Midtown Lunch

I like to stay current on all the popular food trucks in Philly. Its all part of being a good Midtown Luncher. When I found out that Pie Stand won this year’s Vendy Awards, I needed to get my hands on those hand pies, especially the savory ones.

I was able to catch them at an event in Center City. The truck is adorable- very Grandma’s farmhouse kitchen, which is perfect. My order took a fairly long time to be ready, especially considering there was no one waiting ahead of me. But, when I looked in the little window, I realized everything is made to order- the filling is spooned into the dough and fried on the spot.

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 Photo Courtesy of Adam Atkinson

• Out in Lehigh Valley, the cheesesteaks come with red sauce [Serious Eats]
• Where do Philly’s best chefs go to eat in Chinatown? [Zagat]
• Pizzeria Stella and Zahav have some of the best meatballs in the country according to Travel and Leisure [Foobooz]
• College kids love the wings and braised lamb neck hand torn noodles from Cheu [Penn Appetit]

While QT has been around the longest and is the most loved in Chinatown for banh mi breaks, today I wanted to try the newer spot, Banh Mi Cali, on the corner of 9th and Arch. The only problem was that as soon as my food was put together and placed in a plastic to-go bag, I realized I had forgotten my wallet on my bed (last night I made a midnight Amazon purchase based on a stroke of genius Halloween costume idea). Since money in exchange for food is the norm, I was in trouble. But the very nice lady at Banh Mi Cali allowed me to take my food anyway! Thank you for feeding me, nice lady!

Here is what I guiltily consumed this afternoon:

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For years now, I have been telling everyone that my least favorite cuisine comes from Ethiopia. This is personal, and ya’ll can freely disagree but I don’t like the intense spicing, the lack of variety of flavors, and the slimy injera (a fermented, moist sort of flat bread). But, it has been a while since I gave it a chance and I wanted to be more open minded. I picked Kaffa Crossing in West Philly, highly rated on Yelp.

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Photo courtesy of Zagat 

• Love the assortment of Indonesian spots in South Philly, now we have a new one [Passyunk Post via Eater]
• Scratch biscuits coming to 13th and Chestnut with customizable biscuit sandwiches  [Foobooz]
• Philly Lunch Hour was super bummed by her UCity Sand Kee experience [Philly Lunch Hour]
• An awesome list of fancy lunch deals on Zagat, 3 out of the 10 are under $10 [Zagat]
• Winning vegan and gluten free soups at Metropolitan Cafe [Be Well Philly]

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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Photo Courtesy of Cafe Fulya

I visited Turkish cafe, Cafe Fulya, several years ago and really enjoyed the laid back coffee shop vibe as well as the cold vegetable appetizers, Turkish toast with pepperoni, and manti (turkish dumplings). It is tucked in the corner of 2nd and Monroe, so I sort of forgot about for a while. Manti is no longer on the menu, which was the first disappointment for me.

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