Tim Dolan

I have been to Zento and very much enjoyed it. I look forward to going back. When I went it was only the 2nd time I had sushi (after a bad initial experience) and it gave me a very "so wait, this stuff IS good" moment. I was at Raw a few weeks ago and thought it was perfectly fine, but at the same time I hardly know what I'm talking about. So this is more or less all in the interests of expanding my horizons. I'm shooting for Fuji next, then returning to Zento.

Think Rendell might be reading this thread? http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/41166992.html

Continuing my sushi education, I'll be stopping by tomorrow night. The consensus on this thread and this thread seems to be that there is better sushi to be had in the area, but Morimoto is still overall a fairly good/borderline great place. That being said, I'm thinking about going with an omakase featuring half sushi/half whatever else. I'll report back, and if anyone has any suggestions before tomorrow, I'd be happy to hear them.

I am not at all afraid to admit that last night I hijacked some good old Campbell's tomato soup last night. I added 3/4 can of whole milk, 1/4 can of chicken broth, some fresh basil, sage, minced garlic, cracked pepper, a pinch of kosher salt and a couple healthy shakes of Tabasco Chipotle sauce. It was so quick and delicious I'm still in disbelief about it. Along with a grilled cheese with American and sharp Provelone, it was the epitome of comfort food.

Now THAT is what I wanted to try when I mentioned bone marrow on the Distrito thread. The stuff I had looked nothing like that. I think I need some roasted pig and assorted grilled meats in my life...

I'm sure others will disagree, but I've never found the Down Home Diner anything other than dead average. I'm intrigued to see the impact that his return will make.

Went here last night with two friends. This place ROCKED. Everything that came out seemed very carefully prepared, and there was not one item that was less than good. Between three of us we got an order of skirt steak nachos, the hamachi ceviche, all 3 huraches, the kobe tacos, the queso fundido, the bone marrow, and an order of churros for dessert. Also polished off a pitcher of margaritas and a few other drinks. We were STUFFED by the end. For me, the highlights were the kobe tacos (which now come 3 to an order instead of two), the ceviche, and two of the huraches, one with short rib and one with chorizo, serrano ham and peppers. And it might seem pedestrian, but we all agreed that we would've been perfectly fine just continuously ordering the steak nachos and drinking all night. All of the other items were very good, but the ones I just mentioned were just awesome. The thing about this place that appealed to me is that most of the food seemed relatively simple to prepare, but at the same time there was a lot of care taken to make sure that it wasn't just thrown together. That goes a long way. Service was great, we had a nice, friendly waitress and people were always stopping by to give us fresh plates and fill our water. I do have one question, however, and this has everything to do with my inexperience as opposed to how something was prepared (and is a different topic altogether). I think I was expecting something different with the bone marrow. I have never had bone marrow, and I made it a New Year's resolution to try it (also did this with uni, both now taken care of). From what I read and have seen pictures of, I guess I was expecting something along the lines of a spreadable meat-like substance, like a meaty cream cheese (just bear with me). Instead, this version was an almost clear, gelatinous substance. I thought it didn't have much discernable taste. Again, this has everything to do with me being completely unfamiliar with it. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected and didn't take away from anything else in the slightest. After all that food, the bill came to about $73 pp after tax and tip, including alcohol. Everyone agreed it was totally worth it. I'm definitely excited to give Chifa a shot, as our waitress said that they were getting a ton of positive feedback about the place. She didn't seem like she was posturing either, even though some people here have had a mixed experience on the other thread. And even if it's bad, at least I know I'll have this place to fall back on.

It's that time of year again. It seems like the idea of Philly Beer Week has really taken off. There looks like a TON of events this year. Any events in particular that you are excited about? It seems like the Brewer's Plate event is pretty scaled down this year in comparison to last. Anyone have any word on why that might be? I understand that an event like that can be a hassle for a restaurant to pull off, but it also seemed like a GREAT idea. I wasn't there last year so I can't comment on if it was any good or not.

I think it looks exactly like what a typical neighborhood pizza joint would make. IMHO, it reminds me of Dantonio's, which is the epitome of "average corner pizza shop". Just my $.02.

I forgot to mention that. He also offered me some Hot and Sour soup to go since he says they toss it at the end of the night and start from scratch every morning. These are things that one likes to hear.

I know it's supposed to be a stock item, but did anyone else think that the Hot and Sour soup was outrageously good? Forget the common cold, I think this stuff might cure cancer. Just got back from lunch. I had the Dumplings in Chili Oil and Three Pepper Chicken. All of it was awesome. I'm stuffed, my belly is warm and my mouth is still slightly tingling. Now I need a nap, except I have this annoying thing called "work" to do.

So on a scale of 1 to 10, how sacreligious is it to add some BBQ sauce to chili? A 12? I think it would add the flavor that I'm looking for.

Me too. Had the raspberry cream cheese stuffed French toast, which was good enough but not mind-blowing, which I have seen it as advertised a few times. They did however have some of the best coffee I've ever had. I would like to go back and try some of the savory brunch stuff. There was some type of lamb dish that I had a really hard time passing up. They seem to have a very friendly staff also.

Anyone care to explain what that Three Cup Chicken is all about? Looks pretty killer.

Ok so last night I made the first pot of chili that I ever made in my life. I am a complete novice when it comes to chili, but despite that, I think my first batch was promising. There is much room for improvement, but I came up with a general guideline that I can build upon. I'll post the recipe that I used and then ask for tips to make it better. Truth be told, after I bought my ingredients, I lost the recipe that I was going to use so I just eyeballed everything. That's part of the fun, right? I mean, this ain't chemistry. More like alchemy, I guess. And if you're a chili "purist", please don't take offense to this. Like I said, I barely know what I'm doing. Anyway, here's what I used: 2 lbs. chuck steak (1 inch dice) 1 lb. smoked sausage (cut out of the casing and crumbled) 1 can crushed tomatoes A few cups, maybe 2, 2 and a half altogether of beef stock About 6 cloves of garlic 3 jalepenos and 2 big, bright orange bell peppers (roasted, peeled and seeded) 2 tbs ancho chili powder 2 tbs cayenne pepper 1 tbs paprika 1 tbs cumin About a cup of red wine A few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco sauce 2 tbs of flour to thicken I browned the steak and sausage in a little bit of chile-infused olive oil, added the dry spices towards the end of browning, then added the beef stock and tomatoes. I pureed the peppers and garlic and added them as well (I like the consistency better this way). Brought the whole thing to a nice simmer and let it go for about an hour and a half. The results were pretty good, good enough to instill confidence that it can get way better. I like where the heat is at, kind of a lingering heat for the back of the throat, but I need some more tang for the front and sides of the tongue. Anyone know what I should add that will give me this? Also, the flour is a short cut and you can tell. Not a terrible short cut, but not one that I really like. I guess there's no way around letting the whole thing reduce to the desired consistency? The longer it simmers, the thicker the sauce gets and the more tender the meat gets, right? Any help would be appreciated.

Dude you eat WELL. Is Han the 30-ish dude with long hair and glasses? I stopped by after work a few weeks ago and had the wontons in chile oil and boiled beef Szechuan style, and he was nice enough to chat with me and go through the menu, circling all of his favorites and items that were very spicy, which I had told him that I liked. He tried to steer me towards the dumplings in chile oil for next time, saying that they had more spice, and that the difference was that the wonton was just a more simple preparation. I thought everything rocked, and it's dangerously close to my work. All good developments. Anyone else get the feeling that the inside of the place is exactly like the Sang Kee on Lancaster Ave?

AM I the only one who looks at this topic and sees "El Baconito"? What a name...

Are they open for lunch?

For threads like this, could we just put a disclaimer on the Philly forum that says "Attention: If asking where to eat in Philly, start at the Reading Terminal Market. Go from there."

Just getting around to this now. Yes I'm lazy. Before... After.

I've been to Nodding Head a number of times recently, having some of the hottest wings I've had in a while and a rocking good order of jerk mussels. On the menu it says the wings come in mild, hot and thermonuclear. I ordered hot and they were just about the hottest wings I've ever had, to the point I could only eat about 6 of them. I can't imagine what the thermonuclear would be like, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had mistakenly recevied them as opposed to the hot that I had ordered. The mussels I had the other week were KILLER. They were plump, juicy, came in an excellent spicy broth and had only the essence of ocean, not the actual salt water. I'm not even a huge fan of mussels but these were GOOD. Nodding Head might be my favorite places to bring people to drink. People who have never been there always love it.

Wanted to jog this topic a bit. Me and 4 friends will be driving (yep, road trip!) from Philly to Minnesota to watch the Eagles play the Vikings. Our hotel is in the middle of downtown, right near the Target Center. Anything good that I shouldn't miss while I'm here? Does Minneapolis have anything local that it is known for (e.i. Philly = cheesesteaks, Chicago = deep dish, etc)? Also, are there any good places to tailgate before the game? Any good bars that we should stop by? Thanks in advance.

Try bone marrow. I'm looking at you, Ansill. Try sushi more than twice this year. Things went well the last time.

Just wanted to say that I'm pretty excited to see how everything turns out for everybody. All of these different methods and stunning pieces of meat has my head spinning.

Yep, that's definitely obscene. My idea of an obscene sandwich usually has to do with way too much Parma prosciutto and fresh mozzarella.