Bluehensfan

But are you supposed to tip the counter man?

How about a cooking contest where local chefs prepare fancy dishes utilizing scrapple? You could always see if Bobby Flay wanted to come back too. Personally I am all for a scrapple eating contest (but not involving me! )

I do see a woman in a wheelchair almost every Saturday in the market and she seems to be getting around well, albiet the crowd, which can be enormous this time of year. All of the suggestions for food are good by the way but I'd pass on the Down Home Diner. After not going there for years we tried it last week and the food has not improved, as we tried a pulled pork sandwich that tasted of heavy vinegar and spices but sadly little else. By the way the thai place near Terminis (which has great pastries!) serves a fabulous salmon special, and also the Dutch Eating Place does a thriving take-out business and there is a large seating area nearby. Enjoy your visit!

Well with grilled fish, we will be sure to stop by if you're open on Saturdays at lunch. The city could use a place serving really good grilled fish a la Dmitri's on Saturdays at lunch... With all of the office buildings around there it would seem to me that lunch would be at least profitable during the week, but the weeked seems more dicey.

Sorry about the cliche "getting the boot" comment...no harm was intended. Unfortunately we never made it to Bootsie's when we ventured in town (we are generally only there on Saturdays), although we did plan to go there one of these weeks. When they say they will be serving Mediterranean cuisine, I hope they serve grilled fish or some Greek specialties...that sounds appetizing and I would be heppy to stop by next month! I hope the "rebooted" restaurant (how's that? ) will be open for lunch on Saturdays, seeing that too many good places in town shut down for lunch on Saturdays or do the brunch thing with a different menu. By the way, a great place for hot dogs (if you're willing to drive) is Jimmy John's on Rt. 202 just north of Rt. 1 in West Chester. The casings are very firm and snap when you bite into the.

Does this website crash in the middle of using it for everyone else or is it just my computer? Off the record, I think the merchant finder is helpful but the website itself is too generic and devoid of pictures that make RTM what it is. If looks as if they have squeezed out the "heart and soul" out of the market and made a website that looks too "Whole Foodish" to me, but the intent of the new ad campaign is to compete for local business versus trying to attract tourists. It's just a shame that if I were planning on visiting from out of town and saw the website, it would be less-than-compelling. Other than that, the new website looks fine to me...

Looks like Bootsie's got the boot. In the window is a sign stating they will re-open in early January as a full service restaurant featuring a Continental and Mediterranean menu, including steak and other great creations. Is that where the chef from the Waterworks landed?

I have a nominee: the spare rib noodle soup at Nan Zhou, which actually consists of two good-sized pork chops, on the bone, floating in a bowl of broth, with noodles. Tasty, but not pretty to eat. In fact with all of those noodle soups, I'm continually in peril of ruining my shirt, as well as the entire outfit of the person sitting across from me. Sorry... That may be why Tartetatin suggested the fried soy sauce noodles (which they've re-named to something slightly more logical, like "fried pork noodle in soy sauce") because it's one of the few that's not in a broth, it's more of a plate of noodles with a really good meat sauce on it. Still a little messy, but really good. And it's absolutely true that Nan Zhou is a bit of a dive, but sometimes that's just the right thing. ← I thought that my duck soup there was tasty but to separate the fatty duck skin and bone from the small pieces of meat in the bottom of a bowl using a set of chopsticks and one of those ivory colored large soup spoons while not getting noodles everywhere in the process was well, humorous. I know that the brisket version had no bone (but alas a healthy dose of fat). The seafood version did have a clam (and shell) and shrimp (and tail) as well as boneless, fatless scallops and fish balls (whatever they were ) but was not quite as tasty as the other versions. Still it was a lot of fun and we'd go back. They could sell lobster bibs here and make a good buck or two though, but for $4 or $5 for a hearty bowl of soup it's hard to complain.

...um, Juniper and Walnut. The place is just around the (half) block from the 13th Street (er, "Midtown Village") restaurant cluster that includes Raw, Lolita, El Vez, and another must-visit for dessert, and I don't care that it's cold this time of year: Capogiro. ← Uh yeah, that's where it is...I don't look at street signs, I just follow my nose for the smell of chocolate (which is oddly not there)

I would second the votes for a trip to the Reading Terminal Market and specifically the Dutch Eating Place for breakfast (but they are only open on the 22nd and the 23rd) including pancakes, scrapple, and home fries. I agree that DiNic's at the market is also great but stick with the roast pork sandwich with greens and provolone, since I think the pulled pork and brisket are not quite as good. They also have very good soft pretzels at the market at Fisher's (also only open on the 22nd and 23rd) that are light and airy unlike most soft pretzels that you will find in town. If you are looking for something sweet, try the pastries at Termini's at the market or pick up a cinnamon bun or apple fritter from Bleiler's. While Nan Zhou in Chinatown has very good hand pulled noodles, it is a bit of a dive and the things that they put in the soup with the noodles (we tried duck, brisket, and seafood versions) are often fatty and/or bony. Granted, the noodle soup is great on a cold day. If you are looking for something warm while venturing out I would recommend the Naked Chocolate Cafe on 13th and Juniper (about two blocks south of the Loews) for hot chocolate, handcrafted chocolates, and my favorite, the orionoco ganache if they have it that day. Snackbar has been getting a number of favorable reviews but I have not been there yet, but it seems to be the place to go for foodies along with Ansill.

All of the recommendations listed are great (but haven't tried Bootsies or the Good Dog yet) but if I were you, I'd be kicking myself if I missed my sandwich at DiNic's. You could always split a sandwich at DiNic's and try something upstairs at the cafe at DiBruno's, which is generally pretty good (although no more Kobe burgers...now they are angus!), and then follow it up with some hot chocolate at the Naked Chocolate Cafe or the Ritz Carlton (both close by!)...

Yeah... tartes is great, especially the sugar and molasses cookies and the coconut cream tarts. Makes me miss Petit 4 even less, although it will be a yule-log, German cookie-free holiday err Christmas since we are allowed to call it that once again. It is too bad that Tartes does not open until noon...that was my only beef with them in the past.

I third Godschall's. We've bought chicken there many times that has been excellent, and from the long lines it seems to be the place to go.

Having eaten at Sovana Bistro before, during, and after the Bryan Sikora tenureship, I must say that the before and after meals were not nearly as good as when he was there, which is interesting because he was not the one doing all of the cooking. Sovana has "grown up" a lot in the past few years (and the prices have too!) but we felt our last meal was no better than the Half Moon Saloon down the street (not knocking them by any means), and the seasoning combinations we found to be rather odd and discordant.

You're probably right that Aqua is a good option for Thai in Philly. The problem is that ever since we ate the sublime Thai cuisine at Kittichai in NYC, Thai food anywhere else has generally been a disappointment. Time to take the train to the big apple one of these days I guess!

Here's a follow up on the Five Guys/Jake's debate. Last weekend had (gulp!) both. This time we tried the Jake's location in Newark given our bad luck at the Elsemere branch. The Newark store hasn't missed a beat. The burger was fabulous, just like it always has been and the fries (with old bay seasoning) were done just right. It really makes me wonder why the Jake's in Elsmere is so much worse. Five Guys was the usual. Good burger, but not as good as Jake's at it's best. I still was not impressed by the fries there my last visit...they still taste a bit burned to me. I still gotta try Bootsie's one of these weeks and add that one to the mix, but with all of the exotic options there, I can't see myself ordering a traditional burger!

I think the Zagat's guide is pretty good for a quick run down of a place, as in it is a good starting point to narrow down chioces for further exploration. I was disappointed that they did not have the Dutch Eating Place at RTM listed but did include the Down Home Diner, though. However, I can't complain since they awarded me with $100 for being the "witty surveyor" for this year's edition. And no I did not make any of the the comments listed in the article!

I see Livengood's has the first chestnuts of the season. Apparently Earl was picking them up in the rain last week... Also, there's a nice article in the Philly Inquirer about the old/new neon sign that will placed outside of the market: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15510135.htm

Stopped by on Saturday for the third week in a row. Tried the creme caramel nudo and thought it was good but not as nearly as good as the vanilla/vanilla cupcakes we bought. The white chocolate raspberry nudo looked good to but we passed on that one. Also since the weather was lousy had a rich cup of hot chocolate (classic) and a few candies (they now have some that are $1 a pop) but I still like hazelnut ones...

Sorry...I fixed the avatar...must be the rain? (or just blame SEPTA!) I still like my burgers rare. What's the world coming to when there's a sushi joint serving raw fish on every corner but you can't get a burger rare in this city?

7th and Chestnet or so, next to Kibitz in the City (or across the street from Jones and that calling service )

Thanks for the labels! Now I know what is what as it seems that an immediate visit is in order!

The Five Guys in Delaware has a sign that states that all burgers are prepared well done so I suspect it's (like Jake's burgers in DE) another slap in the face for customers. I like my burgers rare but I can put up with well done but still juicy. But it seems that there are some line cooks that figure a few extra minutes cooking time won't hurt but in reality it's not the case.

When Jake's first opened the burgers were much better than the Charcoal Pit. Unfortunately my last visit to Jake's (in November of last year at the Elsemere location) was so bad that I have not returned since. The burger was beyond overdone, dry, and deviod of flavor, and was topped with a green and brown colored tomato slice (as in one). The fries were actually limp and cold (which is really odd seeing that they never used to be like that) and the black and white milkshake was terrific but not enough to salvage the meal. Jake's burgers used to be really fresh tasting and juicy but on a few occasions before that visit they were starting to go downhill, as in cooked to death, which is a shame since they only use fresh meat. We have been back to the Charcoal Pit a few times, and even though their burgers are admittedly frozen, preformed patties, you can order them rare and there is still someone at the place who knows how to cook. The fries have always been fine and the milkshakes decent, although a notch below Jake's. I suspect that Jake's is expanding too quickly (as in the next Five Guy's?) as I read a while back that they are franchising to places like Tampa, Florida. While Jake's took the crown from the Charcoal Pit a few years back as having the best burger, with poor prep and quality control issues they have shot themselves in the foot. At this point in time i'd say the Pit has the best burgers in the state although I've never tried that Red Robin place in Bear. I would place Five Guys as being second and Jake's third. The fries are much better at the pit too, as Five Guys near us can't seem to cook them properly (or has not changed the oil since last summer). Maybe Emeril's business partner who bought the Camellia Grill in New Orleans will expand to DE and then I will be happy...