Archive for 'soup'

A Georgian Calzone from Uncle’s Backyard

Did you know you can find Georgian food in Philly? And not Georgia as in: peaches, biscuits, pecans, Bubba Sparxxx, where my beautiful younger sister goes to grad school – Georgia as in: borders Russia, a much longer plane ride. Dyadin Dvor, aka “Uncle’s Backyard,” in Northeast Philly fits in multiple categories of reasons I’d check out a restaurant based on appearance alone: an unpronounceable name, another name that makes you slightly uncomfortable, and a bizarre exterior that makes no sense in context (context being a strip mall that includes a furrier).
This confused, magical feeling that we were entering a special place endured as we took in the interior, complete with faux windows, plastic vines, and Lincoln log like tables and chairs.  My mouth’s anticipation continued to climb when I saw khachapuri on the first page of the menu, realizing I had stumbled in to a Georgian restaurant.

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Cheu Noodle Bar Twerking Ramen Bowls

We’ve come a long way since the days of the offensively-named-to-some “Roundeye Noodle Bar” pop ups. These days, Cheu Noodle Bar brings in a solid lunch and dinner crowd every day to their permanent location on 10th Street. The space, that once upon a time housed Maru Global, has been completely transformed with a few small tables and seating at the bar. Its definitely cramped, but nobody seems to mind.  A promise of new menu items reminded me it had been too long since I visited, and that I had never gotten around to writing about them. I needed a memory and mouth refresher.

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Lady Macbeth Hands from U-Town’s Spicy Noodles

Pardon my smudged makeup, I have shed many tears this week caused by walking in the piercingly cold windy weather we’ve been having.  Besides going easy on the eyeliner and wrapping a scarf around my face, the other necessity right now is spicy, hot soup, preferable of the Asian variety. While at a meeting in University City, U-Town seemed like it would hook me up with this last need. U-Town’s sign says it serves Korean and Japanese cuisine, but its really a Korean spot. Similar to Koreana, the menu is more of a quick hot soup, stew, grilled meats place. You aren’t going to have an epic table-side Korean BBQ meal here. The menu hovers in the $10 range; my noodle soup ended up being $10.99.

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Top Lunches of 2014

A pre New Year round up of my favorites bites is a fun excuse to look back on each year of dining. It is also incentive to get down and hold the plank position until the ball drops.  Here are my 2014 eating highlights:

During my first overseas trip of the  year, I ate my way through Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai!

Soon after, I started giving Chinatown Food Tours! (if you still owe someone a belated Holiday gift, its not a bad idea!)

I wrote a few fun articles for Zagat, including one on shopping at “ethnic” markets.

On an outing to Graffiti Pier in Port Richmond, I put together a Polish picnic that you can replicate.

For my birthday, we celebrated with beer and a Puerto Rican Pork feast.

I coordinated a food truck festival for 15,000 people in Mt. Airy.

On a solo vacation in Mexico City, I ate a ton of street meat.

I was really proud of my Federal Donuts costume this Halloween.

Way more, after the jump…

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Huong Tram, fka Nam Son, Pho-cus on the Chicken

A bit over a month ago, Nam Son on Washington Avenue changed owners and became Huong Tram. The menu is still Vietnamese, though slightly downsized from the seemingly infinite selection of the former menu.  The space is a bit remodeled but you can still enter from either 16th Street or through the shopping plaza on Washington.  The adjacent bakery is still under the Nam Son name.

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Hitting the Classics at Red Kings 2

I wasn’t thrilled by my visit to Red Kings a few years ago; the spice wasn’t balanced and sauces were gloppy. But I had heard enough good things about Red Kings 2 to warrant a trip.  According to Menupages the menus at both places are identical, go figure.

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Lunches We Need from Mexico City

Last week, I snuck away and took a solo expedition to Mexico City. Besides seeing the sites and drinking mezcal, my main goal was sampling the street food.

This first picture was taken before I bit in to my very first Mexican taco. It was made in Mercado de la Merced, a gigantic semi-covered market with everything from clothes, vegetables, and Halloween costumes, to live animals, and lots of food stalls. The taco man, probably seeing my excitement, asked to take a picture with me, so I too captured the happy, anticipatory pre taco moment on my camera.  Pictures of that taco, and much much more after the jump…

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