Reading Terminal Market (Part 1)

[rlibkind]

Thanks for the pictures.  I *really* miss Braverman's and do not understand why they were not renewed.  Several pases by the replacement have failed to interest me in buying anything.  I do not understand why the snot-nosed young MBA who now runs the place saw fit to deprive us of Braverman's--who was there before he was born! 

I hadn't bought sushi at Tokyo's for years after a bad experience with some that wasn't very fresh.  However, they sold canned *not sweetened* green tea, which I adore--loathe the sweetened form, so I miss buying that from them.  And they were nice people.

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Tokyo Sushi remains in business at the RTM. According to the "snot-nosed young MBA" (let's be a little less personally insulting here, please, Dorine; I welcome your participation and contributions but not the unnecessary invective) they agreed to make the changes to conform with their lease obligations. So unless the owner reneges, Tokyo Sushi will continue to occupy a very prime spot at the market.

[Dorine]

Thank you, rlibkind, for the details on the beets and pickles. Now to try them! :-) it even sounds like the beets would do well on the charcoal grill.

The truffles at Braverman's were exceptional. Extraordinary. They were even praised in _Gourmet_ a long time ago...maybe in the late 1970s? Perhaps the rest of his chocolates are not to be missed given the other chocolates available, but the truffles...I have even taken them to Europe as gifts and they have received a hugely positive respose. The only complaint I ever had with Braverman's is ancient history--do you remember when they stopped baking bread?

Name calling was going too far, and I am sorry I indulged. I won't again.

[MarketStEl]

Tokyo Sushi remains in business at the RTM. According to the "snot-nosed young MBA" (let's be a little less personally insulting here, please, Dorine; I welcome your participation and contributions but not the unnecessary invective) they agreed to make the changes to conform with their lease obligations. So unless the owner reneges, Tokyo Sushi will continue to occupy a very prime spot at the market.

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Paul showed off Tokyo Sushi's new look when I ran into him at the RTM this past Friday. They did a great job with the improvements, and it now looks a lot more inviting.

If Paul has an MBA, it's news to me. I like what he's doing to try to keep the Market fresh, interesting and appealing to a wide cross-section of Philadelphians. He has a hard time convincing some of the merchants of this, but the RTM does have competition. Everyone who shops there could be shopping somewhere else, and that somewhere else could be anything from their local supermarket to 9th Street to Whole Foods--and now even to Wegmans. The Market has to market itself not just on its uniqueness but also on quality, or price, or both. The things Paul is doing are efforts to reinforce the RTM's reputation for quality, variety and freshness, since in most areas other than produce, where the RTM is perceived by both its patrons and others as offering the best value for money on produce, the merchants don't compete on price.

BTW and FWIW, the Halteman's stand whose lease was canceled is not the one that is actually run by the Halteman family. Rather, it's the poultry stand that was once run, but is no longer, by a different Halteman; an Asian family whose name I don't know took it over. As with the other places mentioned here, the issue was keeping the facility in top shape--and in the case of this place, a secondary issue of bringing in better quality product (the other poultry vendors at the RTM either raise their own or buy from local poultry farms; AIUI, A.A. Halteman's did neither).

I second Dorine's assessment of O.K. Lee--and I know Bobby Iovine. I patronize both stands and think each has strengths. (O.K. Lee's makeover is also quite nice.) I do note that often one will have a special on something both carry while the other does not. (Those 99-cent-per-pound Jersey tomatoes, for instance. On the day before you went, they were selling for $1.99 at Iovine's and $0.99 at O.K. Lee. Lee's were a little underripe, but a day in the windowsill fixed that. I ate one the following day with fresh mozzarella from Claudio's, dried basil and a balsamic vinegar drizzle.)

BTW, welcome to eG, Dorine. I see you were busy catching up. As for your question about the Pizza Club, all you have to do to join is show up at one of our outings. We're currently in the middle of an epic project, which you can read about in the "PIZZA CLUB 2006 -- 'Best' Year Ever" thread on this board. It's about time to start working on the next stop on the tour.

[Bluehensfan]

Regarding Bravermans, they had some very good cut-out sugar cookies, but my big hang up with them was their (lack of) freshness. It is not reassuring to customers to be seeing cookies in Christmas cut-out shapes in February. Also, I know that a fair number of their products were not made in-house, and they would even sell stale items to merchants who worked at other places in the market. Combined with the fact that they were apparently not paying their rent on time, I do understand why they were evicted. I think if Vic was more on top of things and had a more rapid turnover of the products (and paid his rent on time) he would still be there.

I think that the Flying Monkey has a few very, very good products (the brownies and the oatmeal and peanut butter sandwich cookies are fabulous!) I am not fond of the cakes or the cupcakes (the icing tastes like lard to me...and seeing some of the %^@$ I eat, that says a lot!), and I am not into green tea pound cakes and the like. Hopefully the Monkey will broaden their product line in the future once they get their operation up to speed.

[JanMcBaker]

And again regarding Braverman's-- frankly, I'm surprised they lasted at RTM as long as they did, at least based on a cake I bought there a few years ago. I was extremely disappointed in it and embarrassed that I bought the thing! I forget (or blanked out) the details, but there was nothing about the cake that made me want to even give them a second chance! It was outrageously overpriced, in terms of both size and quality (i.e., lack of). Their signs had depictions of milk, eggs, butter, etc.... I tasted no evidence of these ingredients in the cake I bought. When I recently mentioned buying a cake there once to someone who works in the Market, she just shook her head sadly and said something like 'oooh nooo'. I'm saddened to say that I've had better tasting supermarket cakes.

[Dorine]

I never buy cakes or cookies; I make them. The only thing I ever bought from Braverman's was truffles, and they were the best. I miss those truffles.

[Andrew Fenton]

The first time I had fresh sardines, I was a university student gone to Madrid to study and the next summer visited the Marseille home of a classmate.  We took a boat out to an island near Chateau d'If for a day of swimming, first stopping by a fishing boat to buy a bagful of freshly caught sardines.  When noon came, we gathered sticks and bult a fire.  We rubbed the sardines' scales off in the water then speared them on sticks, otherwise uncleaned, and held them over the fire to roast.  Bliss!! 

I have a picture of some of thse lovely fresh sardines from Golden's but am unable to figure out how to insert it in this msg. 

Those are beautiful sardines, Dorine. (I've attached them to the end of this post: the key thing is to use the IMG tag, and paste the image URL into it.) As Bob knows, I've been looking for fresh sardines or anchovies: a couple of recent trips to RTM and the Italian Market have come up with nothing.

HOWEVER, I learned today that DiBruno's has alici sott'olio, one of my favorite things. They're not quite as good as what I had in Campania, but they're still pretty good. (And they must be getting the anchovies from somewhere, right? Lisa, are you reading this? Can you help me out?)

sardines below:

[rlibkind]

Summer was in full swing at yesterday's South Street Market.

Paul Hauser was back, offering both white and yellow peaches. I picked up a basket of five or six medium sized yellows ($3.25, $3.50 for the whites) and while they are ready to eat, based on the one I tried at breakfast today, they could use another couple of days ripening. The whites were a tad greener.

Over at Rineer's eggplants and zucchini are a buck apiece. I picked up a canteloupe ($3.50). They also had plenty of kirby and regular cucumbers. I also bought up another pint of blueberries ($2.50 per half-pint, pricey compared to the RTM vendors where they go for $4 or less a pint). I pureed and strained the blueberries yesterday afternoon and mixed it with sugar syrup; tonight it becomes sorbet.

At Earl Livengood I picked up some more tomatoes ($3.95/pound) and what was labelled as escarole but more closely resembled a not-so-curly curly endive. Either way the escarole/endive made a great base for my dinner salad (leftover medium rare rib steak from Harry Ochs, anchovies, beets, leaf lettuce, provolone, carrot, bell pepper, cucumber; I forgot to add some tomato).

Had I needed some protein I might have tried something from John Marshall, who was selling veal and other meat products as well as goat cheeses.

Tom Forest was among the missing. And I was looking to buy some more lamb pepperoni for my breakfast pizza.

[Dorine]

Somebody mentioned a market at 69th Street. I was especially interested in the reference to Korean food, including sesame leaves. I have not been there in quite a few years... What days does this market operate? What are the hours? If I take the El to 69th Street from Center City, what are the directions once there?

Thanks.

[Diann]

Somebody mentioned a market at 69th Street.  I was especially interested in the reference to Korean food, including sesame leaves.  I have not been there in quite a few years...  What days does this market operate?  What are the hours?  If I take the El to 69th Street from Center City, what are the directions once there?

Thanks.

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Dorine,

They might be talking about the H-Mart/Han Ah Rheum in Upper Darby (there are others scattered around the outskirts of Philly; Han Ah Rheum is a chain of Korean supermarkets). It's right on Terminal Square, so it should be easy to get to from the El. Like most Asian supermarkets it's got cheap produce and vegetables, a decent array of fish (though I can't vouch for the quality), and lots of pickles and pickled items, seemingly made in-house, or at least without a label. There's a food court upstairs, too... Philadining, Spikemom and I sampled the goods a few months ago when we did a gastronomic tour of Upper Darby.

[MarketStEl]

They might be talking about the H-Mart/Han Ah Rheum in Upper Darby (there are others scattered around the outskirts of Philly; Han Ah Rheum is a chain of Korean supermarkets). It's right on Terminal Square, so it should be easy to get to from the El. Like most Asian supermarkets it's got cheap produce and vegetables, a decent array of fish (though I can't vouch for the quality), and lots of pickles and pickled items, seemingly made in-house, or at least without a label. There's a food court upstairs, too... Philadining, Spikemom and I sampled the goods a few months ago when we did a gastronomic tour of Upper Darby.

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So how was the food court?

I've shopped the supermarket--it's in my foodblog--but I haven't yet sampled the food court fare.

[MarketStEl]

Somebody mentioned a market at 69th Street.  I was especially interested in the reference to Korean food, including sesame leaves.  I have not been there in quite a few years...  What days does this market operate?  What are the hours?  If I take the El to 69th Street from Center City, what are the directions once there?

Thanks.

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The store is at 7050 Terminal Square.

Exit 69th Street Terminal on its south side (main entrance) and cross over to the south side of Market Street. Terminal Square is the street just past Garrett Road, which ends at Market at 69th Street Terminal's west end.

Hang a left onto Terminal Square and walk up a half block. You can't miss it, but if you pass the Shiseido store, you've gone too far.

[Dorine]

Somebody mentioned a market at 69th Street.  I was especially interested in the reference to Korean food, including sesame leaves.  I have not been there in quite a few years...  What days does this market operate?  What are the hours?  If I take the El to 69th Street from Center City, what are the directions once there?

Thanks.

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The store is at 7050 Terminal Square.

Exit 69th Street Terminal on its south side (main entrance) and cross over to the south side of Market Street. Terminal Square is the street just past Garrett Road, which ends at Market at 69th Street Terminal's west end.

Hang a left onto Terminal Square and walk up a half block. You can't miss it, but if you pass the Shiseido store, you've gone too far.

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Thank you!

[Diann]

So how was the food court?

I've shopped the supermarket--it's in my foodblog--but I haven't yet sampled the food court fare.

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I remember seeing H-Mart in your blog! The food court was pretty decent. The Korean place in the far corner seemed, that Saturday afternoon, to be the most popular option, so that's what we went with. We ordered two soups because we were trying to pace ourselves for the eating marathon that lay ahead -- if I was buying groceries, I'd definitely stop by beforehand for some bibimbap. There's also a fried chicken place that NO ONE was trying, so I was a little suspicious (still, it's fried chicken; how bad can it be?) and a bakery and a sushi bar and maybe one more place. Anyways, I don't think it's worth a separate trip, but if you're at H-Mart and hungry, why not?

[Dorine]

So how was the food court?

I've shopped the supermarket--it's in my foodblog--but I haven't yet sampled the food court fare.

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I remember seeing H-Mart in your blog! The food court was pretty decent. The Korean place in the far corner seemed, that Saturday afternoon, to be the most popular option, so that's what we went with. We ordered two soups because we were trying to pace ourselves for the eating marathon that lay ahead -- if I was buying groceries, I'd definitely stop by beforehand for some bibimbap. There's also a fried chicken place that NO ONE was trying, so I was a little suspicious (still, it's fried chicken; how bad can it be?) and a bakery and a sushi bar and maybe one more place. Anyways, I don't think it's worth a separate trip, but if you're at H-Mart and hungry, why not?

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H-mart?

[MarketStEl]

H-mart?

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See Post #310.

[Dorine]

H-mart?

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See Post #310.

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Sorry to be so stupid, but I tried '310' in 'site search' and got nothing. Is there another way to find a specific posting number?

[philadining]

Sorry to be so stupid, but I tried '310' in 'site search' and got nothing.  Is there another way to find a specific posting number?

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A couple of tips:

the post number is in the upper right hand corner of each post, so you could just scroll up a few and you can find it

also, Sandy made the post number a clickable link, so you could just click on that text.

and finally, if you read through the last few posts, you'll see that H-Mart is the name of the Supermarket near 69th street in Upper Darby that you first asked about.

Go, it's a great store!

[Dorine]

Sorry to be so stupid, but I tried '310' in 'site search' and got nothing.  Is there another way to find a specific posting number?

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A couple of tips:

the post number is in the upper right hand corner of each post, so you could just scroll up a few and you can find it

also, Sandy made the post number a clickable link, so you could just click on that text.

and finally, if you read through the last few posts, you'll see that H-Mart is the name of the Supermarket near 69th street in Upper Darby that you first asked about.

Go, it's a great store!

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Thank you!

I have a hard time seeing the very slight change in the shade of blue that indicates a link.

I'll be there before the week is out! It sounds great!

[rlibkind]

Early varieties of both yellow and white could be obtained at the Reading Terminal Market this past Saturday (July 15).

Benuel Kaufman offered three varieties: white and "pink" flesh peaches at $2.49/pint or $4.95/quart, yellow at $1.99/pound or $3.95/quart. Among other fruits available at his stand: sugar plums, $2/pint; organic blueberries, $3.95/quart; apricots, $2.95/pint (or two for $5); and halved cantaloupes or "honeylopes" at $2 or $2.25, depending on size. I brought home the latter, and it was perfectly ripe.

Over at Earl Livengood one of more colorful items was the "Fairy Tale" eggplant, a small Japanese variety with white-streaked light purple skin. It sold for $1.50/pint or $3.50/quart, vs. $2.95/pound for regular eggplant. Earl was the only vendor selling local blackberries, $2.50 for a halt pint. Red raspberries were plentiful at $3 a half pint (two for $5.50 and four for $10). He also had chiogga as well as red beets.

Organic tomatoes at Fair Food Farmstand were priced at $3. Mixed pint boxes of yellow and sugar plums, $2.50. Organic blueberries $3.50/pint or $6.25/quart. Apricots $1.50/half pint; gooseberries $3/half pint. When I arrived well before 9 a.m., they had no mirai corn.

At Iovine's the South African clementines, this time with a Sunkist label, selling for $3 a box. New Jersey yellow peaches, 79-cents/pound. Corn from their contract farmer, Shadybrook Farm, three ears for a buck. Local raspberries $1.99/pint. From further afield, black figs coming down in price at $2.99/pint, while Haas avocados up to $1.49 apiece. Limes remain cheap (10/1), lemons dear (3/1).

On the fish front John Yi offered a good price on dry scallops ($11.99), an item they rarely carry, vs. the $14.99 price at Golden, which always has them. Also at Yi's: a nice pale king salmon at $12.99, sockeye $11.99; halibut $10.99; softshells $5 apiece. Golden still has sardines ($3.99) but had run out of wild salmon when I was there Saturday morning.

[Andrew Fenton]

Golden still has sardines ($3.99)

dagnabit, I am buying these tomorrow, or will die trying. Pasta con le sarde or bust!

[mrbigjas]

Benuel Kaufman offered three varieties: white and "pink" flesh peaches at $2.49/pint or $4.95/quart, yellow at $1.99/pound or $3.95/quart. Among other fruits available at his stand: sugar plums, $2/pint; organic blueberries, $3.95/quart; apricots, $2.95/pint (or two for $5); and halved cantaloupes or "honeylopes" at $2 or $2.25, depending on size. I brought home the latter, and it was perfectly ripe.

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that so far the peaches and plums are equalling last season in crazy goodness. we picked up some of those pink peaches, let them ripen for just a couple of days, and they were like candy--very very juicy candy. warning: eat over the sink.

[rlibkind]

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that so far the peaches and plums are equalling last season in crazy goodness.  we picked up some of those pink peaches, let them ripen for just a couple of days, and they were like candy--very very juicy candy.  warning: eat over the sink.

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Yeah, it does look like another good stone fruit season -- other than the cherries, which caught caught in the torrential rains, but those rains, followed by our sunny, hot weather, has been good for the rest of the stone fruit. The early plums have been exceptional (I've never had sweeter sugar plums) and the apricots are pretty good, too.

[rlibkind]

Received the following today from Paul Steinke, RTM manager:

(1) John Yi Fish Market will close temporarily next week from Monday through Wednesday to allow for the installation of beautiful new showcases imported from Italy.

(2) Giunta's Prime Shop will begin construction shortly in the vacant space adjacent to Iovine Brothers Produce.  Owner-operator Charles Giunta expects to open in mid-August featuring all natural, grass-fed meats and poultry, plus home-made sausages.

(3) Stop in soon and see the newly completed renovations at Tokyo Sushi Bar, plus in-progress renovations at Fair Food Farmstand and OK Lee Produce.

(4) Hershel's East Side Deli will begin construction shortly in the current Spataro's space, with Spataro's moving across Center Court into the vacant space adjacent to Spice Terminal.

(4) Visit the Market this Thursday afternoon from 4:00-6:00pm for our monthly "3rd Thursdays at the Local Producers Corner" tasting event from 4-6pm.  This month's theme is Summer Grilling.

(5) And finally, the Market is proud to host the Pennsylvania Preferred Best Chef of Pennsylvania Southeast Region Competition on Friday & Saturday, July 21st & 22nd from 11:00am - 4:00pm each day.  The winner will face other regional winners at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January 2007.  This event is produced by our good friends at The Book and The Cook.  Here's Friday’s schedule:

11:00am - Justin Bogle, Striped Bass vs. Milo Paris, Moe’s Springfield Grill

12:30pm - David Ansill, Pif Restaurant, vs. Mike Pezzillo, Café Mosaic

  2:00pm - Justin Rambo-Garwood, Phila. Fish & Co. vs. Meg Votta,Joseph Ambler Inn

[rlibkind]

Salumeria was one of my stops today, supplying some of the fixings of a summer sandwich dinner: speck (think smoked prociutto), mortadella, aged provolone. It will go with some tomato from Fair Food Project, lettuce from Earl Livengood (purchased last Saturday), and baguette from LeBus (Metropolitan was sold out).

Today was "Third Thursday Producers Corner" at the Reading Terminal Market, with "summer grilling" the theme. Harry Ochs dispensed tastes of marinated flank steak, Foster's a summer salad, honey-grilled chicken wings from Bee Natural, baguettes with spreads from Metropolitan, iced coffee from Old City Coffee, wine from Blue Mountain Winery, and hot spicy pickles from Fair Food Farmstand.

Cactus pears are in abundance at OK Lee; the price is down to 79 cents apiece. I'm going to try making a sorbet from the puree, but they make excellent margaritas. What looked like local canteloupes were selling for 99 cents apiece. New Jersey peaches 79 cents/pound, Hass avocados 99-cents each. Lemons three for a buck, limes four for a buck.

Iovines' lemons were pricier at 50 cents apiece, and limes went up in price again to 20 cents each, vs. 10 cents last week. Their Hass avocados were $1.49, as were the Califoronia donut peaches. Both Jersey and California yellow peaches and California white peaches priced at 99 cents pound. Jersey blueberries $1.99/pint. The bell pepper survey: green 99-cents, all others $3.99. Frying and hot peppers 99 cents.

L. Halteman's peaches and plums still selling for $1.99 ($1.89 if you buy three pounds or more), blueberries $2.89/pint, $4.99/quart. Canteloupes $2.19 apiece.

Over at Fair Food project I picked up some plums ($2 a half-pint) as well as the tomato. Ann Karlen was pushing the Meadow Run lamb this week -- 10 percent off.

A.A. Halteman has closed down, opening the way for Charlie Giunta to start building his natural meat stall opposite Iovine Brothers. No visible action yet on the LeBus and Spataro moves.

Over at today's Fairmount & 22nd farmers' market, Sam Consylman of Earl Livengood's stand was bragging about the celery, the first of the season. The stand was jammed with patrons when I stopped by about 4 p.m.; most were going for the corn. Also at today's market, Carol Margerum and an Amish vendor selling baked goods and produce.