Drinks/Appetizers near the Trocadero

[mod*betty]

I can't believe I've never been to a show at the Trocadero, but there ya go. We're heading there next Wed and are hoping to meet up with some folks pre-show. Since I don't know the neighborhood for that type of thing (I see it's near the RTM, but that won't do) I was hoping to get some assistance from you kind folks. I may be the ringleader in this gathering (I usually am) and want to make a somewhat informed choice. Looking for something not too fancy, as we're heading to a "rock" show, but a casual place to gather and drink, app, before the show.

Thanks!

[philadining]

Banana Leaf is practically next door to the Troc, and has very good Malaysian food. But you're also only a couple blocks from anything in Chinatown. Penang, from which Banana Leaf took its inspiration is right around the corner. Both of them have a few beers, you could grab some satay to munch on, and some Roti Canai, because it's required to eat that if you set foot in either of those places...

Rangoon is only a couple of blocks away, and Burmese food tends to appeal to folks that are into Indian, Thai, Chinese, Malaysian, etc... And they have beer and a couple of wines, and a few appealing appetizer-ish things too.

I'm assuming you weren't looking for a full-on meal.

I can't think of any great bar-type places that are very close-by, although you're not all that far from that 13th and Sansom matrix of Raw/ElVez/Vintage. Those places wouldn't be too nutty on a wednesday, you could slide in and get a couple of drinks and then hike about 7-8 blocks over to the Troc.

[Tim Dolan]

The Independence Brew Pub is a block over on Filbert St. I'm not sure about the food, but it should be adequate if you're into microbrewed beer. Could be ideal.

[Rich Pawlak]

The Independence Brew Pub is a block over on Filbert St. I'm not sure about the food, but it should be adequate if you're into microbrewed beer.  Could be ideal.

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The food at Independence is quite good all around the menu actually, and the beers, especially their porters and stouts, and their kolsch, are excellent.

[skulky]

the trestle inn at 11th and callowhill.

[zeffer81]

the trestle inn at 11th and callowhill.

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haha, the trestle! i'd check out the upstairs lounge at vietnam. if it's not too busy you can grab a table to support your flaming volcano. two of my favorite apps there are the vegetarian summer rolls (unfried) and the papaya salad with grilled shrimp. yum!

[mrbigjas]

fergie's and mcgillin's are just a few blocks from the troc as well. fergie's was always our goto before a troc show. mcgillins had good wings last time i was there.

[KatieLoeb]

McGillin's wings are legendary. They used to be .10/each on Tuesday nights and the place would be packed to the gills with college students. I stopped going when my old fuddy-duddy kicked in and I was over the crowd scene. I'm a tad claustrophobic so the wings weren't worthy of triggering a panic attack. But they are quite good and if it isn't "Wing Night" and you're there early enough you shouldn't have to do battle to get some.

[mrbigjas]

oh good point, it can get real crowded in there, and the noise from the tile floor doesn't help.

but the wings rock. and they come in big piles on plastic cafeteria trays.

mmmm i could go for some of them right now.

[mod*betty]

Thanks for the suggestions! Hubby is a wing fan and we've been looking to get to Fergie's for a while, so those two are def on the short list.

A flaming volcano? Is that like a scorpion bowl? If so that is right up our alley.

[Buckethead]

Reviving this thread because I'm now in the same situation as mod*betty. Friends from out of town are coming in to see a show at the Troc and I'd like to take them out beforehand. I myself rarely get over to Chinatown, so I've probably never been to the best places, though I've been to Vietnam. I want to stick to some type of Asian place, BYO is preferable but not necessary if the place has a couple decent beers available. I was thinking of trying Banana Leaf, but any suggestions would be welcome. I'd prefer not to venture too far from the Troc, we won't have a ton of time to walk around before the show.

[mrbigjas]

rangoon!

[SaxChik]

i went to banana leaf before i went to see fountains of wayne at the troc the end of april. it was very good malaysian food, although i think i still prefer penang around the corner a little more. we had roti canal (the great bread with the curry dipping sauce), beef rendang and some sort of squid dish. banana leaf is literally right next door to the troc, penang is around the corner to the left ... both are just a few steps away. penang is cash only, so keep that in mind. if you've never had malaysian food before, it's a nice mix of chinese, thai and indian. very yummy.

[Andrew Fenton]

What Mr. Big said. If you haven't been to Rangoon, I can promise you'll love it.

Behold the Rangoon thread, in all its thousand layers of glory...

[KatieLoeb]

David's Mai Lai Wah at the corner of 10th & Race is a block away and has a pretty extensive menu as well as a bar. If you want to call it that. Philadining and I once ordered a few of the $5 cocktails and were stunned to find they bore no resemblance to the recipes for said drinks. But at least it was cheap!

But even they can't screw up a few beers. And there's great dumplings (make sure you get the ginger sauce with them), beef and broccoli chow fun with satay sauce and salt and pepper squid or salt and pepper shrimp that has the same tasty ginger dipping sauce as the dumplings.

[philadining]

"Stunned" is the right word for our reaction to the cocktails at David's Mai Lai Wah, not that they were bad, just that they were basically Old-Fashioned glasses filed with rocket fuel.

I can't speak to the rest of the menu, nor swear that my judgment was intact after even one sip of that drink, but I recall the fried dumplings indeed being mighty fine...

Basically all of Chinatown is pretty close. Banana Leaf has been good for me lately, and you could stay there until about a minute and a half before showtime if you wanted. They serve beer. I'm a huge fan of Rangoon, and everyone I've taken there has loved it too, so that's a good choice. They have beer and wine too. The Szechuan Tasty House is just down Arch a block or so, and as we've reported over in that thread, there are plenty of things to eat that aren't crazy spicy, and many that are, depending on your mood. It's BYOB.

Hard to beat the barbecue platter at Vietnam for a group munch before a show. They have cocktails. Lee How Fook, Shao Lan Kung, Sang Kee, there's all sorts of good choices. I'd scan the Chinatown Highlights thread and just find something that looks good to you...

[skulky]

the trestle inn at 11th and callowhill.

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bump

best veggie burger in town.

[Buckethead]

Rangoon it is! Thanks all. Reading the Rangoon thread, I now remember hearing about the thousand-layer bread quite a while ago, but not knowing where to get it. Now I am looking forward to it.