A Food Truck Guest Appearance...

Guapo’s Tacos

Food Truck

http://twitter.com/guapostacos

Guest entry by “the girlfriend”

As the usual readers know, Mike and I usually have our food adventures together… but this time I ditched him and went to Guapo’s Tacos for takeout with my coworkers. Mike and I have been dying to try this food truck since we heard about it a little over a year ago. It is owned by Iron Chef Jose Garces and can be found at different locations around Philadelphia depending upon the day. You have to check their twitter site to see where they are parking and how long they will be there. They frequent Love Park fairly often, which is just a short walk from work.

On an ugly, rainy Wednesday two of my coworkers and I ventured through the cold rain for the comfort of some warm tacos. From a distance you could see the many colors of the truck. As we got close we noticed that those colors were made up of beer bottle caps organized to look like hexagons one next to another. The menu was small, but well rounded. You could choose from green chile chicken, chipotle short rib, carnitas, fish, duck barbacoa, and mushroom tacos. I of course ordered the chipotle short rib in a soft taco as well as a corn and cheese appetizer called esquites.

While we waited for our food I spotted some tamarind soda, so I ordered that as well. There are tons of soda choices at Guapo’s. I suggest you try one of the traditional Mexican sodas called Jarritos. They come in odd flavors like tamarind, and they are incredibly sweet, but oh so delicious! They definitely add to the Mexican experience.

When the tacos were done the men in the truck gave us our food and we ran back to work to devour the tacos. They were pretty tasty. My taco was slightly spicy but not so much so that it burnt my pallet. It was lacking some acidity for my taste. Although there were pickled radishes in the tacos, there weren’t enough of them. The sauce was amazing though and the cilantro added a nice touch as well.

I tried the appetizer after my main course. It was interesting; unlike anything I have had before. It was spicier than the short rib taco but the cheese in it helped cool down the spice. The corn tasted fresh as well. It was crunchy and worked well with the cheese, spice, and mayonnaise-based sauce. Of course I washed all this down with my Mexican soda! Again, so delicious! My coworkers enjoyed it as well, even though we all agreed that the meal wasn’t mind-blowing like we had expected. Nonetheless it was yummy food for a good price, not to mention quick and convenient.

Follow them on twitter and chase them down sometime. That is part of the adventure. Don’t just venture out to Love Park expecting them to be there though. If you are lucky, you might get a glimpse of the Iron Chef himself.  I asked and I was told that he still comes out and cooks in the truck sometimes. They usually announce that on twitter so they make it easier to get a chance to see him if you are a groupie like me. I was not  lucky enough to see him and didn’t get to meet him, but I got a great meal in the middle of the week and suggest you do the same soon!!

Gyros for Everybody...

Olympic Gyro

Reading Terminal Market

51 North 12^th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/view/65 

While my girlfriend’s parents were in town, we decided to have lunch at Reading Terminal Market because her mom had never been there and we thought she would really enjoy walking around there. We were going out to dinner so we didn’t want to eat anything too heavy, but we were having difficulty deciding what we wanted. Eventually my girlfriend’s mom said she wanted to have Greek, so we decided to eat at Olympic Gyro. 

It has seats at a bar counter, complete with swivel chairs. You can see the meat for the gyros spinning on the spit getting flame broiled as people wait for their orders. They slice the meat fresh off of the split as it is turning around being cooked, which makes the gyro that much better.

In my opinion, and probably a huge reason why I came to enjoy Greek food so much, is the combination that you get in the gyro. The pita bread is fantastic, the meat is succulent, and the tatziki sauce and the fresh vegetables make for the ultimate nontraditional sandwich.

Reading Terminal market is super cool for many reasons, one of those being the unbelievable variety of food options that you get to choose from when you eat there. Olympic Gyro has a very small menu, but if you are looking for a quick, tasty bite of Greek, this place is perfect. Go out to the market and enjoy it if you get the chance. Cheers!

Oui Oui...Fantastic French

Parc

227 South 18^th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

www.parc-restaurant.com 

Parc had been on the short list of ‘must visit as soon as possible’ restaurants that I have had a for a few years, and I finally got to cross it off the list a few weeks ago with my girlfriend’s parents. I was super excited about it because of my affinity for French cuisine, but also because it is the crown jewel of Stephen Starr’s empire and it has been for many years. After eating there, I can now see why. It is huge on the inside, and the food is absolutely perfect.

My girlfriend and I were very excited about taking her parents to Parc, and her father was very excited as well because he had picked up an affinity for French food while living in Paris in his early 20’s. When we sat down the restaurant seemed to have a feel of being set in Paris. It gives off a bistro atmosphere, and it is very welcoming and inviting. We all ordered our respective coffees, an espresso for me, and they brought out a basket of breads for us to try. My girlfriend told me I had to try the fruit bread, but I wasn’t a big fan of it. I was absolutely floored by the whole wheat sour dough bread however. It was incredibly delicious, even more so than I thought was possible for sourdough bread. I ate quite a bit of it, and we even asked for a bit more once we were out of the first bread basket. 

I had read in an issue of Philadelphia magazine that the Croque Madam was one of the best sandwiches in the city, so I could not pass up the opportunity to try it. I ordered it, and my girlfriend ordered the eggs Norwegian, a riff on the classic dish of eggs Benedict, with the addition of smoked salmon. We split the two dishes between us, and I was utterly impressed with both of the dishes that we had ordered. The Croque Madam was perfectly executed. The bread was thick and buttery, and covered in white gravy that was rich and creamy beyond your wildest imagination. The bacon on the dish was simply amazing.

The eggs Norwegian was somehow better than the traditional eggs Benedict. The smoked salmon gave the dish another layer of salt and taste that it traditionally does not have. Pairing the smoked salmon with the English muffins and perfectly poached eggs covered in Hollandaise sauce was just incredible.

I cannot wait to go back to Parc for breakfast very soon. I would love to go back and try it for lunch and dinner as well. Stephen Starr really nailed the concept, the execution, and overall success that he was aiming for with Parc. Go out there and try it and I bet you will be quite happy with your choice. Cheers!