Midtown Lunch

 

• Brian also loves the Bavarian at Wursthaus [Bridgesburgersbeer]
• And Foobooz has news of an insane sounding chicken schnitzel BLT there [Foobooz]
• Le Bercail offers inexpensive Senegalese and French food in West Philly [Penn Appetit]
• Christmas themed hot dogs from Philly and beyond? Who knew [Serious Eats]
• An affordable Viet BYO replaced Nan in U City [The Insider]

Nina’s Trattoria is a casual Italian restaurant located in the Italian Market. Probably more thought of as a place for dinner, they are open Tuesday-Sunday for lunch as well. Expect an every day brunch menu, plus a shortened list of Italian plates from the dinner menu.

Read more »

Today, Luncher John checks out the street food from Street Food Philly’s truck. 

At first impression, Street Food Philly would appear to be a food truck that is plainly named after what it serves: Philadelphia street food. Upon a closer examination of its menu and taste of its food, you find out that the simple name belies the tasty and innovative offerings.

First hitting the streets in August 2012, Street Food Philly is the food truck concept of two experienced chefs, Michael Sultan and Carolyn Nguyen. Their aim is to take basic street food items and add their own unique touches. For instance, instead of a run-of-the-mill burger, Street Food may serve a dry aged burger that’s sourced locally and topped with Cooper American Cheese and aioli sauce. Sometimes, instead of a regular roll, the burger will be served on a pretzel burger roll. [Ed. Note: this burger is PERFECTION]

Read more »

Photo Courtesy of Ramen via Yelp 

A bowl of ramen is almost as good as a glass of whiskey to warm you up during the winter. But where should we go to find that perfect bowl? Ramen Boy only lasted about 5 months in Chinatown. I wasn’t crazy about the ramen and the gyoza were awful. When Terakawa Ramen opened in the Ramen Boy location barely a few weeks after its closing, I was hopeful. I had visited the New York location of Terekawa and enjoyed their ramen and appetizers. Would it be any better than its predecessor? Or is the location cursed?

Read more »

Photo Courtesy of Foobooz

• Foobooz lists spots for mac and cheese around the city [Foobooz]
• And here is a list from Zagat of places with counter service for a speedy meal [Zagat]
• A lesson in veal meatball making from Stogie Joe’s [Phila Weekly]
• Today at Best Buy grab lunch from Street Food and Say Cheese from 11:30-1:30pm, plus the first 200 customers get a free lunch and gift cards

I am officially obsessed with the Upper Darby Terminal Square area. It is such an unexpectedly diverse block. The pupusas from El Sabroso rocked my world last week. Next, I had to try the dumplings that were named Best of Philly 2012 by Philly Mag at Yang Yang Express next door to El Sabroso.

Read more »

Wursthaus Schmitz, the baby brother of Brauhaus Schmitz on South Street, started making hot food available at its Reading Terminal spot last week.  Beyond the shelves of funky looking German cooking products, sauces, and chocolates and the glass display of wursts, salamis, and head cheese, are a few meaty sandwiches (all $8) to choose from. I had “The Schmitz” in mind after seeing it on the online menu, the pretzel roll is what got me, but sadly those rolls are not in stock yet. So I had to adjust my sausage agenda.  You might think that after sausage gravy waffles I would have had my fill of sausage for the week. Not the case, friends, this girl can handle excessive sausage intake.

Read more »