What's missing?

[herbacidal]

Japanese food other than sushi (noodle house like Ony in NYC would be nice)

takoyaki and other stuff would be awesome

more Eastern European food

former Soviet Republic food (there was briefly, Yonny's)

better Indonesian food

[Capaneus]

And pad thai like pizza... I haven't really found good pizza in Philly either. Or not good pizza in the style I prefer: thick crust usw.

Mmm, that's true that Philly pizza-- at least the good stuff-- is thin crust. So if you don't like that style, you're outta luck: try Chicago, I guess. Or maybe the bakery pizzas (Sarcone's tomato pie, for instance), which have a thicker crust.

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capaneus, what do you mean by 'usw?'

also, i agree with andrew: try sarcone's on 9th below fitzwater, or cacia's at 15th & ritner. i don't know if you'll like it or not, or if it's what you're looking for, but it's not thin crust (and you might like the stuff anyway, even if it's not what you're looking for, because it's good).

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"usw" is the german version of "etc": stands for "und so weider" (hope I got that right, or there go the pedantry bonus points).

If you mean just in this instance... I guess mostly the sauce, the seasoning or something. My first exposure to pizza was in NY, and when I moved here, I was never able to enjoy the local stuff. I have had Sarcone's, and Taconelli's, and all the other obvious candidates. Still like my pizza pie better up there. And by thick I don't mean Chicago-style. Too much is too much.

For the poster who wanted Soviet-era food (just kidding)... There are sizable Eastern-European immigrant communities in the Northeast. I've been on a couple of guided tours with friends, but I'm afraid I'm weak on the specifics. Maybe if you start a thread someone will pitch in.

Edited December 22, 2004 by Capaneus (log)

[marinade]

Italian, bar food, cheesesteaks

haha, just kidding.

Japanese noodle house

Decent Thai

Decent Indian, unlike some previous posters, I'd really like some decent North Indian

Tapas

Spanish

Tex-mex

Lebanese

Mongolian BBQ

Carolina-style BBQ

If anyone knows anywhere that serves this stuff, lemme know.

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For Lebanese I'd point you to Cedars in Bella Vista. Go with a group, tell them you're coming and want to go Meze with blast of different kibbies.

[mrbigjas]

Caribou Cafe is worth the visit, Dave, it really is.  Great vibe, beers, wines AND food.  Never had a bad meal there.

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so after my yapping about this, we went over there tonight. report:

the frisee salad: nice, but real light on greens and real heavy on bacon and potatoes.

the steak frites: the onglet is good, and is in a shallot sauce that has a good stock or demi as its base. excellent stuff. the problem i have here is the fries, which are definitely battered in order to be crisp.

the skate wing: great, fresh fish. the mrs didn't like the beans that came with it, and said they tasted mayonnaise-y to her. to me they tasted creamy. i liked them; she didn't... eh, what are you gonna do?

nice if unremarkabe cotes du rhone by the glass. no dessert/coffee.

it was nice. nothing remarkable. nothing bad.

[James Colabelli]

Steakhouses we've got, I realize, but Argentinian ones, I believe, are lacking.  (And not only in Philadelphia.)

I've not been down there, but friends of mine have, and they were impressed by the steakhouse culture of that country.

And while we're in South America:  Are there any Brazilian restaurants here?  I have this vague recollection that there once was one.

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Interestingly enough, we just added an Argentine Steak entree to our menu at Meritage Philadelphia:

Solomillo Churrasco

An Argentine preparation of in-house dry aged Prime strip steak marinated in lime juice ,and olive oil, served with black beans, ensalada de nopales (cactus salad), and guacomole

32.

-James Colabelli

Sommelier/Proprietor

Meritage Philadelphia

215 985.1922

[Tim Dolan]

I'm not sure if it qualifies as Carolina BBQ, but there's a place in my neighborhood (Roxborough/Manayunk) that just open that sells some quality BBQ. It's called Tommy Gunn's. It also doesn't really qualify as a restaurant, it's more of a take out place. They claim that their styles differ from Carolina to St. Louis to Kansas City BBQ, but being that I've never sampled authentic BBQ from any of those places I can't really say how they stack up. What I can say is that they have KILLER spare ribs along with a really good BBQ sauce. The spares are thick and meaty and can even be eaten without BBQ sauce cause the dry rub is that good. The baby backs are pretty good but if you gotta pick between the two I'd go with the spares. And yes they actually smoke these ribs for at least 12 hours, they're not just thrown on the grill like some places. Try the deep fried macaroni too. I will admit that the quality of their food is streaky at times but when they're on, they're ON. Either way they're definitely worth a shot!

[mrbigjas]

tommy gunn's is da bomb. their pulled pork kicks ass. also for my money some of the best greens in town.

[KatieLoeb]

There's always Samba on Girard Avenue for a Churrascaria experience. To my understanding, they have the true South American steakhouse vibe going with waiters walking around with huge swords of meat and carving to each plate to order.

I had organized a group dinner there last summer that included a live Flamenco dance performance and alas, the performance was cancelled at the last minute due to illness of the lead dancer. I am on the mailing list for the Flamenco troupe and will reoganize this gathering as soon as the next date is booked. Or perhaps a smaller gathering at a different venue.

[davidbdesilva]

There's always Samba on Girard Avenue for a Churrascaria experience.  To my understanding, they have the true South American steakhouse vibe going with waiters walking around with huge swords of meat and carving to each plate to order.

I had organized a group dinner there last summer that included a live Flamenco dance performance and alas, the performance was cancelled at the last minute due to illness of the lead dancer.  I am on the mailing list for the Flamenco troupe and will reoganize this gathering as soon as the next date is booked.  Or perhaps a smaller gathering at a different venue.

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That was a great idea Katie and if and when you can plan it again we'll be there!

[Carlson1105]

We could use a good Persian style place. There are a few in Chicago calles Reza's serving great stuffed grape leaves, baby lamb chops, and all sorts of kabobs over persian rice in a casual setting.

[philadining]

We could use a good Persian style place. There are a few in Chicago calles Reza's serving great stuffed grape leaves, baby lamb chops, and all sorts of kabobs over persian rice in a casual setting.

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Roya on Sansom between 18th and 19th is good.

[=Mark]

Is there still a Lebanese place on South Street?

Edited January 21, 2005 by =Mark (log)

[philadining]

Is there still a Lebanese place on South Street?

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Cedar's is on 2nd, just below South St.

[Andrew Fenton]

We could use a good Persian style place. There are a few in Chicago calles Reza's serving great stuffed grape leaves, baby lamb chops, and all sorts of kabobs over persian rice in a casual setting.

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Roya on Sansom between 18th and 19th is good.

Roya is very good. Maybe even better is the Persian Grill in Lafayette Hill. I seem to remember another Persian restaurant, but am drawing a blank right now. Sansom St. Kebab House is close, but it's mostly Afghan, not Persian. Still awfully good, though.

[herbacidal]

What distinguishes a Persian restaurant from an Afghan restaurant or any other Middle Eastern restaurant?

In both food and decor.

In service as well, but I expect that to have been adapted to the American style than the others.

[philadining]

What distinguishes a Persian restaurant from an Afghan restaurant or any other Middle Eastern restaurant? 

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This is actually very complicated: the term "Persian" is used in many different ways by different people in different contexts. In general, a restaurant that calls itself Persian in the US is almost certainly Iranian. Of course, it's not unique to that region that cultural, liguistic and culinary borders rarely correlate to political boundaries. The ancient Persian empire extended well beyond the borders of present-day Iran, and so the edges of cultural and culinary similarities predictably transcend national distinctions.

In broad generalities, the cuisines of Iran and Afghanistan, especially what we find in restaurants in the US, are pretty similar. I have little doubt that people from those cultures might object to that over-simplification, and I mean no offense, surely there are distinctions between the food from the two countries, and even within regions of each country, that are obvious to those that grew up with it, or eat it all the time. But in the wide-view, both cuisines feature kebabs, polo/pilaw/pilaf rice dishes, "Khoresht" stews, dumplings, etc...

But there are indeed differences from "Middle Eastern" cuisine, although that term is obviously inherently vague. A friend of mine who has visited Afghanistan a couple of times tells me that Afghans generally don't identify themselves as Middle Eastern, instead, they will say that they are Central Asians. And I believe there's a similar distinction made in Iran.

Of course there's been enough cutural flow over the centuries that there's overlap and influence among the various regions in that area. But Persian and Afghani food tends to be a bit more like Indian/ Central Asian cuisine than like Lebanese or Egyptian or Arabic cooking.

I'm not nearly as well-versed in this as I should be to be commenting at all, so I hope I've gotten close to accurate. I've mostly just eaten at Kabul and Ariana and Roya and the Persian Grill, and a few places in NY and LA, and noticed a similarity among those, and a difference from Cedar's, or Alyans, Bitars, etc. Although they're not THAT dissimilar....

I don't know anything about differences in decor...

[Andrew Fenton]

What distinguishes a Persian restaurant from an Afghan restaurant or any other Middle Eastern restaurant? 

In both food and decor.

In service as well, but I expect that to have been adapted to the American style than the others.

The food is very similar. There are lots of Persians in Afghanistan, and so you'll see lots of basically Persian dishes in Afghan restaurants. But there is also influence from non-Iranian sources: more vegetable stews than I've ever seen in Persian restaurants, and more spicy dishes. If I had to make a generalization, I'd say it's basically Persian with lots of Indian or Pakistani influences.

Since I've only been to these restaurants in the US, I haven't noticed any real difference in service or decor, other than that the travel posters on the wall will be from a different country (and in the case of Afghan restaurants, they're a lot older, and sort of sadder).

[Andrew Fenton]

Of course there's been enough cutural flow over the centuries that there's overlap and influence among the various regions in that area.  But  Persian and Afghani food tends to be a bit more like Indian/ Central Asian cuisine than like Lebanese or Egyptian or Arabic cooking.

As you'd expect: Persians and Afghans aren't Arab, and they're a very long way away from west Asia. It's almost 2000 miles from Beirut to Kabul- that's 500 miles longer than the distance between Paris and Moscow. (Beirut and Teheran are practically neighbors at 900 miles apart: compare that to Paris and Warsaw, 848 miles)

[mrbigjas]

i always feel bad when i go to roya or sansom st. kebab house because there is hardly ever anyone in there. but the food is so good.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yeah, and I always feel bad because I don't go to those restaurants enough. They are good, and damn cheap as well.

Maybe I'll make a kebab run this week some time.

[philadining]

As you'd expect: Persians and Afghans aren't Arab, and they're a very long way away from west Asia.

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That's in important distinction lost on most Americans.

But, Roya for instance, serves hummus, taboulli, pita bread, etc, that you would find in a "Middle Eastern" restaurant. And you can get kebabs in so many different cuisines, so I can see where people would get confused. I'm not familar enough with the origins of those foods to know what started where, and I suppose it doesn't matter, each cuture puts a distinct spin on them...

[CherieV]

An excellent Spanish (not Latin, but Spanish) restaurant.  I would especially love to see one that serves up authentic tapas, such as Jaleo in DC.

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I have yet to find a Spanish restaurant that brings me back to the authentic dishes of Spain. Real paella, made like they do in Valencia, is the one meal I crave most. I have eaten at Bollo in NY, It was great don't get me wrong, just not authentic. Any reccomendations? I am a hard critic of Spanish food since I lived in Valencia, Spain for a year. But I am open to the search!

[g_camper]

An excellent Spanish (not Latin, but Spanish) restaurant.  I would especially love to see one that serves up authentic tapas, such as Jaleo in DC.

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I have yet to find a Spanish restaurant that brings me back to the authentic dishes of Spain. Real paella, made like they do in Valencia, is the one meal I crave most. I have eaten at Bollo in NY, It was great don't get me wrong, just not authentic. Any reccomendations? I am a hard critic of Spanish food since I lived in Valencia, Spain for a year. But I am open to the search!

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I concur - I lived for several years in Andalucia and enjoyed great Paellas in Sevilla and other great Andalucian towns. I also miss good tapas. I can't even find good spanish chorizo anywhere (even in markets).

There is also a very small number of good Mexican restaurants - Zocolo is very good, but not convenient, most authentic are small places in Kennett Square, but not very refined. Catrines is fine too, but I haven't found dishes such as Chiles al Nogadas, good sopa de tortilla, crepas de huitlacoche, nor Posole. Find me any or all of those served well, and I will be there weekly.

[mrbigjas]

you don't like the tortilla soup at catrines? i love it.

[g_camper]

you don't like the tortilla soup at catrines?  i love it.

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I have had it once, and thought it to be rather insipid. Little spice, and very little avocado. It was some time ago, so perhaps I should give it another try. Catrines still seems to me to be a US interpretation of what mexican food is.