mrbigjas

Yeah, same here. The revelation that things don't stick if you put them in a hot pan with hot oil and let them sit there till they're not sticking anymore. It really makes a difference.,

Frank's is still available, although I don't know who owns it or if it's the same as it always was or anything. There's really nothing like a sweet soda to cut through the grease of a cheesesteak or pork sandwich. I'd rather have a wishniak with those meals than a beer, and that's really saying something.

OK I've read this whole thread, including the folks from the Philadelphia area who bought colt 45 at the Wawa (we used to buy Olde English 800--used to call it the happy clown, because it "goes down like a happy clown," whatever that meant. A lot of people switched to St. Ides when it was introduced, but not me. And whoever that was who mentioned the last few sips of a warm 40 of malt liquor as the ultimate test of drunken stomach wasn't kidding), and while Red White and Blue have been mentioned, and the generic BEER has been mentioned, and the Schmidts and whatnot have all been mentioned, and the cave creek chili beer, there's one that no one's brought up yet. It was test marketed here in Philadelphia: Cool Colt This was beer with menthol, no joke, obviously marketed to the "urban" community, the same way menthol cigarettes are. But I smoked menthol cigarettes at the time and STILL thought it was foul.

Just to clarify--according to the address, it's actually just a couple blocks off the Berks el stop, not Girard. I'm thinking about heading up tomorrow evening, if I can get my shit together and get out of work at a decent hour.

I had a really excellent one at Plaza Garibaldi, 10th & Washington.

It's some funny stuff all right. I was waiting for someone besides me to have pocky in their desk. Right now I have hello kitty pocky, but that replaced the men's pocky that we finished, and the green tea pocky that I tried to like but just don't. Also a 1/2 bottle of Macallan 12-year (fits nicely in the back of a file drawer). Also a big ol' bag of generic green tea bags (100 for $2.50 at uwajimaya), some loose genmaicha or bancha, and usually several bananas.

I'm nearly always up for a game--for some reason I sat up till nearly 1 last night watching that 17-inning Phils/Orioles fiasco. The vet sucks and I'll be glad to see it gone, but there's some good eatin' in south philly. Assuming I'm around...

So..... anyone here go to the 2000 Bordeaux tasting last week?

OK what is the name of those little dried fishes that you put on things like seasoning? Little things, kinda golden colored...

I haven't read the article yet, but I just want to say I love that jacket he's wearing in those pics, and if it'll help him out of his financial troubles, I'll gladly buy it off him. Katie, can you let him know that? Thanks.

There are several very good Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown, including as Katie said Pho Xe Lua at 9th & Race, Vietnam Palace and Vietnam on 11th between Race and Vince, along with several others down there. Also, you need to check out Washington Avenue around and below Broad--Pho 75 at 12th & Washington, the grocery/pho place at 16th that I can never remember the name of, Nam Phuong at 11th & Washington, Pho Ha at 6th... there's another new pho place next to Nam Phuong, there's Cyclo at 6th, and several others around. You can get a damn good banh mi all over down there too. Unfortunately, it's just that you can't get that stuff in U. City. Of course, if you're saying the ones here suck compared to Falls Church/Arlington... well, I can't imagine that, if you're talking about a pho shop, because I've had pho in lots of places, and I haven't found it to be any better or worse than any of those places (well, worse, occasionally, but mainly just different everywhere). But I haven't been there, so I'll take your word for it. Katie--I'm interested in "real" Thai restaurants as well, since I've read numerous places that Thai food in the US has become as americanized as Chinese food.

So, I was in NYC this weekend, and one of the things I do when I'm up there is to try and eat things I can't get here in town. And it kinda got me thinking for a second: we've had Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and north Indian people here for years. The recent opening of Mexican places really can only be seen as a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. But if it were up to you, what nationality do you wish would move to Philadelphia in large enough numbers to open authentic restaurants? For me, it's definitely south Indian. Sure, New Delhi or that place down on 2nd & Chestnut say they have South Indian dishes (mainly just meaning dosai), and I love all the usual northern foods like tikka and vindaloo and all that kind of stuff. But what I miss is a restaurant that is south Indian vegetarian from beginning to end. We stopped in at Madras Cafe on 2nd Ave yesterday afternoon for a late lunch, and basically gorged ourselves on the stuff--huge masala dosai, those lentil doughnuts, vegetable jalfrazi, sambar, dal, raita, that spicy pickled veggie mixture they make that's so sour and spicy at the same time... man oh man. And you just can't get it in Philly--from all accounts, the closest South Indian community is up in Edison, NJ. Anyone else? What are you missing?

No I haven't. Sounds pretty damn good though. GIMME GIMME GIMME

I LOVE THE ASIAN PEAR LADY. OK really I just love her asian pears. I have gotten so addicted to those damn things over the last three years that sometimes I'm tempted to buy the $3 foam-wrapped ones in the fresh fields. And when I do, I'm always disappointed at their lack of flavor. I LOVE THE ASIAN PEAR LADY. Also, at the market at 17th & South, there are no meat or fish or bread people. So consider yourselves lucky.

Yeah, but where else are you gonna get a chocolate covered onion?

Well, the way I look at it, breakfast, brunch and lunch all fall within that time frame--it's just a matter of getting someone to drive me there for lunch one of these days, since I don't really do breakfast, and brunch is verboten on weekdays unless I'm on vacation...

FIELD TRIP Damn it's a shame I have a job.

GIMME

My memory isn't what it used to be--I just paged up this thread and saw that I asked those same questions several weeks ago. D'oh. But I walked by Ron's Ribs and it appeared to be open the other night. It was kinda late and I'd already eaten, and was too distracted by J's deli collapsing to stop in. Has anyone been yet?

Yes, Dwight's. Germantown Ave, just off Broad Wait, the truck at Broad & Germantown is Dwights? I've been meaning to stop by there for a year or so, but don't have a car--and whenever I do and am in the neighborhood, it's because I'm on my way to my parents' house, usually for dinner--not a time to stop for ribs....

I've tried the last two times I went to chicago, but it didn't work out... went to pilsen instead and had great menudo....

Yeah, I definitely see where you're coming from, and even agree with both of you. But I have this weakness for American in certain applications. I think in the case of a cheesesteak, it might actually be a texture thing--maybe I just like my cheesesteaks a little less gloppy than most, or something. Another discovery yesterday is that Geno's has a pretty decent roast pork sandwich. I'd always ignored that part of the sign, but the mrs wasn't in the mood for cheesesteaks yesterday. It's not as good as Dinic's, but it's not bad either.

Las Cazuelas has some great mole, that's for sure. Mexico Lindo is more street grub--tacos, tortas, etc., although they have some more complicated dishes as well. My personal favorite barbacoa tacos, although veracruzana is a close second. You see a bunch of Mexicans in there eating big piles of tongue, eggs, tortillas, chorizo. Not many white people--I woulda had language barrier problems a couplea times in there, except that we were with someone from mexico... Damn it's good though. It's one of those places where I wish they hadn't reviewed it, so I could keep enjoying it myself. Re: the neighborhood..... it's hard to say. It's rough around there, but I've been there many times and never had a problem. They have a parking lot and it doesn't strike me as a scary part of town....

How was it? I was down there today, but I was feeling kinda hung over from two days of partying for my birthday, so I had to have a cheesesteak instead. Thinking of Holly, who consistently defends whiz as the perfect cheese for a cheesesteak, I decided to go against my usual tendencies and get a whiz with. I think these occasional tests of your established habits is a good thing, but next time I'll be going back to american.

They got some good ones comin up, too. I'll be at several, but I'm not sure which ones yet.