PhillyLunchBox

Cafe Spice

Cafe Spice
35 S. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-627-6273

I made it back to Café Spice this past Sunday night, after staying away for several years (see "Appetizer-Gate” below). Aussie and I enjoyed it, including the décor, the service, and definitely the food.

The restaurant is just too new and nice and clean to remind me much about my journey to India this summer. I knew we weren’t in India when I used the bathroom at Café Spice – it didn’t actually smell like the hell-holes I pissed in throughout Bangalore, the "City of Gardens." I don’t think that even Sai Baba (aka "Fred 'Re-Run' Berry") could perform a miracle big enough to clean that place up.

Ah, India. What a trip. The poverty, the blight, the beggars – and that was just the ride through North Philly on the way to the airport!!

Anyway, Café Spice. One thing’s for sure – the food is the real deal, it’s tasty, spicy Indian food, as good as anything I’ve gotten in India or Nepal – and I love the food over there, maybe my favorite cuisine.

My chicken biryana rocked, and Aussie’s Nalli Ka Gosht was delicious – and they even made hers less spicy, as requested. Her dish was lamb - the menu says "marinated lamb shanks braised on a slow fire with whole spices." She picked it clean, took us about an hour to get through what we could.

As is normal at Indian places, the entrees came with a cup of “yogurt,” which is used to cool down your mouth from the hot spices. It’s not the Dannon-type yogurt that westerners are familiar with, it’s more of a curd-like, creamy salad dressing thingy. I like it a lot.

Oh – Appetizer-Gate!! Back in 1999, a dozen of us from the office took a colleague out for a going-away lunch at Café Spice. We asked if they had some appetizers to start us out with. They brought out two plates of sampler food, tasted real good – until we got the bill: $40 a plate, a total of $80 for both plates. The sampler plates weren’t actually on the menu, so they charged us whatever they could.

Dicks.

A couple people in the group argued when the bill came. I’m not even sure if we ended up paying the full $80, I just went outside with everyone else, vowing not to come back there. The whole thing was major cheesy. It kept me away all of these years.

The bill this time was $40, for the two of us, not too bad for Olde City, but obviously a bit much compared to the Indian buffets around town - many of which, by the way, have food that's just as good as Cafe Spice's.

Hamburger Mary's

Hamburger Mary's
1716 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 568-6969

I just saw a review today for Hamburger Mary's in Philadelphia, done by the Philadelphia Daily News' Sono Motoyama. I had been to Hamburger Mary’s just last Tuesday (11/23), a few days after the review appeared. Sono gives a nice background on the restaurant, which started back in 1972 in San Fransisco.

Aussie and I found that the fries do indeed suck here, and there weren’t that many on the plate (in this case, that was a good thing). The burgers were absolutely tasteless, and greasy as hell to boot. Not sure if they’re always this bad, maybe it was the night-before-Thanksgiving-getaway syndrome or something, who knows.

I doubt if it was related, but we even had major stomach pains about an hour later as went to ride the train out of Philly. I even had to make a mad dash to a Septa men’s room before getting on the train. Without that pit-stop, I’m not sure that I would have made it through the 50-minute train ride with my bowels intact.

But alas, the service at Hamburger Mary’s was really nice, and the bill served in the red pump is a cute thing. I can see how the atmosphere would be kind of fun when the place is crowded. I’ve actually been by this place when the wait for lunch was over 30 minutes. Amazing.

But yea, if you want a great burger with even better fries, go to Monk's.

Dalessandro's Steaks

Dalessandro's Steaks
Henry Ave. and Wendover St.
Philadelphia, PA 19128
215-482-5407

My Aussie friend just HAD to have a cheesesteak last Friday night. Well, she got one – one car accident and a kitchen full of mice later, that is…

I’ve been going to Dalessandro's for over 30 years now, and I always loved their sandwiches. We’ve even had family friends who fed Dalessandro's cheeseteaks to their dogs on a daily basis. My brother and I would often stop by Dalessandro's after spending all day at the Walnut Lane Golf Course collecting golf balls, playing some holes, and just running around the woods. So there’s definitely some nostalgia at Dalessandro's for me.

So many people swear by Dalessandro's, and they're on the Best Of Philly list alot – but I’m afraid that, based on my visits the past few years, I gotta give them the Big “O” for overrated. Their cheesteaks are just so hit-or-miss – One weekend I’ll get a soggy-rolled, tasteless cheesteeak, but then other times I’ll get the real deal – a totally yummy Philly cheesteak, with the dripping cheese, fresh Amoroso roll, tasty sauce – and sometimes it’s even served with a smile.

Friday night, my pizza steak was somewhere in the middle – not bad, but not the Dale’s I grew up with. For starters - Where the hell was the cheese? It was so dry, even though it was pizza steak. The meat was just a pile of mush, not as tasty as it usually is, and the texture and look of it just weren’t too appetizing.

And what’s with the overkill with the hot peppers? We got them on the side, there were like eleven in the bag, they were hot as hell which I like, but we only had two sandwhiches. Are people really eating five or six hot peppers for each sandwhich? Their colons must love them.

I didn’t even get a chance to start eating my pizza steak until we were parked on the shoulder of Henry Avenue past Andorra Shopping Center, waiting for a cop to come to write up our fender-bender. After 19 years of driving with no accidents – not even one scratch – I got bumped on the side by a nice gent from Lancaster who was swerving to avoid an idiot making a left turn.

Well, I pulled over, made sure everyone was ok, called the fuzz, then watched Aussie sit in the car and calmly continue eating her cheesesteak hoagie. I took a bite of her sandwhich – so dry, hardly had any taste, not sure if it was the accident shock or what, but her sandwhich just sucked – So I decided to unwrap mine and dig in right there on the shoulder of the road.

I finished up my pizza steak at my house – but only after we walked in and found a couple of mice on the countertop eating the rat poison bait like it was a strawberry cheescake. Grossed out to the max, we retreated to the living room and finished up our Dalessandro's sandwhiches – and I even ate a hot pepper whole, what a rush...

David’s Mai Lai Wah Restaurant

David’s Mai Lai Wah Restaurant
1001 Race St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-627-2610

I stopped by David’s Mai Lai Wah Restaurant in Chinatown earlier this week. It hasn’t changed at all since I started coming here in 1997 (or thereabouts). I used to work around the corner on Market St., so David’s was always within shouting distance when I had the Chinese food jones.

I had the Chicken with Garlic Sauce, my favorite dish at David’s. Not as spicy as I remember it being back then, but still decent. My Aussie friend had the Shrimp and Mixed Vegetables (I learned from her that shrimp are always called “prawns” in Australia. But - When in Chinatown, do what the Chinese do, I guess, so it was skrimps all the way!!)

One thing I like is the display of ducks hanging in the window. I guess on one level it’s kind of gross, especially to vegetarians and animal people, but ya just FEEL like you’re in Chinatown when you see that. I’m not even a big duck fan – the only time I’ve had it was at Marigold’s Kitchen.

Another neat thing is the huge, round table at the back of the restaurant. I like sitting near it, because it always seems that the workers are always using it to do some type of prep work – like making wontons, or like tonite – to break the ends off of a huge-ass pile of string beans.

The owner David wasn’t there that night. He’s always so friendly, so accommodating, no matter how many people in your party, or how long you want to linger at the table. As usual, there were more non-Asians than Asians there – not always the best sign to some people, I guess, but there were still a bunch of Asians eating there during our 2-hour stay.

Citypaper actually had David’s as the Best Chinese Food in 2000 in its Reader’s Choice award. And it's still worth a visit these days too.

Franzone's Pizzeria

Franzone's Pizzeria
200 W Ridge Pike
Conshohocken, PA 19428
610-825-0323

I stopped by Franzone's Pizzeria in Conshohocken Saturday night, to pick up a pie with my Aussie friend. It's my favorite pizza, bar-none, and I wanted her to try it too. She did, loved it, best pizza she's ever had.

Well, while futzin' around the internets today, I found another right-on critique of Franzone's Pizza, on a message board devoted to Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five fame. The post was done by OneDown, there's not much I would add to his critique (except to tell him two words: spell-checker!!):

Theres this pizza place near me, its called franzone's. they have this pizza, its the normal diameter and thickness of a pizza, but something about it.. I could, and have eaten a whole large pizza. The crust is perfect, not too thin or thick...the cheese is a little greasy, but not too much or in a bad way, it goes down eeeeaaaaasy...oh, and the best part is the sauce it is so sweeet. the whole thing is fucking awesome.

I'm down with that, OneDown!!

Marigold Kitchen

Marigold Kitchen
501 South 45th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-222-3699

Mr. Lunchbox and I had dinner at Marigold Kitchen in West Philadelphia this Tuesday evening. It was a big blowout meal, shared by a group of folks in the food biz. Really enjoyable company, great food, unreal service and atmosphere – it’s what we call a home-run in the field of fine dining.

We tried everything on the wide-ranging menu. We ended up passing each plate around so that all seven of us there could taste each dish. We checked our coats and communicable diseases at the door, so it was full-steam ahead on the taste-testing.

My favorite flavor was the miso-braised beef shin which sat on top of some jasmine rice (along with some radishes). It came with the grass-fed strip steak, done medium-rare. I like red meat well-done, but I heard that it’s simply tragic to cook it anything other than medium-rare, which is cool, I liked the meat a lot this way on Tuesday.

The various wines brought by one of our dining companions tasted really good. I’m not sure if I can even usually tell the difference between great wine and horse piss, but on Tuesday I totally loved the wine there. And I’m still getting the hang of the swirl-and-sniff technique, so thanks to one of our companions for the illustration.

I gotta admit, me and Mr. Lunchbox didn’t have much to contribute to the culinary conversation during the evening. I mean, some of these folks breathe, sleep, and of course eat this stuff, and here we were, a couple of cock-punches snagging a free meal and getting a nice buzz off of some good vino.

I guess that in social situations like this, you just gotta talk about what you know, but somehow the topic of teen porn websites never came up, so we were kind of at a loss for material much of the time (“Oh yes, the halibut IS delighftul...By the way, anyone seen the latest spread on Teen Ass.com? Very tastefully done, I thought…”)

But hey, I guess we ain’t that bad here on the Box, because someone at the table at Marigold’s actually made reference to one of our recent reviews. Unreal – some people actually read the bs reviews on this site. Well, with him on board, that brings our readership totals to 9 people….(How am I doin’, mom??)

Anyway, one of my other favorite entrees was the duck breast – so tender and tasty, with foi gras rillette, radicchio, and roasted figs. I also loved the romaine salad, especially because they give you a 4-minute egg with it, I just love eggs, I could eat them at just about every meal.

The desserts were totally yummy. The lavender-honey ice cream was perhaps the biggest hit among all of us. It sat on top of a pignole cake with figs and lemon (whew, thank god I took a menu home, I would have never rememered these names!).

One of the nicest things about the evening was the host. This guy is awesome. He’s a young guy who recently was in the D.C. area. He explained to us about the history of Marigold’s, the location, his background, chef/owner Steven Cook, and of course the menu. It’s always refreshing to listen to someone talk about something they truly love – and it was so obvious that he loves food, wine, great dining experiences, his restaurant’s location, and of course Marigold Kitchen’s place in that world.

Marigold Kitchen is in a beautiful Victorian house, right on the corner. It's a quaint little area - although I did have a car stolen (my friend's) a few years ago that was parked near 47th and Hazel. But no worry - The atmosphere inside is especially warm and and relaxing, the lighting is soft - it seems like it would be a great date place. And they're having a prix fixe event on November 23rd & 24th: 7 courses for $45 per head, I think we might head back there for that...

Viva Cuba Libre

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar
10 S. 2nd St.
Phiadelphia, PA 19106
215-627-0666

I stopped by Cuba Libre in Olde City last Friday Night. I’ve only been there in summers when the place is packed on Fridays, so I was a little surprised to see it kind of dead when my friend and I walked in at 7pm.

Whenever I come to Cuba Libre, I’m reminded of my puertorriquena friend. One summer night she had just gotten home after driving around 2nd Street. Not one to hang out in Olde City much, she asked me "who were all those white folks salsa-ing on the sidewalk on 2nd Street!!" You mean Cuba Libre? Yes, that’s the place, damn - That place was hot!!

Si, senorita, Cuba Libre es muy caliente indeed...The food’s really good, the service is even better, and the place has a sexual atmosphere that one seems to find in most Latin food places. It did heat up there eventually during my visit last week - by 8pm or so the bar was full, there weren’t many open tables, and my friend and I were chowing down on our food, watching the nicely-dressed crowd file in.

I ordered the Arroz con Pollo – it’s a favorite of mine, both for taste and nostalgia, since it was the first dish I ordered on my my first visit to Latin America – Costa Rica a couple years ago. At the time, my Spanish sucked, still does mostly, so I picked something that a) I could pronounce, and b) I knew what it was. So I usually, eventually try the arroz con pollo when I go to any Latin place.

In Costa Rica, as soon as I got out the words "arroz con pollo," the waitress at that little cafe turned and walked away immediately without saying a word, so I just sat there like a douche-bag and wondered if she had even heard me. She did, then a minute or so later she brought out a huge plate of rice and chicken, which I wolfed it down with my café con leche.

I had no trouble ordering my arroz con pollo at Cuba Libre. In fact, the server was really helpful, explained the specials well, let us take our time and go through all of the yummy dishes. They also do that thing where they fold your napkin real fancy when you get up to take a piss.

Along with my arroz con pollo (I like writing “arroz con pollo” as much as I like saying it – it rolls right off the keyboard!!), I had a side order of my favorite Latin dish – fried sweet plantains (youse gringos can call them "maduros"). I could eat a barrell of those things – they have nice ones at Cousin’s Super Market on 5th street.

My Aussie friend had the "Ensalada del País." It’s a salad with greens, tomatoes, some watercress, and a red wine vinaigrette with some light cheese on top. She tells me that she kind of lives on salads these days, and that this one at Cuba Libre was a tasty one, healthy too!!

The bill was around $45 and included a couple of drinks and an appetizer. They give you the bill in a Cuban cigar box, neat. Not a bad deal overall, for the great food and atmosphere at Cuba Libre.

Oh yea – our server told us that Cuba Libre is also opening a new place at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City this fall. He handed us a card to fill out so that we can get "invited" to the opening, so maybe we’ll check it out. As Cuba Libre says on their website, the new location will "…feature the same inventive Latin cuisine, extensive drink menu & rum list and Cuban coffee as the Philadelphia location, under the supervision of renowned Chef Guillermo Veloso."

You go Guillermo!!

Kildare's Pub in Manayunk

Kildare's Pub
4417 Main Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215-482-7242

I went to Kildare's Pub in Manayunk last Thursday. They advertise that they are the "Area's Only Authentic Irish Pub". I've been meaning to stop by for a while, because I heard that a young-old friend, a fellow Manayunker, was running the place, and the food and drinks and scene were neat.

I got there at like 6, had some clam chowder and Amstels at the bar for a while, before my gal-pal arrived. There were tons of clams, very nice, overall a nice hearty soup for the fall. The bartenders were great, a couple of young women who were friendly, fast, and attentive. They even brought me a loaf of bread with the soup, some yummy whole-grain job.

Kildare's has specials each nite of the week. I just looked today at their website and opened their .pdf calendar, and I noticed that on Thursdays (the nite I was there) they have $5 Car Bombs - never heard of them, but they sound like a blast, I might try one next time. They also have lots of live music, including Irish music on Mondays.

After my friend arrived, we got a quiet table in the back, had some beers, and I had a chicken sandwhich. I wasn't too crazy about the bread they use, it was kind of dry and too puffy, and not too tasty. But again, it was all served with a smile.

We left at about 11, through the mini-dance floor and the really big crowd of people. The place was packed, lots of young, hot chicks, around college-age, including two dancing together a bit provacatively as all of the letches porkchopped them from the peanut-gallery. My gal-pal told that the big crowd wasn't unusual, it's jammed most nites of the week.

So yea, it's nice to have another nice place to go to in Manayunk. It's about time my Irish people there got a real Irish pub.....May you be half an hour in Heaven Before the Devil knows you’re pissing on someone's sidewalk in 'Yunk and they're gonna call the cops!!