Archive for 'North East'

Uzbeki Bread and Meat from Suzani Art Cafe

I am always on the hunt for new Russian and Eastern European restaurants in Northeast Philly. Though you might not guess it from the name, Suzani Art Cafe serves Uzbeki food. Inside,  it is quite cozy with ample pillows provided in the booths. You can chew meat off the bone while snuggling and drinking whatever booze pairing you decided to bring. What is better than that?

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2015 in Instagram

Thanks for being patient with me in 2016. I plan to continue to tantalize you with suggestions on where to spend your hard earned dollars around the city!

I wanted to look back at 2015, to see which meals were the most tantalizing according to you (or the folks who follow me on instagram)! It’s always good to have a refresher.  As expected, my top 9 photos of 2015 were mostly food related:

Branzino at A. Bar

Beef Stew at Viet Huong

H Mart Jjigae

Khachapuri

Pork Belly Banh Mi

Duck Poutine

My favorite food memory out of this group may have been the khachapuri, just because I was so excited to try Georgian food. Which is your favorite?

A Georgian Calzone from Uncle’s Backyard

Did you know you can find Georgian food in Philly? And not Georgia as in: peaches, biscuits, pecans, Bubba Sparxxx, where my beautiful younger sister goes to grad school – Georgia as in: borders Russia, a much longer plane ride. Dyadin Dvor, aka “Uncle’s Backyard,” in Northeast Philly fits in multiple categories of reasons I’d check out a restaurant based on appearance alone: an unpronounceable name, another name that makes you slightly uncomfortable, and a bizarre exterior that makes no sense in context (context being a strip mall that includes a furrier).
This confused, magical feeling that we were entering a special place endured as we took in the interior, complete with faux windows, plastic vines, and Lincoln log like tables and chairs.  My mouth’s anticipation continued to climb when I saw khachapuri on the first page of the menu, realizing I had stumbled in to a Georgian restaurant.

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Top Lunches of 2014

A pre New Year round up of my favorites bites is a fun excuse to look back on each year of dining. It is also incentive to get down and hold the plank position until the ball drops.  Here are my 2014 eating highlights:

During my first overseas trip of the  year, I ate my way through Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai!

Soon after, I started giving Chinatown Food Tours! (if you still owe someone a belated Holiday gift, its not a bad idea!)

I wrote a few fun articles for Zagat, including one on shopping at “ethnic” markets.

On an outing to Graffiti Pier in Port Richmond, I put together a Polish picnic that you can replicate.

For my birthday, we celebrated with beer and a Puerto Rican Pork feast.

I coordinated a food truck festival for 15,000 people in Mt. Airy.

On a solo vacation in Mexico City, I ate a ton of street meat.

I was really proud of my Federal Donuts costume this Halloween.

Way more, after the jump…

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A Borsch and A Steam: Mastering the Southampton Russian Bathhouse

For a truly unique adventure that combines relaxation and ethnic food, consider a drive north and east of the city to the Southampton Russian Bathhouse. During the week, the space is open from 11am until 11:30pm (closed Mondays). Admission is $35 which allows you access to the different sauna and steam rooms, tanning bed, Swiss showers, a cold plunge bath, a pool, and a jacuzzi.  The balcony restaurant will serve you lunch or dinner without needing to pay the entrance fee, however we ate poolside and were able to leave our snacks at our table to nibble at in between sauna sessions.

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Top Lunches of 2013

I am a big pig and have eaten hundreds of exciting lunches this past year. I am both grossed out and proud of myself when looking back at all the damage. I wrangled up my favorites of 2013 to share.

January started the year off strong, with peirogi’s from Donna’s smokey bar, Caribbean platters from Little Delicious, tom yom beef jerky from Ratchada, and the gooey mac and cheese brisket sandwich from MeltKraft.

In February, the Uzbeki meal from Samarkand was pretty legendary.

Taco truck, Taco El Rodeo was a pleasant surprise in April.

Pennsylvania 6 did the fancy business lunch right for me in May. Less fancy, but still satisfying: Poi Dog cart’s fried chicken and Campo’s monster of a meat sandwich called “The Stockyard”. Plus, this month brought the opening of Sizzling Woks (called Xi’an Famous Foods then), which meant slippery, spicy liang pi noodles in my mouth.

In June, I was obsessing over the lamb tacos at Border Springs Farm.

The meatball sandwich at Corner Foodery and the beef sandwich at Pura Vida were stand outs. Slightly more upscale, I loved the grilled pastrami and mac and cheese at Twisted Tail.

The meaty torta from American Sardine Bar and meaty burrito bowl from Animo  provided tasty protein in August.

September is beautiful in Philly. Perfect for a picnic provided by Talula’s Daily. I was also overjoyed to find pupusas at Tamalex. I also ate a large amount of pork from Freddy and Tony’s.

The sandwiches at El Soto and cheesy tacos from Quetzally satiated Mexican cravings for October. I was also in love with the bread from High Street and much of the Cambodian snacks at Kavei Express.

Rounding out the year; in the past 2 months I was impressed by the dim sum at Wokano, the Godfather sandwich from Cosmis, and the soup dumplings from I-Green.

I think its time for a salad. Please keep your fingers crossed that I fit in to my New Year’s Eve dress tonight. So- What were your favorite lunches this year?

A Meaty Moldivian Meal in North EAST Philly

Not to be a brat, but it is not often that I come across a cuisine that I am completely unfamiliar with. So while browsing for restaurants in NE Philly (one of my favorite hobbies), I was excited to find there exists a restaurant that serves traditional Moldivian food. For the sake of being practical and straight forward, it’s called Moldova Restaurant. Inside, the decor is festively kitschy.  Service came with a smile, though our waiter did not speak enough English to recommend any dishes for us. We were on our own.

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