICE AND SPICE: Between 41st and 42nd on Chestnut. I was there last night. It is an Indo-Paki place in between KABOBEESH: the Pakastani BBQ Diner and the Church with no steeple (rubble).

I think this is the same place I would suggest. Between 41st and 42nd on Chestnut. I was there last night. It is an Indo-Paki place called RICE AND SPICE, In between KABOBEESH: the Pakastani BBQ Diner and the Church with no steeple (rubble).

Great to see Sarahs on here. I used to eat there in high school. They have a hot dog baked in bread which is great, and also some calzone style sandwhiches (sprouts and cheese baked in dough). Good stuff.

OK. Thanks for the advise. I will check into Hikaru, Genji, Kisso and Shiroi Hana. (and Fuji).

THANKS! Is this related to Hikaru at 4348 Main St.? I haven't been to either.

Sushi Samba is fine, but not for me. My local was Tomoe. Great sushi, but expect a wait. Anyone else on Shiroi Hana? Or Genji? Or Kisso?

Sit down place. I'll go to Fuji for sure, but not every week. Just some place that is good and easy. I recently moved here from NYC and I took good sushi for granted apparently.

I need an easy reliable Sushi place for sashimi and limited rolls (spicy tuna - no Cali) in the city (not Main Line, Cherry Hill, King of Prussia, etc, not even Germantown or Manyunk - just in the City) for weekly dining or so. Looks like Genji, Kisso, and Shiroi Hana are my best bets. I will have to try them all to hopefully find my local, but any preliminary advise will be appreciated. Any other recomendations? Genji? Kisso? Shiroi Hana? I read the Fuji thread. If there is another good Sushi thread please point me there. I'm really just interested in knowing about these 3. I've been to Pod, and that won't work...

At a Rutgers fair they were giving out stickers that said "I Ate Bugs" at Rutgers, and all these people had them on their shirts. So I wanted one, but you had to eat bugs to get one. I ate some fried worms and some bugs, but there weren't enough for a good meal, just to give out the stickers. Good though. I guess besides bugs that pig embryos and genitals (bull penis, turkey testicles) are "wacky". Try Kenka on St Marks in NYC for some cool stuff.

When you go buy beer or wine or so, you gotta make a pit stop and buy some really nice cheese and some chocolate, and some olives, and some fruit and stash it all in the bottom of the bag and totally forget them. Late at night when you're feeling really good and hungry and everyone thinks that it can't get any better than this, reach your hand into the bag and "discover" all these treats that you forgot about before. This really works.

Hangover breakfast is a Grilled Pastrami Ruben with fries, and a quart of original Gator Aid. No eggs.

The first meal I made for my girlfriend, was in high school. My parents played on a Wall-y Ball team (Volley-ball in a raquetball court - this is the 80s, right) and I would play with them and after they would go for Margueritas and Gringo Mexican Food at a place called Bravo's in Agusta, ME. I ate the burritos there that were stuffed with refried beans and stewed beef. The plate was garnished with shredded lettuce, shredded carrots, sour cream, grated cheese, salsa, and jalepeno slices. One night I skipped the game and had the opportunity to cook a romantic meal for me and my girlfriend instead. That night it was Bravo's at Home and I had no problem duplicating this plate or a pitcher of Margueritas. Ole!

They would like some Serano Ham and melon.

I was working an office job in Lower Manhattan and I developed a horrible low-budget progressive walking lunch ritual when I needed to run an errand to the bank: I worked on the Hudson River and would walk to the Brooklyn Bridge and back along Chambers Street, all alone, enjoying my lunch. I would start with a hot dog with kraut and mustard from a cart on the West Side Highway. As I opped the last bite of hot dog into my mouth I would be walking into McDonalds, for a $1 Double Cheeseburger. I would continue eating an walking to the bank for a break. After the bank it was either a slice of pizza from one of 3 pizza places depending on who had the freshest plain slice in the window, or a couple Croquetas De Jamon from Sophies Cuban. At Broadway I would smell the peanut vendors and buy a bag of hot honey roasted nuts that I would eat as I walked back across the island. Just before I went back into my office I would spend 50 cents on a small Coconut or Vanilla Chip Italian Ice which I would finish at my desk.

My first drunk was in 1987 in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. My friend and I spent the summer living in his Volvo Station Wagon, working at Maine Coast fish houses and tenting in campgrounds, or at parties. On the last day of our summer before we were to return to High School, after a shift at the Schooner, we crashed a party at a house where all the kids from the dinner theatre boarded. They were all moving out and packing, so they gave us a half-gallon of Vodka and kicked us out. We drove down the hill to another friends house and we drank the vodka mixed with ice water in huge tumblers. Guzzled it. This is a perfect drink if you should want to commit suicide. The next day I went to the breakfast shift at 6AM still puking. I worked through the entire shift, despite the teasing of my co-workers. After the shift we were given glasses of champagne to celebrate the summer. I declined. When I was leaving I gave my girlfriend, who was a waitress at the restaurant, a kiss on the mouth. It tasted of champagne which was beautiful and delicious, but triggered a bout of nauseau that made me pull away. The next day I was back in school, far from Champagne kisses, dinner theatres, and fish houses.

I would eat these in a second if I saw them in a store, but I'm not sending away for 'em.

I sent out my first bowl of soup back in 1987 at the Boothbay Schooner Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. I was so proud. A waitress soon returned to the kitchen with a small piece of metal in her hand. A diner had given it to her as a piece of a tin can. At the time I was offended because it was a piece of a pot-cleaning scrubby, not a tin can! I had made my soup from scratch! But now I undertsand that it really doesn't matter what the diner found in his soup, just that he found something.