Chhaya

There seemed to be some skepticism in the air when Chhaya opened a few months ago on Passyunk Ave. A cafe that was a coffee house specializing in sweet and savory waffles during the morning and day, then, on weekend evenings, a cafe serving small plates?

It's really not as complicated and schizophrenic as it sounds. Chhaya is simply a cafe that serves up better than average food than most coffee houses.On the surface, Chhaya's small and bright cafe looks like any neighborhood coffee shop, with people dropping by the counter for a latte to go, and people settling in at a table with a cuppa and their computer. If you're a coffee snob, know that Chhaya prepares coffee to order using the siphon method.If you'd like a little more sustenance, Chhaya offers the likes of bagels, muffins, vegan cupcakes, scones, yogurt parfait, pancakes, eggs, home fries, salads, wraps, and paninis. Most baked goods are made in house, with the exception of baguettes (sources up the road from Artisan Boulanger), and bagels.

Of course, don't miss out on Chhaya's specialty — waffles!
If you have a sweet tooth, order the whipped cream-topped, thick Belgian-style waffle with either fresh fruit or chocolate chips. Classic, sweet, and simple.Feeling savory? The chili, cheese, and fried egg- topped waffle is in order. The mildly spiced vegetarian chili is studded with black and kidney beans, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and celery. Would love to see a corn meal-based waffle paired with the chili, but the not-too-sweet standard waffle batter works here.

An Eggs Benedict waffle topped with a poached egg, ham, and Hollandaise sauce is also on the menu. There is also a waffle of the day. On our visit, the waffle of the day was chicken curry. Yum!

Chhaya is a BYOB, so bring your champagne for brunch mimosas, or a bottle of wine for Friday and Saturday evenings when the menu changes over to small plates.

Weekend evening small plates feature dishes like olives, roasted eggplant relish, tomato salad, white bean hummus, charcuterie plate, warm figs with blue cheese and prosciutto, marinated white anchovies, and Tuscan style meatballs with white wine sauce.

See, it really is a coffee shop with better food. Just look at this spread of food! Must return for dinner soon.

Chhaya
1823 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-365-1100
Mon-Thus: 7am-7pm
Fri: 7am-10pm
Sat: 8am-10pm
Sun: 8am-3pm
BYOB

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

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