Midtown Lunch

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?

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Neither the name nor the look of the storefront of Shish Kabob Palace is particularly enticing. This restaurant, located in a strip mall, certainly does not conjure up the image of a “palace”. You can’t judge a palace by its cover I guess; the sizable menu did a way better job at reeling me in than the meat stick decal on the door.

This palace serves Bukharian and Russian food. Bukharia is a region of Uzbekistan. From my other dining experiences with the cuisine of  Russian/former USSR countries I knew this meant  I could expect funky cold salads, dumplings in various forms, soups, and skewered meats.

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I love reading the write ups from my fellow local bloggers. I do it daily. So it was thanks to Philly Phoodie and Mac and Cheese that I learned about Mr. Joe’s Cafe, the classic, homestyle Italian spot in South Philly.  With its olde time furnishings I had thought this place had been around forever, but its actually just a few years old. Adding to that old school feel, the hostess/waitress Annamaria, lauded for her front of house service, makes you feel like you are being taken care of  by someone’s Italian aunt. As a disclaimer, the menu items are pretty much all over $10. But essentially with each order you are getting a 3 course meal.

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Rex 1516 is one of the under a year old spots turning the west of Broad side of South Street into a place worth coming to for eating purposes and not just drag shows. The menu is Southern influenced. I was invited to try the lunch menu, with entrees that hover around $10 for lunch. Despite the South’s reputation for heavy, not so healthy dining, plates like the blackened tacos or grilled turkey sandwich allow for a less caloric experience.  Inside the ambience is relaxed, especially during lunch. I like the exposed brick and rustic chandeliers. I sipped a Coronado orange wit beer while waiting for my meal, which didn’t take long at all to come out.

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Green Eggs Cafe has 3 Philly locations. The menu has a zested up version of lunch and brunch with fun things like red velvet pancakes.  I tried 2 sandwiches from the savory menu and found some big pluses and big minuses. I also had to indulge in their crazy muffins…

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This week I sent Luncher John on a mission to Day by Day.

I lived a block from Day by Day for a year and have worked in Center City for over a decade. I’ve even tasted Day by Day’s food through its catering service at wedding receptions. Still, until recently, I had never ventured to its restaurant location at the corner of 21^st and Sansom. Despite a couple of hiccups, Day by Day turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and I’ve wondered why I haven’t eaten there any earlier.

My first visit to Day by Day started off somewhat inauspiciously. I went on a Monday only to find out that it happens to be closed on Mondays. Strike one. After returning the next day to the 60 seat restaurant, I really felt like having the gazpacho soup that appeared so appetizing on a picture on its website. It turned out that the soup selections vary from week to week, and the gazpacho was not available for a couple of weeks. Strike two.

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This week I was invited back by The Capital Grille to try out their new summer additions to their $18 plates menu.

I am always so happy when The Capital Grille invites me back to try out their seasonal plates. The “plates” deal is always the same, $18 for an appetizer, entree, and a side dish. Every few months new seasonal menu items are added.  The perfect truffle fries and lobster roll are still on the “plates” menu and as hard as they were to forgo, I wanted to try the new items.

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