Forty Eight Hours of eating through Philly

[philadining]

My brother was visiting from out-of-state, and seemed up for a survey of Philly foods. We were humbled by how we merely scratched the surface, but it's a start. We look forward to parts 2 and 3 and 4...

I thought you might like to come along on the ride...

Friday evening we started with the unrivaled heights: StudioKitchen

Saturday, we aimed for more modest culinary goals, and tried to fit in as many faves as we could fit.

Roast Pork Italian at Tony Luke's

A Barbecue Pork Bahn Mi at O

then...

well, OK, we didn't actually eat a goatburger, but we thought about it...

stopped in to Claudio's for some snacks for later...

tacos at Plaza Garibaldi

(beef and chorizo, enchiladas, al pastor)

Martinis and Szechuan Fries at The Continental

Dinner at Amada:

Sangria

Flatbread with Tuna Spread

Charcuterie Mixto

Pulpo Gallego (Octopus)

hey, if there's an Octopus Salad on special... why not?

Clams and Chorizo

Croquettas de Jamon

Duck Flatbread

------

then... a run up to El Vez

we had really planned on getting something to eat, but were confronted by our mere mortal limitations of appetite, so a margarita had to suffice...

but we somehow found some room for Capogiro

then had to call it a night.

Sunday morning, Chinatown was calling:

Rangoon:

Ginger Salad

1,000 Layer Bread with Chicken Curry

Kung Pau Beef

then around the corner to The Szechuan tasty House

Spicy Dumplings

Golden Coins

Twice Cooked Pork

and then.....

we ran out of time.

More next time!

I'd offer some analysis, but every single thing we got was quite delicious, and remain favorites.

[Jeff L]

My brother was visiting from out-of-state, and seemed up for a survey of Philly foods.  We were humbled by how we merely scratched the surface, but it's a start. We look forward to parts 2 and 3 and 4...

←

Wow, you sure hit the hot spots. This is more food than most people eat in a week!

Love those golden coins though

[mrbigjas]

My brother was visiting from out-of-state, and seemed up for a survey of Philly foods.  We were humbled by how we merely scratched the surface, but it's a start.

i'm humbled by your ability to consume. my god.

[handmc]

Man my stomach hurts from looking at it all. We bow at your conquests. Keep up the good work!

[TarteTatin]

What are the Golden Coins?

[KatieLoeb]

All Hail the great and Powerful Eating Machines!

Dude! That was impressive over a very short period of time. I am duly awed...

You and Bro did some damage, man.

[Jeff L]

What are the Golden Coins?

←

Deep fried eggplant disks, sublime indeed, not to be missed.

[docsconz]

Great pics as always, Jeff. I was awed watching you work at SK.

We could barely eat the next day. After a nice breakfast at our B&B, we hoofed it to the Italian market on 9th St. (Hey, I grew up on 9th St. in Brooklyn!), where we shopped a little, bought some great fresh Italian bread and sampled on some nibbles and then went over to RTM to sample pretzels right out of the oven (awesome) and an Italian pulled pork with greens from D'nik's. Unfortunately, we then had to hightail it for our train to NYC. It was a great weekend.

[phungi]

what a beautiful way to shorten your lifespan by a month or two!

[Daniel]

Wow.. Great photos as always.. Looks like an awesome 48 hours.. Thanks for the photos of Amada.. That is on our list the next time we go out..

[philadining]

Daniel, you're my inspiration for concentrated binges like this... I still bow down before the master!

[I_call_the_duck]

Amazing. Just where do you put it all?

[philadining]

So, my brother was back in town for the first time in a year, and we had some catching-up to do...

We didn't have anywhere near the time we had last year, in fact we were down to one evening, not even an all-day binge like last time. So we had a real dilemma: where to go with just ONE evening in Philly?!?

There have been some very interesting developments in the last year or so. Amongst my favorite places to go recently, should we hit Osteria? Ansill? Snackbar? some of the little ethnic places?

The answer, of course, is: yes.

Osteria:

Pulpo Pizza

Salumi (Prosciutto, Lardo, Mortadella, Porchetta)

Ansill

Duck Prosciutto

Boquerones

Octopus

Osso Buco sandwich

Taquitos de Puebla

Tacos al Pastor

Snackbar

Pork Belly with Melon, Rhubarb, Cucumber and Kumquat

Miso Glazed Apples with Wasabi Peas

Octopus with lemon-apple purée

Brussels and Truffles, Marcona Almonds

(sorry the light was a little funky at the bar for those last two shots...)

it had gotten pretty late by this time, and as you might guess, we'd had about 3 times as much food as we should have, but something about a late-night snack called us back....

Banana Leaf

Roti Canai

Satay

Not too bad for having one dinner slot available...

Everything we had was just great, favorites for a reason. Hard to narrow down highlights, although the pizza was just about perfect, that osso buco sandwich just seems better and better every time I have it, the pork at snackbar was just crazy good...

We'd actually intended to go a little lighter at snackbar, but Johnny Mac was so kind (or cruel at that stage of the game) to send out that amazing pork belly for us to try (thanks chef!) The cold sous-vide vegetables and fruits were intriguing, and offered a sharp, vibrant counterpoint to the insanely rich meat.

So I'd actually advise spreading it out over a few days, but if you're looking for some Philly highlights, you could do worse than to follow in our footsteps!

And there were so many more places to try, if we'd only had time!

Good thing we didn't eat much on wednesday....

Edited March 23, 2007 by philadining (log)

[wkl]

wow! is all i can say.....

also, almost one year to the day of your last binge.uncanny timing.

[mattohara]

killer pics! i work at ansill and haven't been able to try to octopus yet i heard it's great. now i'm going to go search forums for tips on taking better food pics.

Edited March 23, 2007 by mattohara (log)

[Tim Dolan]

Dude, you are an absolute beast.

[Ling]

You take absolutely breathtaking pictures. How were the apples in the miso-glazed apple dish cooked? Were they baked?

[KatieLoeb]

Dude. I'm speechless.

Keep your hands and feet clear of their mouths. Do not stick your fingers between the cage bars...

[philadining]

You take absolutely breathtaking pictures. How were the apples in the miso-glazed apple dish cooked? Were they baked?

←

Thanks, but you're not so bad with the camera your own self...

As for the apples, I'm not 100% sure, but I think they might be cooked (lightly) sous-vide in a miso caramel, then just rolled in the crushed wasabi peas. But other eG folks might know better than I do... In any case, I really like the taste/texture combo, I'm sure you could experiment with various preps.

And thanks to all for the various notes of respect... you know we DID spread it out over several hours!

And Matt, eat some octopus immediately, it's awesome at Ansill.

[-sheila mooney]

i'm in awe. and o so hungry. philly in the house!

[guzzirider]

Great stuff!

I don't know why I keep missing out on that osso buco sandwich at Ansil... looks stunning... I think I've had just about everything else there *except* that for some reason.

__Jason

[Rich Pawlak]

You rule.

I want YOUR food life.

What do you have. a hollow leg?