mrbigjas

wow, that's quite an endorsement.

i just had a hot dog/fishcake combo AGAIN yesterday. that's some good stuff there. a couple weeks we went down and i got a roast pork. it was very enjoyable, although really not quite in the league of dinic's or john's....

i make a pesto out of them and serve over pasta or potatoes.

dragging up yet another ancient thread: mangosteens are now available at sue's. $17/lb, which averages out to about $3 each.

the only delaware pizza chain i know of is grotto, which is awful.

by 'wild card' do you mean 'just plain wrong'?

yes, i think i can remember most of it: eggs french toast pancakes some pork and spinach thing egg white omelet all with choice of meat i think and potatoes and apples of course eggs scrambled with sausage biscuits and gravy (with eggs) hash (with eggs) also some kinda atkins thing with no potatoes or apples. i mean, all the stuff you'd usually order. but still somehow, not right. not at 8:30 a.m. maybe later.

interesting point, bob. since i don't get to the jersey diners often, i was comparing it to the various little petes's and the midtowns. we hit up the midtown... uh, III i think? the one on 18th st. and that same breakfast but with regular crappy diner food would run you about $5. at petes, maybe $7? but yeah, the food was actually really good this time....

i was thinking of the discussion on this thread when we hit up down home diner today, for the first time in a while but not that long. it's an easy spot early on a sunday morning -- have some breakfast, get the boy a cheap short stack that he doesn't eat most of, and when we're done he can run around the market putting money in the pig and looking at the lobsters while i pick up a few things. anyway, here's what i found: 1. service: ok. some odd pauses, but the food came fast 2. food: really good, actually. buckwheat blueberry pancakes, thick-cut bacon, over-easy eggs that had runny yolks and didn't have gelatinous whites. good sausage that could have been crisper. great bread for the toast. the bad part was that they've abandoned a diner menu for a 'sunday brunch' menu. really the options are all the same things you'd order anyway -- pancakes, french toast, eggs, omelets, biscuits, hash -- but it just feels wrong. and it's friggin $8.95 prix fixe. and ok besides the fact that that's too much, am i the only one that thinks there's something wrong with the phrase 'prix fixe brunch menu' in a place that purports to be a diner?

fun blog post. but i think you should add george's roast pork to the list of iconic places. it's right in the market, the pork is good, and... man it's midnight and i'm just back from the caribbean and all i want is a roast pork sandwich. ← Ahh, excellent point, thanks! I haven't been in a million years, so I don't remember details. Any secrets to getting the ultimate sandwich, any ways to make George smile, or at least not growl? ← i've never had noticeable service there. i mean, not noticeably cheerful or noticeably grouchy. hm.... i'll have to go back.

fun blog post. but i think you should add george's roast pork to the list of iconic places. it's right in the market, the pork is good, and... man it's midnight and i'm just back from the caribbean and all i want is a roast pork sandwich.

yeah, that. oh yeah, definitely that. that stuff was awesome.

i went over to matyson for this last night, and while everything was good, i was expecting more mushroominess. where you say 'welcome accents', bob, i say gimme more fungitude. for instance the scallop. the scallop itself was delicious, but if that was porcini powder on it, i couldn't taste it (the risotto was great). i mean, i don't want to take away from the quality of any of the dishes. they were all delicious and executed to my liking (although some in our party thought the scallop and risotto were both undercooked, and the greens that came with my terrine were almost inedibly salty). i'm just saying, when you say mushroom, i want mushroom. anyway, i love matyson. it makes me happy to eat there, every time i go.

it's not the terminal or montgomery county but first oriental supermarket down at 6th & washington carries frozen banana leaves.

if i were leaving town, i would hit up matyson, ansill and southwark. three of my favorite places for various reasons. i'd do various ethnic restaurants if i knew the place i was going didn't have them, but those three would definitely be included.

i work up in fairmount and we generally order from asia on the parkway. i should clarify that i'm not a huge fan of takeout chinese. but i can tell you this: they used to order from some storefront dump at like 16th & spring garden, and asia on the parkway is approximately 1000 times better than that.

why do you hate philadelphia? small minded people wielding their power for vindictive purposes is a hallmark of our fair city.

what's mock fish? the fried rice at those two meals is interesting to me -- much lighter, less greasy, and barely brown from soy sauce, if at all. i'ma make it like that next time.

aw man this makes me sad about how out of the loop i am in rockin dining experiences. when is it that a child can fry up their own dinner? something like age 3 or so? i think that's about right.

go to apamate.

i was at criniti's a couple months ago. still good, still old school, but now it's in an old church--by old i don't mean ancient, i just mean 'former.' the big ol stained glass window makes for an interesting setting, and their gravy is still my favorite in town. i don't know if they're open for lunch though.

edit: dupe

Here's the recipe that Ping sent me: ← wow, that sounds quite a bit like the afghan dish qabili palau.

that totally looks better than the king crab we used to get for the $15 all you can eat special at chesapeake bay seafood house up by the oxford valley mall.

i can confirm this, both that it's ridiculously good with duck, and that it freezes well. i've made it several times since dave first posted it.