Midtown Lunch

How about some hearty Indonesian food to warm up? Hardena is a bit off the beaten path, but close to the Broad & Morris Station,  so it is perfectly feasible to make it there for lunch. While on a bus to NYC, a former Philly resident overheard my food related conversation and joined in to tell me I must visit Hardena. Inside the little restaurant is a steam table with Indonesian home cooking to choose from.  Hardena does not have much to offer in terms of ambiance, but the food served is quality.  For $6 you get 3 choices over rice. The nice ladies who work there are happy to explain what is in each dish that you point to and they are more than happy to slap on some hot sauce on top of your selections. I tried many of the options and came up with my ideal plate…

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Yes, our city looks gorgeous and magical under all of this snow, but can we get lunch?? Here is what’s going on with a few of the recently posted lunch spots:

Yummy Yummy, 52 N 10th  St (btw Filbert & Arch St), 215-625-9188 : open

Coup de Taco, 40th btw Locust and Spruce St, 917-817-4715: closed

Varga Bar, 942 Spruce St. (at 10th St.), 215-627-5200: open

Dim Sum Garden, 59 N. 11th St. (btw Filbert and Arch St.), 215-627-0218: no answer

Argan, 132 S. 17th St. (at Moravian St.), 215-873-6552: open

And as for hot chocolate, the Rittenhouse location  of Naked Chocolate is open for now, while the University City location is closed.

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 Erik, who does marketing for our great city and thinks that living and eating in Philly is the bees knees.

Name: Erik

Age: 28

Occupation: Database and E-mail Marketing

Where in Philly do you Work?: Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, 17th Street between Market and Chestnut.

Favorite Kind of Food: Traditional Philadelphia Italian hoagies, roast pork, and chicken cutlet sandwiches on seeded rolls are like heaven.  Also, just about any kind of Asian food.  Different variations of chicken, rice and veggies seem to be the most satisfying lunches for me.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: This might come off as a little snobby and holier-than-thou but I really try to avoid eating at large national chains for lunch in Center City.  I’m sure there is nothing drastically wrong with the taste or quality of food at these places per se, but I prefer to spend my hard-earned dime on local establishments.  We have so many unique options here…why get Subway if you can get Primo’s?

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly:

Giwa (16th and Sansom) Awesome Korean. I love, love the dol sot bibimbap which is a sizzling stone bowl of rice, veggies,  egg, and choice of meat (I normally get chicken) with Korean BBQ sauce.  Absolutely perfect on a chilly winter afternoon.  A little pricey at $11+ and the place can get cramped but well worth it.  Looks like the critics agree with me on this one.

Wrap Shack (18th St. @ Sansom)  I started eating these wraps years ago when it was literally a “shack” in Old City.  Same great wraps but now with a roof over your head.  My favorites are the Thai Peanut Chicken and Southwest Ranch wraps.   They’ve expanded recently to include a full bar with some taps if you feel like enjoying an adult beverage with your lunch.  The owner is a really nice guy too.

Dibruno Bros (Chestnut St. or Comcast Center Market)  For Italian sandwiches and pre-made salads.  Good people watching in here too.

Moshi Moshi (18^th St. @ Chestnut St) Cheap sit-down sushi and bento box lunch specials.  Very quick and tasty sushi to get your fix.

El Fuego (Chestnut St. @ 20th St)   I come for fresh and delicious California-style burritos and the occasional Mexican beer.  My favorite is the chorizo burrito.

Mix (Chestnut St. @ 21st St) Pizza place across the street from El Fuego with really great garlicky crust and inventive pizzas. My favorite is definitely the BBQ chicken pizza.

Coventry Deli (Market St. btw 20th and 21st St)  I go here for large deli sandwiches with a variety of sides for reasonable prices.  The outside table area is the perfect office retreat on a nice day.

Cafe Spice (Liberty Place food court)  Indian takeout outpost of the popular Old City restaurant.  I really enjoy the chicken tikka masala and naan.

Also, I am fan of just about any food cart for quick and cheap hotdogs, soft pretzels, chicken cheesesteaks, egg and cheese, etc.  They are a great part of working in the city.  Where else can you get a full meal for just a few bucks so easily and quickly? Also, the folks manning these carts are great to chat with as they make your food.

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Yummy Yummy would be easy to pass by, that is unless a batch of waffles is cooking up, because you will be completely powerless to resist that smell. And this is a good thing really, because inside you can pick up a few tasty snacks to make up your own dim sum lunch to take back to the office.

Yummy Yummy gets dumplings and other snacks from the Chinatown Noodle Factory across the street.  All of the small dishes are packaged  to make transporting them easy. If you are lucky, you can catch them while they are hot. Otherwise, reheat in the microwave using the wet-paper-towel method* so nothing dries out.

Check out some of Yummy Yummy’s yummy options after the jump…

*wet-paper-towel method involves draping a wet paper towel on top of all of the items before popping in the microwave

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Photo Courtesy of Hawk Krall at Drawing for Food

• The Tuscan Tony hot dog at Paesano’s is wrapped in sopressata and covered in bolognese [Serious Eats]
• Good to know for next time, Restaurant Week lunch at Zahav is a great deal [Phillyist]
• Suggestions for a fancy lunch downtown [Chowhound]
• Cichetteria 19 opened in Rittenhouse serving panini and pizza with toppings like sausage and prosciutto [NBCPhiladelphia]

Coup de Taco opened over in University City last fall. Everyone loves a food truck, especially when the food they serve is unique. Coup de Taco had a good gimmick going, but it goes beyond that. The atypical taco fillings are very well done. The three original tacos were Sweet Thai Chicken, Indian Tikka Masala, and Southern BBQ, then the Caprese was added, and now they have Raul as a special.

According to their blog, the Thai chicken taco was the first experiment. This one happened to be my favorite.

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