Coastal Cave is a quirky, mildly Asian influenced, seafood-centric stand in Reading Terminal. The menu is scattered and strange, and I am totally into that. A lunch here could be decently healthy or really really bad for you, the choice is yours (but I choose both). Coastal Cave has a list of sandwiches whose names are as amusing as their contents are tempting.
Posted at 1:02 pm, June 13th, 2011 under Korean, Reading Terminal, Vietnamese.
It’s raining, it’s sunny, it’s raining, it’s sunny… hopefully you can watch the forecast and pick one of the sunny afternoons to pop over to Tyson’s Bees truck on the UPenn campus to check out what everyone has been buzzing about. Chef Tyson’s truck food is inspired by Korean and Thai cuisine. I highly recommend taking your food to the nearby courtyard of some Penn building (I am sure some Penn students can help us out with the name) which has tables overlooking a koi pond.
Getting food at the Tyson’s Bees means that for every time you first open your styrofoam container you will be greeted by a visual spectacle that you would never expect came from a truck. It doesn’t even matter what camera you have, snap a pic of their wares and your friends will think you should be a photographer for a magazine. It’s kind of like taking a picture of Gisele, it can’t be bad. Oh, and it all tastes pretty good too.
Posted at 11:58 am, March 21st, 2011 under food truck, University City, Vietnamese.
I am totally jealous of what Morgan is reporting on today, a gorgeous Vietnamese lunch from Le Viet.
I’d been seeing the sign for the $5 lunch special outside Le Viet up until the day before I finally got to try it out. On the day I showed up, the placard had been removed but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. Luckily for me and my friend, the regular menu includes all the special $5 items and several others well within the Midtown Lunch price range.
Posted at 11:35 am, March 10th, 2011 under Vietnamese.
I usually stick to Washington Ave for my Vietnamese fix, but while on my way to Harmony Bakery for another dose of yogurt pop (yes, I am completely addicted), I noticed Pho Xe Lua- a Viet and Thai restaurant with an enticing neon image of a train in the window. I filed it in my mental roladex that is reserved strictly for restaurants and unfortunately does not retain any information that would aid me during finals week. When I made my way back, I stuck to the Vietnamese part of the menu, specifically the more snack type options. There was one appetizer and one lunch bowl in particular that will be permanently stored in that roladex so I access whenever I need to recommend some non-pho related Viet food in Chinatown.
Posted at 1:35 pm, February 2nd, 2011 under Vietnamese.
Oriental Gourmet is a pretty unfortunate name for a food truck. Up at Temple this truck advertises Chinese food and features an endearing neatly hand written yellow sign of Chinese dishes. But the better bet here is choosing from the list of Vietnamese specialty dishes, for example a platter of char grilled meat over vermicelli(bún) for $5.
Posted at 12:28 pm, December 20th, 2010 under Temple, Vietnamese.
Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is seeking pho in University City.
Now that we’re deeply entrenched in the Fall season, the weather’s getting less pleasant, and the temperatures are dipping. With the depressing nature of the upcoming months, sometimes it can feel like a chore to even bother trekking out to make that daily trip for lunch… unless waiting for you at the other end of that trip was something so deliciously heartwarming and uplifting. Pho does that. When it’s absolutely frigid outside, a hot bowl of sweet beef broth can solve even your greatest of problems. Now all I had to do was find it in University City…
I had heard about Pho Cafe Saigon when I asked a few friends about Vietnamese noodles a few weeks ago. Located on 43rd and Spruce, it’s a bit out of the way, requiring a dedicated trip, but having no other immediate options, I still wanted to try it out personally. The store itself is small and nondescript, with only a simple red awning reading ‘Vietnamese Restaurant,’ hinting at its potential for greatness. Their menu is long and diverse, but let’s be honest… you’d only go here for the main attraction. They list various types of Pho (differing in the cuts of meat used) all ranging in price from $7.25-8, from the relatively innocuous plain beef, to a tripe infested ‘deluxe’ incarnation for the more adventurous eaters in many of you. With virtually no wait time to speak of and excellent prices, this could truly be considered a hidden gem of noodling excellence.
Posted at 10:22 am, November 17th, 2010 under noodles, pho, soup, University City, Vietnamese.
There are so many restaurants on Washington Ave. I want to get to know them all. I want to know what each does best. Nam Phuong was on this list. The restaurant is large and busy. Its size and fun menu makes it accommodating for everyone- couples, friends, groups of drunks, groups of hangover cure seekers, coworkers… as long as you are a fan of soup and noodles.
Browsing the many pages of the menu, I was intrigued by the Vietnamese Crepe ($6.50) right on the first page under appetizers. I had never tried one before so I had to have it.
Posted at 1:07 pm, October 14th, 2010 under crepes, noodles, pho, Vietnamese.
