Midtown Lunch

As you may have noticed, it’s been a little slow on ML Philly. That’s because I have been planning a big trip to South East Asia & I leave today! My top priority is street food, naturally! If that’s your thing too, be sure to follow me on instagram and twitter for photo updates.  I will be back in a month with a full report! If you have recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments.

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Thanks to Double Knot for inviting me to try the new lunch menu! 

I am normally exponentially more excited to try the food of a new restaurant than I am to see the designed space. But for Double Knot, Michael Schulson’s latest addition to 13th Street (with a passageway in to Sampan), I was really excited about both. Teaser pictures and the multi uses of the bi level space, complete with subterranean sushi bar and robatayaki grill, had me needing to see it for myself.  (Sidenote: how did I not know this spot was formerly a gay “movie” house?)

Here is the deal, in the morning, as early as 7am, you can enjoy coffee and pastries at the bar or 2 tops, along side the carefully curated shelves of knick knacks and wooden accents. Happy Hour begins at that same space at 4pm with just a sample of the food offered downstairs. After 5pm, you can head down the stairs for a loooong menu of skewers and sushi. But for lunch (and that’s 10pm-3pm), the menu is pleasantly streamlined: pick a protein (steak, shrimp, pork, chicken, tofu, meatball) and what form you would like it in (salad, banh mi, rice, noodles) in exchange for $7.

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Cafe Pho Ga Thanh Thanh is Kensington’s spot for one thing- pho ga, Vietnamese chicken broth and rice noodle soup. Small bowls are $8 and can come with a medley of dark meat and other chicken parts, or, as was offered to me- with just plain ol’ white meat. I don’t love skin and bone in my soup and was not ashamed to accept their Americanized soup. Sorry not sorry.

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Whenever I think to stop at Pho and Cafe Viet Huong, its always to pick up some summer rolls and whatever fried snacks offered at the counter that day.  It took me about 5 years to actually eat a sit down meal here.

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Bistro South East opened quietly last month by a husband and wife team, serving Vietnamese influenced sandwiches for lunch every day and a seafood focused menu at night.  The name doesn’t do it any favors.  Unless you knew they served Vietnamese food, you might be confused why a restaurant on South Street West would pick that name. But now, we get it. Staff is super friendly and I liked the drawn guides to eating seafood on the wall (dinner menu includes crawfish by the pound). Read more »

A bit over a month ago, Nam Son on Washington Avenue changed owners and became Huong Tram. The menu is still Vietnamese, though slightly downsized from the seemingly infinite selection of the former menu.  The space is a bit remodeled but you can still enter from either 16th Street or through the shopping plaza on Washington.  The adjacent bakery is still under the Nam Son name.

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While QT has been around the longest and is the most loved in Chinatown for banh mi breaks, today I wanted to try the newer spot, Banh Mi Cali, on the corner of 9th and Arch. The only problem was that as soon as my food was put together and placed in a plastic to-go bag, I realized I had forgotten my wallet on my bed (last night I made a midnight Amazon purchase based on a stroke of genius Halloween costume idea). Since money in exchange for food is the norm, I was in trouble. But the very nice lady at Banh Mi Cali allowed me to take my food anyway! Thank you for feeding me, nice lady!

Here is what I guiltily consumed this afternoon:

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