Tim Dolan

I haven't been to Old City in a few months, but I did hit up the Royersford location two weekends ago. They offered a pickled chili and garlic braised pork shoulder as a special and it was phenomenal. It was a huge hunk of bone-in pork shoulder, complete with a thick sheen of meltingly soft pork fat, bathed in a mildly spicy (by Han's standards) chili-garlic sauce. The pork fat was amazing. It was like rich pork butter. Mmmmm, pork butter. I would slather that stuff on everything if I could. The ensuing clogging of my arteries probably took a year or two off of my life, but it's not like I'm trying to life forever or anything.

I would 100% agree that the lines have increased from "tolerable-yet-slightly-annoying" lengths in the pre-Man vs. Food days to "simply-not-worth-it" lengths in the post-nationwide press days. Yesterday I lucked out. I was there at just about 12 noon on the dot, but the Market as a whole seemed "slow" by their usual standards. When I got there the line had just begun to snake around to the first few counter seats. Within 45 seconds of standing in line, one counter seat opened up and I jumped right in it. It was probably the 3rd seat in from the right, and by the time I left there were people behind me. I was in there a few weeks ago on a very busy Saturday around 1 and the line snaked all the way around the counter seats and back down the isle in between DiNic's and Beck's. From there the line went straight back almost to the next intersection. That would be the "simply-not-worth-it" line that I mentioned a few sentences ago.

Speak of the devil, I was at DiNic's yesterday right around noon before the football games started. I did not go with spinach (which I like very much) or broccoli rabe (which I don't like at all), but I did get the Italian pulled pork with sharp provolone and long hots (which I LOVE). In my humble opinion, it's easily their best sandwich.

I'm on the other side of that coin. It's sad that he came under such fire for requesting that customers speak English in a country whose main language is, you know, English. And yes, his grandparents were immigrants who, as Mr. Vento would quickly point out, came to the coutry and then learned English. Makes sense to me. I certainly don't assume that people understand my language when I travel abroad. The whole thing seemed much ado about nothing to me. Politics and opinions aside, however, there's no denying that he gave a ton of effort and money to numerous charities in the area.

The Phillies sell 500 standing room only tickets starting 3 hours before each game. This might be less of a hassle then trying to buy tickets online since the Phils have sold out every game since early last season and don't look like they're slowing down any time soon. It's also the cheapest option, and would allow you to watch the game from the outfield railing along Ashburn Alley and mingle with the people. I'd compare it to sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley, except with no actual seats but way better food. There's tons of tables available (especially near Bull's BBQ) which would promote the divide-and-conquer strategy of sending a few people to each line then coming back to split the feast. I'm as authentic a Phillies fan as they come and go to about 25 games a year, so if you have any questions let me know.

Yeah, to put John's on there instead of Capogiro is straight crazy, but it's cool that he's showing some love to some lesser-known places.

Oddly enough I was randomly here on Saturday. I'm rarely ever in that area and was brought to the market by my fiance's parents. I thought to myself, "I think there MIGHT be something good in here." We all split the gumbo, jambalaya, muffaletta and the fried mac and cheese. It was awesome. Super small space, nice guys behind the counter. The overall farmer's market is a totally weird mashup of a flea market-food court-farmer's market-dollar/general store-bazaar. Interesting, to say the least. Some really awesome looking food stalls though.

Man if I had a nickel every time you've posted that, I'd have no nickels! Thanks!

Since I got engaged over the weekend, seems like a good time to dust off this old thread. I don't know the first thing about planning for a wedding, I only know that the only thing people care about afterwards seem to be the music and the food. Clearly I'm interested in some good food too and I wanted to know if anyone has any updates or new recommendations to add to this thread. We're still super early in the planning process and don't have a solid plan yet, but we're probably looking at a minimum of 200 people with a max of $100 a head. This can all change, I just wanted to lay out a loose guideline. Thanks for your help!

Looks like all the exposure Han has been getting is paying off. I tried to slide in there last night with 2 other people at 6:45 and were told it was an hour and a half wait! At this point I might be better off trekking out to Royersford, which by the way I stopped at two weeks ago and it was just as good and spicy as Center City.

Last weekend I was on the way home from West Chester on route 202 and I stopped in at the recently opened Wegman's near/in Malvern. It was pretty much identical to the store that they opened up in Collegeville, but this time I noticed two eye-popping items that they had on sale: waygu beef selling for $56 a pound, and black truffles going for the oh-so-low prices of $999/lb. Seriously. The truffles were in a locked clear plastic box filled with rice. I wasn't all that surprised to see the waygu, but when you're perusing the produce section and you come across a box with a $999 price tag in front of it, it kind of grabs your attention. This leads me to a few questions. Who buys such high-end items at Wegman's? In the case of the waygu there was only one small strip steak left, so people were obviously buying it. The store is located in an area where I suppose people are more likely to be able to afford waygu beef more often than the average joe, so the product should move. But the truffles? And really, if you're going to drop that amount of coin on either product, is what Wegman's had to offer on par with other sources? I just know that if I were going to spend serious money on either item, I doubt Wegman's would be my first choice. But then again, I've never bought either item so I am in no way qualified to even know what the hell I'm talking about. Unfortuantely I can only speculate to the quality of the items since I'm not in the market of doing waygu beef and truffle tastings. I'd happily volunteer though if anyone every wanted to set up such an operation

Dalessandro's is in Roxborough at Henry Ave and Wendover St., near Walnut Lane. I would say that Dalessandro's and Jim's both serve a similar style of steak, so if you like one then you will probably like the other just as well. While it is well documented that Dalessandro's is my personal favorite (close to where I live, nice people, been going there for years), I have to agree with Phil that John's Roast Pork is pretty much in their own league. It's the only place where I have brought people to that once they are finished they have said "that is the best cheesesteak I have ever had". That's no easy task given how much people from all over the city love to argue about cheesesteaks. It's just a matter of being around that area while they're open for business.

We did manage to hit both on Friday, only a short wait at PDT but an hour at Ssam Bar. It was a very nice, mild night and the whole area was mobbed so we weren't too concerned about the wait, and the fact that we were sufficiently buzzed made the time fly. Things started off a little dicey when the crab claws that my gf ordered were still partially frozen, but everything else was excellent. Between both of us we ordered the uni, pork belly buns, short rib sandwich, and the mussels. All of it was crazy good, especially the uni and the mussels. The uni was so fresh and buttery that it bordered on overwhelming. The mussels were the most interesting, they were pickled and served cold out of a mason jar, with warm grilled bread. They were a little spicy, a little sweet, a little oceany, and just overall very well done. We left in agreement that it lived up to the hype and was worth the wait.

I'd lean towards saying the only time I hear people ordering using particular words are at Pat's and Geno's. They are the only two places that I feel compelled to order in a different way than I normally would, and even then I barely do so. When I want a cheesesteak, I normally go to Dalessandro's, and I order a "cheesesteak, American cheese, no onions". Sometimes I ask for sauce, most of the time I don't. I wouldn't go into Dalessandro's (or anywhere else for that matter) and ask for an "American pizza witout" like I would if I were at Pat's or Geno's. Although if I did order like that, I'm sure they would understand what I wanted. And like I said, even at Pat's and Geno's I've said "cheesesteak, American cheese, sauce, no onions" on more occasions than I can count. The cashier then relays that order to the grill guy as "American pizza witout". I haven't gotten laughed to the back of the line or anything like that. Either way works, but I suppose Pat's and Geno's shortened the vernacular since they're pumping out cheesesteak in an assembly line fashion.

Thought I'd chime in since I have a pepperoni Tombstone in the oven right this moment. I've always been a fan of Tombstone and don't get the hype of Freschetta or DiGorno. They seem like dough bombs to me. Tombstone has a nice, tangy sauce and they don't skimp on the toppings. I also enjoy Stoeffer's French bread pizzas and have been know to indulge in a doctored up Ellio's from time to time. Childhood habits are hard to break!

Just two. We're pretty flexible with our plans as well.

Excellent, that was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!!!

I'll be in NY next weekend and was thinking about getting drinks at PDT or Death & Co. and then heading to Ssam bar for dinner. The loose plan is for drinks around 7 then dinner around 8:30-9 on Friday? Am I being naively optimistic or is it possible to do both without wasting my whole night trying to into one or the other?

I didn't think it was possible, but I've hit my limit for indulgence. I now know better than to go overboard when ordering at Adsum. First, the "super" poutine. It's the same as Holly's picture above, only with bacon, more cheese, and a fried duck egg. Yikes. So good though. Up next was a giant lamb shank with roasted red peppers and brussel sprouts. Falling apart tender. Gf got the pierogies, which she said has now ruined all other pierogies for her. I got a little more than halfway through my lamb shank before throwing in the towel. After all that we were sufficiently stuffed. But I looked on the blackboard and saw something called a "bacon Snickers bar". Yep, it's just like it sounds, a homemade Snickers bar with a thin strip of glorious bacon slipped in there. My gf could only manage a small bite, but I took one for the team and polished it off. First time I ever left a restaurant and wondered if Kevin Spacey was marking me as a target for gluttony.

To me, Subway is awful. I agree with the other Philly posters, I have no idea how they stay in business with all of the better available options. It's funny that McDonald's consistently gets labeled as everything that is wrong with the world, but Subway pushes itself as healthy when I'd be willing to bet that given the choice, anyone in their right mind would rather eat at the former.

I had the good fortune of wasting a whole day in St. Croix, wading around in a cove off of the mainland. We had enough ice cold beer to last a week but only chips and pretzels to eat. Suddenly two teenagers came by on a boat and traded us 8 or 9 conch shells for a six pack, and two guys who were with us who lived on the island went out with their snorkel gear looking for lobster. We took the conch out of their shells, cut off what is supposed to be the head area with a Swiss army knife, then used rocks from the beach to tenderize the conch. The guys came back with four healthy sized lobster, snapped the tails off and threw everything onto a grill within seconds of pulling them from the water. Everything was so sweet and fresh it tasted like candy. Later that night we had a pool party with more beer and grilled sausages. God damn that was a good day...

Finally found a good roast pork sandwich in the burbs! It's a place called the Sessano Cafe in Norristown, in the dingy shopping center on Swede Rd. and Johnson highway, close to the PA driver's license center. Soft, chewy roll, tender, juicy pork, funky, sharp provolone, spicy long hots! It seem so simple, but it never really is. The roast pork here is better than any other that I've had in the suburbs, better than Pudge's, better than the Italian bakery place (I forget the name) far up Germantown Pike. Stop by after your next dreaded trip to the DMV. It'll be worth it!

Katie that reads like an upgrade to me. Stovetop popcorn rocks. I have cut back on going back on going out everyday for lunch and have been eating more microwavable lunches and ramen. It's amazing what enough sriracha can do to ramen.

Yikes! I better use my gift certificate to there that I received as a Christmas present pretty quick...

Ed Mitchell won. If I recall correctly, the judges mentioned Ed's ribs as having a more "North Carolina style" flavor. So maybe that method of cooking ribs is typical.