Midtown Lunch

As is customary at Philly Lunch, every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Philadelphia. This week it’s Becca, a “pastry bitch”, who is looking for a partner in dim sum crime.

Name: Becca

Age: 24

Occupation: Pastry Cook

Where in Philly do you Work?: I’m the assistant pastry chef at a place in Old City, and the PM pastry cook at a restaurant in Center City East. I am a work machine.

Favorite Kind of Food: Burgers, big sandwiches, runny cheeses, Chinese, Spanish, Middle Eastern, anything you can eat with a beer in the other hand, soups and stews, pizza when it’s decent, root beer floats. I’m a snob about good bread. I’ll do just about anything for a good bowl of noodle soup or an open-faced turkey sandwich. If I’m free, I’ll never turn down a brunch offer, because I love fried eggs and cheap champagne based cocktails.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Squishy gelatinous stuff, cilantro, eggplant, anything too custard-y like creme brulee. I hate cupcakes too but I think it’s just because they’re trendy in a bad way.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Sang Kee Peking Duck House on 9th and Vine for the noodle soups and “blank” over rice platters; either Mama’s or Maoz for falafel; Tin Wong for noodles and soup; Joy Tsin Lau for dim sum–the dumplings and fried shrimp are amazing when you’re hungover; La Lupe in South Philly for green chili chicken tamales and tacos carnitas, or Taqueria Veracruzana (8th and Washington, I think) also for pork tacos; Moriarty’s for wings, beer, and burgers; Jake’s Sandwich Board for the roast pork sandwich; I like that kosher style deli on 19th and Sansom–Rachael’s Nosherei? I was a regular at Darling’s Diner in NoLibs at the Piazza for about a year, and almost always had the BLT or roast turkey plate. I just found out about Han Dynasty in Old City and their banquets and I’m about to go for the second time.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Restaurant workers don’t get a real lunch break, so co-workers and I eat whatever they give us at work. But I go out for lunch on my days off, and I’m really surprised they don’t know my name and order at Sang Kee.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Oh God, I would love to work in Spain or Italy. They take a long lunch, have coffee, and then a nap. That would be great. !

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Philly Lunch readers? Wanna come out for weekday dim sum?

I am such  a Sunday dim sum girl, weekday dim sum seems so radical!

If you would like to be next week’s Profiled Philly Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email me at jamie@midtownlunch.com