Archive for September 2011

The Hoagie I Was Fated to Eat at P & S Italian Deli

This is a story of a business’s mistake that resulted in my favor.  A friend brought me to P&S Italian Deli, an outpost of the P & S Ravioli local chain that sells frozen pasta. This particular location is known for also serving some top notch sandwiches. I kind of didn’t accept this fact, mostly because I wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich and when my friend ordered a sandwich, I did not.  I was in a bad hoagie place. I had just been to Atlantic City’s White House hoagie shop, and it disappointed. Had I checked the internets and known this place had gotten a seal of a approval from Philly Phoodie, and very  recently, a mention on the Serious Eats slide show of best hoagies, I would have ordered my own sandwich. So when the take out sandwich was opened and we discovered that cheese was not left out as requested by my lactose intolerant friend, it was like the fates had spoken and I was meant to have the sandwich passed down to me.

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Holy Mole, Las Cazuelas: Thoughtful Mexican Food in a Comfortable Setting

Whether from a truck, a cart, a hole in the wall, or a sit down restaurant with hipster waiter service, I like tacos. What I don’t like is paying a lot for them. Las Cazuelas, a Mexican restaurant in Olde Kensington, has found a perfect middle ground of authentic food, an unpretentious, homey-cute atmosphere, and low prices. And as it turns out, I ended up eating  a lot more than just their tacos.

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PROFILE: Philly Luncher “Zach”

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 Zach, who likes his sandwiches filled to the brim.

Name: Zach

Age: 33

Occupation: Director of Audio Visuals Operations

Where in Philly do you Work?: Center City

Favorite Kind of Food: Everything Italian. Pho. A good steak. Lobster. Cheese fries

Least Favorite Kind of Food: brussel sprouts, lima beans

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Bun Dac Biet – House Special Vermicelli at Vietnam (221 North 11th Street), Any and everything at Dinic’s Roast Pork in Reading Terminal Market, Italian hoagie with everything at Salumeria in the Reading ( I think it’s the best hoagie in the city) Deluxe Pho from Nam Phuong 1110 Washington Ave, any burrito from Tres Jalapenos 901 S 8th S, Dan Dan noodles from Han Dynasty 108 Chestnut St
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Cambodian Dumplings at Kavei Express

While doing some Cambodian food exploring in South Philly, we came across Kavei Express, a month old Cambodian fast foodish restaurant. This should not be confused with the Kavei on Oregon Ave, also a Cambodian restaurant, which has closed.

Fruit smoothies dominated the menu, but more interesting were the combo platter options offering rice and an entree for $4, rice and 2 entrees for $5, etc, etc. A steam table displayed many of those entree possibilities, including fried fish, a pork curry, and other meat with vegetable preparations.   Pictures of 4 different soups with no English explanations would have normally called out to me, but I had just finished an outdoor adventure involving a crazy Cambodian stew with unidentifiable meat products and pickled baby eggplant, so I needed to scale back on the adventurousness level.  Among the few English words on the side dish section of the menu, Kavei Dumplings was the safe choice I was looking for.

Menu and Dumpling pictures, after the jump

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New Trinidadian Food Truck Coming To Love Park?

I just received a twitter message from “The MiniTrini” Truck, letting me know they are coming to Love Park next week with food like roti, jerk wings, doubles, and free desserts. Their facebook page says they will be at the park on Monday and Thursday. Their website is not working, so there are no more clues. But if this is happening, yay! I am all about Trinidadian food in Center City. A hearty double has the potential to be an awesome lunch especially in the cooler weather. Who is going to investigate on Monday?

Lunch Links (The “New Trucks On the Horizon For UCity ” Edition)

Photo Courtesy of Philly Phoodie
  • Pure Fare is starting up a similarly healthy themed lunch truck in UCity [Meal Ticket]
  • And UCity folk are even more lucky, an international food ruck is coming there way too [Foobooz]
  • Philly Phoodie enjoys the meat sandwiches at Cherry Street Tavern (not to be confused with the scary one in Chinatown) [Philly Phoodie]
  • Criag Laban also approves of our discovery– El Pueblo for Mexican Ice Cream in the Italian Market [The Inquirer]

Nagwon Garden: Even Decent Jajungmien is a Good Lunch

I am always, always searching for great jajangmyeon, the Korean dish of fermented bean paste, zucchini, onions (and often pork), over fat noodles. There is something about it that makes me go through great lengths to get some. (Coincidentally, Meal Ticket just posted a recipe for the Chinese version, but I’d rather leave it to the pros) Previously, I could begrudgingly get my fix at Pastoral, weird service and all, but they’ve closed. So now I have to travel a little farther from home to seek it out. I found some at Nagwon Garden in West Philly.

But first, their banchan. I enjoyed the kimchee and potatoes, but I would advise to steer clear of the mushy looking cucumbers, they taste like a fish died in them.

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