philadining

Thanks for the link, Gordon. Menu looks good. I like the cocktail list too, although I'm not sure if I'm in favor of bourbon in a Sazerac... Can you elaborate on what you ate and drank? Or were you so merry that it's a little hazy? And thanks for that Bahn Mi pic, Ciao Ling. I was actually heading for that place a few months ago, but got distracted by the Tap and Mallet. Good to know one can get a Bahn Mi a little more often than Pho Duong Dong's hours allow!

I'm not sure it matters, but I think that's gumbo that looks so good to you: they do in fact have very good red beans and rice, but I didn't photograph it! Anyway, even though I'm a pretty big fan of Cajun Kate's right now, it would be SO much more logical for you to go to SatchMo's, if you're going to be in the KoP/Conshohocken area. It's probably a 40 minute drive to Boothwyn, vs about 15 for Collegeville. It's not as if they're identical and the only difference is convenience of location, but Satchmo's has some good food too, and you could get there much more easily. Cajun Kate's strikes me as much more authentic, and completely Louisiana-style, while SatchMo's is more of a sandwich shop with some Louisiana specialties. It's also worth remembering that Cajun Kate's is only open on fridays and saturdays. SatchMo's has some weird hours, but they're open more... you might want to call SatchMo's to be sure they'll be open, before you drive: 610-489-7282. There are some funny differences: I think Kate's Mufuletta is more authentic, but I like SatchMo's a little better. SatchMo's makes a delicious popcorn crawfish PoBoy, but dresses it with sour cream and cheese. If it were "fully dressed" like is usually done in New Orleans, with mayo and lettuce and pickles, it would be even better than it is already. They seemed really perplexed by our request for some lettuce... The gumbo's better at Kate's, but not bad at SatchMo's either... An important thing to keep in mind about both places: they're tiny little places with only a few seats, very casual, the food in paper-lined baskets or to-go cups, they're not fancy sit-down restaurants. Just so you're prepared...

Is it wrong to start lunch with Beignets? I don't see why. I figure it's breakfast. Then moving right along to Smoked Chicken and Sausage Gumbo feels pretty natural. That had such a deep flavor from that dark roux, it didn't need anything, but a couple of drops of hot sauce really put it into the stratosphere. Then we couldn't very will ignore the Oyster Po Boy That's a large, actually a half-and-half, mixed shrimp and oysters, fully dressed. The roll is nice and light, very similar to a traditional New Orleans Po Boy roll. They ship the oysters in fresh from Louisiana, and it shows. They were breaded and fried to order, which kept them perfectly light and crispy, with beautiful juicy oyster flavor when one bit into them. They had signs up saying that Cajun Kate's will be closed the weekend of August 16-17, but back the next week to celebrate their 2nd Anniversary of being open at the Market. I'm bummed it took me this long to notice them, but glad I finally did!

We spend most of our energy raving about Katie Loeb's drinks at Chick's, which is certainly justified, but it's worth remembering that there's good food there too. I'm not sure why I don't think of eating there more often, every time I do, I enjoy what I have... So let's not forget to give some props to Chef Jim Piano as well. Just this past weekend I wandered in hungry, and decided to check out the Wild Boar Burger that used to be a special, but I think may have made it onto the regular menu. Wow, that thing is tasty! The burger itself was nice and juicy, and especially with the taleggio cheese, roasted tomato and roasted long-hot pepper, so full of flavor that I felt no need for any condiments. Perhaps almost as important, the brioche bun, made in-house by pastry chef Kristin Weber, might be the best burger bun I've ever encountered. It's soft, but doesn't fall apart, it's got a nice flavor of its own, but doesn't overwhelm the burger. So next time you're jonesing for a burger, instead of the usual suspects, give this one a try, it's a really nice alternative to the classic beef burger.

The Inky's Food and Drinq blog reports that Esquire magazine names Pat's as one of the best steaks in the country. It's kind of a funny concept: they include lots of expressions of things called steaks, not just typical steakhouse meals. By that criteria, including a cheesesteak makes sense. But the way it's written, I have to wonder if they actually ate one, or were just amused by the concept. The final line is "Get the second one to go." Yeah... I'll bet that second Pat's cheesesteak was deeeelicious a few hours later... Also, FWIW, I managed to grab a steak from Talk of the Town last weekend. Thanks for the reminders, Phungi and Bill, I thought it was very good. Didn't displace John's Roast Pork in my personal rankings, but it had the distinct advantage of being open.

Yet another fave at Ken's Seafood: Chinese Broccoli with Sausage. Do I really need to convince you that a dish of greens that's about half pork is a good thing? The combination is really amazing, the sweetness and fattiness of the sausage offset by the slightly bitter greens. ETA: there's a lot of ginger in this too.

Craig LaBan had mentioned this place in one of his tuesday chats, and then included it in a sidebar to his review of Les Bons Temps as well. He didn't give a lot of details, but sounded enthusiastic enough, saying Apparently, at least one of the chefs worked for several years in New Orleans, including a stint at Emeril's, so we figured it was worth checking out. It's only open fridays and saturdays, and is a TINY little stand with only 4 or 5 stools at a small counter. So I got some take-out, and hurried into Philly to deliver some gumbo to other tasters. It was only about 20 minutes to center city via I95, so it's really not that far away even for Philadelphians. The Gumbo and Jambalaya both had shrimp in them, so I'll rely on other's reactions, which were that the gumbo was delicious, and the Jambalaya pretty good, but then Jambalaya is rarely really exciting... Both smelled great. The Muffuletta was very authentic, and pretty tasty, but could probably have used a little more filling. This amount of meat and cheese is pretty similar to what one would get at the Central Grocery in New Orleans, but that's not to say there's no way to improve upon that. The bread is kind of hyper-seedy, and was feeling a little stiffer than might be ideal, but I think I read somewhere that they may get it shipped from Louisana. A friend heated up part of the sandwich the next day, giving it a couple minutes under the broiler, and reported that the seeds got a nice toasty edge, the bread came back to life, and the whole thing was much better. The olive salad is really great, and the whole thing makes for a very tasty sandwich. I might just find anyone's traditional muffuletta to be a touch too bread-heavy for my taste. One item that completely blew me away was the Smoked Brisket Po Boy. Sadly, this was a special, it's not on the regular menu, so it may not be available on any given weekend. I REALLY wish they'd offer this permanently, it was mind-blowingly deep in flavor, with dark, smoky meat, falling apart in shreds in a thick sauce. Loaded up on a roll, then "fully dressed" as is done in New Orleans, with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. This one also had provolone, which blended well. It quickly tuns into a big drippy mess, but a freaking delicious drippy mess. I have no idea why mayo, lettuce and gravy can possibly coexist on one sandwich, but they do... I liked this sandwich as much as the one I got at Parasol in New Orleans, which is justifiably famous for a similarly sloppy roast beef Po Boy. A lot of folks were getting big cubes of deep-fried mac-and-cheese, the crispy shell containing creamy, cheesy noodles studded with tasso and crab. I didn't think it would travel well, but you can be sure that I'll try one next time I can get back there, and hopefully find an open stool at the counter. Same goes for the crawfish pie. They've got things like gumbo and jambalaya already packaged and in the refrigerator if you're taking them home for later, or you can get them to go hot, and I defy you to resist taking a taste in the car... If you go, keep in mind that it's a TINY place, so you shouldn't be in too big a hurry. Just like New Orleans! I was really charmed by the guys working there, you can tell that they're really serious about it, but still having a good time. Remember, it's only open Friday (9am-9pm) and Saturday (9am-8pm) and is way out in southeastern PA, a stone's throw from Delaware. The Booth's Corner Farmer's Market is a little odd, it feels a few decades behind the times, with a large flea-market component among the farm stands, many of which are Amish. Cajun Kate's is certainly an anomaly there, but from one taste, I'd say worth the trip. Check the website for specials: this week the Gumbo is Chicken and Sausage, the Po Boy is fried Oyster. Oh, man, I really might need to head back down there... Booth's Corner Farmer's Market Naaman's Creek and Foulk Roads Boothwyn, PA http://www.cajunkates.com/

I just think it's funny that participants in a food discussion board would be rolling their eyes at people who are a little bit more obsessive than they are. If it's only food, and we should just eat it, what are any of us doing here on eG?

I really liked the tart lemonade, but it does tend to overwhelm everything else, if you're doing multiple flavors. As we sat outside, we got chatting with a woman who had been coming there for decades, and she scolded us for not ordering condensed milk as an extra topping, and then I remembered Daniel raving about that option on his recent visit. I'd imagine that would be better with certain flavors over others. I was tempted to go back and get another with the condensed milk, but the line was pretty long at that moment. The options are a little dizzying, and it was a little unclear to me what was allowed/recommended in terms of doing multiple flavors, but in the end it's not rocket science, pick a flavor or two, pick a size. It's just flavored ice, you can always get another one...

Yeah, I think 80 might be a bit much for the Sovana Bistro space! The do have a private dining room, but it only holds about 25.

I'd agree with wkl about Sovana Bistro, but I wonder if they could do that many on a friday night? Worth a call though, they really DO make very good pizza. But be aware, they're small-ish pies. ETA: I don't know of any other excellent pizza out that way.

Yeah, that Rosemary Honey Goat's Milk is pretty amazing... A few friends and I have similarly been surprised to find ourselves more seduced by the sorbeto at Capogiro lately, rather than the gelato. Very odd. Anyway, I join the awed chorus, marveling at your stamina.

Just for the record, the Szechuan Tasty House is at 9th and Arch. And yes, if you're looking for Szechuan in particular, I'd go there, rather than the places you mentioned out on the Main Line. Or, if you want to stay out near the Main Line, and you're willing to drift a little further out route 30, to Exton, Han Dynasty really rocks for Szechuan, Taiwanese, and generally awesomely great Chinese food. I haven't heard any reports from Blackfish in a while, and the chef has opened a branch down on the Jersey Shore, so I'm not sure where he is at any given time. That said, several folks I trust like the place a lot, so it's probably worth a try. Gilmore's in West Chester used to have a pretty great prix fixe mid-week, but I don't see any mention of it on their website now, so I'm not sure if they're still running it. It's a really nice restaurant in any case, and not crazy expensive. Just got Best of Philly: Suburban BYOB.

Hey V, you're probably right that foodies already have their favorites, and won't not pay much attention to lists like these. But I suspect that it might spur some folks to try a place they might not have otherwise. Katie - noticed any difference? The list definitely piqued my curiosity about a few things. It reminded me that it's been way too long since I've been to Ansill. And to brunch at Lacroix. The best "Food you don't know" is a crazy dessert lassi-ish thing with all kinds of stuff in it, from the Palace at the Ben. I feel like I have to check that out. There are more. But Vadouvan raises an interesting question: to folks that read eGullet, is the Best of Philly list relevant at all? Are you interested, vaguely curious?

I managed to wangle an invite to the Best of Philly party this year, which was held at the Kimmel Center. The massive lobby was jammed, even more than it appears in this photo. I keep forgetting that there are a LOT of categories, and for some reason they don't all have to do with food. I figured it would be fun to run into folks I recognized and offer congratulations, but I actually saw almost nobody familiar. I mostly just wandered around, got pounded by loud music, nibbled at some OK food and drinks, and had a few nice conversations, yelled over the hubbub. Of course every year the Best of Philly list starts plenty of arguments, and I'll bet the magzine would be disappointed if it didn't. As always, there were a few choices that left me scratching my head, but there were also lots that I could agree fully with. They don't have the list up on the website yet, I assume they're hoping to sell some magazines... But here are a few that jumped out at me: I wouldn't argue with either of those... I did run into the crew from Chick's, looking pretty happy about "Best Inventive Cocktails." They also were mentioned in the "Best Bar Trend: Mixologists" (or something like that... ) category. Congrats to them, and especially bartendrix Katie Loeb. I also was thrilled to see Southwark win for Best Traditional Cocktails although i suppose that's not a huge surprise to anybody! Totally agree with: Best new BYOB – Cochon! Also, wouldn't argue with "Best BYOB - Suburbs" – Gilmore’s I don't have the issue right in front of me right now, I'll try to double-check the actual phrasing of the awards, I might have the exact wording wrong, but a few more that I liked were something like: Best Gourmet Pizza - Osteria Best Everyday Pizza - Marra's Best Entreee – Ansill (I think it's the Lamb from the Pif-night menu) Best Chocolates – Eclat What did everybody think about the list this year?

Micheal Klein posted an update on the Food and Drinq blog saying the long-awaited gas hook-up was scheduled for yesterday or today. So he was projecting mid-August for the opening. But who knows...

I recently had a drippy, messy Roast Beef Po Boy in New Orleans, and as great as it was, I couldn't help wondering what it would be like on Sarcone's bread. Sounds like this might be a good simulation...

Michael Klein's Food and Drinq blog reports that Francis Trzeciak has ended his association with the Inn at St Peter's. That's too bad for the Inn at St Peter's, which was also very good under the previous chef, Martin Gagne. But it's probably good for the Birchrunville Store Cafe, which will once again get Trzeciak's full attention.

Are reservations likely to be needed this coming week (last week of July), mid-week?

We finally tried Kanella this weekend, and were somewhat surprised to find it less than packed, it's gotten some very good press lately, so we assumed it would be jammed. It did get full-ish later, but I'm pretty sure I noticed people walking-in without reservations. I suspect it might be summer-in-Philly syndrome, everything seems a bit slow. Anyway, go now, I'm sure it's going to be packed solid come fall. We really enjoyed it a lot, out of the many things we ordered we didn't dislike anything, and there were only a couple of things that didn't thrill us. We started with two apps from the specials. Grilled Cuttlefish Very nicely grilled to add a smoky edge, but it still remained tender. I liked the texture, a little more substantial than squid, but still delicate. The citrus dressing brightened it nicely. Beef Tongue Very soft, almost falling-apart, it reminded us of long-cooked brisket. And we mean that in a good way... Great intense dark sauce. Loukanigo Spitisio: Grilled Cyprus Sausage Loved the grilled crunchiness to the casing, and the spicy flavors within. Grilled Haloumi -eh... I don't think there was anything wrong with this, I think I might just not like haloumi all that much. The cheese was kind of dry and mostly tasted salty, and not much else. Octopus Kathisto Again - eh... not bad, but we're spoiled here in philly with lots of great octupus. I found this one a little bland and a little chewy, but really not unpleasant in any way, just not up on the same level as most everything else we had here. This was braised, a welcome variation from simple grilling, but in the end we weren't all that excited by it. Keftedes Really good meatballs, interesting spicing, crusty but still moist. For Entrées: Kouneli (Rabbit Stew) This was my favorite, and that seemed to be the consensus around the table. The rabbit had an intriguing flavor, I'm not sure if it was from its rabbit-ness or the other ingredients in the stew. The meat was tender and succulent, infused with the slightly sweet herby broth. I think I tasted some of Kanella's namesake cinnamon in this dish, which worked really well. Excellent. Quail These had very nice flavor, but as is so often the case with quail, it was a little tricky to get at the tasty parts. In a different preparation once could pick up pieces and gnaw on them, but in this soupy presentation that would get a bit messy. So, although it tasted good, it was a little annoying to do battle with. Lamb The crusty outsides of this were just spectacular. And the rarer insides were good too, although some parts of it were a little too rare, to the point of being chewy. Still, overall very enjoyable. Grilled Dorado A close second to the rabbit in my opinion, this was a very high quality fish, with a pleasing twist from being grilled in a grape leaf, imparting some of that flavor while protecting the flesh a bit. But there was still some good smoke from the grill infiltrating into the fish, a subtle sauce underneath adding to the complexity. We didn't really have room for dessert, but curiosity got the best of us, and I'm glad we indulged. I've forgotten the names of these, but we started with a semolina custard in phyllo This was quite tasty, it reminded me of a very good cheese blintz, but flakier, crispier... Lemon Yogurt Mousse Vividly tart, this was a full-on palate-cleanser! I loved it. German Chocolate mousse with lavender ice cream (special) A bit more restrained than the lemon, this was still pretty intense. The lavender ice cream was perhaps too subtle, but still a very nice parter for the chocolate. The creamy pannacotta-ish thing with rosewater... This was as restrained as the lemon mousse was loud, but each had charms. It indeed did give a slightly savory impression as TarteTatin noted, but we liked it. And we finished with thick Greek coffee Our server was very good, giving helpful suggestions, and pacing the courses very well. He offered to bring the apps in a few waves, which is a welcome alternative to being inundated with plates, especially when over-ordering, as we tend to. He was also very good at keeping wine glasses filled, and overall checking in on us, even though it did finally get a little busy later. The overall vibe was very pleasant there, we even ended up chatting with neighboring tables. One party in particular give us some helpful reviews of dishes we didn't get to try (rabbit tenderloin appetizer gets a thumbs-up.) I suspect they might be checking-in here, if so - hey, hi, nice to meet you folks! We liked this place a lot, there are a few dishes I'd get again anytime, and there were several more things on the menu we want to try.

Osteria (just "Osteria") will be pretty hopping on saturday at 9, and it'll be a little noisy. It's not terrible in that respect, I never find it oppressively loud, but it's not going to be intimate either. If you're talking about the next few weeks, Philly gets a bit slow on weekends in the summer (hence Vetri being closed) so you could luck-out and find it a little more mellow than usual.

If you were disappointed in Le Bec Fin before, I kind of doubt you'll like it more now, unless your problem with it as that you were put-off by the formality. You can still get a multi-course tasting, or now you can order a la carte. My understanding is that many of the long-time servers have left, and there is a newer staff on the floor. Some friends went shortly after the transition, and found the service a little rough, but it may have been buffed-up by now. I had a very nice meal at Lacroix back in January, except for one egregiously-bad course, which they promptly replaced, and comped, but the fact that they sent it out at all makes me wonder a little about them. It's interesting food for sure, and can be very delicious, but I think the kitchen might be a little inconsistent. Feel like rolling the dice? I'd echo a previous poster who suggested hanging onto that friday night res at Vetri if you have it. Or just go gonzo at Osteria on saturday night, it's not as elegant a setting, but the food's excellent.

Joy Manning gives it a a good review in Philly Mag. She hedges a little, but ultimately gives it an A-minus for food. Philly Mag also just gave the Chef, Jennifer Carrol, "Best New Chef" in their 2008 Best of Philly awards. I still haven't been there, but as described in previous posts, some folks I know haven't had quite as good luck. So I'm not sure what you could expect.

Finally made it back to Zhi Wei Guan, and proceeded to wonder what took so long... (and I hear that great minds think alike, and we weren't the only ones to return on thursday!) They had nice organic cucumbers as a refreshing starter It was getting late, and we just missed the last order of other Xiao Long Bao, but they did have special Beef XLB. These were very good, and I think significantly better the last ones we'd had there. And I didn't think the previous ones were bad, I just thought the wrappers weren't quite as delicate as they could be. It turns out that in June, the chef here had a visit from his master chef, apparently a well-respected figure in China, and they spent a lot of time working on juicy bun technique. And I'm glad to say that our local chef is a good student! I really liked these a lot, I thought the wrappers were much more elegant than before, and the flavors of the soupy filling were excellent. The ratio of filling to wrapper seemed just right too. Importantly, although the buns were very delicate, they did not fall apart, or tear as one lifted them to the spoon. (That's one thing that makes me crazy at Dim Sum Garden, a decent percentage of my XLB self-destruct before making it into my mouth....) We also tried the (pork) Wontons, which also had very tender and light wrappers, in a subtle broth. They had a wonderful texture, and nice flavor. I forget the exact name for this next snack - Lover's Bread, or something funny like that. It's two pieces of steamed dough, and two of fried, served with a condensed milk dip. I especially liked the fried one, it was a bit like a nice fresh donut, but they were both good dipped in the milk. We always like to have some greens, so we ordered some baby bok choi, which was simple, but perfectly tender, sweet and garlicky. Then the Hangzhou Duck. This was wonderfully tender duck, in an intense dark sauce. I really like this a lot, but I realize that we ordered this before on noodles, and I think it might be best that way, because the noodles soak up that wonderful sauce. And I like their noodles. Either way, get the duck. Be careful, there are bones. And finally, our favorite for the night: Spicy Double-Cooked Pork Belly. The pork had been slowly cooked to soften and render the fat, before being stir-fried with peppers, onions and a complex spicy sauce. The texture of the pork was just great, but i think it was the sauce that really makes this dish special. We couldn't quite place the flavor, it's not especially spicy, but it is very boldly flavored, reminiscent of a curry, or maybe a little like Shacha sauce, but not quite... Whatever it is, it's delicious, we found ourselves compulsively spooning it onto rice, to get as much as possible! All in all a really enjoyable meal. It's a very small place, and they're making food different from the rest of Chinatown, so it's a tough journey for them. I really hope people find this place, I think they'll find it to be an exciting alternative to the same-old stuff. Everyone there is super-nice, and they're really excited to introduce people to this kind of cooking, so give it a try, I'm sure you'll be happy you did. I'll be back soon, there's plenty more we didn't get a chance to try, but mostly I just want more of that pork belly...

Be sure not to look at the menupages site outside of the approved dining times either, you could have your internet access cut-off.