sockii

Intrigued, I looked around and found this article on the possible origins of corned beef & cabbage. Interesting! (In my family we ate it a lot, and we're Polish/Italian. Go figure...)

I think those are called onigiri, and if they have them, I *must* get over to this place soon. I've been longing to find a place in this city that serves them!

I have a feeling we're all going to be pretty braindead and tired after the day, so the closer and less work to get to, the more likely folks'll go for it. Thanks for the name, I'll check out the details!

Going to an event at the NJPAC in Newark this Saturday with a group of friends, and we're interested in recs for good places to eat dinner afterwards. I expect there will be between 6-10 of us, and we're looking for something walkable from the Center as most folks'll be hitting the train station right afterwards (only 1 or 2 of us will have cars). Not familiar at all with the area so not sure what's good. Any type of cuisine is okay, but preferably nothing too fancy or that would require reservations, since we don't know when things will wrap up. Thanks in advance for any help!

OMG, this looks so good. I must try soon. Question: how are they for strictly vegetarian choices? I have a friend who enjoys exploring Asian foods with me but is veggie-only...that tofu looks divine but I may have to save it for myself...

I guess I'm just spoiled at the moment...just back two weeks in Florence where I could get awesome big cones or cups of amazing gelato for about $2-2.60 US. Hard switching back to "reality". (And don't get me started on wine right now...!) I guess I would've been happy with even the offer of a single small scoop in a cup for an equivalent price. Somedays even the piccolo-size is more than I really need, it's so rich, and, well, I'm still paying OFF that Italy trip...

Was a bit bummed today to stop into the 20th Street location and find out their mini-cones are currently "Held up in shipping in Europe". So I left deprived of my afternoon gelato fix, as I just can't justify the $4 a cup on a regular basis (plus I just like cones...I dunno, seems to me like they could come up with some kind of substitute until the regular cones are back?)

Not that this city necessarily needs another Italian BYOB, but last night three of us tried this new addition to the crowded market, which just opened a week or two ago at 2108 South Street. The place may be new but it was already almost full by 7:30...guess there's a demand in the neighborhood for something other than bar food! I was worried that such a new place might not be able to efficiently handle a packed house, but service was quite good, if a few little details were off (no oil provided for bread without asking it, some tables got ice buckets for their wines, not all). The room is small but warm, with exposed brick and open kitchen. Nothing fancy decor-wise but pleasant (though it got HOT inside until the front door and large windows were opened, allowing a cross-breeze through the first floor). The menu is fairly short and simple, with an emphasis on seafood (though a steak special was announced, and there are a few veal, chicken and vegetarian selections as well). We started with three appetizers: a grilled octopus special served on arugula with tomatos, capers, and olive oil; Gamberi E Fagioli (grilled shrimp, asparagus and cannellini with lemon and olive oil); Mozzarella Affumicata (grilled smoked mozzarella topped with sauted radicchio, shitake mushrooms in light balsamic vinaigrette). All were very good, the mozzarella in particular was outstanding and unlike anything I've had before, smokey and lightly dressed, terrific with the shitake. The octopus felt tough to the fork but somehow were still perfectly tender in the mouth, with perfectly ripe tomatoes, great olives...all in all an excellent combination. For entrees, I had the Bronzino special (standard grilled preparation with lemon & oil); my companions had the Spaghetti Tarantini (calamari, mussels & claims in oil and garlic) and Veal Saltimbocca (sauted with garlic and white whine, topped with prosciutto and sage). The Bronzino had excellent flavor, though our server perhaps needs to perfect his tableside filleting skills a bit (personally I would have just rather dived into the whole fish myself, bones and head and all, but I wasn't going to fuss). The Spaghetti had a nice delicate flavor, though my companion said she would have liked more clams & less mussels. What I tasted of the veal was quite good as well. We were too full to try desserts and just finished off with some very good coffee. Bill was $110 with tip. I will definitely be back, though it looks already like the weekends will be a tough table to get. They are doing lunch service as well, Monday - Friday. All in all, worth a try if you're in the neighborhood and not worn out on Italian BYOBs yet...it's a nice choice to have so close by as it's just about impossible to get into our other nearby but tiny West South Street BYOB, Pumpkin. Maybe we'll see some more choices around here popping up in the future...

You speak maybe of the Freemark Abbey "Carpy Ranch" Viognier? I ken no "Cline" a-Chairman'd. If I may be so twee. ← Hmm, well, it's definitely Cline (the bottle's right here ). If I'm mistaken it may just be a specialty selection instead of a Chairman's? Whichever it is, it's damned good for $10.99. It's kind of confusing at 19th & Chestnut right now (where I picked it up) as everything's all moved about the store...

I'm really enjoying the Cline Viognier 2005 Chairman's Selection right now - great light taste for the summer, good change of pace from the Sav Blanc's that I've been having for my everyday white for a while. Probably going to pick up a case tomorrow before too many more folks discover it!

Definitely Raw. Not only is the sushi terrific but it certainly fits the bill for something "different" without completely breaking the bank like Morimoto's.

What serving size are those Points counts, if you know...? (I don't count religiously any more but my brain is still wired to think more in terms of Points than calories these days.) Also, count me in for a tasting event!

I love on-line menus, especially - as others have mentioned - when I'm traveling and unfamiliar with a city or area. It's easy for me to stroll around Philly and check out menus posted on doors, or get lots of good local reviews and word-of-mouth about where to try. On the road, though, that's not always that easy and I like being able to do some "advance research" on where I'd like to eat. For instance, is this Italian place going to be a red-gravy joint with just the standard choices, or more Northern Italian? Will there be any good choices for my vegetarian friend? What kind of wine selection is available? Even if the menu is out-of-date, it can still give me a good idea of what to expect and if it's what I'm in the mood for.

Perhaps the answer was not too long after all...I walked by today and it wasn't open, chairs were stacked up inside, menu gone off the door. Shame, because I did enjoy the two meals I had there, but the place just never seemed to have more than a few tables filled except on the weekends.

So, last night the boyfriend told me to pick a place to try for a night-early birthday dinner, and I decided that it was well past time to try Raw. We got there around 7:30 to a fairly full house but were seated just fine without a reservation. Our server was extremely friendly and helpful without being overly pushy--which was great as the menu choices were simply overwhelming, between the hot menu, the sushi menu, the specials and the new tempura menu. I'm no sake expert but I know we both like the unfiltered, milky sakes, so he was able to select a great one for us to start with that wasn't even on the menu yet. Edamame generously coated with coarse salt was a great constrast to the sweet sake as we waited for our appetizers to arrive. I knew we had to try the gyoza, and as soon as I mentioned to our server that they came highly recommended, he said, "You must be on egullet!" So we got those and the half-dozen oysters to start. The gyoza were excellent, as expected--perfectly hot and crunchy outside, tasty soft filling, and accented with some wonderfully dressed sping greens. The oysters were the small, sweet Japanese kind (forgive me for forgetting the name) - delicious, served with a dippping sauce unlike any I've had with oysters before. Greg came out to make sure we enjoyed the gyoza, and it was nice to be able to put a face to the name. We ordered three rolls to share: the Wasabi Lobster, the Torimy Roll, and one of the special rolls that featured spicy tuna and eel, I believe, I can't remember exactly except that it was excellent and HUGE. We would have easily been fine with two rolls (especially as each came with a small seaweed salad) but there was just so much we wanted to try, it was hard to stop. Our definite favorite was the Torimy (spicy tuna and eel with torched squid & spicy sauce). I was definitely in spicy sauce heaven and the torched squid was amazing. Our server had suggested a sparkling sake to go with the rolls and with dessert, and again it was a great choice - very refreshing and nice for clearing the palatte between trying the different rolls. Greg then surprised us with a special item off the menu - a delicate crab cake with some kind of cherry tomato salsa and a super tangy/hot/creamy sauce that left some serious burn (just the way I like it). Desert was Banana Samosas with Capogiro Thai Coconut Milk Sobretto, and White Chocolate Mouse. We would have easily been satisfied with one dessert (the mouse was seriously dense!), but, hey, birthday dinner, why not over-indulge... Overall it was a fantastic meal and not bad at all at $150 considering all that we'd had. We'll definitely be back to try some more, and hopefully do the Omikase some night as well.

Maybe I'm blind, I can't find where the reports are on the phillymag website. Where on the site should I be looking?

Alas, don't think we'll be able to make it on the 9th, will likely be out of town.

Made it to Rangoon last night for only my second meal ever there. I definitely need to make it a more frequent habit. Based on the lovely photo here and the recommendations, I had to start with the Spring Ginger Salad. And yes, it is wonderful! Crunchy, peanut-laden, a light flavor of sesame but so delicate. My companion and I also got an order of the taro root to start, and it was a great combination with the salad. To continue, we had coconut rice, Jungle Tofu, plain thousand layer bread (to sop up the sauces), and some kind of giant vegetarian pancake that was filled with a rich vegetable stuffing, very Indian in flavor, wish I could remember the name of it. I LOVED the Jungle Tofu, which was an incredibly light coconut milk/green curry sauced dish of stir-fried tofu, green beans, onions, peppers, lime and hot chilis. The only problem I had with it was mistakenly chewing on a chili that looked just like one of the green beans without proper examination. All that and one uninspired but cheap glass of wine for $48, including tip. I just finished off my leftovers for lunch and am ready to go back for more. Nothing at all greasy or heavy about the meal, in fact it reminded me a lot of Thai but with a more delicate, fruit-flavored touch.

Well, I suppose at least you got the fruit! The one time I went to Morning Glory they were out of fruit for the "special" french toast with fruit & nuts, and I don't think it was even noon yet. I don't know; as I said I only went once but was entirely underwhelmed and not inclined to make the effort to go there again, not when I've got better (IMO) brunch places closer, with superior service and without the huge wait. Maybe I caught them on a bad day, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood.

I love Vietnam Palace. In the vietnamese food battle of 11th street, VP always gets my money. The vermicelli combo plate is, like, perhaps my favorite restaurant dish anywhere. What with the charbroiled shrimp, stuffed grape leaves, spring roll, and sweet 'n sour meatballs all piled high on the noodles for all of $11, it's just a little feast of heaven on earth.

At the moment, I'm in love with Ghirardelli Squares, various kinds (though I've been working my way through a Peppermint Bark pack since Christmas. Yum!) It's funny because I find all other Ghirardelli bars/varieties pretty "meh" but I love their little chocolate squares...rich flavor and lovely texture, yet I can stop after 1 or 2 pieces and feel satisfied In contrast, chocolate that totally disappointed me recently: Godiva. My mother bought me a Godiva White Chocolate sampler for Christmas to pay me back for all the Ghirardelli white chocolate squares she'd "stolen" from my stash, and they've been utterly disappointing in their lack of flavor and blah texture. Did I just get a bad batch or is Godiva all-hype and no-substance?

My Sig. Other belongs to two wine clubs--I believe they are Celebrations Italian Artisans Series (2 per month at $32), and the one offered by Italian Cooking and Living(Silver level, 3 bottles a month at $49). So we usually end up with 2 whites and 3 reds a month from the clubs, mostly stuff we never see on the shelves around these parts. Overall I'd say the quality of the wines is VERY nice, especially the reds--some of the whites I've just found "eh" and not particularly inspiring, but a lot of the reds taste like wines I'd expect to pay at least in the $20-30 range, so it's not a bad deal and a lot of fun not knowing what we'll be getting. Also, every so often they mix in a rose or sparkling wine for a little variety. So for us, yeah, it's worth it--I've got a stash of bottles and labels of wines we've gotten though the club that I absolutely loved and would love to order more of in the future, though he tends to be the type that likes to constantly try different things, instead of finding a few wines he loves and just stocking up on them...

Yeah, I've definitely noticed this as well, and it's one of the many reasons I also prefer eating early. Nothing like waiting & being REALLY hungry by that 8pm reservation, only to have to wait until nearly 9 before I actually DO get seated... My preferred dinnertime is between 5:30 and 7. My metabolism is pretty strong so unless I eat a big snack around 3 or 4, I am seriously ready for dinner by 6. If I eat too big of a lunch it just makes me feel listless for the rest of the afternoon, so that's not a solution. It's definitely a struggle for me to wait those nights when the SO works late and I know dinner won't be until after 8. I prefer restaurant dining when it isn't a mob scene, when I can actually have a conversation with my dining companion instead of having to shout over the noise of every table being filled. I like being able to have a few hours for the food to settle (and maybe have room for that late dessert), instead of getting home from a restaurant at 11pm, stuffed and exhausted but trying to get to sleep while my stomach is working hard on digesting. So anyway, yeah, here's another vote for dining early!

I was unaware that this wine was a previous chairman selection. What was the price point before? I remember Byron as being one of my favorite (at the time) boutique wines from Santa Barbara. I have good friends who live out there and they sent me a few bottles of their first vintage chard a lot of years ago. I remember the bottle had a cool geometric design to it. It was amazing. No one carried it out here to my knowledge. I'd forgotten just how good it was until recently. Wow, what a great wine Jeff ← If I remember correctly, it was $12.99 before. That's when I got my first stash, and why I'm surprised it's now $3 less. At $9.99 it's an absolute steal given the rich flavor of this white. My mother has been a Bryon fan for a number of years as well--that's why we jumped on this one when it was first offered as a Chairman's Selection. These days I'm pretty selective on Califronia Chardonnay, but this is one I always try to keep one chilled bottle of on-hand.