philadining

He's making an announcement, broadcast tonight at 11 on the channel 6 news according to "The Clog." There's still much speculation about whether he's closing Le Bec, or he's retiring, or whether it's just publicity for new projects. The teaser has him saying that it's very sad, but it's time... He's left Le Bec's kitchen before, so the implication is that Le Bec is closing, but then again, maybe it's just a crafty teaser!

This is really a preconception problem: if you go to a deli and get a roast beef sandwich, do you expect it to have chunks of roasty, crusty, herby crunchiness? Maybe they make roast beef sandwiches like that some places, not around here... The roast pork in a Philly roast pork sandwich has been roasted, it's then sliced and served in a jus. That just happens to be the indigenous style. The appeal of this particular kind of sandwich is the tenderness of the meat and the garlicky herby juices, ideally mixing with greens and sharp cheese. It is what it is, and different folks may like it or not. Just as it's not a failing of regional barbecue if they happen to use a sauce that you find odd, or a failing of a certain style of pizza if you happen to like it thicker or thinner or with more or less on it, it's not a failing of this sandwich that it doesn't happen to have crispy edges. You may or may not like cheesesteaks, but you can't dismiss them because you like your steak thick and medium-rare. Thats just not what the sandwich is. I might agree that John's Roast Pork, the meat itself, is not as herby or bold-flavored as some. But the whole package, with the spinach, sharp provolone and that bun, works for me.

Susur Lee is supposedly opening a place on (surprise, surprise) The Lower East Side by the fall. James Chatto's blog from Toronto Life Magazine>>

Seo Ra Bol 5734 N. Old 2nd St. Philadelphia , PA 19120 215-924-3355

Kumamoto Oysters Daikon Roll, Uni, Uni Sauce Octopus, Tobiko, Black Pepper Maguro Sea Bream Yellowjack Chu-Toro Scallop Monkfish Liver, Uni, Caviar Spicy Tuna Amberjack Kohada O-Toro Uni, Unagi Even better than the last visit? Yep...

Hey, I asked for a Harvey Wallbanger on Saturday and you mocked me! Mercilessly! OK, maybe you knew I really wanted a Bourbon Crusta... And I did really want one of those. I mean two of those.

I don't know for sure what kind of charcoal they use, but it looked like regular lump charcoal to me. Sadly that style is a little hard to find amidst all the briquettes. The in-table grills are actually really clever combination gas/charcoal burners (and built-in exhaust vent around the perimiter.) So a gas burner ignites the charcoal, and it seems that they left the gas on a bit, either to keep the charcoal going, or to add some extra heat. Whatever the process, the grill was pretty freaking hot! But the charcoal seemed to light pretty quickly, and it didn't have that very dense appearance of Binchotan, so I suspect it was just plain old lump charcoal. Some guys get pretty obsessive about lump charcoal...

yes. ← From the south, I always take the Walt Whitman exit, follow the signs for Oregon, make a right on Oregon and a left on Vandalla after you cross back under the 95 overpass. That street is basically the back side of Ikea and Lowe's. John's is at the corner of Vandalla and Snyder.The gmap hack pedometer shows the route. Though OT, I saw the pedometer at a MoMA exhibition last month. For all you urban walkers and joggers, it's a great tool for calculating distances. ← Regular Google Maps does not even acknowledge the existence of Vandalla Street, so I wonder if it's well-marked? It might be, but it could also be worth knowing that a left on Swanson, rather than Vandalla would get you there too. The Google directions from the airport recommend taking 95 north to the Washington Ave exit, then making a right on Columbus Blvd, then a right on Swanson, to Snyder. I can imagine that the right on Swanson might be hard to see, so it would be even simpler to go: 95 north to Washington Avenue exit. Turn right on Columbus Blvd. Turn right on Snyder (near the IKEA) . It's about a block up Snyder.

I've never been to John's that early in the day, so I'm not sure what they are making at that hour, but I'm sure you could get a tasty sandwich of some sort. Whatever it is, you don't need to call ahead for it, they're all made pretty quickly, and are best straight off the grill. You don't really want your sandwich made ahead of time, waiting for you. As for the quality of the food in the Reading Terminal vs the home neighborhoods, I'm not sure any generalizations are safe to make. Sang Kee in the Terminal is not as good as the one in CHinatown, even though they're only separated by a few blocks. But DiNic's is DiNic's, not a pale imitation of anything else, and I think one could easily make a case for their pork sandwiches being as good or better than any in town. Same with Salumeria: they're different from the other hoagie places, but they're not some food-court-simulation, they're quite good, in their own way.

We'd noticed that Laban would be reviewing Everyday Good House on sunday, and decided to slip-in on Friday before it got crowded. We hadn't read the review yet, but it seemed safe to assume that it would be a good review, there'd be no point to slamming a place that most of the Inquirer's readers would never even realize existed. Indeed, as Laban mentions, the place might be hard to even identify as a restaurant unless you read Korean, there are no English signs. It's pretty non-descript from the outside, and even a little hard to see from the corner of Front and Olney. But inside, it's a very nice place, with a friendly staff. We had no language problems, the menu had English translations written under the Korean names, and the various folks waiting on us spoke English, or at least well-enough that we had no communications difficulties. Most importantly, all the food we had was excellent. Banchan was really good. There were a few more dishes that I somehow failed to photograph, I want to say 9 or 10, including a bowl of salad with a vinegary dressing which was really nice added to a barbeque ssam. In his review, Laban mentions a shredded scallion salad, which sounds nice, but ours was lettuce-based. I think this was the best Haemul Pajeon I've ever had: barely any batter holding together the seafood, what there was, nice and crispy. But we were mostly jonesing for barbecue, so of course we were psyched to see real charcoal: We opted for seasoned kalbi (beef shortrib) which seems to be something of a house specialty, and the pork butt. That's the kalbi on the left, the pork on the right. As you can probably see, neither is wet with marinades, nor coated in spices, yet both were very flavorful, the kalbi in particular. The burner was really good and hot, giving the meat a great sear, and the waitstaff came and changed-out the grill a few times so it didn't get too gunky, therefore smoky and sticky. There was nice fresh redleaf lettuce with which to roll up your own ssam. Here's a peak before the final roll-up: The meat was very reasonably priced, but also moderate-sized, which is fine with me, I'd rather have the option to try a few different types, or as we did, get some other stuff too, rather than being faced with a giant $30 platter of meat. So we also tried a Dolsot Bi Bim Bap That's what it looked like shortly before we doused it with hot sauce and give it a stir. I can't quite put my finger on why, but this was one of the best Bip Bim Bops I've ever had. We got a nice crust going on the rice from the hot bowl, and the ingredients were all fresh and delicious. Sundubu jjigae This spicy stew had a nice kick to it, with tender, light cubes of tofu. We were entertained by a menu item called "Giant Egg Roll" or something like that, so we had to check it out. It was indeed giant, about a foot long rolled omelet filled with scallions. They brought a squeeze bottle of ketchup with it, and you know, that was the perfect condiment... We got a few small bowls of rice, which turned out to be both delicious and beautiful. We concluded that we could have been perfectly satisfied even if we'd ordered two fewer dishes, but where's the fun in that? Even with our excessive ordering, the bill came to about $25 per person including tip. Just as we were about to explode from overeating, they brought by a plate of rice cakes in a spicy sauce. We'd contemplated ordering one, but decided we had enough food, so it was a nice coincidence that we got to try it anyway! I forgot to get the camera back out, but it consisted of those very thick, chewy rice noodles and some bean curd skin, in a bright red chile sauce. It was very spicy, I think I'll lobby for ordering one next time. There are plenty more places to try out in that neighborhood, but this place has climbed to the top of my rankings for Philly Korean. Chez Tae Yun (Everyday Good House) 5501 N. Front St. (at Olney) Philadelphia, PA 19120 215-276-7942

Additional proof that there is a god, and that he loves us: snackbar to re-introduce brunch! And there was much rejoicing. hmmm, that photo looks familiar...

I have no idea whether they have lots of cast iron pans in the back or not, but as I mentioned in their thread, the Royal Tavern has been offering a really good version of fried chicken as one of the specials. I heard that it has been very popular, so it will probably stay around for a while.

I haven't been to Himalaya, but speaking of Indian restaurants, there's a new place in the same plaza with Han Dynasty, on rt 100 in Exton, just a little north of rt 30. It's right next to a little Indian Grocery, I'm not sure if they're related in any way. It's called Indian-Malay Kitchen, and it's just barely open, there's a lot of equipment that's not hooked-up yet, empty cases, etc. But it seems like it will be a basic counter-service, inexpensive, informal quick place, with lots of breads, pastries, snacks. etc. The menu's pretty limited right now, but the woman at the counter said they planned on adding a lot onto it soon. I saw a menu laying around with a fairly extensive array of Malaysian food, which got me really excited, but when I asked about that, I was told that they weren't serving that anymore, and weren't sure if they would... bummer... What they DID have was a small selection of curries, some Indo-Chinese dishes, a few breads, iddly, and dosas. I'm a sucker for a dosa so I got a Mysore Masala Dosa to go. It wasn't all that spicy, but it was very good, served with an excellent coconut chutney and some very tasty dal. Devi is right around the corner, and I think I like their Dosa a little bit better, but this place seems pretty quick and convenient, especially for takeout, i suspect I'll be hitting this spot for a quick bite pretty frequently. I'm especially looking forward to when they have the hot bread thing up and going. Stay tuned....

By the time I made it in, the waffles were gone, but they still had that chicken, and the awesome gravy, now served over mashed potatoes. And no, that's not a little cup of syrup toward the back. Nope, couldn't be. Why you want with syrup without a waffle? I mean, that would be weird.

Dropped in for dinner at Supper, and overall had a good meal. There were a couple of small issues, but nothing tragic. Started with a Tartine: Smoked Duck with membrillo This was delicious. The duck was tender and smoky, nicely brightened by the sweetness of the quince. The bread was excellent. Hamachi, blood orange, parsnip, polenta There was a pleasing contrast between the savory seared side, spiced with peppery Grains of Paradise, and the sweeter rare side. The tangy blood orange sauce lent a pleasing acid edge. The dish as a whole was good, yet somehow kind-of plain tasting. Nothing bad about it, just blander than it seemed like it would be. Smoked Sweetbreads, Pancetta, Licorice Creamy, crusty, lightly-smoked, the sweetbreads were very good, and improved by the accompaniments. The only quibble I might make is that the sweetbreads were presented as one very large piece. There's nothing wrong with that, but I generally like a little more crispy surface-area. But I realize that's a personal preference, not a universal truth. Pork Belly with lentil cassoulet and red wine miso poached pear This actually looked a little unappealing as it arrived at the table, as you might be able to tell from the photo, the meat itself was kind of pale and flabby-looking. At first taste, we were pleasantly surprised, the pork actually had a pleasing texture and flavor. But it still wasn't all that exciting until combining the meat with the other elements on the plate. Tasted with the lentils, or the pear, or both, the pork sparked to life and was dramatically more delicious than by itself. This would prove to be a theme for many of the plates: that the individual elements were of good quality, but it wasn't until they blended together that the full potential of the dish was realized. One needed a few elements on the fork at the same time for the flavors to fully blossom. Veal Shortrib and loin, black trumpet mushrooms Another one that looked a little odd, the loin was so pale and pink and uniform, it was a little hard to recognize. I might have liked a little sear to contrast with the luxuriously tender, subtle meat, but the consistently soft texture had an unusual appeal. Once again, each element was almost too subtle, but combined together, a little veal, a mushroom, a drizzle of jus, it was quite satisfying. Hot Chocolate, warm cookies Almost too charming, and almost too chocolately, but I'll admit it: I powered through it, and would do it again. Complimentary Petit Fours: Chocolate with fruit and nuts, Sambuca-infused marshmallows with espresso powder, cookies. The chocolate had good flavor, but was literally liquifying in my fingers, making it actually hard to hold. I don't think I recognized the name given for the cookies, but they were essentially delicate little butter cookies. The marshmallows were the surprise hit. The sambuca flavor was subtle, but the espresso was not, and the whole thing was really interesting. So, all in all, it was a good meal, with elements ranging from good to very good. I especially liked the tartine, the sweetbreads and the pork belly. The hamachi and veal were both fine, but I'm not sure I'd get them again. A the same time I don't think I'd dissuade anyone from getting them... Several other things on the main menu, and among the desserts looked appealing, so I'd certainly like to try some more. A special of foie gras with carrot mousse landed on a nearby table, and looked pretty awesome. We had a decently-priced quartino of decent verdelho to start, then moved on to a decently-priced quartino of blah carmenere. Service was friendly, helpful and prompt, with the glaring exception that we were never offered any bread. This might not have been that big a deal, except that the bread looked fantastic. As jmchen noted above, it's not hard to end up spending some serious change without really noticing. We got up to about $140 for 5 dishes, 2 desserts, 2 quartinos of wine and one coffee (before tip.) Admittedly, only one of those 5 savory dishes was from the smaller, cheaper, starter section, so if we'd done 2 or 3 starters and 2 or 3 larger plates we might have come in a little cheaper. it didn't feel like a bad value though, the plates didn't seem especially small or sparse, as some critics have noted. Well, the tartine was gone in about a bite and a half, but it was relatively cheap! So, not every dish was a hit right out of the park, but it was all at least good, and often more that that. I'm looking forward to trying more of the menu. Or just sitting at the bar and ordering 37 tartines...

Alert! There is Fried Chicken with Waffles on the specials board right now (Easter weekend.) Crispy, herby fried chicken, a fluffy waffle, syrup AND gravy. Should I feel dirty for liking syrup and gravy on it at the same time? No idea how long this will be up, I'm thinking of going back before the end of the weekend...

Wow, they really should change the menu to call it the Flaming Koochie. Genius.

← I wish I had been paying attention, I'm not completely sure about the details, except that this course was one of the highlights for me. The sashimi was all good, the inherent flavors of the fish shining through the contrasting or complimenting sauces. On the left was monkfish liver, topped by... I don't remember... it was good! Next to that was salmon with citrus. That was absolutely delicious. Next, I'm pretty sure that was saba...or... well, one of the hikarimono, with an egg-yolk sauce, almost like a hollandaise. And on the right, I just can't remember what fish it was, but in a ponzu-ish sauce. I was pretty involved with just eating and enjoying each them, I should have paid more attention to what they were!

Wouldn't dream of drinking that Muscadet without you! (bet ya didn't see that one coming, did ya?!?) (yes there was another piece, I was getting confused - shooting, eating, shooting, eating, wait, did I shoot that one?!?!) and for dessert: Jesse's Creme Brulée and a brought-in, but ridiculously good chocolate fudge cake. Crazy good meal.

Tim, I agree with you about the rolls, in general they're a little undistinguished out here, which is to say indistinguishable... A better roll would make the Wasko sandwiches really killer. The same thing holds true at Spiedie Bistro: I checked them out the other day, and my spiedie was pretty decent, but the roll was boring. Not bad, just the same old Italian roll. The meat was tasty, although I had the benefit of getting it right off the grill. They apologized for the wait, saying that their steamtable had broken, but I think I'd rather get one hot off the grill anyway. Although I enjoyed it, I was reminded that spiedies are really not all that exotic, it's just cubes of meat marinated with something very much like basic Italian dressing. Grilled tangy meat in a roll? Nothing wrong with that, but nothing mind-blowing either. I tried the "President Scroob" which I have to assume is a misspelled reference to the Mel Brooks character in the movie Spaceballs. I believe this is the first time I've eaten anything named after any characters in Spaceballs. It effectively had the ingredients of a Greek salad sprinkled on top, and I think that combo worked well. There are other topping combos with similarly bizarre names, and I would assume one could just ask for one or two of the elements "a la carte." There's a salad menu that's WAY too complicated, with various charges for adding in different categories of ingredients. I predict that this pricing structure will go away soon, I got dizzy even thinking about it. Another thing I think they have to jettison ASAP is the somewhat odd positioning of the place as a local, organic, healthy food outlet. They only have juices and teas and vitamin waters, no sodas, apples for dessert, etc. They do have small bags of chips, and mention cookies for dessert also, although I didn't see any. Using good, healthy ingredients is to be admired, and I suppose the grilled-meat basis of a spiedie makes it relatively low-fat compared to something deep-fried or griddled in oil, but I just don't think the appeal of the spiedie is going to be the health angle. The website touts: "Spiedie Bistro is an inexpensive, high quality, fast casual restaurant serving local and organic, never frozen foods" but when i asked for a pork spiedie, I was told the pork was still frozen, I'd need to choose chicken or beef. Maybe they just haven't worked-out their sourcing yet. Personally, I think they should just get over it. They should use the best ingredients possible, but that's not going to be the draw. Make a really tasty sandwich. And put in a soda machine. And maybe find some more interesting bread. Still, my sandwich was tasty, I'll go back.

We weren't at all sure if we were supposed to wait to be seated, so we just went ahead and sat down at an open table. Service was just fine otherwise the night we were there...

Another report from Wasko's at 1st and Gay in Phoenxville: the prime rib sandwich is pretty darn tasty too.

fun blog post. but i think you should add george's roast pork to the list of iconic places. it's right in the market, the pork is good, and... man it's midnight and i'm just back from the caribbean and all i want is a roast pork sandwich. ← Ahh, excellent point, thanks! I haven't been in a million years, so I don't remember details. Any secrets to getting the ultimate sandwich, any ways to make George smile, or at least not growl?

I'm not sure what I was expecting. The new location at 50th and Baltimore Ave is certainly a different neighborhood from Dock Street's first home near the 4 Seasons Hotel. And I knew the menu was mostly pizza, a far cry from the upscale bistro style of the previous incarnation. I just didn't think it would be quite this funky... It's definitely a whole new thing, not a continuation from the old place. Not that it's a bad thing, the new brew pub has a cool west philly vibe, and it certainly fits in with the intentionally unpolished scene out there. The unfinished cement floor, the cracked tile walls, the merely serviceable tables and chairs, the echoey acoustics dominated by slightly edgy music, none of that seemed to bother the slightly scruffy crowd. Which is to say, I didn't look or feel too out of place... I think they need to do something about the lighting, and I don't say that from a neurotic photographer's perspective. Just from sitting there eating, out in the main dining room the light is somehow simultaneously dim and harsh. It actually seems much more pleasant at the winding bar that spans the room, overlooking the brewing tanks. There are dangling lamps over those seats, which I suspect makes the food, and one's general environs, appear a little less bleak. I haven't drunk enough of the beer to say anything intelligent about it yet, but my Rye IPA had a pointy, dry, hoppy bitterness that I quite enjoyed. There's an interesting variety of beers, so I hope to get back and check more of them out soon. And to accompany, pizza. I'm not going to suggest that it's the greatest pizza ever, but the two we got were quite enjoyable. I tend to like the crusts a little darker and crisper than they make them here, I'm thinking of asking for one "well-done" next time and seeing what happens. It might be that the oven's not quite hot enough for the kind I crave. Still, the crust had a nice texture in that airy, bready style, with some nice crackly, crunchy bubbles. And they offer some good toppings. We got two smalls for the sake of variety. One featured grilled sausage, roasted peppers, caramelized onions, and a nice red sauce. No huge revelations here, but it was quite tasty. The other was a version of a Flammenkuche, with Gruyere, bacon and caramelized onions. It's not going to give anyone from Alsace any tugs to the heartstrings, it's more of a reference to flammenkuche than an attempt at the authentic recipe. This crust was too soft and light, it definitely could have benefited from a few more minutes in the oven, and the toppings were not evenly distributed, yet it still tasted pretty darn good. So, it's kind of strange, I had some issues with the pizza, yet I liked it. The space itself was a little off-putting, yet I want to go back. Oh, in case it's helpful, they offer a vegan pizza and a vegan calzone, as well as vegan cake. And you know, the vegan chocolate mint cake is pretty bangin'.

Pork Chop Rice for lunch. Yowza, that made me very happy...