Butcher & Singer Steakhouse – Philadelphia, PA

Butcher & Singer is the latest in a crop of high end steakhouses to open in Philadelphia.  Stephen Starr took the old location of Striped Bass and reworked it as a modern day steak and chop temple.  The concept and the meal work in this corner location, once the home of Butcher & Singer brokerage.

I was looking forward to this meal and I had a few minutes to kill at the bar before my dinner companion arrived.  The bloody mary I got was disappointing without much flavor (but a healthy amount of horseradish bits which I appreciated for texture).

After we were seated I took in the dining room.  Nothing too impressive here (though I did enjoy the oversized classic looking chandeliers.  I actually thought the theming, meant to capture the art deco styles of the 20’s and 30’s was not done very well.

Enough about the surrounding.  How about the food?  The food was superb.

Dock’s Oyster House – Atlantic City, NJ

I thought I had reviewed Dock’s Oyster House in Atlantic City before, but evidently I have not.

Simply put:  It is my favorite restaurant that does not specialize in steak.  (Peter Luger’s in New York (Brooklyn) and The Chophouse in Gibbsboro, NJ top the steak list.)

The short history:  Dock’s has been around 1897 serving classic seafood (fried and broiled shellfish and mild whitefish and, of course, oysters).  But this is not just your typical broiled and fried fish ship.  This is very, very nice restaurant with both modern food and the classics offered.

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Cheesesteaks

A new book we must get here at the Hungry Pilgrims is The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book. ($10.85 from Amazon.com).  This Philadelphia Inquirer write up includes 25 interesting little facts about Philadelphia’s signature sandwich.

The most surprising to me was that the Cheese Whiz we get at the store is inferior to the Cheese Whiz sold to restaurants.

What the eff?

Salon.com: The Best Meal You Ever Ate

I thought this was interesting.

Salon.com has an ongoing discussion about “the best meal you ever had”.

It can be found here:  http://www.salon.com/tt/best/2009/06/26/best/index.html

The best meal I ever ate is tough to pinpoint.  Every experience at Peter Luger’s in New York has been superb.  Johnny Carson said the best meal in his life was at Peter Luger’s.

But I think it would probably be the Chicago Steakhouse in Disneyland Paris.  The whole meal, capped by the best dessert I’ve ever had in my life (Profiteroles w/ hot chocolate sauce) was outstanding.  Every aspect of it just perfect.  This was in March 1999.  I still remember it ten years on.

Anyway, happy reading.

45 Philadelphia Cheesesteaks Ranked

I don’t get the desire to crap all over Pat’s and Geno’s in South Philly, the original cheesesteak mecca’s in my hometown, as I think both offer great tasting steak sandwiches.  In fact I love the steaks from both (but prefer Pat’s).  I also like my cheesesteaks with Cheese Whiz or Provolone but never, ever American.

So I’ve been meaning to post this ranking of 45 cheesesteaks from the Philadelphia Inquirer in April 2008.  I’ve never been to the #1 spot, John’s Roast Pork, but maybe some day I’ll try it.

I thought about this when I had a cheesesteak at Capone’s in East Norriton today and the roll ruined the whole sandwich for me (too soggy and soft).  A good cheesesteak is hard to find.

Enjoy.

Hightstown Diner – Hightstown, NJ

I happened upon the Hightstown Diner en route from New York City to Philadelphia.  Hunger hit and the Hightstown exit of the New Jersey Turnpike seemed as good as any place to get off and look for a place to eat.

I’m glad we did. 

After we were seated in this expanded original New Jersey diner I asked the waitress if there was something they were famous for.  She said immediately “the corned beef hash.”    Being a hash hound myself, always looking for a well done corned beef hash, I ordered it along with two eggs, sausage and toast.

Phillips Seafood – Philadelphia, PA in the Sheraton.

I first visited Phillips Seafood at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore back in 1991.  I recall the meal being very good and when Phillips replaced Shula’s Steak House in the Philadelphia Sheraton I was anxious to make the trip in town to try it out.  I am pleased to report the Philadelphia location is on par with it’s Baltimore counterpart in quality and service.

The Pub – Pennsauken, NJ

I have driven by The Pub in Pennsauken, NJ since as far back as I can remember, always wanting to try it, and for my 35th birthday a few friends who’d been there said “we’ll take you there”.

It was an experience.  The restaurant, it’s current incarnation built in the 50’s with six huge fired ovens in the center of a LARGE dining room (almost like a medieval dining hall).  It screams 50’s tacky and for that reason alone it was worth the trip.

The Broad Axe Tavern – Blue Bell, PA

The new Broad Axe Tavern is fresh off a multimillion dollar renovation.  The restaurant, dormant for the last half dozen or so years, has finally reopened with a menu that tries to be fresh while keeping a nod to the Inn’s historic past.

There are no remnants of the old Broad Axe, famous for it’s bar, it’s crabcakes and it’s fall off the bone ribs.

Ocean City Seafood Co. – Ocean City, NJ

We’ve resolved this year to eat out more and try new restaurants this summer at the Jersey shore.  Our first experience, at the new Ocean City Seafood Co. in Ocean City, NJ is an experience I hope we don’t duplicate or we’ll be back to cooking and ordering in.

Elvis’ Fools Gold Loaf

I’ve always been fascinated by Elvis’s horrid southern low and slow cooking diet.  It is not what killed him (prescription drug abuse did) but he would not have likely lived to see his 70’s eating the way he did.

That said, I’m a huge Elvis fan and own a bunch of cookbooks put out on his behalf included the coveted holy grail, the Presley Family Cookbook put out by his uncle Vester (who was a Graceland security guard) and one of his cooks, Nancy Rooks (the only one of Elvis’s cooks still alive).

While the pan fried peanut butter and banana sandwich gets all the headlines, Elvis professed the best sandwich he’d ever eaten was the Fool’s Gold Loaf sold by the Colorado Mining Company (long since out of business).  The full story of Elvis and the sandwich is here: Fool’s Gold Loaf.

The sandwich was pretty simple:  A loaf of italian bread is hollowed out, covered in two tablespoons of butter and placed in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  Fry up some bacon, a bunch of creamy peanut butter and grape jelly.  Cover the top half with jelly, bottom half with peanut butter and put still warm bacon in the center.  Slice and serve.

I always wanted to try this.  Tonight I did.  It was really good.  I’m not going to make it a regular thing, but maybe every August 16th…Elvis’s anniversary of departing to the great beyond.

Have a wonderful evening, King.

Eat Your Grandparents Diet; Live Longer

They smoked, they drank, they ate things with lots of butter and bacon fat and dinner was either beef, chicken or fish.   Sometimes pork or liver.

They did not know what balsamic anything was and while some of the crap they ate was gross, our grandparents learned about balanced meals and taking care of themselves in a much less neurotic, self-interested way.  You ate a meal with a protein, a starch and a vegetable because that was what a meal was and you put it on the table every day.

I took a nutrition class last summer (and highly recommend if you live in Southeastern PA you think about taking classes from Maura Manzo at Ryah in Conshohocken.   I learned a ton about food and how it effects us and what we need and don’t need.

I was interested in this article sent to me this morning by the Fatman because it delivers some of the same messages.  It’s a short read – enjoy.

Your Grandpa’s Diet Plan

Find It At Redner’s Market!

I made a pit stop today at Redner’s Warehouse Market.  It’s an independently owned (employee owned actually) grocery store that is billed as a no frills discount shop.

I have referenced on this blog before my ongoing search for Jelly Top Cookies, which disappeared from shelves around here about 5 or 6 years ago (when the locally owned Genuardi’s and Clemens chains were gobbled up by Super Fresh and Safeway).  Redner’s had a ready supply of them just as I remembered so I snatched them up.

Cherry Syrup  for drinks.  You get it at Diners that go for the old tym-e feel by making their own Cherry Coke or Cherry 7Up or whatever else you order with a shot of delicious cherry syrup.  I’ve looked for years for a comparable cherry syrup without buying a huge gallon jug of the stuff with a pump on top.  Redner’s had it right in the drink section.  Awesome.

Original Rangoon Co. Crab Rangoon.  I joined BJ’s Warehouse specifically because they sold this item.  Then, 5 months after I joined, they stopped carrying it and finding this brand has proved elusive at all the big grocery chains.  Thank God for Redner’s – they had ‘em two for $11.

Finally, Grape Nuts Flakes.  None of my grocery stores carry it anymore and the regular grape nuts are like eating lead bb’s to me.  My jaw actually hurts by the time I’m done eating a bowl.  The flakes were always a fave and Redner’s had ‘em.

So, if you live in the region and you’re looking for an oddball item, give Redner’s a shot.

H.I. Rib & Co., Plymouth Meeting, PA ** RESTAURANT CLOSED **

NOTE::  This restaurant closed in October 2009.

H.I. Rib & Co. replaced the beleaguered Lonestar Steak House on Ridge Pike in Plymouth Meeting a few months back.  This was my second visit, I took my mom because she loves ribs that aren’t spicy, and we both enjoyed our meal.

The menu is pretty diverse, offering a fair selection of entrees, sandwiches, appetizers and drinks both for light appetites and those looking for a big meal.  The meal starts with a wonderful bread basket with a sourdough loaf of bread and corn muffins.

Penang – Chinatown, Philadelphia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Penang is a place that was recommended to me in Chinatown by a friend who is easily wigged out sometimes by the unkempt appearance of restaurants in Philly’s Chinatown.  I finally got around to trying it last weekend and I was not disappointed.  He was right, it is very clean inside.

It is a chain, which is odd for Chinatown, with locations in Philadelphia, Boston and New York that features “Malaysian Cuisine”.  

We were seated quickly, without a reservation of any kind, at 8 pm on Saturday night.  Parking garages are plentiful in Chinatown, if a little expensive ($16-$20 for the evening).

I started off with a plate of fried appetizers consisting of shrimp, pork and tofu.  All of it was very good, though the tails were left on the shrimp and it was baked into some kind of bread so I had to pick at it before I would eat it (I don’t eat shells, sorry).  Unfortunately, the menu is not online and I didn’t bother to note the name of the dish.  It came with two sauces, one sweet and one a little spicy.  I enjoyed it.