Bluehensfan

Thanks for posting the pictures...the food looks great! Do you remember what's what?

I'm not Holly but I can say that the burgers and fries at Five Guys near us (down south in Delaware) are wildly inconsistent. The burgers are dry sometimes, perfect others. The fries, while usually heavily tasting of overused oil, can be great one of every five times or so. While I love going to Five Guys near us, I sometimes dread the thought of what I will end up with. Hey, at least the peanuts are consistent.

Seinfeld said it best, "produce is a gamble." Even peaches grown at the same farm purchased at the same stall have varied from week to week this year.

I hear they opened this week and wondered if anyone has tried the place and what is good there...

Is this some kind of (cheap?) marketing ploy to create some blue collar competition for the $100 cheesesteak at Barclay Prime? Let's see...hot dogs and fries ten bucks ...(mental wheels turning)...me, I'm heading on over to DiNic's and demanding that I pay no less than....40 bucks...for lunch.

Here's what we tried last week...the hot chocolate (very good) and the frozen chocolate drink (beyond good). The latter's not like a milkshake (they have those too) but like cold, very rich, partially-frozen liquid chocolate. They serve these nudo things for dessert that are very good (like a chocolate cake pyramid), but the chocolate mousse was just average and a bit dry. They do have fabulous cupcakes (tried chocolate/chocolate and vanilla/vanilla) and both were better than any other cupcakes in town and remind me of what you might get in NYC. Also had a few pieces of the chocolate (which can be bought by the piece and mixed and matched) and that was good too. Somehow managed to eat it all but this precluded lunch for 2 of the 3 of us!

Is there anything else at Good Dog wirth trying other than the burgers? Seems like you never hear anything about the rest of the menu...

I agree that the kitchen in Foster's is pretty much useless. The older kitchen was at least visible from the sides and not completely enclosed. And now the owner of Foster's tends to have a tizzy if you venture in and out of that passageway where the sliding doors are to get into the store if the kitchen's in use. After being chastised by him on one occasion, we don't venture in the store anymore.

I agree the Reading Terminal Market's a great place for lunch (and they still serve pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place at noon! ) As far as dinner goes, you may even consider a place like Buddakan or El Vez because of the atmosphere. The food is above average and the decor and scenery may distract your daughter from different, but not too different, food. Then again you can do a trial by fire and walk around Chinatown and see tanks full of frogs awaiting consumption...well maybe not! I guess it makes me glad that my 10 year old likes ceviche!

I think it would be a nice olfactory accompaniment to the Lion King next door myself. Oddly enough, I never noticed much BBQ smell at all from innumerable visits to the Smoked Joint. And there is also that health code violation they had about smoking food off of the premises. Who knows? I just hope their next location has a view outside of something other than women with curlers and foil in their hair and a dry cleaner across the street.

Regarding Bravermans, they had some very good cut-out sugar cookies, but my big hang up with them was their (lack of) freshness. It is not reassuring to customers to be seeing cookies in Christmas cut-out shapes in February. Also, I know that a fair number of their products were not made in-house, and they would even sell stale items to merchants who worked at other places in the market. Combined with the fact that they were apparently not paying their rent on time, I do understand why they were evicted. I think if Vic was more on top of things and had a more rapid turnover of the products (and paid his rent on time) he would still be there. I think that the Flying Monkey has a few very, very good products (the brownies and the oatmeal and peanut butter sandwich cookies are fabulous!) I am not fond of the cakes or the cupcakes (the icing tastes like lard to me...and seeing some of the %^@$ I eat, that says a lot!), and I am not into green tea pound cakes and the like. Hopefully the Monkey will broaden their product line in the future once they get their operation up to speed.

For us geographically challenged, how long does one boil peanuts (and is there anything else involved in the process?) Thanks! ← wash them real good and put them in a pot of water with a buncha salt. bring to a boil. cook till they are soft, like a cooked bean--you have to keep taking them out and tasting; it'll take anywhere from an hour to three or so, depending on how green and soft the peanuts are to start. these were real raw, so they cooked in just over an hour. if they're cooked but not salty enough, turn off the heat and let them cool in the brine and they'll absorb more. that's pretty much all there is to it. eat with rc cola or sweet tea. ← Thanks for the directions...tried em last week and they were great!

For us geographically challenged, how long does one boil peanuts (and is there anything else involved in the process?) Thanks!

Just returned a few days ago from the area. I hear that Cosimo's went downhill so we did no go there. We tried Chutney's and it was very good as was Ray's BBQ in Ellenton. I'd pass on Barnacle Bills. It was pretty bad! The Selva Grill and Captain Brian's were as good as ever.

Try the Selva Grill for excellent ceviche and fresh fish...well worth a visit! Selva Grill Sam Seltzer's is ok but nothing too exciting... Sam Seltzer's I agree the Salty Dog stinks. Yoder's is all right but nothing fancy. Columbia is terrible and overpriced. Fleming's is a chain (yuk!). The Broken Egg on Siesta Key has good breakfasts. The Broken Egg Cosimo's Brick Oven in the mall is ok for more casual fare including pasta and seafood. Cosimo's Brick Oven Captain Brian's has good, simply prepared seafood and key lime pie. Captain Brian's

Apparently Steven Starr was less than amused about the errant report being sent out... Philadelphia Weekly Article By the way, the second report is very long and comprehensive. Maybe a bit too much so seeing that one or two of the places I frequent have not fared all that well.

The strawberries at Livengood's were even better this week...next week I may just grab a few quarts to take home. Probably the best tasting strawberries in the past few years actually! Also tried some fabulous flourless peanut butter cookies from the Flying Monkey Patisserie last week. They also had decent chocolate cake with raspberry icing.

Ouch...they served John and Kira's chocolates? That must've cost someone an arm and a leg!

I'll second the strawberries from Livengood's. I picked up some Saturday myself and was surprised how good they were. Apparently they come from a farm in Lancaster but are not from Earl's farm itself. Either way they tasted great! Earl also has great spinach that's wprth a try too! I suspect your photo at Iovine's must have been taken early...later in the day it was packed.

You gotta give them points for trying. We've stuck with them since the beginning and they started off pretty good, seemed to have some growing pains for a few months, but have really outdone themselves the past six months or so except for one time when they had a new chef in the kitchen who overdid the ribs. Like I said, they always seem to be looking to improve what they do, and they do take customer comments seriously.

It's good to know that they do made more traditional items...maybe this cake's worth a try! Hopefully they will be broadening their selection soon, but seeing and tasting some of the offerings last week I am (trying to keep positive) cautiously optimistic?!?

We go to the Smoked Joint very often (last time this past Saturday). Each time it keeps getting better in our opinion. The ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and bbq'd chicken are all stellar. What I find so interesting about the place is that they are always expermenting with the food. One example being the cornbread skillets. Shortly after the place opened they used habanero chiles throughout the cornbread then switched to a less spicy version of pepper. Lo and behold, the last visit the peppers were pleasantly missing from the cornbread entirely. Now all they need is some sweet maple syrup butter for dipping the cornbread in and they will have a winner. Even if they don't, the cornbread is much better than it was when they opened, and I know that changes were also made with the pulled pork, as it is a different, juicier cut than before, as well as the sweet potato fries, which are thinner than the older version. I don't remember ever getting my meals served on white expansive plates though. On Saturday I ordered the combo plate and it was filled to the brim with pulled pork, four ribs, swet potato fries and dipping sauce, and homemade bread on the usual black plate. They did change the menu a while back (4-6 months ago unless I need Aricept?) where they knocked down the price of a few items and cut the number of side items to one per platter. I do admit that I have never left hungry from a visit there though...

I did sample a few items at the Flying Monkey myself on Saturday in addition to my usual sweets from the vendors at RTM. I don't want to sound the alarm or anything but was very much underwhelmed. The brownie we had was average...nothing to write home about, and some of the chile seasoning from the Santa Fe brownie mix must've snuck in. Also we tried a graham covered homemade marshmallow (they also had coconut covered ones) and was not very impressed. We thought about trying a cupcake but were not in the mood for vanilla or chocolate cream cheese cake. I was looking for a slice of the roobois cake to try but that's on the horizon. My one concern is that a lot of the baked goods have "different" flavorings such as green tea, mint, or chile that may not appeal to many people.

Also the market (and the city of Philadelphia) could benefit from selling cupcakes like those served at Magnolia bakery in NYC (but maybe not as sickeningly sweet). And, the market could really use a vendor that sells fresh (sorry not like Pearl's) grilled fish. I know the Thai place has great salmon but it's too bad one of the fish vendors could not grill up their catch for your lunchtime enjoyment.

What do they need at Reading Terminal Market? A gelato place, somewhere to get a good burger (be it turkey, buffalo, or beef or whatever) to eat. A place that has more exotic tropical fruit. Maybe that and a private enclave for regular customers for busy times (think US Airways VIP lounge) like during the flower show. Just kidding about that last one.