One day in Philly

[mrbigjas]

We then split off again and I went to Di Bruno's near 17th and Chestnut.  It's a lovely store but GAH, so pricey.  2.29 for Honest Tea?!?!  Holy moly. 

dibruno's is a great store, but its greatness is based not in its inexpensive pricing, but in its quality and selection, and the things you can buy there that you can't find other places.

i've found that if i find something dibruno's carries somewhere else, it's usually cheaper at the other place. but there are so many things that can only be found (in philadelphia) at dibruno's, that to me that aspect outweighs the price differential. and with some things the difference in price is only a dollar or two, and at that point, what's my time worth going somewhere else? so i spend a little more there in order to avoid another trip.

Edited October 3, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[Gastro888]

Eh, that's a good point, however I was in sticker shock in general. (Except for the proscuitto - they were priced around what you'd find in the upsclae markets here in DC). I liked their cheese section.

I would've like to have brought some stuff home but $20 got me more in Chinatown than at Di Bruno's. (Not that it's NOT a gorgeous store, I am working with limited funds here).

In case y'all were curious, I did purchase the following from Chinatown:

2 Scallion Oil Chickens from Ocean City (YUM)

1 dozen buns - 10 pineapple buns w/ no filling and 2 pork buns

2 dan tats

3 Wife Cookies (yum)

1 bag of fortune cookies from the Chinese Cookie Factory (ok, I got suckered when I aimlessly wandered in. Hee hee )

Hmm. Acutally, I didn't purchase THAT much when you look at it.

[herbacidal]

After a good dim sum meal at HK Golden Phoenix, we headed over to a local BBQ shop so one of my friends could purchase roast duck and scallion oil chicken to take home.  I can't remember the name of the location but the ducks looked gorgeous.  (herbacidal, help!  )

Ocean City, corner 9th and Vine

We split off into separate groups and hung out in CT.  We had bubble tea (again, my memory fails me)

Rising Tide, takeout

We had a late lunch at David's and ate:

Roast pork

Ginger and scallion lo mein

Sauteed ong choi with garlic

Roast duck

Ooooh.  Yum.  Yum.  Yum.    It was delish.  Shoot, we should've gone to David's instead of Porcini!  Dang it all!  Everything was great.  Simple and well executed. 

David's Mai Lai Wah at 10th and Race

[Gastro888]

Hey, um, herbacidal, it wasn't Ocean City where my friend purchased her BBQ meat from - that's where *I* got them. She got them from that little hole in the wall joint that you pointed out the pork intestines to me.

[herbacidal]

That's right. My bad.

Sieu Ky I think is the place your friend got it at.

I don't really remember the spelling, only the Cantonese pronounciation.

It's on east side of 10th, between Arch and Cherry, between the cultural center and the Friendship Gate. The only shop there with meat in the windows.

Edited October 3, 2005 by herbacidal (log)

[Gastro888]

Mile grazie, signore!

The store front has Vietnamese and Chinese on the awning and window, if that helps anyone. It's incredibly tiny.

PS: Had some scallion oil chicken from Ocean City for lunch today. YUM. Quite good. It's not roasted like I normally like it, it's more steamed with the scallion oil but this is the first one I've had thus far that has a more pronounced scallion flavor to the chicken. Gooood eats.

Edited October 3, 2005 by Gastro888 (log)

[elicious]

Since I am no longer a Philly resident, your reference to the young kid who helps his mom in the sushi place at 20th and Sansom warmed my heart. That places looks like nothing from the outside but I never had a bad experience with the sushi I got there and watching that little boy help his mom is adorable!

And I agree with you on Porcini - the food is not worth the aggravation of the service!

[Mummer]

And I agree with you on Porcini - the food is not worth the aggravation of the service!

←

Don't you just hate it when the owners of a place act like they own the place?

Not the best way to run a service oriented business.

[Gastro888]

Oh my gosh, the little boy was *so* cute! His glasses were too big for his face so he kept on pushing his glasses up his nose while he was serving me. So cute!

The sushi was good - we had tuna and avacado roll, Cali roll, seaweed salad and some Chinese rice Krispy treats. It was fresh and cheap. (Or I was incredibly hungry and swayed by the cute kid!)

[Gastro888]

3 Wife Cookies (yum)

←

The wife cookies were bleah. Fresh but bleah. The flaky pastry was sooooooooo dry, it was like eating parchment paper. The filling was a bit gummy but tasty.

<sighs> Must find good wife cookies next time I'm in Philly!

[herbacidal]

3 Wife Cookies (yum)

←

The wife cookies were bleah. Fresh but bleah. The flaky pastry was sooooooooo dry, it was like eating parchment paper. The filling was a bit gummy but tasty.

<sighs> Must find good wife cookies next time I'm in Philly!

←

Haven't found them yet.

It all pales in comparision to HK.

Last time I was in HK, I bought a dozen, ate about 2/3 myself.

Glad the scallion chicken was good.

Gastro, I wish you had mentioned more about what you were expecting from DiBruno's.

If I knew, I would've steered you away.

It's still a great place, but it's too new and in too expensive an area to be inexpensive.

Edited October 4, 2005 by herbacidal (log)

[Gastro888]

I'm sure everything in the States pales in comparison to HK's food! Hopefully I'll be there next year.

There is a place in Flushing that makes a pretty good wife cookie. I didn't expect this one to be so dry! It was almost like filo dough.

The scallion chicken was/is great. I already ate half of it between yesterday and today for lunch and dinner. (Well, my lunch is forthcoming...)

Di Bruno's was a small stop for me - I really would've preferred going to the Italian market. I'm glad I went, though, it's a really pretty store. Next time I'm going to Philly I want to visit the Italian market as well.

But knowing me, I'll end up spending all my time in Chinatown. I guess as you get older, you gravitate towards your comfort foods more!

[Gastro888]

Philly, con't:

Sunday afternoon

We walked back to Chinatown from 17th and Chestnut. We got to see some of the interesting buildings that Philly has along the way. Took some photos and stopped in at the Chinese Cookie Factory and purchased a bag of plain fortune cookies. (Needs more vanilla flavoring.)

When we arrive in Chinatown, I made a beeline for Ocean City and purchased my 2 scallion oil chickens. I managed to convince my friend to buy one as well. (Hey, it's good stuff!)

We had dinner at Lakeside Chinese Deli because it fulfilled our criteria of fast, cheap and good. You know hole in the wall joints are the best. The owners were quite friendly and the food reasonably priced. We ordered beef chow fun with gravy and duck and cha siu over rice.

The food was tasty! The beef was quite tender in the chow fun. I personally think there was too much cornstarch used in the gravy but it was good regardless. The duck and the cha siu were good - we got nice cuts of meat. Most of the time when you order over rice dishes, they tend to give you the crappy parts of the meat (ie: the back).

Total bill with one iced lemon tea drink - 13 bucks. And we both had leftovers to take home. I ate them yesterday for lunch and dinner. <burp>

Then we meandered over to the bakery across the street. I forgot its name but it has a yellow awning and it's down a block from Ocean City. We purchased buns and bread. They looked good - unfortunately, it wasn't as tasty as I anticipated. But still better than what we have here.

It was a great weekend and I'm definitely planning on coming back up soon. Well, after my trip to NYC that is!