Cuba Libre: Brunch Without Borders

Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary of serving Cuban food and beverages in Old City, and they're celebrating with a revamp of the menu after Chef Guillermo Pernot recently spent time in Cuba cooking with friends and chefs, bringing back recipes and inspiration.

It's been over 5 years since I've eaten at Cuba Libre, so I jumped at the chance when the restaurant invited me to join them for a bloggers brunch to sample their new Brunch Without Borders menu.
The Brunch Without Borders menu features 30 small plates ranging from breakfast staples like French toast to traditional Cuban taro root fritters, and just about everything else you could ever want for brunch, all with Cuban flare.

For $25 you can sample as many small brunch plates as you want until 1:30pm. Conditions of the unlimited Brunch Without Borders are that all guest at the table must participate, and bags of leftovers are not allowed. If you're not feeling quite so hungry, you are free to order a la cart from the menu until 2:30pm.

The brunch menu is broken down into four sections: pescados, carne, vegetales, and sopas y otros cosas. There are plenty of dishes for a vegetarian to choose from without feeling limited.

Our server recommended about 5 plates per person, but, of course, if you're doing the unlimited brunch you can order as many as you like. Our server also stating that the service would be paced so that all of the plates did not come out at once, so if you're feeling too full and realize you over ordered, you can call it quits. While not all of the plates came out at once, four dishes landed at the table to start, and I already felt overwhelmed with the pacing of the dishes.Cuba Libre has many rum drinks and tropical cocktails, as well as mimosas and bloody marys (drinks aren't included in the $25 brunch), but we chose to keep the imbibing healthy with a sampler of aqua frescas. Small glasses of fresh passion fruit, mamey, guanabana, lulo, and guava juices arrived in a cute blue wooden crate. Perfect for the indecisive, or those who want it all.
The corn pancakes (sans bacon) were my favorite dish, despite the fact that I rarely order or truly enjoy pancakes at restaurants. The fluffy pancakes tasted for the most part like standard pancakes, and only slightly of corn, but the dollop of sweet mango butter and slightly bitter rum molasses syrup jazzed up a brunch standard. If you like mineral-y syrups like cane syrup, sorghum, or molasses, you'll love these pancakes.

Note to deal-seekers: these pancakes ($6) are larger than they appear, and, honestly, this dish alone would have sufficed if you want to keep brunch to a reasonable amount of food.
My second favorite dish was the Huevo Habanero. Despite the name, the poached egg in enchilada sauce with grilled corn salsa is not a mouth burner, but a pleasantly balanced savory dish with just a hint of heat. We just wished for more subtly sweet, spongy, Monterey Jack cheese arepas to sop up the sauce.The Cuban chocolate waffle with bananas, dried cherries, whipped cream, and vanilla syrup was one of the boy's favorite dishes (mine, too) even though the dried cherries could have been a little more hydrated to make them softer, and we wanted a bit more syrup. The edges of the waffle were crispy, and the waffle was chocolate. Chocolate! Enough said.The boy's other favorite dish was the African adobo-rubbed charred tuna with pickled cucumbers and avocado salsa surrounded by Meyer lemon-curry oil. I can't comment on this dish, but it made the boy's top two, so there's that.Another dish I can't comment on is the mojito cured salmon and Boursin cheese grilled “Medianoche” sandwich with grape tomatoes and pickled cucumber salad. While the boy said the sandwich was perfectly fine, and resembled a grilled cheese in preparation crossed with a finger sandwich in fillings, he just wasn't feeling it (I bet he'd be feeling it at midnight!). The slightly sweet and salty pickled cucumbers and tomatoes were gobbled up, though.Similarly, I felt the hazelnut and almond encrusted brioche French toast topped with a dense and rich Frangelico-Mascarpone, strawberries, and strawberry-honey drizzle was perfectly fine, but I just wasn't feeling it. The sum of the parts of fancy French toast at almost every eatery just never seems to add up to my high expectations.
Billed as a traditional Cuban appetizer of purple taro root, garlic and culantro, the friturras de malanga (taro fritters) were our least favorite of the bunch. The outside of the fritters had a great crunch a deep brown color, but the insides were soggy (undercooked?) and bland. Taro is not that flavorful naturally, and I'm sure the exotic sweet and sour tamarind ketchup is supposed to counter the neutral taro, but I want flavor at both ends of the plate.Problem is solved by ordering the very flavorful and rich spinach and Manchego cheese puffs atop a tangy goat cheese ranch sauce and organic olive oil that was so good we wanted more to drag the crispy puffs through. Like the taro fritters, though, we thought the inside could have been cooked a little more, or at least a little less wet.Hope you like mushrooms (I do, but was expecting more greens than mushrooms), because you get a fairly large plate of fungi when you order the grilled, citrus marinated mushroom salad topped with mixed micro-greens. The citrus marinade and thinly sliced red onions add a little zip to the salad.If you're militant about having guacamole "just so" you might want to skip the Guacamole Cubano which has cubed (not mashed) avocado and hunks of pineapple. I found the guacamole perfectly salted, light, and tropical, but I don't get upset when "foreign" objects (pineapple in guacamole is actually traditional in Cuba) find their way into my guac. The accompanying ultra crispy, salted plantain chips are a nice change from tortilla chips.The twice-fried, savory, green plantain tostones were bigger than any we've ever seen. Hot, lightly salted, and non-greasy, I wish I had more room in my stomach to use the fried green plantains as a vehicle for the compelling garlic mojo dipping sauce which was tart and garlicky, two of my favorite tastes.

We ordered eleven dishes between two people in order to sample as much of the menu as we could (there were still a few vegetarian dishes that we didn't get to!), and lets just say that we grossly over ordered. If you do not enjoy gorging yourself, I might recommend ordering a la carte.

If you want a license to order without limits, you really can't go wrong with any dish on Cuba Libre's Brunch Without Borders menu, as we were quite impressed with the quality and tastiness of all the dishes that came out of Cuba Libre's kitchen.

With a new, expansive menu, you might want to consider Cuba Libre for brunch (I never had until now), not only for the great food, but, seriously, it's just crazypants to wait an hour for brunch like you have to do at some of the more popular brunch spots in town.

Disclosure: The above meal and drinks were provided to me by Cuba Libre as part of a "blogger brunch." However, my opinions are all my own.

Cuba Libre
10 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-627-0666

La Copine

We dropped by the grand opening day of La Copine, a new food cart serving up brunch foods on the weekend in the corner patio lot of 2nd and Poplar Streets. La Copine is run by Nikki Hill (former sous chef at Barbuzzo) and Claire Wadsworth.

This corner lot and former spot of the shuttered Arbol Cafe is now home to Garden Variety, an open air market featuring food carts (weekend brunch by La Copine, dinner by a yet to be named chef, and late night snacks by Dapper Dog), a monthly supper club by La Copine, artists' flea markets, concerts, and commissioned public art projects. Sounds exciting!
La Copine was running out of Dapper Dog's cart on opening day, but they hope to shortly be in their own cart, which was parked in the back corner of the tree-shaded patio. Tables, chairs and tents were brought out to give the lot a feel of a pop-up cafe, and lend a little comfort to cart dining.
The small menu has a few of breakfasty items: breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and banana bread; and a few lunchy items: flatbread, arugula salad, and slaw. According to their menu, all produce is locally sourced and/or organic, and the cage free eggs and pork for sausage comes from Meadow Run Farm.

Iced coffee, French press coffee, iced herbal tea, hot tea, fresh orange juice and local soda are your beverage choices.The $5 Englich muffin breakfast sandwich comes with scrambled eggs, cheddar, and tomato jam, but for $7 can be upgraded with sausage or veggie sausage. I think you know which one we chose!

For $10 you can get the "special," which is a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and iced beverage.

This is a pretty classic breakfast sandwich with just a little jazz from tomato jam. The veggie patty is made with a blend of various grains, mushrooms, and onions, and has a great, peppery sausage flavor.The $8 flatbread, which I was imagining as a grilled pizza, not 5 or 6 very thin, cracker-like chips we were served, comes with bleu cheese, figs, prosciutto, lavender honey gastrique, and mache. Obviously, we skipped the prosciutto!

The flat bread tastes great — you just can't go wrong with the combination of pungent bleu cheese, sweet figs, and tart vinegar reduction — but for $8 I expect something a bit more filling, or at least a price reduction for omitting the prosciutto.The $3 side of carrot and cabbage coleslaw is studded with golden raisins, and dressed with a curry spiced Greek yogurt. All of the ingredients combine for a very pleasant coleslaw without screaming curry, or yogurt, or sweet, or tart.

La Copine is a great addition to the growing food cart scene, and in a great outdoor location. Also in La Copine's repertoire are roving supper clubs, catering service and a prepared-foods line.

La Copine
209 Poplar St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
Saturday and Sunday brunch

Brunch at Supper

South Street's casual but upscale, farm-to-table Supper got me in the door last year with their deviled egg happy hour (so good, they still do it), and this year they got me in the door for their brunch — specifically their Southern-themed Dixie biscuit with pimento cheese, and their red velvet waffles.

What sounded like two plates right up my alley, ended up being a wrong turn. These two dishes weren't bad, but I went in there with preconceived notions of what each dish should be, and the reality did not match.
The tender, buttery cat head biscuit (named so because it's the size of a cat's head) was perfect. The scrambled egg inside the biscuit was perfect (ham was omitted), as well as the side of grits, even though, for $13, the portion was small.

But hold up. What the hell kind of pimento cheese is that? Did Supper's chef replicate oozy, fake grocery store pimento cheese made from unnatural and un-pronounceable ingredients (not saying Supper uses those ingredients, just describing a tub of Ruth's or some other such brand), instead of making thick, visibly grated, home style pimento cheese? I'm simultaneously impressed and appalled.

I'm impressed that someone made pimento cheese from real ingredients and got it to actually taste like fake pimento cheese (I actually hanker for fake pimento cheese occasionally, but know that it is a sin).

Appalled because I'm afraid pimento cheese virgins will come to Supper and leave thinking that this is how pimento cheese is supposed to look, feel, and taste — and I'm not even taking into account Supper's pimento cheese's elevated spiciness, because spicing up pimento cheese is a personal preference that is neither here nor there.

Do you care? No, you don't. You're going to find it yummy, oozy, and cheesy.
The red velvet waffles are topped with an airy, sweet, cream cheese frosting, accentuated with pecans and god-awfully-good, bourbon-soaked cherries. (Wish life was a bowl full of these cherries!) Only waffle in shape, the red velvet waffles are doughy without crispy edges, like cake batter poured in a waffle iron. I would have preferred a tried-and-true, crispy waffle recipe made red and with a bit of cocoa powder thrown in than Supper's more literal interpretation.
Been on a hush puppy kick lately, what with the Southern restaurant revival going on all over the nation, so had to give Supper's a try. Their light, crispy, fried cornmeal nuggets topped with grated Parmesan are great, and are leading the pack of the few I've recently tried in Philly (Cooperage's are misguidedly paired with sweet jam; and Catahoula's are too gritty, especially when served undercooked). I'm still waiting for someone to make hush puppies with diced onions, though, to match my hush puppy traditionalist expectations.

Supper has the creative license to make whatever they like (and it did taste good) how ever they like (that's kind of why it's fun to eat out), and if I want pimento cheese a certain way I should just make it at home (and I do), but my only real concern with this post, since most of y'all don't run into pimento cheese often, is that you trust me when I tell you that pimento cheese normally does not taste or look like what we had for brunch at Supper. That is all.

Signed,
Pimento Cheese Traditionalist

Supper
926 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-592-8180

Green Eggs Cafe

Didn't you hear, South Philly's Green Eggs Cafe is the new weekend brunch hot spot. This translates into an hour wait if you want to grub during normal brunch hours.

But the genius of Green Eggs Cafe, and what takes the sting out of the wait, is that there is a large room on the cafe side of the restaurant with two long couches to sit on and two large TV's (usually tuned to Food Network), one above the fireplace and one behind the cafe bar, to while your time as you sip on a coffee or some other beverage. If the weather's nice, have a seat at the outside bar with stools along the entrance ramp. So much better than standing in line, huffing streetside for an hour.

Thanks to the two open, airy rooms with plenty of light from open windows and doors when the weather is amenable, Green Eggs does not feel like your typical cramped Philly dining room with row house dimensions. Green Eggs could be in California. Or Texas. Or anywhere other than Philly. The atmosphere is refreshing, actually.
Green Eggs puts to practice the green philosophy by using LEED-certified building products, using biodegradable plastic ware, composting, banning Styrofoam, sourcing local ingredients (who doesn't say that?), and donating the $1 charge for filtered tap water to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Peanut butter-stuffed or vanilla creme brulee are the two decadent French toast options, and I went with the creme brulee. With creme brulee in the name, I was expecting a thick custard-stuffed French toast, but this is not the case. A stack of creme brulee batter dipped bread tasting like normal French toast topped with vibrant and fresh berry compote and whipped cream are centered on a plate of maple syrup and creme anglaise. Perhaps the creme brulee let-down was for the best, because I was actually able to finish the stack without feeling weighed down.
The breakfast burrito is a behemoth filled with eggs, olives, corn, chorizo (omitted by request), Tex-Mex cheese, and signature potatoes (roasted breakfast potatoes by any other name) topped with pico de gallo, sour cream, and avocado in a pool of fire roasted red pepper black bean sauce. Phew, that was a lot of ingredients! Greasy potatoes, eggs, and tortilla are what you'll mostly be eating, along with a thin bean sauce that lacks heat or a zesty punch. Meh. That's how I feel about all tofu scrambles, but at least Green Eggs does tofu scramble well. No watery tofu over-seasoned with turmeric or curry powder, just a well balanced scramble studded with thinly sliced green peppers and onions, topped with crunchy nuggets of Bac-o-Bits, which are vegan if you didn't know, but all vegans know this.

The accompanying bowl of fruit was nicely varied and super fresh. Your choice of toast arrives in a cute wire basket.Thinly sliced beets hide underneath a tower of spotlessly fresh mixed greens dressed with a dried oregano-heavy herbal vinaigrette in need of more acid and charm. Mix in olives, tomato slices, and the artichoke hearts on the side of the plate and you've got a Seinfeld-ian big salad.
Watching see-through wire baskets of fries (regular or sweet potato) float through the room en route to other tables was just the sales pitch I needed to order my own. Lack of crispness is always a problem with sweet potato fries, but these limp, medium-cut fries are still salty, sweet and tasty.

Service at Green Eggs is a crapshoot. Obviously, going during weekend brunch hours is the worst time. During one prime weekend brunch time visit we suffered an hour wait for a table and then a ten minute wait for acknowledgment after being seated, a long wait for food, and a mostly absent server that we replaced with which ever server happened to pass our table, and then a long wait for the check. On another visit during a weekend mid-afternoon we opted for the bar seating on the cafe side of the restaurant and received much better service, only because the cafe servers are captive behind the counter and easy to flag down.

I will bemoan this about Green Eggs, but, really, I could say this about most every breakfast and brunch spot in Philly: how about getting some tempeh! Green Eggs' menu lists bacon, turkey bacon, pork roll, sausage, smoked ham, scrapple, and chorizo as sides. They just about covered it all...except for the non-egg, protein-seeking vegetarian. With just that one simple menu addition, I'll be able to substitute tempeh for meat and enjoy many more dishes.

Welcome, Green Eggs, to the club of popular Philly weekend bruncheries with absurdly long waits and good, but not mind-blowing food. South Philadelphians no longer need to walk north to wait for brunch. They can lounge on a couch watching Food Network while suckers else where stand on the street.

Green Eggs Cafe
1306 Dickenson St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-226-EGGS
Open daily: 7am-7pm
Full menu: 8am-4pm
Supplemental menu: 7-8am and 4-7pm
BYOB

Kanella

Voted one of the best breakfasts by Esquire (slide 37), lauded by LaBan and others, I've heard only great things about Kanella, the bright blue BYOB on the corner of 10th and Spruce specializing in authentic food from Cypress. As with most restaurants, even with praise, it can take a while for me to visit.

I shouldn't have waited so long to visit Kanella. The food is simple, but stunningly fresh and flavorful.

Reservations are recommend, as the rest of the city is already hip to the heavenly food flowing from Kanella's kitchen. We went for a packed weekend brunch, and even with a reservation we had to wait about fifteen minutes. Not bad considering some weekend brunch waits.
Asterisks are next to menu items that can be made vegetarian, but if you see a dish without an asterisk that piques your interest and seems like an easy dish to omit meat (don't make the kitchen staff crazy, y'all), just ask. That's how we ended up with the Cypress Breakfast.

Each componet of the Cypress Breakfast is so simple, but combined makes for a lovely meal: salty and crispy fried Halloumi, whole grain bread, eggs fried in olive oil and herbs, and grilled tomato and fresh vegetables standing in for lounza (ham). A little bit of everything that is good.
The Malohwa breakfast plate stars a Yemenese pan-fried buttery puff pasty accompanied by the thickest Greek yogurt you've ever had, a spicy tomato and onion salad, and a boiled egg. It doesn't look like much, but the flavors are fabulous.
To end breakfast, we got a bowl of warm rice pudding sparingly sweetened, gently spiced with cinnamon and cardamom, and topped with a candied and spiced orange slice. Perfection.

Three veteran diners from New York City were also at our table and their undocumented meat dishes also received the highest of praises.

Simple. Fresh. Flavorful. Isn't it crazy that food so basic can knock your socks off? Less is more.

Kanella
1001 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-922-1773
Breakfast/Lunch: Thurs & Fri, 11:30am-3pm; Sat & Sun, 10am-3pm
Dinner: Tues-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri & Sat, 5-10:30pm
BYOB

Food Blogger Brunch

The annual 215 Festival celebrating the written and spoken word, and focusing on Philadelphia-based writers, performers, and word connoisseurs, along with special guests from outside Philadelphia is coming up this weekend (October 2-4).

What I'd like to draw your attention to is the Food Blogger Brunch held Sunday, October 4, from 11:00am-2:00pm at National Mechanics. Jess of fries with that shake will be moderating the event and asking all sorts of nerdy questions to a panel of food bloggers while you, dear reader, enjoy brunch (event is free, but you gotta buy your own brunch/Bloody Mary), and maybe even get to throw out a question or two.

Oh, and I'm on the panel! I'd rather lick a urinal than speak publicly, so I don't know why I agreed to this, but I did. So, come on out; it may be one of the only times you'll see me speak. And, if I bugger all my answers, there are always the other talented bloggers on the panel and a kick-ass veggie burger at National Mechanics to set it all straight.

Also on the panel:

E from Foodaphilia

Drew from Meal Ticket

Collin from Phoodie

Ben from Unbreaded

Robyn from Serious Eats and The Girl Who Ate Everything

Food Bloggers Brunch
Sunday, Oct 4, 2009
11:00am – 2:00pm
at National Mechanics
22 S. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Free

Moshulu Brunch

I've always wanted to dine on the Moshulu, that big four-masted barque docked in the Delaware River at Penn's Landing, so was excited when a friend booked a Sunday brunch reservation at Moshulu for her husband's birthday (he likes boats, and the Independence Seaport Museum is also right next door).
Inside the funky smelling boat (is that smell that greets you at the door the Delaware River or the nearby dessert bar?) with slanted floors and linen-topped tables is where you'll be dining for brunch (top deck dining is available at the Bongo Bar and Deck). The atmosphere is country club meets swanky hotel buffet meets not-so-lavish Titanic. Most diners are straight out of church, or a gathering of the entire extended family.

The $35 Three-Course Champagne Brunch includes the all-you-can-eat First Course Buffet, an entree off the menu, and the all-you-can-eat Grand Dessert Display, and let's not forget the all-you-can-drink champagne, mimosas, and bellinis!

Buffets bring out the gorge in most, and I did eat more than usual, but decided not to get my money's worth of food, but instead get my money's worth of mimosas! That was my buffet strategy, at least. I went with a mixed salad (it's make your own), green bean and tomato salad, and scone off the buffet table. Also on the buffet: muffins, danishes, sweet breads, bagels, assorted cream cheeses, jams, pasta salad, potato salad, assorted soups, fruit, meat, cheese, olives, and others.A dining partner's buffet plate of lobster bisque, pasta salad with sun dried tomatoes, salad, and nuts. For my entree I ordered the portobello panini from the lunch side of the brunch menu. Not a bad panini at all, with balsamic vinaigrette and basil pesto aioli giving the mozzarella, tomatoes, and portobello a good kick. The hand cut and fried chips, unfortunately, were limp.
Already stuffed to the gills, I hit the dessert bar stocked with cookies, marshmallows, fruit, and cakes for dipping into the chocolate fountains (plural!). Assorted parfaits, custards, tarts, petit fours, and cakes are plentiful. I can't argue with dessert, and I won't argue with Moshulu's all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. Their creme brulee was actually better than most!

With the exception of the limp chips that accompanied my entree, nothing at Moshulu's weekend brunch was bad. Nothing was mind blowing either. Moshulu's Sunday Champagne Brunch offerings are on par with any country club or nice hotel, and will fit the bill for your next family gathering -- something for everyone and all-you-can-eat/drink. Plus, you're dining on a more than a century-old boat with an amazing history, which is pretty cool!

I'd say, as a Philadelphian, it's your civic duty to visit the Moshulu at least once, just to say you've done it. If brunch is not your thing, they also do lunch and dinner daily. Next trip, I'm snagging a seat in the Bongo Bar on the deck solely for the spectacular views of the city and the Ben Franklin Bridge.

Moshulu
Penn's Landing, 401 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-923-2500
Champagne Brunch: Sun, 10:30 am-2:30 pm
Lunch: daily, 11:30 am-3 pm
Dinner: daily, 5:30-10:30 pm
Bongo Bar and Deck: Mon-Fri, 5:30-10pm; Sat and Sun, 11:30 am-8:30 pm

Teri's: Day & Night

While I've walked past Teri's, the Italian Market diner just south of Washington St., a million times, it wasn't until word got around that Teri's pulled out the linens and candles at night to become a fine dining BYOB destination that I actually took notice.
During the daytime, Teri's serves a very reasonably priced breakfast and lunch (nothing over $8.50). Go on a weekend, like we did, and you can call it brunch!

Inside you'll find a long, narrow diner with aqua booths and green walls, and an open kitchen. Very casual; very diner-ish.

On the menu: eggs, omelettes, pancakes, french toast, sausage, and other breakfast standards; plus burgers, crab cakes, pulled pork sandwiches, and spare ribs.
I went with the French toast with sauteed bananas and cashews (pecans were what actually arrived). I was immediately transported back to Mom's French toast on Saturday mornings, and this is a good thing.

The banana French toast at $6 is Teri's fancy French toast, and it's a more reasonable and sane breakfast than some of the massive dessert-like French toasts out there. But, you know, I think I'll hit up the $3.75 plain ol' French toast next time, 'cause Mom didn't do bananas or nuts.

Oh, and I'll hit up the roasted corn pancakes with chive butter (minus side of glazed ham) next time, too. Knew about these beauties from watching this video, but spaced it when ordering.
My partner had the three egg cheese omelette with spinach, side of home fries, and toast. This omelette was large, perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and stuffed generously, but not overstuffed, with perfectly garlicky sauteed spinach. I'm not an omelette person (too much egg), but this was one of the better omelettes I've tasted.

Home fries are thinly sliced potatoes that are of the kind not cooked to a crisp, and are also perfectly seasoned. I know there are crispy and non-crispy camps when it comes to home fries, but even crispy-boy got behind these taters!
Interested in what goes on in Teri's at night, we hit it up again, this time bringing a bottle of wine to take advantage of their BYOB/no-corkage-fee policy. Teri's also offers a $30, three-course, prix fixe deal in the evening.
Ooh, table cloths and candles are laid out, the server is dressed all in black, and jazz is playing in an attempt to make the diner classy!

No, you won't confuse Teri's at night with other fine dining establishments, but the combo of diner kitch and linen class is so charming and honest, it feels like home -- or your friend trying to spiff up his apartment for that special dinner. So cute!

Our server at night, John, was the same server we had during the day, and whether he's wearing jeans and a t-shirt for the day shift, or all black for the night shift, he is the perfectly attentive and appointed server.
Warm, toasted Italian bread with sesame seeds accompanied by butter was complimentary.We started with eggplant rolatini, an off-the-menu appetizer special of baked, sliced eggplant rolled around herbed Ricotta, topped with melted Mozarella, tomato sauce, and basil chiffonade. With the first bite of this dish, I knew the rest of the night was going to be good. I breathlessly exclaimed, "Excellent," when our server asked how everything was, and I never say that.

Eggplant is a difficult vegetable to prepare because of it's potential bitterness, but the thinly sliced eggplant had no bitterness. And the scant tomato sauce was in perfect proportion, avoiding drowning the delicate eggplant rolls.

Seriously, these eggplant rolatini might be one of the best Italian dishes I've eaten in a long time.
The boy went with the tilefish with white beans and sauteed spinach. Again, everything was perfectly seasoned.
I was happy to see the butternut squash ravioli came with roasted corn and an herbed cream sauce instead of the greasy, butter sage sauce that usually accompanies butternut squash ravioli. At first, it was a little weird biting into chewy, roasted corn kernels with a forkful of ravioli, but it was a happy marriage. The butternut squash filling was sweet and plentiful inside the large pasta pockets.

Service was perfect at Teri's. No rushing from our server, comfortable breaks between courses, and the food was pipin' hot out of the kitchen. We were genuinely encouraged to stay and finish our bottle of wine after the check arrived, and the chef even thanked us on the way out.

Because of the quality of the food (grub's great), more than reasonable prices (a bargain), excellent service (John is awesome), and honest atmosphere (no salvaged European fixtures, or saucy plate flourishes), I don't think I've had a more pleasant dining experience in a long time. I cannot recommend Teri's enough, for brunch or for dinner.

But what worries me is that we were one of only two tables dining in during our brunch visit, and during our dinner visit. Show Teri's some love and get on down there. Don't sleep on this gem!

Teri's
1127 S. 9th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-761-9154
Breakfast/Lunch: 7am-3pm, 7 days a week
Fine Dining: 5pm-9:30pm, Wed-Sun
BYOB