Save the Date! Food Blogger Bake Sale 5/14

Philadelphia's Share Our Strength Great American Bake Sale is being held on May 14th from 10am till 1pm outside A Full Plate Cafe on Liberties Walk (1009 N. Bodine St., Philadelphia, PA 19123) in Northern Liberties.

On Saturday, May 14, bloggers across the nation are coming together for the Great American Bake Sale to support Share Our Strength, an organization whose mission is to end childhood hunger in America.

Local bloggers you know and love will be contributing baked goods that you've probably drooled over while reading their posts. This will be my second year contributing baked goods. Gonna keep it simple with classic brownies.

All proceeds from the bake sale benefit Share Our Strength. If you can't make it to the bake sale, but would like to donate to the cause, please visit this link to make a safe and secure donation.

Paesano's In The Italian Market

Don't ask how one ends up at Paesano's South Philly Italian Market location when they're in the mood for a light lunch, because there's nothing light about the award-winning and inventive "Philly style sandwiches with Italian inspiration."

Unlike the shoebox-sized flagship location on Girard Avenue, Paesano's southerly location actually has tables inside to sit at and room enough for the line to form inside the building. Don't count on a table, though, if it's prime dining time.
With the larger location there also came an expanded sandwich menu. On my Girard Ave. visit last year there was only one vegetarian sandwich (the Panelle), but now there are two veggie sandwiches. And with daily specials, there just might be three!
I'm pretty blasé about most eggplant sandwiches, but the Giardina moved me to emotion. Hells yeah, someone finally put some umph into roasted eggplant on a roll! Fennel, peppers, fresh Mozzarella and basil pesto to be exact. That basil pesto is the real umph maker.
The Greco was one of the specials of the day, and is Paesano's best attempt at making a humus and veggie sandwich interesting. The humus, iceberg lettuce, grilled zucchini, and Feta made me yawn, but the pickled onions and healthy squirt of Sriracha woke me up.

Don't think I'd bother to order the Greco or the Panelle again, but I'll bestow upon the Giardina the award of best vegetarian eggplant hoagie. Here's hoping Paesano's keeps getting creative with the veggie sandwiches and makes another winner.

Paesano's
Italian Market Location: 1017 S. 9th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-922-2220
Wed-Sun: 11am-7pm

Fuel

I'm not one to count calories, but I do try to put healthy foods into my body at most meals, so can appreciate the health conscious, everything-under-500 calories menu at Fuel.

Now, be careful with those calorie counts printed on the menu. Those numbers don't include bread or tortillas if you opt to get an item as a sandwich or wrap. And, of course, a bit more oil here or a bigger piece of chicken there than the original recipe calls for, and those numbers mean nothing.

And, muscle jocks, note that protein grams are printed on the menu, as well.

I also appreciate that many of Fuel's menu items are vegetarian or have an option of adding tofu, but am miffed that subbing tofu for chicken is the more expensive option. Tofu is dirt cheap.

Fuel, the East Passyunk casual eatery owned by radio host, DJ and trained chef, Rocco Cima, is decked out in minimalist black and bright red and green. Add the too loud pop dance music that's constantly rocking and music videos playing, and you might thing you're at a Christmas rave. The music is pumped onto the street, as well, making the uncomfortable slatted metal bistro chairs the least of your al fresco dining pains.Smoothies are part of Fuel's juice and coffee bar menu, and the Fruit Fuzzion with strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, and bananas was solid.Fuel's menu and table-top display calls attention to their many "award winning" items. We suspect Fuel was handing out the awards themselves, but decided to take the bait on the "award winning" sweet pea wonton dip.
The vibrant green, chunky green pea dip topped with sun dried tomatoes is evenly tempered, not too garlicky or salty, but certainly not bland. The grilled wonton chip are delicately thin, keeping carbs and calories low. The Thai tofu wrap had a pleasantly light and tangy peanut sauce, fresh cucumbers and carrots, and a surprise crunch from noodles. If basil had been included, as the menu suggested, the wrap would have been better. The uncooked and unseasoned tofu was a huge disappointment, though.

Tofu aside, the Thai wrap was pleasant, but not outstanding. Marinated tofu either grilled or baked would have added much flavor and a more pleasing texture without adding too many extra calories. Something Fuel might want to consider.

The accompanying side salad was simply mixed greens dressed with a maybe too vinegary balsamic vinaigrette.The Fuel Stacker was ordered as a pannini, probably doubling the calorie count printed on the menu, even though the bread is a low fat loaf specially baked for Fuel at neighboring Nino's Bakery. Grilled portabello, zucchini, eggplant, squash, tomato, melted Mozzarella and pesto make for a sizable, if standard vegetarian sandwich.

Fuel is not a destination dining spot by any means, but makes for a decent, everything-under-$10, casual lunch, dinner, or weekend brunch (egg white omelette, any one?) stop when cruising the Avenue...as long as you can stomach the pumping jams. Skip the bread if you're truly calorie conscious.

Fuel
1917 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-468-FUEL
Mon-Sat: 11am-10pm
Sun: 11am-9pm

Hoof + Fin

Update: no longer open.

The main draw of Hoof + Fin for us is it's near-to-us Queen Village location, not the fact that we're huge meat (hoof) or fish (fin) eaters. But we frequently pass the Argentinian inspired eatery that opened this past February in the space previously occupied by Gayle, and I scope Hoof + Fin's menu every time I stand outside of neighboring South Street Philly Bagels waiting for our dozen bagels to go. So...we decided to go in Hoof + Fin one evening.

Hoof + Fin is a tight, tiny and dark rowhouse cave. The table candle had to be held to the menu and our food to get a good gander, as the Edison-style light bulbs just don't kick out enough light. Volume levels are not dim, though. Dinner can be a shouting match on a packed evening. When the weather's nice, perhaps you'll be fortunate to snag a seat in their outdoor patio.

Argentinian food, a cuisine that's heavily influenced by Europe, is heavy on the beef, but there are still a few main dishes on the menu that a vegetarian can order, like a pasta, risotto, and even a tofu dish.A complimentary mason jar of long, thin, crispy cracker sticks accompanied by a roasted red pepper aioli starts the table off. The aioli was a bit tart for maybe most people, though I love vinegar, so found the aioli addictive.
A large freshly fried and crispy corn and cheese empanada was like a sweet creamed corn hand pie, worth every bite. The accompanying salad of mixed greens and micro-thinly sliced radishes, sweet peppers, red onion, and carrots was dressed perfectly in a well balanced vinaigrette.I had to see what Hood + Fin would do with tofu, so ordered the grilled tofu entree. A large, thick slab of firm tofu either briefly seared was the centerpiece of the plate. The lemon and soy sauce covering the tofu was pleasant and familiar, as were the grilled squash, onions and peppers. All things that I have prepared at home and love, but done well and elegantly at Hoof + Fin.

My one quibble is that I would love to have had the tofu cut into thinner slabs to enjoy more seared and flavorful surface areas (the center of such a large piece of tofu never absorbs sauces, and tofu by itself is flavorless).

The salad on the entree plate was the same as the salad with the empanada, with the exception of an addition of a little quinoa, but I did not mind the duplication because the salad here, and previously, was good and not a slapdash afterthought like so many side salads can be.

I particularly like the From the Grill section of the menu that allows a choice of fish or meat from the grill and one starch and one vegetable side. It's a make-your-own entree option. Tofu is not listed, but perhaps they'd allow the substitution of grilled tofu for the meat or fish.

From my first look at Hoof + Fin, I'll conclude that the flavors are simple but balanced, and the Argentinian inspired food is well executed. If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to bring a bottle of wine to the tiny BYOB and enjoy an evening (or weekend brunch) close to home.

Hoof + Fin
617 South 3rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-925-3070
Dinner: Wed-Sun, 5pm
Brunch: Sat and Sun, 11am-3pm

National Food Bloggers Bake Sale

Who doesn't love a bake sale? No one, that's who.

On Saturday, April 17 bloggers across the nation are coming together for the Great American Bake Sale to support Share Our Strength, an organization whose mission is to end childhood hunger in America.

Philadelphia's Great American Bake Sale is being held on April 17th from 10am till 3pm at A Full Plate Cafe on Liberties Walk (1009 N. Bodine St Philadelphia, PA 19123) in Northern Liberties.

Local bloggers you know and love will be contributing baked goods that you've probably drooled over while reading their posts. I'll be baking up gluten-free double chocolate cashew cookies, but scope this list of just some of the many treats that will be available.

So come on over this Saturday to A Full Plate to get your bake sale on for a good cause. Make a morning of it, why don't ya? Visit the Great American Bake Sale before strolling the Shops of Liberties Walk, then hit up the Piazza Farmer's Market. Hey, your Saturday morning is looking good!

All proceeds from the bake sale benefit Share Our Strength. If you can't make it to the bake sale, but would like to donate to the cause, please visit this link to make a safe and secure donation.

European Republic: Banana Pudding

A sticker that says "I brake for banana pudding" should grace my car bumper, because it's no secret that I love the stuff. A reader alerted me a while back* that European Republic in Old City has banana pudding on their menu.

What? Land of twenty-plus wraps and Belgian frites with twenty-plus dipping sauces?

Curious as to how good banana pudding could be at such a place (I had strong doubts), I hopped on over one afternoon for a midday snack.
Out of the cooler came a filled-to-the-top plastic container of banana pudding with banana-flavored pudding instead of vanilla pudding, and no banana slices. Wrong and wrong! The Nilla wafers were soft, but this is the norm unless the dessert is eaten immediately after assembling, or there is ingenious staking of wafers to avoid pudding-soak.
Even with bad banana pudding, I'm not yet discounting the European Republic for a quick lunch. Banana pudding is not their mainstay, after all. Maybe one day I'll get back for a wrap and frites. I just won't be braking for their banana pudding.

*Thanks to all who take the time to share through blog comments, email, and Twitter. It may take eons before I get around to places, but they do go on to my to-do list.

European Republic
213 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-627-5500

Varga Bar: Truffled Mac and Cheese

Whoa! This is weird. I actually like pinup girl themed Varga Bar's restaurant-style creamy mac and cheese. And it even has fancy add-ins.Overused and overbearing are how I describe black truffles in the dining scene, yet, somehow, Varga Bar managed to walk the line between whisper and punch-you-in-the-face with their truffled mac and cheese, a baked casserole with black truffle, Guyere, Fontina, and Marscapone (no bacon for me!). As always, I'd prefer a mix of sharper cheeses, but I did truly enjoyed Varga Bar's mac and cheese.

Full disclosure: the four or so Miss Marches (Sailor Jerry rum and Victory root beer) I imbibed may have contributed to the casserole crush.

Varga Bar
941 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-627-5200

Amada

I went to Amada for my birthday, but decided not to blog about it. That is, blog with pictures of each dish accompanied by a description and opinion.

Why didn't I snap pics?

I wanted the night off, and...

You've all been to Amada and already know the good work that Garces does. I hadn't been, though I certainly know of Garces' good work. I tried when they first opened in 2005 but you needed a reservation (you still need a reservation most nights), and I loathe premeditated dining (unless you premeditate it for me), so never bothered trying.

This is the real reason why I decided to blog about Amada: unlike most restaurants (tapas or no tapas), there are enough veggie dishes on the menu that a vegetarian could order the recommended 3-4 plates per person and return 4-5 times without having to order the same thing twice.

And I'm not even counting the cheese plates and desserts, dishes that could have meat easily removed, or taking into consideration the seasonal menu changes.

That is all.

Amada
217-219 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-625-2450

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

Dim Sum Garden

Underneath a tunnel which acts as a homeless shelter, and next to a Chinatown bus station sits a the neon-fringed, sparsely decorated Dim Sum Garden. This Shanghainese eatery, which is not really a traditional dim sum house, has gotten praise for their hand drawn noodles and the (apparently in Philly) elusive Shanghai soup bun (Xiao Long Bao). Unfortunately, Shanghai soup buns — a sort of steamed dumpling filled with pork and hot soup — are not vegetarian. Carry on.
What I love about the grungy-looking (although, it was clean) Chinese eatery is the smiling service. What I love even more is the decisiveness and confidence our smiling server had in recommending the better of two dishes — even if she might have been lying just to get on with her job. Thank you for having conviction.
The vegetable steamed buns are not the steamed soup buns most people come looking for, but are the thicker bread-like buns, and are filled with a mixture of chopped Shanghai cabbage, black mushrooms, and tofu. Mildly flavored, be sure to douse the vegetable bun with one of the few condiments on the table, like vinegar, soy sauce, or chili sauce.
The vegetable steamed dumplings (again not the one's filled with soup) are filled with the same mixture as the steamed vegetable buns, so it may be best to pick one over the other so as not to grow tired of the filling.

Having just eaten a really bad dumpling that surely came from a freezer bag at another restaurant, rest assured that Dim Sum Garden's dumplings and buns are housemade. You can watch the employees make the doughy pockets behind the counter.The handdrawn dry noodles with tofu come slathered with a strongly anise-scented brown sauce studded with bits of craggy, chewy tofu and peanuts. I love the chewy noodles, but the extremely salty, though tasty sauce was borderline inedible. I managed to down most of the noodles by convincing myself that enjoying salty food is an indulgence, but an hour later found myself successively downing six glasses of water to quench my thirst.Feeling that the salty noodles with tofu were an aberration, I checked back in with Dim Sum Garden. This time I ordered the tomatoes and eggs over rice, simply because I've never seen a dish of that description on any Chinese menu.

What came out was breakfast on top of rice — a large plate of rice topped with scrambled eggs and ever-so-slightly-sweet cooked tomatoes with side garnish of cooked bok choy. This dish is the absolute opposite end of the salt and seasoning spectrum; there is almost none. Yet, it still tastes good. Condiments from the table livened things up a bit, though. An odd sounding dish, but trust me when I say it is the perfect meal for any time of the day.

If you eat meat, I'd say drop by Dim Sum Garden for the handmade steamed soup buns (every table orders them, so they must be good), but if you're veg, there are plenty of dishes to choose from on the menu.

Dim Sum Garden
59 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, PA 19176
215-627-0218

Devil's Alley

I never considered stepping foot into Devil's Alley until Burger Club Philly held a meeting there. Don't know why, but it just looked like a college douche bar. I still can't tell you who frequents Devil's Alley, as I haven't been back since Burger Club and we were sequestered in the back part of the upstairs, but I will say that the two-story restaurant and bar in Center City didn't seem nearly as douchey as my imagination made it out to be. The downstairs dining area looked kinda classy, actually.

Before Burger Club, I sidled up to the upstairs bar alongside a handful of downtown suits for a happy hour sangria that was sweet with a low class maraschino cherry as the fruit and not nearly as alcoholic as I'd like.

I switched things up and went with one of their many interesting sounding specialty cocktails. Above is the Zypher with Hendricks gin, muddled cucumber and jalapeno. The drink had just enough spice to be interesting, but I played bartender by dumping two sugar packets in the drink to take the bitter edge off. Better!
A side of grilled sweet potatoes are just that. Piping hot would have been nice, instead lukewarm going on cold.
Everyone knows that I'm not the kindest to restaurant-style mac and cheese, especially with weird toppings like the sweet tomato jam (tastes like really sweet ketchup) that Devil's Alley uses to top their mac and cheese, but I somehow didn't mind the small portion of bland and creamy noodles. Order the large portion, and I might complain a little louder about wanting sharper, more pungent cheese and no weird toppings.
Devil's Alley makes their own veggie patty with a blend of grilled vegetables held together with Goldfish Cracker crumbs. Spicy with lots of flavor, the not overly-mushy nor too-thick patty with crispy edges is definitely on par with, if not better than most in-house made veggie burger patties. What won me was the sweet and savory red onion marmalade — more like a confit — on top of the burger. Big flavor! The lettuce leaf and pale tomato (it was February, so they get a pass on the tomato) were skipped. The bun was mysteriously crunchy at the edges, like it was left to toast a little too long, although other diners did not have such bun issues.

In eating my way through more than a few veggie burgers in Philly, I'm finding that locking down a good veggie burger, much less one that trumps all, is difficult. Unlike meat burgers, there are a wide range of ingredients used in veggie patties, varying textures, and flavors that cover the entire spice rack. Ultimately, veggie burgers are highly subjective. I subjectively liked Devil Alley's burger. Who'd a thunk it?

Devil's Alley
1907 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-751-0707
Mon-Fri: 11am-close
Sat & Sun: 4pm-close
Sat & Sun Brunch: 10am-3pm

Yummy Yummy: Ball Waffle

Don't know where, but I stumbled upon the fact that Yummy Yummy (name win!) makes ball waffles — also known as eggette or gai dan jai — a Hong Kong street food consisting of egg, flour, sugar, and evaporated milk. That yellow honeycomb balloon hanging in Yummy Yummy's window is your beacon. Three electric waffle irons at Yummy Yummy with deep round wells crank out the large waffles with pull-apart bite-size balls. When I was there, none of the signs were written in English, so just know going in that there are three flavors of waffle to choose from: plain, chocolate, and green tea with white chocolate.

How do they taste? Like a waffle, actually. A little crispy on the outside, a little doughy on the inside, and subtly sweet.
The green tea waffle tastes faintly of green tea on the first bite, and then it's all waffle after that. The white chocolate chip dropped in the middle of each well (or at least most) adds a bit of sweetness to each bite. I prefer the green tea waffle because of the added sweetness, but the waffle still is not nearly as sweet as most American desserts.
Ball waffle innards!

These two waffles cost a total of $4.

Yummy Yummy
52 N. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-625-9188

Percy Street Barbecue

I'm not from Texas, and I've never eaten Texas barbecue, but that don't matter, 'cause I'm not here for the barbecue at Percy Street. I'm here for the sides!

I have eaten sides at a few real Texas barbecue joints, but it was so long ago that it might as well have never happened. So, this will not be a "this ain't how they do it in Texas" review of chef Michael Solomonov and Erin O'Shea's recreation and interpretation of Texas barbecue.

A bar slinging whiskey cocktails will greet you at the door, and then Percy Street opens up to a rustic, large open space with long wood tables for larger parties, and brown easy-to-wipe pleather-topped two tops. Two large menu blackboards are hung on rolling doors, and ample light shines through the wall of front windows in the daytime.

A roll of paper towels are brought to the table so you can help yourself to all the napkins you want. Fill up your glass from a large jar of water brought to the table, as well.
Percy Street gives a nod to vegetarians and vegans with a vegan chili on the menu, but unfortunately not all of their veggie sides, which come in cup or bowl size, are vegetarian.

Vegetarian: vegan chili, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, chopped salad, and green bean salad.
Not vegetarian: root beer chili, pinto beans, German potato salad, collard greens, and black eyed pea salad.

We got everything that was fit to eat, except for the green bean salad, which is only available at dinner. Also, note that collards are also only available at dinner. Not sure why they don't offer the entire menu all day, since the menu is pretty short, but they don't.
Mac and cheese is the lone side that does not come in both cup and bowl size, so if you want some mac and cheese you're just gonna have to pony up for the larger bowl size. The hot croc of crumb-topped, cheesy, greasy mac and cheese is good, and will make most happy, but nothing makes this restaurant-style mac and cheese stand out from all the others around town. Props for using macaroni noodles, though.
The mayo-based cabbage and carrot coleslaw gets better as you eat it down; the bottom of the cup marinates longer in the dressing and is more flavorful than the top. A little umpf from maybe a tad more acid or sugar might brighten up the whole thing from top to bottom, but not a disagreeable coleslaw at all.
A soupy stew of black beans, seitan, carrots, and tomatoes is spiced with chili powder, and besides being slightly salty, is a fine chili, but no better than most chilis I've sampled at friend's house parties. I never even considered ordering the chopped salad, but my partner did, and this dish turned out to be my favorite despite being topped with two of the worst deviled eggs I've had in recent memory — filling was strangely silky, like pure mayonnaise without the grainy texture and body the cooked egg yolk provides that's normally added back in, and way too salty. But underneath those deviled eggs is a melange of black beans, lettuce, shredded carrots, red onions, avocado, and scallions smothered in a creamy buttermilk dressing spiked faintly with dill. If you like macaroni salad (hi!), you'll love Percy Street's chopped salad.
And, you know the real reason I was at Percy Street was to try the banana pudding, don't ya? So good, yet so disappointing. The vanilla pudding is gourmet, luscious and brimming with vanilla bean flecks, but at the bottom of the cup there is only one soft wafer (maybe two?), and only one or two banana slices. It's like making Tiramisu with only one Lady Finger. Such a tease. Props, though, for adding the two Nilla wafers to the top before serving, so they're still crunchy. Even with the pudding component being so great, I don't think I'd order the banana pudding again.

When it was all said and done I enjoyed the food and atmosphere of Percy Street, but felt I was eating at just another sleek Philly restaurant. There's something missing from the experience and food that doesn't resonate barbecue house. Missing homespun, from-the-heart character, maybe? The food's fine, but it ain't got no soul.

Percy Street Barbecue
900 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-625-8510
Lunch: Sat and Sun, 11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner: Sun-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-11pm, bar til 2am