b.b.go! coming soon (apparently) as a fusion rice bar

:: b.b.go :: 

Address: 18th St and Ludlow, Center City.  COMING SOON.

Center City, it looks like we're getting a bibimbap haven by the name of b.b.go. at 18th & Ludlow. And soon! Korean food has crossed over; it's so totally mainstream now. IMO, the two things that helped to accomplish this were:

1. The accessibility and availability of BBQ grill meats like kalbi and bulgogi, and
2. Bibimbap - aka rice in a hot stone pot with meats and veggies all mixed together for a flavor explosion custom spiced to your liking with the accompanying hot red pepper paste sauce.

Can't be certain, but it looks like there will soon be a Philly eatery where you can get rice in a hot pot (or cold if that's your preference), and I suspect you will be able to customize your veggie and meat preferences.

As a Korean, and a lover of all things rice-y and meaty, these are the things I'm hoping b.b.go will include:

• runny fried egg to top off your rice, veggie, meat concoction
• interesting and inventive combinations (to really live up to the promise of "fusion" part of "fusion rice bar." Maybe like bacon and jicama or something, I dunno. Heh.
• other fried rice dishes like kimchi fried rice or spicy pork belly fried rice

Stay Tuned. I want. Now.

ADSUM (it's so HOT right now) Brunch and a weekend recap

This weekend was like an MK FriendFest; somehow many stars aligned and I ended up catching up with a bunch of very dear friends I hadn't seen in awhile.

WEEKEND RECAP
Friday: HH with J Sho, fish tacos and bourbon, drinks at Locust Rendezvous - the ultimate dive bar - with Jessica, Mogg and other HS buds, swooning over a fleeting crush on our bar server (what? she was adorable and edgy at the same time!), creamy drinks and more bourbon pours.

• Jose Pistolas - GREAT BEER selection, awesome bartenders, okay table waitstaff and forgettable food. J and I were super excited about the fact that they had 3 different kinds of fish tacos on the menu (fried grouper, grilled mahi mahi, seared tuna), but we ordered the grouper and mahi and both landed somewhere in the range of okay to bad. She didn't even finish hers! We also got a half order of the nachos and I can see the potential, but they weren't particularly great. However, since we didn't get them with meat or guac, I concede that they could be awesome and we just didn't get them the right way. 
• Locust Rendezvous - This is the kind of place that can either by depressing or awesome - I think it would mostly depend on your mood/state of mind. I found myself totally digging the chill, dark and bare-bones bar feel of it. Plus, our hot server was really attentive, funny and totally engaging, which really helps when you're surrounded by sad, frown-faced old dudes with scotch on the rocks. The most notable event of this part of the evening was that Jessica can now drink White Russians and not vomit. YAY!  

Saturday: brunch with one of my favorite couples/family (the DINGS + 1 Erik), SYTYCD finale on DVR, Step Up 3D (aka the worst movie of all time) with "ChiLex," a beer and snackies at Varga Bar, impromptu dinner at Garces Trading Company with the Caldwells including Baby Caldwell, then Grace's bday drinks at Lucy's.

• Adsum Brunch - full review below
• Step Up 3D - ok really... I know you may laugh, but I was really excited about this movie. Say what you will about the Step Up movies, but no matter how corny they are, they're still enjoyable. NOT really so with this installment. It felt like it was just an hour and 40 minutes of terrible scripting, a crude mechanism for showcasing the effects of 3D without actually paying what's due to the integrity of awesome choreography. A total hot mess. Sad. ChiLex (I think I still prefer ChiFong), Soopah and I basically just giggled the entire time.  
• Varga Bar - this is the best place, period. But, also the best place to wait until your table is ready at Garces Trading Co! Thank Goodness they have good IPAs on tap again. Was a bit disappointed at the lack thereof the last time I was there. Plus, hello - how can the fall off the bone wings always be so consistently good and arrive at your table so quickly? HOW, Varga bar, HOW?
• Garces Trading Company - you know how I feel about this place. Those feelings still stand. Plus, any dinner with adorable Baby Caldwell is going to be a good time. I will note that this place and our server really surprised me because they were SO adept at handling a toddler at the table - super kind and attentive, and great about handling his egg allergy as well. It was Julie and Jim's first time here and they really enjoyed the prosciutto pizza and scallops. Thanks for dinner, guys!   

As you can see, Baby Caldwell loves bread. Everyone should it bread this way - Pure Joy.  

Sunday: eat, sleep, TV, repeat.

These full weekends really make me appreciate all that Philadelphia has to offer. I sit back and remember that I'm super fortunate to have the friends and connections that I have here - and I acknowledge that having lived in the same town for most of my life does have some benefits.

So, right - BRUNCH REVIEW.

:: Adsum ::
address: 700-702 South 5th St, Philly
what we ate: chorizo corn dogs, omelet, egg pancetta and potato hash
Located at the corner of 5th and Bainbridge, Adsum is one of the new, "hot," restaurants right now. You can't look through food blogs, news or twitter without seeing several mentions of this place. It's not surprising since they just opened their doors a few weeks ago and Exec Chef Matt Levin is of Lacroix fame. You can see from the creative and adventurous menu that he has the goods to back up his pedigree.

Lately, Soopah and I have been making an effort to hit up as many great brunch spots as possible so we knew this was a must hit place. What cemented Adsum as our brunch for this weekend was the Foobooz post from Friday with the full menu... I'm fairly certain "UHM, does that say CHORIZO CORNDOGS?!" was our immediate reaction. What made the experience even better was that my very dear friends Michelle, Kwan and Erik just so happened to be in Philly for the weekend and were planning on joining us for brunch.

We arrived a good 15 minutes late and found my awesome friends sitting at an outdoor table, on the shaded side of Bainbridge, Slyfox Pale Ale, Mimosa and Porter on the table, aviators on, just being cool and waiting for us. <3 these guys. So we sit down, order a dogfish 90 and a mimosa, and immediately tell our server what we want to eat and so brunch begins. Mind you, the point of this last paragraph (other than to share how awesome these guys are), was to mention that Adum has a great beer/drink selection. :)      

ricotta beignets: vanilla + strawberry marmalade

Beignets are this French, fried dough concoction - usually rolled/covered in sugar... so essentially, a DOUGHNUT. Which is primarily why I'm not really much of a fan. However, these beignets were really delicious. Amazingly, the dough tasted light and buttery and crumbly in the perfect way, but at the same time had this rich denseness that was bursting with flavor. It was probably a bit sweet for a starter, but I'd definitely recommend as a dessert. 

chorizo corndogs: fried hen eggs + black beans + cilantro crema

Clearly, this was the dish that I was excited about - and apparently so was the rest of our table. Michelle, Kwan and I all ordered the corndogs and we were not disappointed. The breading was crumbly and crispy - and the chorizo sausage was spicy and salty. The cilantro cream was a nice bright counter flavor to the heat of the chorizo and the beans helped to settle all the flavors down. The fried eggs were perfectly cooked and was delicious with each bite of corndog. I don't know if this was a perfect dish though - I mean, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I don't think I'd order it again. I wish the chorizo would have been a bit more... moist, perhaps? It was quite crumbly and I thought maybe it was the round shape of the corndog that wasn't optimal. I think because they were basically corndog balls, the chorizo to cornbread batter ratio were off towards the center. But yeah, I'm really nitpicking here. 

poached eggs + pancetta + shallot-potato hash + hollandaise

SOOOOOO GOOD. I was surprised but the shallot-potato hash seems like it's their potato mainstay - like Adsum's version of home fries - and it is ridiculously good. The potato is shredded and formed into a triangle of awesomeness. There were pancetta pieces throughout  (of course I wished there was more) and the eggs were placed on top. The poached eggs were a tiny bit overcooked, but still really tasty so I would imagine the perfect execution of this dish would make it even better. We were surprised to find a relatively thick layer of caramelized onions between the potato and eggs, but they really added that extra something to the dish that took it to another level.       

omelet: heirloom tomato + chimichurri + farmhouse cheddar

I didn't try this, but Erik said it was quite tasty. It also came with the potato hash YUM! Plus, I love anything with farmhouse cheddar. 

OVERALL, I liked this place a lot, and the menu items are definitely the draw (though the interior decor and outside dining are quite nice and memorabl), but definitely on the pricey side. With the mimosas, beers and food, our bill racked up pretty quickly. Besides, I wouldn't say it even makes my top 5 brunch places in Philly, BUT it was extremely solid and makes me look forward to when we return for dinner.  

he brings you CHEEZ!

So, if you are a big food follower (read: food twitter nerd), you may have heard about the GRILLED CHEESE guy, "Ronnie" in NYC. He has been featured all over the NY food blogosphere for delivering his hot, delicious grilled cheese concoctions to various street corners all over the city.

Well, Philly - we have our very own "Ronnie" (is it sad that Ronnie always makes me think of the Jersey Shore? I feel I should be ashamed of this association, but alas, I'm not), and  today marks the first day of deliveries.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is what "i bring you cheez" is all about.

1. Dude updates his twitter feed with his daily grilled cheese sandwich menu availability. 
2. You tweet, email or text your desired sandwich and quantity to Dude. 
3. Dude tweets, emails or texts you back to confirm.
4. Dude makes fancy pants grilled cheese sandwiches.
5. Dude delivers them to you - as long as you're in Center City, Old City, U-city, Nolibs (yea, so all of Philadelphia, basically).   

On the DL and delivered to your door. Prices apparently change based on the ingredients used. 

For example, today's menu included a) Roasted Plum and Gouda/Fontina blend and b) Chorizo and Oaxacan (Mexican mozzarella) - both $5 a piece. Interesting, no? 

I ate the roasted plum version today. YUM, buttery crispy sourdough (I think) bread with tart plum slices and creamy flavorful gouda and fontina cheeses.... 

I'm not sure if this will be a daily delivery system, but you can always find out by checking Dude's twitter feed, apparently. 

How to order from Dude: 

Twitter: @ibringyoucheez

Email: ibringyoucheez[at]gmail.com

Gotta have that chorizo and oaxacan next time. God I love me some chorizo... hear it was delicioussssssss.

BTW, the fact that we have our own GRILLED CHEESE guy totally supports the fact that Philly is a LEGIT food town. But we all know that already, right?  

the reason to go to SMITH's is...

.... THIS GUY!

Meet G! He is one of this fair city's best bartenders and he makes Smith's in Center City the place to go every Thursday and Friday. Tough, good-looking dude and he is uber friendly, pours drinks with the quickness, flashes sick tattoos, and brings the wit and perceptive observations.

Smiths is on 19th St, between Chestnut and Market and is yuppie central - largely afterwork HH crowds from the nearby high rises (so much Brooks Brothers you will drown in it), but they have great drink and food specials and is a pretty chill bar. Plus, like I said G works there! If I had to say, I'd call it "upscale pub" I guess? Very upscale... hahaa hence the YUPPIES, but still a worthy stop. And if ever there were a yuppie antidote, it'd be this guy.

G is a regular renaissance man; he does everything! Stop in and ask him about his helicopter flying or snowboarding.

Anyway, the bar/restaurant is made up of 2 decently sized rectangular rooms that are connected, with a back room with a pool table in the left bar. (But G works on the right side!). There isn't anything particularly notable about the food or beers on tap here, but the food is solid and consistently executed. It's a great go-to place to drop in with your coworkers when you're looking for a chill spot to share a drink before you catch your commuter train home.

As for the food specials, they have quesadillas and boneless chicken wings at discounted prices (I think half off?) between 5-7pm on weekdays.    

Mizu Pleasu

The galpals and I hit up Mizu for a quick dinner tonight. J. Gigs had found this tiny Rittenhouse area eat-in/take-out Japanese restaurant when she had been living a few blocks from it. Mizu is very small and casual, but still clean and welcoming enough that sitting down for dinner is still quite pleasant.

J. Gigs had been talking up the HweDupBap and sushi rolls from Mizu for weeks, and it's pretty rare to find good hwedupbap in the city, so we knew we had to have it! So, of course, 3 out of the 4 of us had the HweDupBap and we shared a monstrous sushi roll. BTW, hwedupbap is a Korean dish similar to chirashi, in that it has sashimi layered over rice, but there a quite a few differences between the two dishes, including:

• chirashi has sushi vinegared rice where as hwedupbap has plain rice (that sometimes has a bit of sesame oil)
• chirashi usually has many different types of sashimi layered on top, but hwedupbap is generally just fluke or tuna (or both)
• chirashi is usually eaten with soy sauce and wasabi, but hwedupbap is mixed in with a spicy tart and tangy hot pepper paste. 
• hwedupbap also has shredded veggies like lettuce, sesame leaves, radish, cabbage, carrots, that you mix in with the rice and fish.

YUM. So as a korean, I prefer the spicy, crunchy mixture of hwedupbap over chirashi any day.

:: Mizu :: 

address: 133 South 20th St. Philly

what we ate: hwedupbap + magma roll

HweDupBap: rice, fluke, salmon, tuna, flounder, salmon roe, lettuce, sesame leaf, carrots, radish, apples, cucumbers, imitation crabmeat, chojjang (red pepper paste sauce)
I am pretty sure I'm missing some of the veggies included but yeah it was fan-TASTIC. The fish was super fresh and chopped into cubes that were the perfect bite-size morsel and the veggies were shredded fine enough to make everything blend together perfectly. I kinda wish it came with a bowl of miso soup, which is what I'm used to, but other than that, it was soooo good. Plus, I felt like I was being healthy! Win!

Magma Roll: rice + nori + spicy tuna + mango + spicy mayo + jalapeno, crunch, scallions
This was a HUGE roll that had so much flavor and texture and it was wonderful. The jalapeno and spicy mayo gave this good heat, but it was subtle, not really overpowering.

I enjoyed Mizu so much that I will have to try to come up with a reason why I shouldn't head there every night for dinner.
The menu also had bulgogi/beef over rice bowls, as well as a wide variety of sushi and sashimi offerings. Honestly, their rolls all looked very interesting and creative. As an added bonus, for your non-fish liking friends, Mizu has a pretty good selection of veggie only rolls as well.

Galpal Ladies - thanks for a lovely meal and the chatties!

the end of an ERA at Yaki Tuesdays

My friends and I have been longtime fans of Yakitori Boy. Every Tuesday (and sometimes Wednesday, Friday, Saturday too) our self-titled HH (happy hour, DUH) crew would meet to lament, to laugh, to smacktalk, to drink ... and to SING! Our regular weekly attendance helped us become friends with the Yaki bar staff - Cindy, Ryu, Janny... and most beloved of all - JOSE. Soon, one of our own, Syl, even joined that elite group. Ah yes, the golden days of Yaki Tuesdays.

But ALAS, it's the changing of the guard. Yakitori Boy has new management in the upstairs bar... and... I DON'T THINK I LIKE IT.

Jose was the linchpin of the Yaki Tuesday Happy Hour Fun Time. He represented everything that is RIGHT and GOOD about great bar management - friendly, totally took care of his regulars, super fair, extremely fun and always willing to jump on top of the bar and sing (shout?) a roaring rendition of GASOLINA. Just to give you an example of his awesomeness, Jose gave us a plate of "fried boneless chicken finger thingies" (aka tatsuta age) with a candle in it when we dropped by Yaki to celebrate Soopah's bday - just because he knew we loved that dish and ordered it almost every week.

C'mon... that's good. RIGHt?!

Jose left Yaki to pursue more lucrative ventures in suburban Philly, and his exit coincided with a mass exodus of those familiar faces... goodbye bartenders. Now, Syl is the only face we know - and it's a great face (we love her), but it's definitely a huge SHIFT.

Because of these changes, and the fact that we have newly discovered love for South Philly and craft beer bars all over town, we hadn't been to Yakitori Boy in quite some time. Well, we went last night and were reminded of how much has truly changed.

Upon arrival, we were asked to check any large bags/handbags we may have. This was VERY upsetting to me. I was appalled that I had to now hand someone my messenger bag purse in order to gain entry to our one-time weekly spot. I tried to protest and asked if this was necessary, to which the girls responded "oh yes, new policy. Don't worry, it's for your safety, really." * hate *  I pulled out my blackberry, my wallet, my other blackberry (shuttup) - the handful of necessities - and reluctantly handed them over to the girl at the desk. What was even more infuriating was that once I made it upstairs, I found that they were sort of haphazardly enforcing this policy - every group seemed to have at least a handful of people who had been given the right to keep their purses.

Hanging out felt different too. For our group, last night was almost like a reunion since many of us hadn't seen each other in awhile. Most of the usual players were in attendance... and it should have felt like coming home. But it didn't. To me, it felt like a shell of its former glory.

Sure, the Tuesday $1 yakitori skewers, cheap beer specials and hilariously AWFUL karaoke singing will continue to give us a reason to return to Yakitori Boy - but it will never again be the home it was to us before. I miss those days.

* moment of silence for those glory days *
     

CONTENDER, battle of the Korean Fried Chicken

Okay so we had been reading about the KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN thursday night special at Meritage for weeks now and yes yes yes it made us drool every time because:

1. This is the year of fried chicken (didn't you know?!)
2. I've had enough fried food to recognize good ones and these sounded soooo promising
3.  HELLO it's KOREAN-style and like duh I am gonna be partial to this.
4. Did I mention it was something FRIED? 

So, last Thursday, my partner in crime J. Gigs and I went to Meritage to try this much hyped Korean Fried Chicken. We spent the days before our dinner date obsessing over how this chicken would compare to all the other fried chicken dishes that have come before it... RAH, Cafe Soho, Memphis Taproom, South Philly Taproom (wouldn't it be great if I had been a good blogger and updated the posts about all those places already?!)... but of course, we knew that it'd likely be very different from anything else we had tasted before. And yes, we suspected it'd be different than the korean fried chicken we were familiar with. 

Off we went. 

:: Meritage ::

address: 500 South 20th St. Philadelphia

what we ate: Korean Fried Chicken special + Spring Vegetable Risotto 

Well, first of all, it's a really good deal. $25 for 5-6 pieces of fried chicken (they are mostly thighs so pretty big portion) + 1 20oz can of sapporo beer + 3 small side dishes. So dinner for 2 at $25 isn't bad at all.

Korean Fried Chicken: sauteed spinach dish + asian slaw + pickled daikon/carrot slices 

The chicken was incredibly juicy and tender, but not greasy AT ALL, which is almost surprising since that's what you expect of fried chicken sometimes. The batter was medium thickness and delicately crunchy which worked really well for chicken pieces that size.

The sauce is billed as "a sweet tangy spicy korean bbq" (I may be paraphrasing heh) and I'd say it is indeed all of those things. If you're familiar with korean sauces, it was like a combination of red pepper paste (gohchujang) and siracha with maybe a few other seasoning things. Flavor-wise, it was very satisfying - lots of flavors and they worked well with the sesame oil tossed spinach, pickled daikon and carrot slices, and sesame oil/vinegar dressed cabbage slaw.

Where some korean fried chicken purists may take issue is that it is very different from the likes of Bon Chon Chicken, or what you can find in the motherland. Well, what I'd say to that is DUH, it's not supposed to be an exact replication... It's an interpretation and it was tasty.

And btw why does fried food and beer go so well? The pairing of the complimentary sapporo is genius.

Spring Vegetable Risotto: risotto + zucchini + squash + corn + mushrooms  

The fried chicken special is meant to be a dish for 2 people and that should have been enough. But, we are biggies and foodies and like to try a lot of things, so we couldn't stop ourselves from ordering the Spring Veggie Risotto that was another one of the specials for the evening. 

MY GOD was it good. I actually enjoyed the risotto even more than the chicken. It had the freshest veggies - mushrooms, zucchini, squash, and corn - and it was all cooked so perfectly. The risotto had all the  crunchiness, tender sweetness, savoryness (I can make up words, let it go) that I would want spring risotto to have.

As for decor, I liked meritage a lot. It is very comfortable and home-y, like your friend's parents invited you over for dinner. The service is great as well.

NEED to go back for their wednesday night Korean Taco special soon....

Oh, and as promised, receipt of the total cost!