Northeast Philly

[rlibkind]

I have reason to venture from Fairmount to the Great Northeast next Thursday morning and would like to sample the district's best: bakery, cured/smoked meats and fishies, and anything else of interest that is hard to find in other corners of Our Fair City. I'd also welcome recommendations for lunch beyond the Mayfair and the Country Club.

[herbacidal]

There's a Portugese place that has gotten mixed reviews.

I liked it, or at least I think I did. I may have liked its predecessor.

The one I liked was Cafe Portugalia.

There's also a good Korean place that I don't know the name of (inherited this characteristic from my friend who introduced me to the place).

Take the Adams exit west from Roosevelt Boulevard.

At that first light there's a shopping center on the left (where Cafe Portugalia is/was) and on the right is the Korean place. For the Korean place, make sure you go in the restaurant entrance, not the karoake entrance.

[herbacidal]

Also the Grey Lodge at 62XX block of Frankford, I think. Website at greylodge.com.

Owner Scoates is a member here. Food was damm good when all he had was a dinky little toaster oven. I hear the newly renovated upstairs includes a real kitchen. Best draft beer selection in the city. All local brews like Standard Tap, but I'd say most of the Lodge's are harder to find than the Tap's.

(Scoates, I expect payment through Paypal, y'hear?)

[philadining]

Also the Grey Lodge at 62XX block of Frankford, I think.  Website at greylodge.com.

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wow, I'd never even heard of this place and it's already my favorite bar. It's hard to find a place with good local microbrews that allows badger dancing.

[Rich Pawlak]

Also the Grey Lodge at 62XX block of Frankford, I think.  Website at greylodge.com.

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wow, I'd never even heard of this place and it's already my favorite bar. It's hard to find a place with good local microbrews that allows badger dancing.

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The Grey Lodge, 6235 Frankford, has fabulous mushroom wraps and tomato pie (when they are available) and an amazing lineup of beers on taps and in bottles.

www.greylodge.com, for more info and hilarity.

About a block north of the GL are both the original Chcikie & Pete's for crab fries and excellent mussels and crabs; across the street is Tony's Tomato Pies, and excellent version of the pie that is peculiar to NE Philly alone, the cheese-on- bottom-sauce-on-top pie. A few block north on Frankford is Nonno Ugo's an almost hidden Italian bakery of considerable talent. A few blocks north of that is Frusco's for incredible hoagies and cheesesteaks on Sarcone's bread.

[philadining]

across the street is Tony's Tomato Pies, and excellent version of the pie that is peculiar to NE Philly alone, the cheese-on- bottom-sauce-on-top pie. 

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Pica's in Upper Darby makes a tasty pizza like that.

[MarketStEl]

The Grey Lodge, 6235 Frankford, has fabulous mushroom wraps and tomato pie (when they are available) and an amazing lineup of beers on taps and in bottles.

www.greylodge.com, for more info and hilarity.

About a block north of the GL are both the original Chcikie & Pete's for crab fries and excellent mussels and crabs; across the street is Tony's Tomato Pies, and excellent version of the pie that is peculiar to NE Philly alone, the cheese-on- bottom-sauce-on-top pie.  A few block north on Frankford is Nonno Ugo's an almost hidden Italina bakery of considerable talent.  A few blocks north of that is Frusco's for incredible hoagies and cheesesteaks on Sarcone's  bread.

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Sounds like we should schedule a future Pizza Club outing to the places with the pies...I assume there are places nearby with a broader variety?

[Rich Pawlak]

The Grey Lodge, 6235 Frankford, has fabulous mushroom wraps and tomato pie (when they are available) and an amazing lineup of beers on taps and in bottles.

www.greylodge.com, for more info and hilarity.

About a block north of the GL are both the original Chcikie & Pete's for crab fries and excellent mussels and crabs; across the street is Tony's Tomato Pies, and excellent version of the pie that is peculiar to NE Philly alone, the cheese-on- bottom-sauce-on-top pie.  A few block north on Frankford is Nonno Ugo's an almost hidden Italina bakery of considerable talent.  A few blocks north of that is Frusco's for incredible hoagies and cheesesteaks on Sarcone's  bread.

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Sounds like we should schedule a future Pizza Club outing to the places with the pies...I assume there are places nearby with a broader variety?

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Not really. There may be a few places in NE Philly with decent pies (Gearo's, Lombardo's), but after that, nothing really stands out to me.

[rlibkind]

Some great ideas for lunch, folks. Too many to fit it on just one trip, but since it's winter a nice bowl of Portuguese kale and potato soup would probably hit the spot! So, lunch is settled.

But doesn't anybody cook around here? Other than Rich's Nonno Ugo recommendation, no one has given any suggestions for comesibles I can pick up to consume/cook at home.

Bakeries -- I don't care if they are Russian, German, Etruscan or plain basic American. Bread bakeries or sweets bakeries. And if there's stellar poppyseed pastries out there, I want to know!

Delis -- Again, ethnicity is irrelevant. I'm just looking for cured, pickled, smoked meats and fish that are hard to find at the Shop Rite or of superior quality.

And I'd appreciate knowing of any other noteworthy Northeast purveyor, no matter what the category.

[mrbigjas]

But doesn't anybody cook around here? Other than Rich's Nonno Ugo recommendation, no one has given any suggestions for comesibles I can pick up to consume/cook at home.

i cook about six days a week, usually. but i don't spend much time in the northeast.

there's a good meat store in levittown, but that's not much help to you.

[Refinnej]

Here is a report from the amazing "Shuffle Down to Bustleton" party I attended last January:

The theme of the party was a mission into a territory rich with foods of all varieties - Bustleton Avenue in NE Philly. After meeting and strategizing, "teams" fanned out to designated sections of Bustleton Avenue with a set amount of money to spend. After about an hour and a half, we met back at the host's home, unloaded our bags, shared our stories, and filled our stomachs!

Some of the highlights:

Al Amana Middle East Food Market @ 6746 Bustleton, which yielded some tasty pistachio pastries called Jaffa Sweets.

Cafe Brazil @ 6918 Bustleton - who could resist the "A Moda da Casa" sandwich, which consisted of bread, chicken, steak, mozzarella, ham, bacon, egg, corn, sausage, potato sticks, lettuce, tomato, ham, mayo, and pineapple!

Mediterranean 2000 @ 8026 Bustleton, where the bar area was loud with Portugese soccer games playing on tv, while a private party was being held in the dining area (the dessert table was tremendous!). An appetizer order of "Portugese flamin sausage" was enough for at least a dozen people!

Bell's Market @ 8354 Bustleton was also very busy on a Sunday afternoon, and a great place to buy lots of Russian specialties. We came away with horseradish flavored kvass (a malt beverage) that smelled vile but tasted better, sour cherry juice, cucumber slaw, cabbage pierogies, and smoked sable, turbot, and salmon.

Saraha Turkish Restaurant @ 9859 Bustleton - eggplant puree, pita filled with pastrami, stuffed grape leaves

Zeps Pizza and Kabobs @ 9965 Bustleton - Armenian specialties such as stuffed grape leaves (very different from those at the Turkish restaurant), and an eggplant and ground beef kabob

Red Lion International Market @ 9983 Bustleton, another Russian market which was very generous with free samples! A chocolate "kielbasa" was a fudgy chocolate and nut roll, there were also beef pastries and chicken blintzes and a pickled apple.

We all agreed that it was a fun opportunity to venture out to a part of Philadelphia that none of us were familiar with. And in doing so we found a lot of delicious, authentic, inexpensive food!

Also noteworthy - Abe's Smoked Fish - in the 7000s on Bustleton, just north of Bustleton/Cottman, on the left side if heading north, just past the mall. I had a very nice smoked sable sandwich there.

Of the Russian markets, Bell's market is the biggest - we especially like the boxed juices and the slice to order pistacchio halvah at the deli counter.

Others recommend Casa Dolce at Castor and Rhawn for Italian specialties.

I can't remember any poppy seed pastries, but the Russian markets are a good bet!

Edited January 9, 2005 by Refinnej (log)

[rlibkind]

Thank you, Refinnej, that was precisely the non-restaurant info I was hoping for! By all rights, I should have remembered your original posting and searched for it, so thank you for the recapitulation.

[Andrew Fenton]

Bakeries -- I don't care if they are Russian, German, Etruscan or plain basic American. Bread bakeries or sweets bakeries. And if there's stellar poppyseed pastries out there, I want to know!

Etruscan would be pretty impressive; alas, the only bakeries I know in the great Northeast are the Polish bakeries in Port Richmond. My favorite is the Baltic Bakery (clickity here for an old thread, and check out Holly's site too). It's kind of early in the year for paczki, but you'll find some other good stuff, I think.

(I've been meaning to ask the folks at the Polish-American Cultural Center about good Polish restaurants; I'll bet that they'd have good market recommendations, too. But I doubt that I'll get there before Thursday.)

[Andrew Fenton]

Oh yeah: Refinnej, that list kicks ass. Thanks for posting it.

Also, I seem to remember that there's an Armenian restaurant in the NE. I know it's off-topic, but is anybody aware of it?

[Refinnej]

Zeps is the Armenian restaurant in the Northeast. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.zeps.biz/index.html

The family that owns this restaurant belongs to the Armenian church up in Andorra that has a fabulous food festival every November. They are very friendly and thought I might be Armenian based on my pronunciation of "borekka" (I'm not - I was just showing off by rolling my R a little bit!)

The pizza at Zeps also comes highly recommended.

[Andrew Fenton]

Zeps is the Armenian restaurant in the Northeast.

Oh yeah, you said that already, didn't you? Stupid reading comprehension; I blame my lousy education. Well, I'll give them a try ASAP.

[Scoats]

But doesn't anybody cook around here? Other than Rich's Nonno Ugo recommendation, no one has given any suggestions for comesibles I can pick up to consume/cook at home.

Rikkers Meats at Oxford and Rhawn has crazy great German style meats. This place is seriously world class.

The Asian market across from San Won (the place Herb was probably thinking of) has some interesting stuff, well for the NE anyway.

DePalmas on Decatur just west of Frankford has great Italian bread. Get a ring.

[rlibkind]

Since my trip has been delayed until next week, I appreciate the additiolnal suggestions, Scoats, especially for Rikker's. Although the Reading Terminal Market has some German deli meats, it just hasn't been the same since Siegfried closed shop.

[herbacidal]

.

The Asian market across from San Won (the place Herb was probably thinking of) has some interesting stuff, well for the NE anyway.

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I think Sam Won is farther East/Northeast. It's on Castor, right?

[Scoats]

I think Sam Won is farther East/Northeast.  It's on Castor, right?

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Sam Won is on the corner of Castor and Magee. There' s another Korean place on Castor up near Knorr that has irratic hours and sometimes says they are closed when they have the door open and the lights on. It's an attractive place with big pond or something in the middle of the restaurant. I am under in the impression that non-Koreans are only occasionally tolerated there. The newish management of Sam Won however is very friendly. I'm a little disappointed Sam Won gave up on their sushi bar, they did it well. The now all-Korean menu is very good too though.

[rlibkind]

Well, I made it up to the Northeast this past Thursday and didn't come close to exploring its culinary depths. As it was, the only time we had was for Bell's Market and lunch at Mediterranean 2000.

I've posted separately in a new topic about Bell's, which was an overwhelming experience.

As foir Mediterranean 2000, even though it was a late lunch, the bar was filled with men smoking, eating and talking. She Who Must Be Obeyed and I sat in the dining room (only one other table was occupied). A salad and a light Portuguese white bread were promptly brought to the table. SWMBO isn't much for the many Portoguese specialities, so she got a sirloin steak, which, for $13, was quite tasty and fairly priced; the frozen french fries, however, were a disappointment.

I started with a vegetable soup, which seemed to be a chicken stock sweetened with a copious amount of pureed carrot, then enhanced with onion, potato, chick peas and bits of sausage. A wondefuly warming winter dish. I followed with the "appetizer" flaming sausage. A huge, thick, foot-plus long hunk of sausage served in a shallow casserole which, as promised, arrived at the table flaming. Great piece of sausace. With gargantuan effort, I managed to eat two-thirds of it. I took the rest home which, today, I'll be turning into soup, too. The fish and seafood menu looks good, so Mediterranean 2000 looks like it's worth a return visit.

Again, many thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be making regular trips to check out many of them.

Edited to fix typos

Edited January 30, 2005 by rlibkind (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

Today was the day of our epic, Lewis and Clark-style journey to the Northeast. We brought no provisions, hoping to live off the bounty of the land and the generosity of the natives. And our plans proved correct!

First stop-- on which we were joined by Janet McBaker/McGlynn and Herb the Smiling Armenian Pizza Clown-- was Zeps Pizza and Shish Kabobs for some Armenian-style goodness. The kabobs (we had lamb and ourfa kabob- AKA ground beef and eggplant) were good. But I was more impressed by some of the other Armenian dishes. Spinach and cheese boreg (flaky turnovers) were very nice, as was the "spicy ajvar": a spicy roast pepper spread flavored with paprika and ground walnuts.

There was also a sign advertising khinkali: 7 for $7.50, but only if you call ahead. I asked about them and was told that they're dumplings: very good, but also very labor intensive, so you need to call a few hours in advance. I'll do that next time.

But most surprising were Zep's Armenian variations on pizza. First, lahmajune (aka "Armenian pizza"), two soft rounds of dough with a ground beef and onion topping:

Still better was ajarski khatchapouri. This one is more like pizza than the "Armenian pizza": the dough is a chewy pizza-style dough, topped with a mild pizza cheese and-- here's the kicker-- two fried eggs. Oh yeah:

This was really, really good. They also have regular pizza (which we didn't try) including a couple of house specials with basturma (dried spiced beef) and soujough (spicy sausage). All of which made me think that this spring we should have a NE Phila. Pizza Club outing, with stops for upside-down tomato pie and some hot, eggy khatchapouri action.

On to a few doors down at Red Lion International Market, where I had an interesting Russian/ Georgian pastry filled with chopped veal. It was pretty good, and the price ($1.25) couldn't be beat. Red Lion can also fill all your smoked fish needs: again, next time, next time...

More shopping at Bell's Market. I'll let Bob's description of the place stand: suffice it to say that it has a pretty amazing selection of all kinds of things you never knew you needed. Probably thirty kinds of honey. Tea and all kinds of interesting cookies (I'm eating some Israeli honey gingerbread cookies now that are really amazing). Pickles... oy, do they have pickles. We skipped happily down the aisles, selecting items almost at random: cornelian cherry jam, a few kinds of pelmenis, kvass, sour cherry juice, and the amazingly-named Lithuanian snack treat, Magic Sticks:

Endorsed by 50 Cent, y'all!

And finally, for a well-deserved break over a beer at the famous Grey Lodge Pub, where I enjoyed a Riverhorse Belgian Frostbite. I'd never been before, but it lives up to its reputation: a great bar, with great beers (and the best decorated bathrooms I've seen in ages!)

And now that your humble correspondent has presented his experiences, it's time for a nice Saturday-afternoon nap. Whee!