philadining

I have NOT eaten at any of the other contenders, so I really can't make a comparison, but my meal about 6 month ago at Susur was excellent, one of the dining highlights of my year. And I ate at a few pretty good restaurants (not in Totonto) this year... I'll defer to the folks that have eaten at all of these places recently, but for what it's worth, I don't think you'd be disappointed at Susur.

The classic Philly Cheesesteak might be one of the most extreme examples of this, especially wit' Whiz. It's pretty sublime seconds off the grill, but it starts getting pretty bad pretty fast. I don't like them wrapped at all, just open on a piece of wax paper. That's the beauty of the dumpy little take-out stands, you can be eating the thing 30 seconds after it's off the grill. Jumping cuisines, I just had some Roti Canai at a Malaysian place the other night, and it's amazing, I was making quick work of it, but it was significantly better at the beginning than it was maybe 5 minutes later when I finished it. (Roti Canai is a really thin crepe-like pancake, served with a curry dipping sauce. For a few minutes, it has an amazing elastic-yet-crispy thing going on.) And of course, there's tempura... (fixed typo)

That's great news! Is that every day? (Well, except Sunday when I assume you're closed?) Thanks for sharing the info, we appreciate your contributing here. Not much info yet at www.gaylephiladelphia.com/

I don't have any comments, but I fixed the quotes, so it might be easier to follow. Thanks for the info Lisa! Not available for import right now. No specific reason, the USDA is moody. well, i probably described it wrong... how can i say--the texture is different. it IS bigger and chunkier in the casing, and not totally homogenous. the pieces aren't identifiable per se, but it's... different. it tastes frickin great though. It's handmade - seasoned chunks stuffed into pigskin the whole piece is about 4 ft long and usually has a snout on the end! Known by the purveyor as 'chorizo cular' if that helps. The morcilla is a domestic version, although a good rendition.

Grabbed a quick, late bite at Penang last night, had the usual suspects: Roti Canai - great as always.. Beef Rendang - not trying to start a fight, but it was, again, pretty saucy, a little oily, really tasty. Didn't they have Singha beer there before? Maybe I'm confusing Penang with Rangoon... Anyway, Tsing Tao is fine, but I actually prefer Singha, or even one of the Indian beers with that thicker, murkier curry-ish stuff.

Jason, the sandwiches look great, probably as close as you can get without doing a huge batch on a big grill, with an irritable guy sweating over it a little. (Didn't someone ask about seasoning?) I'm not sure why folks were getting all excited about the supposedly inauthentic bell peppers (I did see that Holly acknowledged their existence) but most of the steak joints that I've gone to offer them, in fact a "pepper cheez with" is my standard order. It's on the board at Jim's and Pat's and plenty of other places. At most spots, the peppers are out of a jar or can, but not pickled. They are soft and mushy, kept warm in a little bowl on the flattop, like the mushrooms, similarly from a can, and slapped on top of the meat with the spatula right before the onions. Some grill guys toss them on the flattop along with the meat for a minute... And there's no correct answer, but some places leave the sliced meat whole, flipping them, and other places shred/chop the (usually thinner) meat with two spatulas while it's cooking. Both versions are pretty good. Jeeze, now I gotta go downtown and get one...

The Apple Computer v. Think Secret case has largely been interpreted to mean that Bloggers do not enjoy the same rights as big J "journalists." But as Rich said, I suspect the issue is far from settled...

A friend and I visited WD-50 recently, and had an extremely interesting meal. After following this thread, I almost felt as if I’d already eaten most of these dishes, the tasting menu was made up mostly of offerings that have been discussed here quite a bit, so I doubt I can present any new descriptions or insights…but I’ll blather on nonetheless… Lighting was pretty dim at our table, so I didn’t try to take pictures, and I actually was relieved to not feel like I needed to, as previous posters here have already provided excellent illustrations. Doc’s great shots are upthread here and 646522 has some great pix, including a couple of things we had, here Our menu consisted of: Oyster “pearls”, pickled cucumber, borage This is a pretty funny send-up of the signature Thomas Keller starter, and while not nearly as luxuriously opulent, it was pretty tasty. Most of the appeal was from the interesting mouthfeel of the oyster, somehow transformed into small tapioca-like pearls, but the subtle marine flavor of the oyster remained, and the bright kick of the cucumber balanced this out nicely. (Just checking: pickled cucumber…uhhh… Isn’t that, you know, a pickle?) Anyway , I liked it. Foie Gras with Pea Soil, Candied Olives and Beet Juice A WD-50 classic, and indeed a stunning presentation. The foie itself was almost overwhelmingly rich and buttery, maybe a little one-dimesional. The candied olives were great, as was the beet juice, and both went some distance toward tempering the intense richness, but I’m not sure about the pea soil, it looked cool, but just didn’t taste like much of anything to me. Carrot-Coconut "sunny-side up" Another justifiably famous dish, there’s just something so amusing about the dissonance between what you’re seeing and what you’re tasting, that it’s hard not to laugh while eating it. I thought this tasted quite good, but I’m not sure it would be especially thrilling without the visual pun. Shrimp Canelloni, Chorizo Emulsion, Thai Basil I can’t eat shrimp, so I didn’t have this, but there are many good descriptions of this upthread. My friend thought it was really interesting, intensely shrimpy, with a grassy overtone from the basil. Instead of the shrimp, they sent me the Octopus, Pineapple, Mojama, Marcona Almonds This was one of my favorites, with firm, yet tender octopus, the inherent flavor of which is so often obscured by charring on a grill, or strong marinades. This version let the Octopus taste vividly of itself. That’s a relatively subtle sensation though, so the accompanying pineapple, sliced thin and rolled into two cylinders, was a welcome addition. A little pile of gravel off to the side was made of chopped almonds, and dried tuna, which leant an ethereal, smoky overtone. Very nice all together. Pickled Beef Tongue, Fried Mayo, Tomato Molasses Another WD-50 standard, and a fun one too. The Tongue itself was good, and the fried mayo is novel enough that one can forget about the fact that the deli guy would beat you to death with a half-sour pickle if you ordered mayo on a tongue sandwich. I didn’t love the tomato molasses, but the other components of the plate were oddly compelling: a dust of dehydrated onion and an amazingly fine brunoise of Romaine lettuce ribs. Mixing various combinations of these flavors was endlessly amusing. Cocoa-Dashi with instant lemon yogurt noodles This is a bit of a gee-whiz trick, and above that it tasted pretty good, but again, I couldn’t help thinking that this would not be impressive to the visually impaired. Langoustine, celery root, banana mustard Out of possibly misplaced shrimp paranoia I skipped the langoustine course, but I managed to steal a bit of the celery root and banana mustard, which I found really enjoyable. Instead, I got Turbot with smoked bulgar wheat, sous-vide-poached salsify and coffee-saffron emulsion This one crept up on me slowly, it was so subtle that I almost missed its charms. The fish itself had a fascinating texture from being cooked extremely slowly, apparently just barely on the heat in a pan on the edge of of the flattop. I suppose it would be jarring to add particularly loud flavors to this quiet preparation, but I found most of the rest of the components were a bit blah. Venison Loin, pickled cherry puree, brussels sprouts, oatmeal panna cotta I have to agree with agree with tammylc’s comment upthread, that this seemed so conventional that I was a bit surprised to find it on this menu. The venison was quite flavorful and tender from the slow sous-vide cooking, and very nicely done, but not dramatically different from what one might get elsewhere. The pickled cherry puree was a nice match but didn’t taste especially unusual. The oatmeal panna cotta was appropriately weird, but I didn’t really like it. Sprouts were good… Moving into desserts: Warm coconut tapioca, candied black truffle, lime This was REALLY good, the ethereal lime zest anchored by the funky truffle. Lemon curd, basil meringue, huckleberry puree Lemon curd was good, but the basil meringue was amazing, Together, they were transcendent. Butternut sorbet, pumpkin seed cake, mole, chocolate soil I’m of two minds about this: on one hand the sorbet was refreshingly clean and bright, but on the other, it had a distinct, raw, pumpkiny vibe that had me wishing it had been made into a more creamy gelato to round-off that edge. The pumpkin seed cake was awesome, and both the chocolate soil and the feathery wisp of mole toffee really complimented the other elements. Cocoa cotton balls played on the expectation of a heavy truffle, while delivering an airy wave goodbye. We decided to forego the wine pairings, we had a long drive a head of us, but we went part-way, getting a few glasses from the suggested pairings. A glass of Cava Brut, Avinyo (NV) and a glass of “G” Domaine Gerovassilou (2004) carried nicely through most of the early courses, and I indulged in a pour of “House Wine” from the Magnificent Wine Company, with matched nicely with the venison. Service was very friendly, informed and helpful, but there was a surprising amount of glassware flying around a few different times! My buddy actually ended up with a not-insignificant amount of Cava spilled on him, and the sincere apology really was sufficient, but we started wondering if we needed protective headgear. But hey, things happen, it was no big deal. Overall, this was certainly the most creative meal I’ve ever had, but sometimes more interesting than delicious. And that’s OK, I appreciate being surprised and interested and amused. I enjoyed the experience immensely, even though I’m not sure any of the courses have made it into that amorphous list of things I can’t wait to have again someday. But I’ll certainly look forward to going back and trying more of their innovations someday!

Oh man, be careful, you could SO get your ass kicked by a dockworker wearing a dress if you call it a "clown parade" in the wrong company! The Mummer's Parade is a profoundly weird thing, I've been here over 20 years now and I still can't quite get my head around it. But for better or worse, heavy drinking is an integral part of it, on both sides of the curb. There's just not enough room in the jails, or even paper for citations, if they decided to enforce open container laws. I've noticed that they're very laid-back on New Year's Eve at Penn's Landing too, I didn't go this year, but previous years I've had open champagne right in front of police, and they didn't seem to care. But then again, don't blame me if they decide to crack down all of a sudden, it IS officially illegal. As for the speed of service thing, Philly's odd that way. In most cases we go at a typical brusque, in-a-big-freaking-hurry east coast pace, but many delis, cheese shops, etc. are working on a different clock, they just slice stuff at their own pace, chat, give samples... I suspect it has something to do with the spinning of slicer blades creating their own gravity, therefore a wrinkle in the fabric of time and space. I'm pretty sure.

When a few eGulleteers were at Per Se, we asked if it would be OK, and our server told us that we could take pics as long as there was no flash. We even were so bold as to post them here. That being said, we were discrete, and I would have understood if they had said no, or asked us to stop at some point. Perhaps there is a no-photo policy in place and the person we asked didn't know it, I wouldn't have felt put-out if someone politely asked me to stop. I would have been annoyed if I got an email threatening me if I didn't remove them from eGullet. Even as an avid photographer in restaurants, I can see where it might be disruptive. My meals at Morimoto have been marred significantly, and my retinas scarred, by the blaze of flashes that go off whenever the chef decides to greet folks out in the dining room. I find that really annoying, but it's probably nearly impossible for celebrity chefs to politely refuse to pose for pics these days. On balance it's probably smart business to let it happen even if it ruins the serene vibe of the restaurant. I think it's fine if a restaurant doesn't want customers shooting pics, but they ought to be able to communicate that in a calm, inoffensive way.

OK, Matt, you can tell us, we're your friends... are you living in Pegu's coat check room?

Not much to add here except to concur that this is a great place. On a rainy, holiday monday it was really empty, but it still had a very cool vibe. Loved the drinks (we had a Pegu and on of those Jamaican Ginger thingies...) and it's always a blast to run into fellow eGulleteers, in this case MX and the mysterious Vadouvan... Can't wait to go back.

I had a really enjoyable lunch at Dim Sum Go Go yesterday. I've developed a few favorites over the last few years, so I stuck to those, although there were only two of us, so we didn't get everything I like... But as every time I've been so far, everything was wonderfully fresh and intensely flavorful, rarely needing any sauces, although I really like the ginger-scallion paste they have on the table, along with a sweet dipping sauce and some tiny dried fish. We stuck to the dim sum menu, although there's plenty of good stuff on the regular menu as well. DSGG makes the most elegantly delicate dumplings I've ever had, and they're pretty small, so I can see where they might not be everyone's favorite style, but they are mine... We had: Fried Pork Dumplings Steamed Rice Rolls with Beef Steamed Snowpea Shoot Dumplings Steamed Duck Dumplings Steamed "green" dumplings (filled with slightly sour green vegetables) Steamed Barbeque Pork Buns Everything was great, although the duck dumplings and peashoot dumplings were especially tasty.

Daniel, you're an inspiration to us all! Thanks for the report!

I met a Rocco there in the mid-late 80s, I always assumed that was THE Rocco... I'm 99% sure his full name was Rocco DiGuglielmo. I don't know whether he's still involved, or if he sold the business. The RTM website calls it Carmen's, run by Carmen DiGuglielmo, and says "new name, same family."

Wow, David, I'm sorry to hear about your experience! I've been one of Desi Village's strongest boosters, but even I'm surprised at some of those prices. The regular menu is a bit higher than some, but I've never noticed anything at $25! It's certainly true that when they have specials, they tend to cost more, but that's rather extreme. I'm not sure what the secret to the spiciness is, I've gotten things quite hot there, or not, but with decent correlation to what I asked for. I've gotten the Chicken Tikka Masala and the garlic Naan recently and really liked them, and bummed that yours weren't so great. The breads in particular are usually notable. It's no excuse, but I wonder if they were off their game because of New Year's Eve. Did they seem busy? Again, sorry you didn't enjoy it, so far I've had really good luck there.

New Year's eve seems like a good time to look back. I know it looks like a flip, jokey list, but I'm serious... StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) Per Se (NYC) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) Susur (Toronto) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) Striped Bass (Philadelphia) Birchrunville Store Cafe (exurban Philadelphia) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia) I might have to change the order of a few of those StudioKitchens.... I sincerely considered placing some of these runners-up in the top ten for effect, but it just wouldn't have reflected my actual experience of "top" meals. The next few would have to include: The Modern (NYC) Majolica (suburban Philadelphia) Katz's (NYC) Guelaguetza (LA) Melograno (Philadelphia) Una Pizza Napoletana (NYC) Tifco's China Bistro (suburban Philadelphia) Szechuan Tasty House (Philadelphia) it's been a good year. Let's hope 2006 is even better!

I was cured of my occasional moral lapses into condiment theft during a visit to Martha's Vineyard a few years ago. A few friends and I were camping, and I had brought along one of those metal espresso-makers that works surprisingly well on a wood fire. But I had forgotten sugar. While enjoying a beer in the Newes from America in Edgartown, one of our companions ordered coffee, and I saw a solution: a big stack of sugar packets in a dispenser on the table. I stuffed 5 or 6 in my shirt pocket, happily anticipating a balanced espresso the next morning. The next time our waitress came around, much to everyone's surprise, the guy who ordered the coffee, a mischievous character visiting from Bogota, Columbia, points to me and announces loudly "he took sugar!" I think our server was more surprised than I was, and there was an odd moment where I sheepishly admitted I had indeed pilfered some sugar and the waitress tried to figure out if she was supposed to care... She just laughed and walked away. Thankfully, Fresser was not there to put me under citizen's arrest. The accusation was just so surprising, nobody knew how to react. We all were pretty amused, but I was also just embarrassed enough that I think I've been cured of my larcenous urges. (Although I might have recently taken a few more peppers than I really needed from the Quizno's... ) Oh, and it poured rain for the remainder of my trip, so I never managed to brew up that espresso.

yeah, that is the downside of dinners at StudioKitchen, even really good meals you have afterwards tend to elicit comparisons: "sure this is good, but at StudioKitchen...." Some of us were even doing that at Per Se! One could have worse problems. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, and we all look forward to hearing more of your reactions. (please post pics!)

Just a basic cheese plate, but some choices and presentation inspired by SK: (from left) L'Edel de Cleron, not quite as stinky and intense as a Vacherin I had at SK recently, but a close runner-up; Stilton, with plum mustard, similar to a condiment I first had there; Manchego with Membrillo, another accompaniment I encountered first at SK. Definitely better than just cheese...

Nick Tahou's has been around for over 50 years... it might not have been a college hang-out until more recently. It certainly is now, especially the second location which is still open late at night. Roadfood.com Wikipedia

Behold... the original, the UR-Garbage Plate... This is a version featuring the other regional quirk: White Hots. You can get a Garbage Plate with a variety of things on it, usually hot dogs or hamburgers, but ranging to fried ham, toasted cheese sandwiches, there was even something on the board at Nick Tahou's just called "veggie". The mind boggles. As reported above, it's a pile of home fries, macaroni salad or baked beans, your hot dogs or burgers or whatever right on top, slathered with brown mustard, sprinkled with chopped onions, drenched in what's called "hot sauce" there, which is something like a thin ground beef-based chili, and served with bread, because, you know, it's not carbolicious enough... Here's one with cheeseburgers. They're under there somewhere.. It's not a bad lunch for about $5-6 bucks each plate... And despite the name, it really was surprsingly tasty! I'll try to get out to Easton soon and do an authenticity check.

this meal is more accurately "Inspired by West Philly BYOBs" but most of the credit is due StudioKitchen, so I'll post here. Roasted Squash Soup, Bay Leaf-Nutmeg Foam Stolen shamelessly from Shola's description at a recent dinner, with slight improvisations. Roasted squash, shallots and ginger finished in carrot juice, blended, chinoised, topped with a foam in which bay leaves had been steeping, topped with grated nutmeg. It might have only been half as good as Shola's version, but it was still delicious if I do say so myself... Pork Tenderloin; Shallot, dried fruit, Riesling Jus; Sarabeth's Peach-Apricot Pain Perdu Roasted Brussels Sprouts Scalloped Potatoes with Gruyere The putting meat on top of a french toast thing was inspired by StudioKitchen, the sandwiching Sarabeth's preserves between two REALLY thin slices of bread was too. I don't think I've had anything so pedestrian as a pork tenderloin at SK, but I thought sending mom out for partridge might have been asking a bit much! The brussels sprouts were inspired by our PLCB Chairman's dinner at Rx, many thanks to Greg Salisbury for the recipe, and to Shacke for the 11th-hour reminders! (That little burnt-looking one down front...that was the best one...) They were just halved, cleaned-up a bit, sauteed with salt, pepper and an obscene amount of Plugra, then tossed with a little maple syrup and roasted at 400f for about 10 minutes. Rocking good. The potatoes were inspired by the restaurant Nan at 40th and Chestnut. For a while, potatoes like this were a side with everything. Super-thin slices of potatoes (gotta love that mandoline!) cooked down with cream, garlic and bay leaf, then layered with gruyere cheese and baked. Lipitor on the side. The dinner was not up to SK standards by any means, but the meal was improved markedly by Shola's influence. My family thanks him! (edited to correct the Sarabeth's fruits....)

What a weird coincidence... I'm in Rochester (NY) right now, and was thinking of getting a garbage plate in the next few days! I'll document as best I can and then try to make it to Easton to check for authenticity. Because, you, know, there's nothing worse than an inauthentic garbage plate.

Taco Riendo article by Rick Nichols in the Inky here>>