shacke

I think next time we should tell them we are not the average chop suey eating americans. We could ask them to have the chef cook whatever plates he wishes, however daring. I think we'd be pleasantly surprised. One person there seemed to understand english well enough to accomplish that request. This way we could experience the "other" menu the people next to us had. Count me in on that one now.... Evan

ex-squeeze me? It is Capaneus who has the avatar gender issues. Your avatar looked like a guy to me from the fist time I saw it. Maybe he confused it with a very swarthy east german olympic swimmer? Last night was a blast. gettin' up this morning.... not. Evan

Don't give into Domino's dude. Ignore the peer pressure. Remember who you are and where you came from.

So they didn't melt on the way to you, papabell?

There are probably some Vietnamese coffee shops. I remember what I believe to be one on 8th just north of Washington Ave. I suspect they'd have it. ← The one place I get it often is Bah Le (?spelling) and that is 7th and washington I think. They have other goodies there too.

I am a La Colombe guy and a vietnamese coffee guy. Since the latter is all about strong coffee and sweetened condensed milk, I find it hard to get a bad cup of that although I guess they must exist. No dedicated coffee shops for that though.

To quote an obscure movie line .... "I say it here and it comes out there". Albert Brooks in Broadcast News and another shout out to Shinyboots - good work! Is he still in the area for school or is he off to another forum?

We showed up at Melograno but saw they were closed for vacation. Not to be stuck with a bottle, we called Matyson and they said they had a table open so we zoomed over. I had been there once before and enjoyed it. I liked it even more this time. Crab salad over heirloom tomatoes served on grilled bread with avocado paste. Topped with oranges. Sounds busy but was light and very good. For entree, I had the roast rack of lamb with gorgonzola sauce. It was served with a great polenta with a sharp cheese mixed in. Peach/pine nut/arugula salad on the side. Excellent. I remember their desserts being particular strong and I shared the warm chocolate hazelnut tart with my wife. It was topped with a very delicately flavored coffee ice cream. Delicious. Dinner for 4 - $200 incl tip. Good show, Matyson! Evan

Django and Vetri are the two places that make me feel like a pariah. Both places when I went were just "OK" but EVERYONE goes nutzo fir them. Having said that, while I still have no desire to return to Django, I do plan on hitting Vetri again. Evan Yeah, I read your report back then. Nice touch someone else buying at that place. Who was he..maybe he wants to pick up our tab too. ← Price is definitely a part of the equation, and it's steep at Vetri. Undeniably good, and Jeff can steer you towards drinkable wines at about $50/btl, but it's still a definitely pricey evening. My choice, given that there are entire swaths of the country I know little about, would have to be Babbo. But it's apples and oranges, they aren't trying to be inventive, like Marc Vetri is, so they don't overreach. Still, if all you care is whether you're going to get a good meal, it's been great every time I've been there. And if this is likely to be your only visit for a while, consider getting the tasting menu. It's actually good value, in an expensive sort of way. Enjoy. ←

Welcome aboard Jon and thanks for the note. Evan

We went to Manon a few months back - very good. BYO. French country style as I remember. I found it after a long search and review trek and was very pleased at the choice. Evan

I third Fork. Evan

Good idea I have heard about the Moore Bros dinners but never had any solid leads. Posting here would be great! Evan

Was in Chinatown last night and lamented the passing years ago of a hot pot place on the corner of 11th next to Joy Tsin Lau. You brought all your raw materials from a buffet and cooked it in water at your table. Does this type of place exist anywhere that anyone knows of? I always called it hot pot but I don't know the official term. Seems like a good thing to do now that I have kids too. Evan

This is probably not ready for the ISO thread as it is only a thought and so my apologies if it should be..... Katie's mention of "pencil lead" gave me an idea wfor an experiment which I cleared with her first before posting. Since the Chairman's selections are so popular with gulleteers, I thought it would be an interesting thing to get people together and do a tasting of Chairman's selections at some point. Katie offered her palate as well. I think it would be a great way of tasting several wines at once, learning more about tasting and meeting forum folks. I would love to be able to taste multiple selections at once rather than going blind by the bottle. We can post our notes here. If anyone is interested in something like this, PM me (don't reply here). This way I can get a sense if it is worth pursuing. The actual venue is an issue I guess depending on the number of wine geeks. I am happy to do it at my place but I can only hold so many gulleteers at one time. Evan PS - Mods - If this indeed belongs in ISO, my apologies and please move it over.

I have had the Persian Grill on my list for a long time but have never gotten there. An Iranian doc I used to work with says that its a good place so who can argue with that? Evan

Sagami is good sushi and is very close to the waterfront where you are going. Dining across the way in Philly is easy enough as it is just a bridge trip from Camden. So much to choose from - if you can narrowing it down more that would help! Its like saying I am going to NYC where should I eat. cheesesteaks, real dining, ethnic....? If you are new to Philly, I would suggest a good cheesteak. It's really the city for it! Evan

Some allegiance - Andrew's already from "Rome". nice

I had the same "issue" - wouldnt call it a problem of course! If they were to serve the sundae in the larger flat metallic dish, that would be easier. I will do that next time. Evan

Dearest Sir. Please ignore your job as much as possible while you separate the tastiest local wheat from the chaff. I have been studying the Rome threads for good restaurant ideas. Perhaps the forum will get a bit more activity now that "Il Papa di Cibo" is in da' house! Evan

Dude. I think I saw your colon tonight. It landed in my backyard, all sizzly and crackly. You my friend are one brave gulleteer.

I also went tonight for the first time and got the mint chip sundae - good choice. I asked, as did Arice, of the origin and was told "a local dairy farm" makes it especially for them. Although it has been some time since I lived in center city, I remember that there was a great need for a good ice cream place. Regardless of how that may have changed, this is a nice place and the premises are sharp. Next time I go, I am getting a soda. There are many interesting flavors and the exotic lavender, rose or violet seems really appealing. My brother and his friend both got the Mt. Vesuvius sundae - the supersize equivalent of my sundae (which was no kiddie scoop mind you). Evan

I went today with my out of towners and ate my way through. Might I say that being accompanied by a 6'-6" full framed dude allows one to eat small samples of many things while giving the bulk away to him. You should get one yourself for every visit! I introduced them to the dinic roast pork and greens, fisher pretzels and apple dumplings with cream. While we were at it we grabbed some dumplings et all from Sang Kee. The rib stand looked good but we passed and headed over to Zen Tea house for some bubble (tapioca) drinks - iced vietnamese coffee and coconut. I presume tonight is cheesesteak night. I only eat them when people are in from out of town. Thats a good rule for me - well - a guideline more than a rule. Evan

I will do that for sure PhilaD - and thanks! Evan

I had dinner at Pif again last night. I would normally not go again after just being there a week ago. Since we got shut out at Studiokitchen and a couple of guests had wanted to go to Pif, I was happy to oblige after they accommodated a short notice party of 8. As always, its delicious. The out of towners would not stop eating pink salted butter on the sourdough baguette (the one with the dark "burnt" crust). Its the best bread in Philly IMHO. Sadly, the cote du boeuf was not on the menu but I had the razor clams in herbed butter followed by Filet mignon bordelaise. That was good but not the same as the entrecote. I thought of Andrew as several folks got the sauteed chicken livers. The duck confit on traditional lyonnaise salad topped with a foie gras jus was very good. We also brought too much wine and wound up only drinking one red, one white and a bottle of champagne. I was waiting to try the Two Hands Bellas Garden Shiraz again after trying it at the Jake's wine dinner a few months ago. What a "big" BIG powerful wine. Of all the wines I tasted that night, this was the winner and for a special occassion - well worth the $40. Interestingly, they showed me the "back room" which is a private dining area behind the kitchen designed for private parties of 8-12. I thought it would be a perfect egullet get together in the fall. They said they would be happy to have us and set up a tasting menu. Right now its kinda hot and the A/C on hot summer nights is not powerful enough back there but perhaps in October I will set up a dinner to meet up with some new and old egulleteers. I will post on the ISO thread as it gets closer. Stay tuned.... Evan