Midtown Lunch

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 Lauren who knows the good lunch spots in Chicago.

Name: Lauren

Age: 26

Occupation: Marketing Associate

Where in Philly do you Work?: A. Pomerantz & Co. located in Center City

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese

Least Favorite Kind of Food:Indian

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: El Vez, The Corner Restaurant, and Zavino’s all located at 13th and Sansom. Favorite Dishes from El Vez include the
Mexican Chopped Salad, Beef Tacos and Black Bean Enchiladas. The Corner Restaurant makes an awesome Lobster Bisque (best I’ve ever had) and a great Cheeseburger. Zavino’s Joey pizza is delicious, as well as their daily pizza specials.

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I was upset at first when I heard that S &H Kebob house, a favorite South St cheap eats Turkish spot, had turned into Leziz Turkish. But, luckily it was just the name that changed. The menu is intact. And lunch specials are still under $10  including my favorite dish- the manti. I made a return trip to try some of the other lunch specials, like the lamb shawarma.

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• Monk’s is the winner of the Best of Philly Fries category [Foobooz]
• Two Eat Philly found a few flaws with Blue Belly BBQ, but loves the brussel sprouts [Two Eat Philly]
• Row Home Eats sampled some of the menu at Khmer Kitchen [Row Home Eats]
• 34th St enjoys the sandwiches and sides at The Khyber [34th Street]

This week I sent Luncher John on a mission to Day by Day.

I lived a block from Day by Day for a year and have worked in Center City for over a decade. I’ve even tasted Day by Day’s food through its catering service at wedding receptions. Still, until recently, I had never ventured to its restaurant location at the corner of 21^st and Sansom. Despite a couple of hiccups, Day by Day turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and I’ve wondered why I haven’t eaten there any earlier.

My first visit to Day by Day started off somewhat inauspiciously. I went on a Monday only to find out that it happens to be closed on Mondays. Strike one. After returning the next day to the 60 seat restaurant, I really felt like having the gazpacho soup that appeared so appetizing on a picture on its website. It turned out that the soup selections vary from week to week, and the gazpacho was not available for a couple of weeks. Strike two.

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I like to do some of my grocery shopping at the Asian market on 12th and Washington. It is part of a small shopping plaza, the same one that is attached to Pho 75. While walking through the plaza from Pho to the grocery store, I came across a small Indonesian restaurant I had never heard about, Java Colonial.  Full from pho, I made a note to come back with friends to try out the menu  which was full of things that were new to me.

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• Meal Ticket just reminded that it has been way too long since I have eaten at the H Mart food court [Meal Ticket]
• No dinner plans tonight? Check out the Food truck pop up on Frankford Ave [PMFA]
• A new fancy Chinese spot has opened on and a new pub-like spot, The Cambridge, just opened on 15th and South, plus a new ramen spot is coming to Chestnut St [Eater]
• A recap of the fun we had at the 2nd Annual Philly Vendy Awards last weekend [The Lunch Break]

Last winter Craig LaBan wrote an article about different food trucks around town, most I had visited or at least heard of but one truck mentioned was totally new to me- the Vegan Truck on Temple’s campus. This struck serves Asian style vegetables and soy proteins.  Looking at the menu, it seemed that the fully loaded “hot pot” was the best way to check out how the truck handles their different non meat products.

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