katbert

hello-- my meat buddies and I are going to go for steak (we are too lazy to DIY and build pink himalayan salt caves and dry age for ourselves) sometime in the next month. I've read the barclay prime, butcher & singer, union trust, and table 31 threads. At the moment the starr restaurants are at the top of the list bc I enjoyed Barclay Prime and haven't been to B&S-- is there anywhere else we should consider? We care less about atmosphere/setting than delicious delicious aged meat. (Possibly we should actually go to nyc, but I"m not sure we have time for that.) (Probably not on the list unless someone makes a case- morton's, ruth's chris, prime rib, del frisco's, capital grille) Also Union Trust has this "Vertical Steak Tasting for 4" which I would like for someone wealthier than us to try and please report back on: FOUR 18OZ DRY AGED LONG BONE RIBEYES AGED 56, 49, 42, 35 DAYS EACH // COOKED TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS THEN SPLIT FOUR WAYS // 500

For future reference, the vacuum packed guac from Trader Joe's freezes+defrosts with not much noticeable texture change, so probably if you packed it in a tupperware with plastic wrap over the top you might not get too much oxidation.

FYI Thomas Keller is doing a talk on sous vide cooking at the free library on Monday 11/24/08. http://libraryphila.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=161469 Related to this, someone asked me if anyone's doing sous vide in PHL and I couldn't think of anywhere off the top of my head. Anyone?

I'm not sure if this is just my local Ikea (south PHL), but mine is selling off all of last year's green coloured enamelled cast iron line for $19.99 (7 qt & 5qt ovals, 3qt round, some wood handled frying pans that I paid less attention to, fondue set). This year's colour is a much much prettier blue.

Last Saturday there was a vanilla yogurt flavour at the 20th St Capogiro- and I've never seen them do a blue cheese flavour. You can check online to see which flavours are at which location. I had the strawberry tarragon and the lemon opal basil (everyone else in my party found this too tart but I like the awake flavour). My personal favourite is the rosemary honey goat's milk. Also, the a/c at the 20th street location doesn't work too well.

I have a midsized group (~15-20) of mostly students who want to go out for dinner. The current suggestion is Olive Garden. I would normally yuck! this kind of chain, but the recent NYTimes article on chains was entertaining and makes me slightly more amenable to the idea. My tastiest idea would be that we could do multiple tables in some of the restaurants in Chinatown. But I thought I should check in and see if anyone has any more ideas (most of the restaurants I'd like to go to wouldn't be good for groups this large). Criteria- can handle 15-20 ppl -on the lower end of mid-priced (say $8-15 entrees) -will have underage ppl, so no bar bars -bounded by Front street & 45th street, a few blocks north of market -> a few blocks south of south

hi- I just Googlemapped Sagami using the 37 W. Crescent Blvd address (marked B) and something about the building where the directions end doesn't totally jive with my mental picture of what Sagami would look like from above. I've been there in a car several times, but the last time was at least a year ago, and what I remember is that it's kind of easy to drive past and then you're like crap! We just passed it. iirc, it actually butts up pretty close to the road, so I think it might be that pink fronted bldg on the other side of the RR tracks. So the question is, can anyone please confirm which building in the linked map is actually Sagami? thanks. Identify Sagami on this map, win my gratitude

bump Soooooo-- one of my friends has an upcoming birthday and I can push her in the direction of going to Lacroix for brunch. Worth doing so? Anyone been since a year ago? Feel free to make other fancy suggestions.

Ouch, that hurts. I really loved Lakeside for the dimsum, for the noodles, for the random takeout...

bump I love Vic as a neighbourhood sushi joint- they have extended the sushi bar to a whopping 7 seats, and increased the menu variety by adding another dozen or so new "special" rolls. I like that I can get 3 basic rolls for $10 or the 12 piece nigiri special for $14, or price up for the special rolls. vic sushi photos Morimoto is my goto place for a sushi kick, but I usually spend ~$50 on sushi/sashimi so I don't do that too frequently and I don't have a car so I only get out to Sagami after strongarming friends with cars.

Er, I haven't exactly been there, more like we looked in the doorway on a sunday evening and saw a relatively large and almost completely empty dining room. I would judge my 10second glimpse of the room as more dining room like than bar like. I would call them before you go to see what kind of post work crowd has shown up; it's pretty big so if it's a slow night it shouldn't be a big deal. If you were asking for today, sorry this is too late.

Hi-- thanks for all the help. I ended up eating a lot of macadamia/cashew strawberry jelly sandwiches for lunch, crossed the street to Kabob Palace twice (loved the fresh handmade off the grill bread and the smoky grilled surprisingly tender lamb kabobs), one of the nearby Thai places, Jaleo for some sangria and tapas, one of the pupuserias on Mount Pleasant for my first pupusas and some fried pork and yucca, Chinatown- dropped into the hand drawn noodle place, Cafe Atlantico for a terrific cocktail and a lot of toasted quinoa for dinner (yummy, I would try upstairs the next time I'm not eating with someone staying kosher). When we walked over to Mount Pleasant from the metro, it was dark but there were a lot of ppl around; we're from Philly, so we're kind of used to gritty. Pictures at some point when I get around to organizing, but I wanted to say thanks in the meantime.

I'm going to second Diann's jellyfish doesn't really taste like anything and it picks up the flavour of whatever it's seasoned with. It's sort of fun to eat, but I can take it or leave it. Katie's having a reaction to eating it is a little surprising to me since I figured whatever causes the stinging must be inactivated for public consumption.

hi, I thought about starting another thread but figured I'd just tack on to this one since it's essentially another request for recommendations. I'm taking the Chinatown bus from Philadelphia and will be staying at the Hilton Crystal City by DCA starting tomorrow evening through July 5th (ballroom dance camp!). I don't think I'll have access to a car at all, so places that are walkable from Metro stops are preferable. My classes don't start until 10am so I'm interested in going to a few early breakfast places (read about Market Lunch at Eastern Market) since it's my favorite meal. I'll try to get ppl to go out for dinner 3-4 nights and would like some casual low budget recommendations (<$10), especially Salvadoran since I haven't tried it and also maybe Thai? (I'm not a big fan of Ethiopian even though in theory I should like it since I like stewed sauceful dishes). And I'll probably head out as a solo diner and go for at least one mid and a higher end dinner (~$50). If you have any local lunch recs I'd also appreciate it, but I'm considering taking almond butter and jelly to make sandwiches for the duration. (Jaleo is close though. Bebo too but reviews are "meh".) Other things that I like include ice cream, chocolate, and french fries and I'm more interested in food than atmosphere. Thanks. Link to some of my food pix on flickr.

A couple weeks ago, I tried the Rouge burger and it was terrific. My friends split the burger (they conveniently split the plates), and both our burgers arrived cooked as ordered (med-rare and medium). Portionwise, the burger is hefty- sometimes it can be a bit unwieldy and tall, especially after adding the lettuce and tomato. Last weekend I went to Yello'bar (24th & Grays Ferry) for the first time. It's a little weird to be walking along Gray's Ferry and on one side isthe tall iron fence with giant trees and lush green lawn carpet in front of the condo development and the other side is all broken glass and alternating new renovations and run down properties. Mmm gentrification. I tried the burger sampler and was pleasantly surprised: 4 little mini burgers (20z patties) with 3 different cheeses, one with sharp mustard and no cheese, one with caramelized onions. The little toothy rolls that were lightly grilled/toasted cut side down, adding a nice crunchiness. The patties were very slightly overdone, but still, yum. Someone should go try the regular sized burger.

So who went? Whatcha get? I went to NYC and forgot to bring back bagels. But I did get a mocha millefeuille from Bouchon Bakery.

Details for the tag sale for Deux Cheminees mmm, french copper. Someone please go and check it out, I don't know if I'll be in town that weekend.

I usually use this thread for drinking suggestions, but does anyone have recommendations for something red & relatively inexpensive (let's say <$10) for use as a marinade (think beefy)? I've been doing some braising lately and there are quite a few bottle of wine/marinate overnight kinds of recipes. I admit that I've been using the highly respected cutest-animal-on-the-label method of selection in the past.

I'm doing the short ribs in wine, and I tried to brown my short ribs in the oven by roasting at 450F. Unfortunately, I think I've overdone them by 10min in the browning process. Am I screwed or is there any rescue for possibly having overcooked them already? doh.

Yesterday for lunch: Turnip Patties, Dumplings in Spicy Sauce, Golden Coins, and I think the Sliced Chicken w/ Spicy Tangy Sauce. The turnip patties turned out to be completely different from what I was expecting- those pan fried turnip squares at dim sum. Instead, they were circular flat patties, sesame covered and deep fried, with an almost shredded texture on the inside. I really liked these, but vegetarians be forewarned that they contain both shrimp and a ground meat (probably pork). The dumplings were ok, but nothing special (came in a pool of chili oil and under a layer of diced garlic) and a little difficult to handle with chopsticks. The golden coins/deep fried eggplant slices were terrific and came with a side of thick chili laden sauce. Get them. If you are impatient, you will burn yourself taking a bite from the first golden coin because it just came out of the deep fryer. You'll say "Owh! Hawt!" And if the other people at your table are impatient, they'll then proceed to do exactly the same thing. The chicken was spicy enough to give me a little bit of a runny nose and tingly tongue, but not so hot that I couldn't taste anything. Philadining says that the sauteed snow pea greens aren't on the menu, but my takeout menu says: 112. Chinese Peas Green under the Vegetable category. I'm going to guess that these are the same thing. Another thing to note is that they deliver on orders >$15.

does anyone know what days/hours Carman's is open? Specifically tomorrow, Thursday morning, b/c the last time I was there (a few months ago) I think it was open Friday-Sunday only. Otherwise, I think we're off to 10th Street Pourhouse, since I've been to Sabrina's disproportionately lots this year.

Rae will also be part of the prix fixe University City Dining Days January 11-18, 2007, I would cite where I originally noticed this, but foobooz says the same thing.

When V says dirt cheap, it's ~$8 for a bowl of the soft tofu and you have at options of beef or oyster or whatever going into your tofu. You'll get a bunch of tiny side dishes like most Korean including kimchi, the marinated bean sprouts, some kind of radish thing?, and a raw egg. The soup arrives bubbling super painful hot (try really hard to be patient here otherwise you'll have that memory of burn feeling for the rest of the night). I remember 5 or 6 levels of spiciness and medium isn't very hot. Also, the one not immediately familiar item on your table? It's a doorbell that will get the waitstaff's attention (so don't just play with it).

Ok, all the ppl who said Mantra has good miraculously crispy sweet potato fries? Completely accurate. The ribs the spfs come with are nothing to write home about (4 meaty, tender, falling off the bone, glazed w/ vaguely sweet and sesame'd glue), but the fries are freaking great. Next time I would skip the ribs and get a plateful of the fries instead. Fancy cocktail martini drinkies: not very large, but very alcoholic in a smooth finishing quality kind of way.

I ended up at Giwa for dinner a few weeks back, and I was underwhelmed. I tried the dol sot bbb and my friend had the bulgogi, and while both were fine for a quick Korean fix, it's not on my list of places I have to go back to. The rice in the bottom of my stone bowl sizzled, but didn't get hot enough to brown and just a stuck together with a slightly chewy texture. In contrast, the last time I had the dol sot at Miran, the rice at the bottom of the bowl fried itself into a thick well browned crunchy crust. I liked the balance of items in the bbb and the julienned egg (which I prefer over the more authentic raw that jas wants or the sunny side up that sometimes shows up), but I would probably go to Miran in the future for bbb (even though it's more expensive) or Chinatown or the now defunct Minar. Aww, Minar Palace.