Upper Darby restaurants

[mrbigjas]

thanks for that recipe, it does look damn good. the soup gels up pretty well when it cools, eh?

p.s. where's the blood cubes?

sorry you guys didn't make it to pojangmacha while you were on your trek. good stuff there. i think they're only open in the evenings though.

[Diann]

We also tried some fruit drinks, which are available mixed with water or milk, we did these con leche

My apologies, I don't remember which fruits these were, but they were both quite good, refreshing like a thin milkshake.

The one on the left is guanabana (soursop) and the one on the right was mamey...both excellent!! I'm coming back for some Peruvian roast chicken. Apparently this year is El Sol de Peru's 10th anniversary--no mean feat in the restaurant world. The owner gave us pens to commemorate the occasion.

The man who took our order seemed to be the owner, and he was super-friendly and helpful. As it turns out, we were there about an hour too early, on the first saturday of each month they do an all-you can eat buffet, which looked really great when we poked out heads in again later. We didn't notice a price, but the place was crowded, so I'll bet it's a bargain. We're going to try to remember this at the beginning of May or June.

FYI -- the next buffets should be Saturday, May 6, and Saturday, June 3.

The Pernil Asado appeared under two different country's sections, I'm not sure which one we got, but wherever it was from it was delicious.

Pernil asado, drool. Not much more to be said.

James -- we didn't make it to Pojangmacha because we agreed that it really deserves its own day (or meal, at least) of eating... actually, we just barely scratched the surface at all of these places; I will definitely be back.

P.S. Added bonus: parking is incredibly easy, and FREE!

[philadining]

P.S. Added bonus: parking is incredibly easy, and FREE!

On the streets adjacent to the H-Mart and Terminal Square, most spots are metered, and there's a large parking lot next to this block that charges a fee. But -- I'm sure the neighbors will hate us for saying this -- it's really easy to just drive back into the residential streets a block or two and find a free unmetered space.

[Furious Flav-or]

thanks for that recipe, it does look damn good.  the soup gels up pretty well when it cools, eh?

p.s. where's the blood cubes?

sorry you guys didn't make it to pojangmacha while you were on your trek.  good stuff there.  i think they're only open in the evenings though.

←

The blood is in there, somewhere underneath the banana blossom. I buy it in South Philly at Hung Vuong Supermarket, 1122-38 Washington Ave., where I get pretty much everything else, too. It's back in the left corner of the store near the old chickens for stock, the beef bones, the tendon, to the left of the fish counter along the back wall. It's sold in long triangles; I cut a hunk and break it into three smaller triangles and use that.

And yes, it gels up wonderfully, cooled in the fridge.

[Furious Flav-or]

We also tried some fruit drinks, which are available mixed with water or milk, we did these con leche

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11439122..._2736_66710.jpg http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11439122..._2736_16170.jpg

My apologies, I don't remember which fruits these were, but they were both quite good, refreshing like a thin milkshake.

The one on the left is guanabana (soursop) and the one on the right was mamey...both excellent!! I'm coming back for some Peruvian roast chicken. Apparently this year is El Sol de Peru's 10th anniversary--no mean feat in the restaurant world. The owner gave us pens to commemorate the occasion.

The man who took our order seemed to be the owner, and he was super-friendly and helpful. As it turns out, we were there about an hour too early, on the first saturday of each month they do an all-you can eat buffet, which looked really great when we poked out heads in again later. We didn't notice a price, but the place was crowded, so I'll bet it's a bargain. We're going to try to remember this at the beginning of May or June.

FYI -- the next buffets should be Saturday, May 6, and Saturday, June 3.

The Pernil Asado appeared under two different country's sections, I'm not sure which one we got, but wherever it was from it was delicious.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11439122..._2736_29859.jpg

Pernil asado, drool. Not much more to be said.

James -- we didn't make it to Pojangmacha because we agreed that it really deserves its own day (or meal, at least) of eating... actually, we just barely scratched the surface at all of these places; I will definitely be back.

P.S. Added bonus: parking is incredibly easy, and FREE!

←

Just a thought, but if'n when you quote, getting rid of the IMG tags stops the thread spread down the page.

[Furious Flav-or]

thanks for that recipe, it does look damn good.  the soup gels up pretty well when it cools, eh?

p.s. where's the blood cubes?

sorry you guys didn't make it to pojangmacha while you were on your trek.  good stuff there.  i think they're only open in the evenings though.

←

The blood is in there, somewhere underneath the banana blossom. I buy it in South Philly at Hung Vuong Supermarket, 1122-38 Washington Ave., where I get pretty much everything else, too. It's back in the left corner of the store near the old chickens for stock, the beef bones, the tendon, to the left of the fish counter along the back wall. It's sold in long triangles; I cut a hunk and break it into three smaller triangles and use that.

And yes, it gels up wonderfully, cooled in the fridge.

←

D'uh, I see I left them out of the recipe. [smacks self in head]

[philadining]

Made another quick stop at Little Saigon for comforting favorites:

I just can never resist their Springrolls:

I needed a little spice to kick the final vestiges of a cold... Bun Bo Hue did the trick:

Yeah, I know the picture looks like a pile of broccoli, but it's really a quite delicious pork with curry sauce, with plenty of slices of what seemed like tenderloin, a delicious sauce, and fresh, crunchy peanuts.

Everything was excellent.

Although we usually order more, mostly out of lack of self-control, tonight two of us split this, and left satisfied: $25

[philadining]

I just have to shake my head. I was skimming through another food discussion board and came across a thread asking for places to eat near the Tower Theater. The general consensus among those posters seems to be that there's nothing worth eating around there... except maybe Pica's.

We spent all day eating great stuff only a few blocks from the Tower and didn't even get to a few places we wanted to try!

Speaking of which, it may be getting to be time for part 2!

[KatieLoeb]

Glad you resurrected this thread for me. I'm seeing Steely Dan at the Tower next month and was thinking about where to eat with my concert going pals prior to the show.

Now I just can't decide where to go!

[Diann]

Speaking of which, it may be getting to be time for part 2!

←

brilliant idea, I have been wanting to (a) properly explore the menus at sol de peru and sabor latino (b) try pojangmacha, perhaps with the expert guidance of mr. big.

if I recall correctly, sol de peru has a buffet on saturdays as well...

oh and you know, since we never crossed the street, we never made it to pica's or the irish coffee shop.

[MarketStEl]

I thought that Irish coffee shop was a few blocks west of Terminal Square on West Chester Pike.

Is it close enough to walk there from 69th Street Terminal?

[herbacidal]

I just have to shake my head. I was skimming through another food discussion board and came across a thread asking for places to eat near the Tower Theater. The general consensus among those posters seems to be that there's nothing worth eating around there... except maybe Pica's.

We spent all day eating great stuff only a few blocks from the Tower and didn't even get to a few places we wanted to try! 

Speaking of which, it may be getting to be time for part 2!

←

Next Saturday around noon?

[KatieLoeb]

OK folks. This is time sensitive so let me know ASAP. I noticed the posts regarding Sabor Latino are over a year old. Has anyone been there recently? Thinking about going tonight prior to a show at the Tower but no one answers the phone there. Their stated business hours are 12PM-7PM so if no one is answering the phone in the middle of the day it makes me think they've closed.

I've got friends in three different cars coming from several different directions converging for dinner, so I need to make plans to meet somewhere that's definitely OPEN tonight. Latino food was preferred, but I think I can talk them into Korean or Vietnamese maybe. Where should we go that we're certain will be open tonight. Walking distance to the Tower Theater and BYO is a bonus.

[Buckethead]

There's a posting on Menupages from someone who was there on May 8th, so they were open then at least.

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks Buckethead. After having no success getting a live human or answering machine at Sabor Latino I made the executive decision to go to Little Saigon. When I called them to confirm their hours and if we needed a reservation or not, the woman on the phone was so nice I'm delighted to put money in their cash register this evening. They have parking, are BYO and walking distance to the Tower. I'm putting a couple of bottles of white wine in the fridge and considering us a happy bunch. I'll report back on dinner after the show.

[MarketStEl]

So how was your dinner?

And how was Steely Dan?

(I went home yesterday evening via H-Mart and walked up 69th Street in search of a drug store. I really need to check out all the topics here more often.)

[Mano]

So how was your dinner?

And how was Steely Dan?

(

←

Yes, how were they? I'm going to both places tonight. Do you know the address or cross streets for Little Saigon? White wine, beer or both?

edit: got my fingers off their little asses and did a Google search:

113 Fairfield Ave

Upper Darby, PA 19082

(610) 352-1002

Edited May 25, 2007 by Mano (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

So how was your dinner?

And how was Steely Dan?

←

Yes, how were they? I'm going to both places tonight. Do you know the address or cross streets for Little Saigon? White wine, beer or both?

←

I think we just got tickets, so I'm dying to know. What to order? Did Walter sing?

Katie, where are you?!

[KatieLoeb]

Sorry to keep you all in such suspense. I do tend to be slow in the AM/early PM.

Dinner at Little Saigon was delicious. The owner was true to her word and when we let them know we were heading for a concert they totally kicked it into high gear and got our food out to us in a very timely fashion. Spring rolls are awesome, as promised. We also had a delicious crab, tomato and noodle soup, some beef on noodles, pork on rice, beef with lemongrass, shrimp with ginger and curried veggies and tofu. I'm not even certain we ordered a couple of those dishes, but all together it was way more than enough food for four hungry concert goers and the bill was like $60 before a generous tip. Insane. We drank a bottle of Colombo "La Violette" Viognier and a bottle of Folie a Deux "Menage a Trois" Rose. Both were great with the food.

On a completely off topic note the show was great. All the oldies but goodies - Dirty Work, Bohdissatva, FM, Peg, Josie, Aja, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne - basically the soundtrack of my misspent youth. Horn section rockin', amazing drummer and two very lovely backup singers that did the vocals on Dirty Work. Walter sang one tune (sadly I can't remember which - it was pretty bad ) and (at least from the lower balcony) looks like Karl Rove these days. But the guitar is just as smokin' as ever. Probably one of the best shows I've seen.

[I_call_the_duck]

OK, so we got back from our Upper Darby trip. Little Saigon was as good as promised. The spring rolls were delightfully crisp and flavorful. I had grilled pork over vermicelli and Mr. Duck had the mixed grill (pork, chicken, and beef). Both dishes came with a salad. Iceberg lettuce and bean sprouts, but the dressing was a light gingery, with just a bit of a bite. That was about it this time around. Since we were going to the concert afterwards, we didn't want to burden ourselves carrying leftovers.

Now off topic, the concert was great. Yeah, Walter sang again. I find it funny hearing him sing because it obviously isn't his forte. But this song was better than the one he sang at a concert a few years ago. And Donald is acting like Ray Charles every time I see him.

So back on topic. The only problem was that we couldn't find anywhere to have dessert. No place that had ice cream, no pastry shop--nothing!! Did I miss something? We even tried to go into HMart to get some mochi from the freezer section, but the packages were too big. Looking back further on this thread, we should have just got a shake and be done with it.

So desparate were we that we almost went to the pizza shop to get a bar of Good Humor. No kidding.

Speaking of HMart, it could be the happiest place on earth. OK, not really, but my Palm Pilot decided to end my day by deleting all my personal information, of which only my calendar is up to date because I don't want my peronal information on my work computer, and therefore left me in shock and completely pissed, so just walking through the aisles of HMart made me forget my troubles. So clean was the store. Over 20 different types of miso and doenjang. Those beautiful sliced meats just itching to be marinated and put on the grill.

Edited May 27, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[DCP]

Like the rest of you, I have periodically planned pilgrimages to Upper Darby for fine and exotic foodstuffs. However, I'm having a hell of a time figuring out when they're open.

Take Pojangmacha (the little shack across from the H-Mart), for example. Victor Fiorillo found it shuttered most times, but ended up getting in on an unspecified weeknight. The City Paper says it's open Saturday and Sunday nights - not that I've seen. We went several months ago on a Sunday evening around 7:30 PM, and found it dark. Likewise, last weekend at 6:00 PM on a Saturday, nobody was home - but it looked like they had been.

I tried calling one Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday multiple times, only actually reaching someone on Monday - and finding the language barrier a bit difficult. The clear statement "closed forever" did not seem to match the background noise and recent occupancy. Especially with the indication it may be closing at the end of the month, we'd really like to go - if it's not too late!

So, in short, does anyone have a clue about Pojangmacha's real hours?

Oh, and both times we've gone looking to eat at Pojangmacha, we've gone to Jung Sung as a backup - it has had 'closed' signs in the windows.

Help!

[SugarJ]

I am hoping that someone can give a little update on Upper Darby Dining - its a great midway place for me and some friends and I was hoping some of you guys would have some news or recent reports on old places or any new places? thanks for your help!