Midtown Lunch

This week,  Luncher John is trying Capriccio’s sandwiches.

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway runs about a mile long and was designed to be Philadelphia’s own version of the Champs-Élysées. Anyone who has ever been to Paris can confirm the Parkway is not quite like the original. For one, the Champs-Élysées is lined with cafés, restaurants, and shops. Meanwhile, our Parkway features a stretch of museums and apartment buildings but is largely bereft of restaurants and food establishments.

One notable exception is the Capriccio at Café Cret, which opened up on the island plot bordered by 16th Street, Cherry Street, and the Parkway. Since 2008, Capriccio has infused a much needed lunch alternative on the Parkway to the Subway and T.G.I. Fridays, which were among the few other options, a couple of blocks away. It turns out that Capriccio offers some pretty sensible breakfast and lunch offerings.

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When I heard about Brodo’s opening earlier this month I liked the idea of a soup-centered place, but thought choosing to open in a warmer month was silly timing. But when Memorial Day festivities left me with a bit of a cold, I figured I should see if Brodo could cure me.

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As we try to do 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 Alex who has loved Malaysian food for as long as he has had teeth.

Name: Alex

Age: 23

Occupation: Student

Where in Philly do you Work?: West Philly

Favorite Kind of Food: Malaysian, since age 2 when I got mad at my grandparents for taking me to a Chinese restaurant after I’d requested Malaysian.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: As an ingredient, baby corn, probably. But in a dish, I can’t stand unnecessary pretension, whether we’re talking sous vide skirt steak or Ecuadorian reserve pour-over coffee. Not saying I don’t like good sourcing and preparation — buy what you should be buying and cook it how it should be cooked — but serve it to me without all of the fuss.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: The Radicchio pie at  Pitruco (truck, varies) is pretty unreal: tart, sweet, and doughy in all the right ways. I also love Don Memo (truck, 38 + Sansom) burritos, which are messy and enormous but so damn good; their carnitas especially is better than any fancypants porchetta I’ve had. The My Thai at Underdogs (132 S. 17th) is awesome, too, and for my money a much better value than anything I’ve had at Hot Diggity (630 South St.), and up in Chinatown I’m obsessed with the salty-sweet Fried Pearl Noodles at Penang (117 N. 10th).

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Photo Courtesy of Meal Ticket

• This is pretty cool- Ralph’s Italian Restaurant is the oldest Italian restaurant in the whole country! [Foobooz]
• Hawk bravely checks out a hot dog truck on Broad and Snyder [Drawing for Food]
• Manakeesh is opening a cafe with ice cream and Labanese fruit cocktails [Meal Ticket]
• Han Dynasty is in soft opening for another location at 37th and Market [Grub Street]

I worked up a serious appetite while shopping for arts and crafts on Columbus Blvd and needed something nearby that would be ready for me to eat immediately. It took some convincing, but I got my ladies to agree to stop at… the Ikea Food Court!

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Green Wasabi just opened this week, replacing Delicatessen with Japanese bento boxes, sushi, and ramen. Eager to find out how the ramen stacks up, I ran over and was surprised with the lunch time crowd. I waited patiently to try 2 of the 4 ramens offered; the tonkotsu and the shio.

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