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 Brendan, a multimedia lab manager who isn’t fooled by fancy packaging.

Name: Brendan

Age: 28

Occupation: Multimedia Lab Manager

Where in Philly do you Work?: University City

Favorite Kind of Food: Italian food, simple; homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Lately I’ve been appreciating Philadelphia cuisine, like the roast pork sandwich. Sometimes I’m in the mood for really bland things, like steamed broccoli, chicken and white rice. I love roasting a chicken and making chicken stock, making soup, simple comfort food I guess. Mexican food, pizza, Japanese, Ethiopian, I’m sorry if I’m leaving anyone out, I like lots of food. French! I also love sweets, chocolate cake is my favorite dessert.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Food that’s so spicy you can’t even taste it because your mouth is on fire. Expensive food that puts on fancy clothes and walks around like it owns the place, but tastes like something you could get out of a box at the supermarket.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: In University City my favorites are Pod, Distrito, and Tacos Don Memo. Pod and Distrito both have really good lunch specials. At Pod I like the macadamia chicken from the express menu and the maki combination. Distrito’s hamachi tacos and the tortilla soup are both winners. Don Memo’s carnitas tacos and tortas invade my dreams and sometimes wake me up in a cold sweat. They are that good. Occasionally I’ll venture down to Center City for lunch. The bibimbap at Tampopo is one of favorite dishes for lunch if I decide to take the trolley down.

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is breaking is usual truck habits with Carribean food from Gigi and Big R.

University city is pretty much littered with food trucks, with 95% of them either serving Mexican food of some sort, Asian cuisine, or sandwiches. Now that’s all fine and good, but sometimes repetition gets boring (this isn’t a knock on any of the other food carts, I’m just saying…). After wandering down 38th street numerous times, I decided to pass on my stalwarts of Yue Kee, Bui’s, and Steak Queen, only to notice an obscenely obnoxious looking truck parked on the other side of Spruce. Plastered with random captions like “Largest Platters In the City,” “Come Try the Best,” and “Caribbean Soul Food,” I was at the very least, curious.

The truck is called Gigi and Big R’s Caribbean Soul Food (there’s apparently also a physical restaurant and 2 other trucks), and obvious from their given name, they serve Caribbean ‘soul food.’ What does that mean exactly? Well, I wasn’t entirely sure either, but a quick glance at their menu reveals a short list of options. Most of their platters are $7-9 dollars for the small orders, and $11 for the large orders, each coming with your choice of sides. While this seems kind of pricey compared to almost all the other food trucks, I suppose they fill a niche as they’re the only one of their kind on Penn’s campus. You’re paying a slight premium in order to take a break from sesame chicken and cheesesteaks (though on the plus side, the wait time is almost nil!).

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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 is time to introduce Nicholas from My Inner Fatty, who has recently been writing for us on ML Philly.

Name: Nicholas

Age: 22

Occupation: Student

Where in Philly do you Work?: Stuck at Penn for the next year or so, in the glorious area of University City, disjointed from all the fun that is Center City.

Favorite Kind of Food: My genes obligate me to say Chinese food. I love all of it, from the spicy Szechuan dishes to the temperate delicacies of Taiwan. If I could spend the entirety of my life trapped in a night market, continuously intoxicated by the smell of stinky tofu, I would do it in a heartbeat. That said, I have a soft spot for all American types of meals. Hotdogs, hoagies, cheesesteaks, pizza, and burgers… they’re all essential to my happiness and wellbeing. If you give me a cheeseburger cooked perfectly to medium rare, a handful of shoestring fries, and a cream soda… I’d be the happiest kid in the world for the 10 minutes it’d take me to eat it all.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Healthy ones? Honestly this isn’t too good a question for me, since I’ll eat pretty much anything that has a shred of hope with regards to tasting good. If I had to pick though, it’d be shellfish, but only because I’m mildly allergic, not because I don’t like the taste.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: I’m a cart kind of guy, partially because I’m cheap/broke, but partially because there’s something alluring about getting food from the back of a truck that intrigues me to no end. Amongst my favorites in University city would be Tacos Don Memo for their incredible burritos and tortas, KOJA, not only because they have an awesome Friday dinner deal, but because they make a phenomenal bulgogi cheesesteak, Yue Kee for noodles coated in oil of any sort, Hemo’s and Steak Queen for cheesesteaks, Bui’s for breakfast sandwiches, and Gigi and Big R’s Caribbean for when I need to hit that soul food craving. As far as actual establishments, I’m a big fan of Reading Market Terminal, it’s like a giant playground full of food and amazement.

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is satisfying his Chinese food craving by visiting the Sang Kee in the Sharaton Hotel. I know Lunchers Becca , Wayles, and Matt are fans too.

Chinese food is one of those things that I constantly crave. I know sometimes it’s not exactly the healthiest meal, and more often than not, I tend to regret my decision of overeating these grease laden meals, but there’s just something I can’t pinpoint that has me going back all the time. Probably the MSG, I swear it’s like nicotine to an Asian person. Anyway, last week, I found myself wandering University City with a group of 7, trying desperately to find a proper lunch location. Turns out, this is much more difficult than it seems. Most places that come to mind are either quick meal solutions (i.e. carts), which aren’t suitable for a large group to have a sit down meal. Luckily, a solution was remarkably close.

Maybe this is an unfair blanket generalization, but I don’t normally expect to find great food in the lobby of a hotel. This goes double for Chinese food. It’s just not the type of thing that feels at home in a relatively upscale location. In my mind, good Americanized Chinese food tends to be greasy, cheap, and found in storefronts more appropriate to that description. Sang Kee Noodle House effectively ruins that entire statement. The latest in the family of ‘Sang Kee’ restaurants, this one is nestled on the first floor of the Sheraton in University City. With virtually no wait time, a fantastically varied menu, and moderate pricing for a sit down joint, Sang Kee might legitimately be in a class of it’s own when it comes to ML Chinese fooding in the area.

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is hitting up the food trucks again, this time for some good old American sandwiches.

I’m gonna go right ahead on a limb and say that I’m definitely not the only one who constantly has a craving for breakfast foods. I mean, breakfast shouldn’t have to end at 10:30 AM just because McDonald’s says so. No, that’s not fair to those of us who wake up at arbitrary times because of work or class. Freedom to have breakfast whenever is just plain American, and depriving me of my eggs, breakfast sausage, and bacon because it’s 1 PM is just plain wrong. Luckily, you never have to make that choice in University City… because Bui’s Lunch Truck exists.

A favorite amongst Penn students, Bui’s Lunch Truck is a relatively plain looking grey truck parked on the corner of 38th and Spruce, open early for the breakfast crowd with virtually no lines or wait time to speak of. Compared with the other’s in the area, there’s actually no visual cue that would tell you to ever go there (there’s never a line!), but for some reason, it’s been suggested to me time after time. A brief glance at their menu reveals that they’re your general breakfast/sandwich/cheesesteak truck with a fairly robust menu, supplemented by a list of ’special sandwiches,’ (all around the $5 mark), all of which are still pretty ordinary, so I’m left wondering where all this praise stems from. That is, before my eyes reach the sandwich listed as the ‘Hangover Special.’

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is a giving us another report on Korean food in University City. Click ahead, his gorgeous food porn photos make me feel like I am eating with him!

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is a giving us report on the Koja truck in University City, which is perfect since today is Chuseok- the Korean Harvest Festival.

Perhaps it’s the smell of garlic soy that wafts from the ventilation of the truck as you walk by, or maybe it’s the consistent crowd that gathers around lunchtime, but in truth, I would be lying if I didn’t admit what drew me to the Koja truck was the kick ass mural they have plastered all over the sides.  Yes, I decided to eat here for the extremely trivial, and arguably dumb, reason of it looking awesome.  Luckily, they’re more than just a pretty face, there’s some culinary substance hidden inside those colorful walls.

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