Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

04 Apr 2007

Tampopo – Philadelphia

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March 26, 2007
Cuisine: Japanese, Korean, Sushi

104 S 21st St, Philadelphia 19103
At Walnut St

Phone: 215-557-9593
Website: www.tampoporestaurant.com

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Ito En Green Tea ($1.50)

Hot Spicy Chicken Rice Bowl ($5.50)

Bi Bim Bob Rice Bowl with beef ($6.95)

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With Luscious in town, I’ve been crossing off many eateries on my ever-growing “must try” list. Tampopo has been on the list for quite some time because I’m not sure how to incorporate informal/take-out restaurants into my life. For me, it’s either preparing a meal at home or dining out at a full-service restaurant. Tampopo’s casualness leaves me confused because my eating habits are annoyingly stringent.

Luscious and I met up for lunch one afternoon and stuck to the Korean dishes on the menu. The offerings at Tampopo include Bento boxes, rice bowls, sushi, noodles, and salads. All menu items are priced under $10. Both of us ordered rice bowls with brown rice; I had the beef Bi Bim Bob, while Luscious had the Hot Spicy Chicken.

The Bi Bim Bob was hearty, hot, and full of steamed vegetables including bean sprouts, zucchini, carrots, and spinach. The classic Bi Bim Bob sauce was served on the side and I requested an extra helping because I love my Bi Bim Bob spicy. Sadly, I forgot to request a fried egg with my rice bowl. Doh! However, even without a runny egg, the Bi Bim Bob was very tasty. The highlight of the dish was the spicy sauce and my only complaint was that the beef was a little tough and skimpy.

Luscious also really enjoyed her Hot Spicy Chicken Rice Bowl. The marination was perfect and the portion filled her up nicely. As a native Hawaiian, Luscious is a Korean and Japanese food connoisseur; her approval speaks volumes about Tampopo.

Restaurant Review

31 Mar 2007

Sabrina's Cafe – Philadelphia

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March 25, 2007
Cuisine: American (New), Diners & Coffee Shops

910 Christian St, Philadelphia 19147
At S Percy St

Phone: 215-574-1599
Website: www.sabrinascafe.com

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Shorty McForty’s Lemon Ginger Pumpkin Pancakes – with pistachios ginger cake topping, blackberries, berry vanilla syrup, lemon raspberry butter ($9.95)

Two Eggs Any Style with toast and home fries ($5.50)

Stuffed Caramelized Challah French Toast – with Farmers Cheese and Bananas topped with Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup ($8.99)

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Guess how long two friends and I waited for a table at Sabrina’s for Sunday Brunch? Two hours even with calling ahead to put our names down on the list. But honestly though, it really wasn’t a pain and definitely part of the whole South Philly brunch experience. We killed time walking through the bustling Italian market and gawking at tourists down at Pat’s and Geno’s. Fun!

We were seated around 2 PM at a table in the front room. It was a lovely early spring day so the windows were wide open letting in a pleasant breeze.

Luscious was in a sweet mood and ordered the pancake special–Shorty McForty’s Lemon Ginger Pumpkin Pancakes. The lemon and pumpkin were wholly present in the pancake, but the ginger was indistinguishable. She thought that the lemon raspberry butter was a great touch, but as a whole, the dish was overly tart.

Our friend Anna ordered two eggs over “super” hard, which came with multigrain toast from Le Bus Bakery and potatoes. It’s pretty difficult to mess up such a simple dish and Sabrina’s prepared it well enough for Anna to have no complaints.

I ordered the Stuffed Caramelized Challah French Toast. The thick slices of Challah were beautifully fried and stuffed with a velvety cream cheese and sweet bananas. The maple syrup was questionably vanilla, but good nevertheless. I generally eat Raisin Bran for breakfast, so this was wonderfully decadent and a welcomed change of pace. The portion was too big for one sitting and I packed half to go.

The best way to experience Sabrina’s is with patience and a hearty appetite.

Restaurant Review

30 Mar 2007

Reading Terminal Market – Philadelphia

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The Astronomer, Luscious (introduction to come), Colton (see White Dog Cafe), Eve (Colton’s girl), and I met up at the Reading Terminal Market for an impromptu lunch last weekend. With so many choices available, we decided the best plan would be to split up, buy our food, and meet up at the Beer Garden to chow together. The Beer Garden was Colton’s idea.

Even though I frequent the market often for fresh produce at Iovine Brothers, I rarely patronize other vendors. I took this opportunity to try Little Thai Market. I’ve been scouring message boards and food websites trying to find decent Thai food in Philadelphia ever since I moved into town and had heard good things about this place. I ordered a Vegetarian Pad Thai ($5) because it is my favorite. The woman behind the counter tonged up some pre-made “plain” Pad Thai (noodles with sauce and tofu), tonged in some pre-stir fried vegetables, then popped the bowl in the microwave. After she nuked it, she added some fresh bean spouts, steamed broccoli, peanuts, and a lime wedge on top and passed it on to me.

The Pad Thai wasn’t horrible, just incredibly tasteless. The subtle sweetness and tanginess that makes Pad Thai delicious were completely absent. The flavors that were present stood out independently because the ingredients never melded during the cooking process. Nuking does not count as cooking.

Colton and Eve had a much better dining experience at The Original Turkey. Eve ordered the Turkey Platter ($8) consisting of roast turkey and three sides, while Colton opted for the Turkey Sandwich ($7). Colton enjoyed the sandwich very much; his favorite parts were the plentiful mayonnaise and turkey. Eve liked her Thanksgiving platter too–she said that the turkey was cooked very well and was tender and moist. Colton agreed, but thought the stuffing was too dry and the sides in general were unspectacular. Eve generally likes canned cranberry sauce, but didn’t care too much for the stuff dished up on her platter. She also mentioned that the lettuce leaf garnish was a nice touch, but not necessary and kind of took over the cranberry sauce. The gravy’s texture was not too runny, salty, or gel-like which suited Eve well.

The Astronomer headed over to Profi’s Creperie for a chicken and spinach crepe with pesto ($5.55). I had a couple bites and thought that it was fairly decent, but nowhere near as wonderful as the crepes served up at Beau Monde because the crepes at Profi’s are made with white or wheat flour rather than the traditional buckwheat. There was plenty of chicken and spinach (perhaps too much spinach for the Astronomer’s taste), but the pesto was faint. The Astronomer liked his choice and washed it down with some beer.

My friend Liana, who I refer to as Luscious, is visiting for a week from Hawaii. She picked up lunch at Mezze and Le Bus Bakery. From Mezze she chose three antipasto–marinated fresh mozzarella, marinated olives, and some Moroccan chicken. My friend is a foodie of few words. She said the antipasto were “not bad,” which basically meant they were good, but didn’t wow her. The almond croissant she picked up at Le Bus was dry and disappointing. She finds the almond croissants at Metropolitan Bakery vastly superior.

The selection of food available at the Reading Terminal Market is impressive, but the quality of some vendors is lacking. DiNic’s is far and away the best eatery in the market.

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Reading Terminal Market
12th & Filbert
Philadelphia, PA
Phone: 215-923-6175