johnb102

Fork has a private room, but it might cap out at around 35 or 40. They might let you take the whole restaurant for 50?

I was surprised not to see mention of this new restaurant on here. It is a little off the beaten path on Spring Garden across from the Spaghetti Warehouse. http://thoreaurestaurant.com/menu I am not a vegetarian, but really enjoyed a dinner of the Green Curry Shepherd’s Pie. The place is small, so make a reservation, and the portions are large. No tofu, just well prepared and interesting vegetarian food. There are plans for outside seating and a vegetable garden I think.

We stumbled upon this place in Lititz - great hot chocolate and Lititz is a cute little town to walk around. http://www.chocolatelititz.com/

Yo Dogs just opened last week on Willow Grove Avenue in Wyndmoor. It is a couple of doors down from Bhagya's Kitchen which is our favorite spot for Indian takeout. I tried the Ger Dog which was very good. I was actually there to pick up Indian food for dinner, so didn't get to try a wider selection. I will need to make some more trips to try more of the menu. The roll was not a traditional hot dog roll - it was more like a piece of bread that was folded and grilled. They offer beef, turkey or carrot (?) hot dogs. I am not sure about the carrot but guess it would be worth a try - they say it is a carrot marinated in hot dog spices and grilled. The fries looked good, but I didn't try them. Bhagya's Kitchen has some of the best Indian around. She used to have a stand in the Chestnut Hill Farmer's Market but now has the stand alone shop with much more extensive hours. Try the spicy Lamb Rogan Josh, or the mild Keema Mutter. There are also lots of good vegetarian options. Bhagya's Kitchen Yo Dogs

It took me the better part of a year to make it to Maia. I had lunch there today, and while the food was good, it is a very strange place. I didn't see the upstairs "fine dining" section because it is currently only open on Friday and Saturday nights. The original concept was so grand and varied. Now they seem to be trying to figure our something that will work financially. There is still the coffee shop when you enter, and then the bar and cafe areas. The strange part is that when you come to the hostess desk in the dining room, you can ask for a seat at one of the table clothed tables in either the bar or cafe. Instead, we just walked up to the cafe area and placed our order there. The menu is the same, but we were directed to the "communal" tables in the cafe area and not the tables with the tablecloths. Our food was still brought out by a server when it was ready. We had a burger and an omelette, both of which were very good. It just seems weird to have different ways to order the same exact food, and different tables to eat at. The whole gourmet market section is now empty, except for the international selection of beer and the communal tables.

We also have a gift certificate to use and have reservations to go for brunch in March. The brunch has historically been amazing, so I am hoping someone has had a recent experience they would like to share. In the past the brunch was expensive but so extraordinary that it was worth it. I hope they haven't kept the prices but lowered the quality/variety. If the bruch is as it used to be, I would highly recommend it.

I am not sure when it opened, but I was passing by at lunch time today and was happy to see that it is now open. I had some of the best lamb vindaloo I have ever had - really good chunks of moist lamb with a spicy sauce. At $8.95 for a large plate of food, it is still the bargain it was when on Sansom Street. The biggest difference from the old location is that while the basic set-up is the same, with a cafeteria style counter up front, the interior decor is much improved.

I agree that sitting in the dining room can be a disturbing experience, but if you ignore the sizes the food is very good on its own. I think it compares favorably to both Carnegie and Famous, so the trick is to not overorder. I get take out when heading home from Northern Jersey as it is an easy off/on from the turnpike or parkway. One large sandwhich when split between a family of four is a good dinner and you still have some left for lunch the next day. It is worth the visit just to see the dessert cases with Alice in Wonderland sized cakes. Some of the desserts aren't very good, but I really like the rugelah cheesecake. A single slice can also be split four ways and you might still have some left.

This had become my favorite brunch spot solely for the biscuit with sausage gravy and lack of long lines. I hope that wherever they end up they bring that dish with them.

I tried the tart mango and tart blueberry, as well as the sweet capuccino. I thought they were all good, but really liked the tart mango. The $0.49 per oz. price doesn't sound like much, but a few quick shots from the self-serve machine and my total was over $5.50 without any toppings.

Does anybody know what happened with this? I walked by yesterday and the storefront at 1304 Walnut is empty. Did they open and close already, or they never even opened? It is strange because when I did a Google search I found a lot of references to their new location at 1304 Walnut, but there is no sign to indicate it was ever there. They were at the old location on Sansom street for so long that I can't believe they could have opened and closed so quickly at the new location.

Sue's had them last year. I know they were available somewhere in the hinterlands, because percyn tracked them down out there. I expect they will be much more widely distributed this year. I'll be surprised if DiBruno's, among others, don't get it: they had mangosteens a couple of months ago, after all. ← Thanks. I called Sue's and they are expecting them in mid-June. I tried Iovine's but they said the prices are too high for them to carry them. Anastasio's also said they have no plans to carry Indian mangoes.

I read the article on Indian mangoes last year in Saveur, and also read that Indian mangoes are now being imported to the US. Has anyone seen any for sale locally this season, especially the Alphonso variety?

Sabrina's has opened a second location on Callowhill at around 17th or 18th. It is just as crowded as the original at the Italian Market which is always great for brunch.

I don't know about the turnover, but we were there last Saturday night for our 2nd visit and everything was great. We didn't have any service issues, but we had the owner as our primary server, so maybe they were short handed? We took our kids (8 and 11) and they both loved everything.

It has been a year since the last post on Susanna Foo in Radnor, and perhaps it should be another year before anyone tries it again. I had two lunches there over the last 2 weeks. The first was not terrible, just not particularly good. I had the Szechwan Tofu lunch box and it was very boring. I happened to be near there again yesterday so gave it another try. My wife and I shared steamed vegetable dumplings which were not great but were the highlight of the meal. After that I had the Peking Duck Wrap which was full of hard pieces of dried out duck. And at least I was able to eat mine. My wife's Pad Thai was so salty that she couldn't eat it. They never came back to check on us after delivering the food, so she ended up just asking for it to be taken off the check. I realized this is not set up to be the same dining experience as the downtown Susanna Foo, but I expected that the food would at least be good.

Where is Hedrick's located? Is it generally open to the public?

I just saw this in my Zagat newsletter and was suprised not to have seen a mention of it here first. The Faenzas of South Philly’s L’Angolo have moved into Center City with Salento (pictured), a rustic, white-tablecloth BYO with whitewashed walls; the well-priced menu lists homemade pastas and specialties from Davide Faenza’s hometown in Puglia. 2216 Walnut St.; 215-568-1314

How about Fork? It is close by and they have a great private room that would be the perfect size. We just looked at it for a Bat Mizvah party following services as RS.

Unless they have a time machine, nobody and nothing; it's next weekend... ← It tooks like the website has been changed. I am pretty sure it used to say that the sale was last weekend. We were going to go but never made it. Maybe it did not happen.

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely be stopping at Culpeper, probably while traveling each way. It is funny you mention Main Street Cafe because I also need to organize a business dinner in Lynchburg for 10-15 people. My contacts in Lynchburg suggested Bull Branch, Main Street Eatery, Meriweather's, or Crown Sterling (I rejected any chains which eliminated most of the suggestions). We will have some government employees who need separate checks and are on a per diem, so I will probably eliminate Crown Sterling due to price, and Main Street Eatery due to the comment above. Anybody know anything about Bull Branch or Meriweather's? I did look at Gayle but they are only open for special events now. This group will all be driving from the DC area and arriving the night of the dinner, so it needs to be somewhere less formal where people can arrive at a slightly staggered pace.

I will be driving from Philadelphia, past DC, and then on to Lynchburg. Are there any good/interesting places I should stop to eat at on my way?

You are correct. I checked there as a possible location for our last lunch and it was too small. In the past we have gone to Evviva and Al Dar, but want a change.

I am looking for a restaurant to host a luncheon for our office holiday party in December or January. It will be on a weekday, probably Friday. We are located in Bala Cynwyd but could travel a short distance. Some ideas were Zesty's in Manayunk, La Collina, Water Works, or Savona. We can spend about $40 per person with no alchohol included. We should have between 60 and 90 people. Any suggestions?

I answered my own question. The phone # 610-525-8883 and they are open for lunch on Mondays.