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 Swabreen, a graphic designer working in Center City, just don’t serve her anything bland.

Name: Swabreen

Age: 26

Occupation: Graphic Designer

Where in Philly do you Work?: Center City

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, anything really flavorful and spicy.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Unseasoned food

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: I really like getting lunch at Grocery (13th & Samson), the Little Lolita buffet (rice, beans, pork, chicken, tortillas, veggies) that they have is my go-to; you can get a good portion for about $8, which I think is a great deal. Grocery also has really tasty soups which are perfect for these chilly days. I also really like the burger and milkshake combo at 500 Degrees (15th & Samson) which is about $13. Sang Kee’s roast duck, veggies and rice from Reading Terminal Market is always an awesome deal ($7). Another affordable option is actually the Barnes & Noble Cafe over at Rittenhouse Sq. They have really great soups, pretzels and sandwiches there. The Atlantic salmon sandwich from Le Bus (18th & Walnut) is another fav, along with a delicious cookie. If I’m working from home I like to grab something quick from Whole Foods’ (9th & South) hot buffet bar or a slice of their pizza.

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A Krispy Kreme opens tomorrow in Fox Chase (7855 Oxford Avenue) at 6am with the first customer winning one original Glaze doughnut every week for a year, the next 11 customers getting a free one each month for a year, and the first 100 customers get a an official T-shirt.

Also, there are Center City Krispy Kreme  plans for the coming spring.

Do you care? Or are you too loyal to Tastykakes or Dunkin Donuts?

It’s hard to keep up with the fun snacks at 12th St Cantina in Reading Terminal. They are always rotating new things that tempt me as I walk by. While burritos and quesadillas are always available, I prefer just picking what snacks behind the glass look best to me. Last visit I only had room to sample the duck chili.

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• Poutine, bacon, french toast, maple syrup… grossest sandwich ever? I think I would be up for it if the hotdogs were taken out [EpicMealTime]
• I like the sound of this! A new Parisian style rotisserie is supposed to open next month in CC  [The Insider]
• Philly’s Good Dog Bar was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives [uwishunu]
• If you find yourself in Jenkintown, check out the pulled pork at Rosey’s BBQ [Two Eat Philly]
• 3 mini food truck reviews from college students [Campus Philly]

Luncher Mary, I am looking at you. When another profiled luncher asked about our favorite bubble teas, Mary commented about an elusive yogurt drink that had since disappeared. She reported that a bakery in Chinatown used to have tea with “[l]ittle white hollow balls that gushed yogurt into your mouth when you chewed them.” Now I am not a lover of bubble/boba/tapioca pearl tea. I liked it back when I was very young, but now I just find the bubbles to be a gummy impediment to the enjoyment of my refreshment. But yogurt balls on the other hand…. I could get into that.

So when I saw a hand written sign in the window of Harmony Bakery in Chinatown with “Yogurt Pop Smoothies” I felt like I had just uncovered the lost city of Atlantis. Could this really be it?

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November 3rd is National Sandwich Day… something about the birthday of the Earl of Sandwich. So, I want to know- what are your favorite local sandwiches?

Here are some of mine in no particular order after the jump…

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Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is getting his hands on more Japanese food with the Bento Box Truck.

As good as the Chinese food trucks in University City are… the wait times are sometimes just plain absurd. When I saw a crowd of roughly 30 people waiting next to Kim’s Oriental, I weighed my options. I could stand outside, cold and hungry, or I could try give one of the lesser known options a try. Maybe, just maybe I’d come across a food truck jewel in an otherwise homogeneous sea of grandfather chicken and lo mein.

Finding good Japanese food is a tall task. There’s so much that can go wrong in Japanese cuisine that a thick coating of oil just can’t make up for. Thoughts of soggy katsu crust, teriyaki overpowered by soy sauce, and gummy feeling tempura are all things that plague my culinary nightmares. Sushi? Don’t even get me started on how bad sushi can be, if not done properly. Now, think about getting Japanese food from the back of a food truck. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen right? Wrong. Continuing on my tour de force of food trucks in University City, I present to you the Bento Box Japanese Food truck (located between 37th and 38th on Walnut), which is actually a pretty decent option if you do have a craving for cuisine from the land of the rising sun.

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