Simple Mexican...

La Cita

911 Marlton Pike West

Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

www.lacitaauthenticmexicanfood.com/Menu.html‎ 

My sister was looking for a new job a few months ago, and she asked me to meet up for lunch one day when she was finished with her interview. I told her about a Mexican place I was looking to try in the area and I knew she would say yes, so we headed to La Cita on route 70 in Cherry Hill to grab some lunch and catch up.

The restaurant used to house a Mexican "supermercado", but it moved a few doors down and the owners opened up the restaurant. It was a great place to do so, because there really wasn’t any good Mexican in the area. The restaurant is very small and it is plainly decorated inside. The menu had some options on it that seemed very authentic to me, things I hadn’t seen on many Mexican menus before including chilaquiles and cemitas. These happened to be the two things that my sister and I ordered to eat, and I ordered myself an horchata to drink. Horchata is a rice milk drink that is sweet and has a nice cinnamon flavor to it. I slurped it all down and I would love to have it more often. Before they bring out your food, they give you chips and salsas for the table. They offered two different types of salsa, a salsa verde which had quite a kick to it, and a salsa roja which was more of traditional red salsa, a little bit of a kick, but much sweeter than the salsa verde. The chips came topped with a small bit of refried beans and a touch of cheese. They were stupendously crispy. I could have eaten the entire plate myself. 

A cemita is a sandwich that originated in a town called Puebla in Mexico. I first found out what it was by watching an episode of Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives. It’s a sandwich that is like the Mexican version of a gyro. The meat is typically cooked on a spit and then sliced to order when the sandwiches are made. Unfortunately it didn’t seem that that’s the way this one was made because of the type of meat that I ordered. I ordered the carnitas cemita. Carnitas are traditionally fried or braised and then roasted in their own juices before being served. The sandwich was served with cucumbers, radishes, a lime wedge and some charred green onions. The sandwich was also layered with avocado, cilantro and raw onion. The only thing I didn’t like about the sandwich was the way the meat was cut. I prefer the carnitas I eat to be shredded and to have a bit of texture to them. These particular carnitas were cubed, but they lacked texture. I think that had they been a bit crispy it would have made all the difference in the world. The flavor was definitely there, but the texture was a little lacking for me. Also the bread didn’t hold up to the weight of the sandwich very well. The bread was flimsy and fell apart as I was eating it, which was unfortunate because it was a delicious sandwich. 

I think La Cita deserves two solid pints. The authenticity of the menu is very intriguing, and I think with a bit of fine tuning the place will really turn out to be great; after all they had only been open for just over a month when I was there. It is definitely worth checking out, so let me know what you think! Cheers!

A Frequent Irish Hangout...

McGillin's

1310 Drury Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

www.mcgillins.com/‎ 

As a few of my friends like to say, their favorite watering hole in Philly is none other than McGillin's. We tend to end up there most nights that we all go out together at one point or another, and this particular evening was no different.  We went after the brewery tour at yards, and we decided to grab a table and some pitchers full of America's finest, Pabst Blue Ribbon. I had never eaten there before, but was looking forward to grabbing some good bar food. I ordered up a buffalo chicken cheese steak with some fries and enjoyed the company while we waited for our food to come out.

The atmosphere at McGillin's is a great time. It is fun and cheap, always a winning combination, but sometimes it gets a little packed. Because we grabbed a table and were eating, that wasn’t much of a concern for us on this particular night. The only concern, or I should say ridiculousness that ensued was the old bald gentleman that was putting on a dance special for everyone to see. He was asking all of the girls at our table to get up and dance with him, and when they said no, it didn’t faze him at all, as he kept dancing like a maniac all by his lonesome. He's been there many times when we have been there, so be sure to look out for him on the first floor for some classic entertainment. 

The food came out and I dug right in. I had built up my appetite quite a bit drinking at Yards all day before heading to McGillin's. The chicken cheese steak sandwich was a solid effort in my opinion. It wasn’t too cheesy, the sandwich wasn’t overwhelming in side, and the chicken was just plain tasty. The roll was nice, and the buffalo sauce had a real nice kick to it. Served on the side, it was perfect to dip in almost like it was a French dip style sandwich. I devoured it and sat back with satisfaction once complete.

Two pints for McGillin's in terms of food and atmosphere. It is definitely a great hangout spot, and the prices are very reasonable. The food is pretty decent, as you would expect it to be at a bar that has been as successful for so many years as McGillin's has been. Definitely give it a try sometime for a casual bite, and if not, look for my friends upstairs near the bar or downstairs watching the old guy dance his shoes off. Cheers!

Not Your Typical Diner...

Silk City Diner

435 Spring Garden Street

Philadelphia, PA 19123

www.silkcityphilly.com/‎ 

One of my buddies from Elon had grown up in the Philadelphia area, and when I started this blog, he left me a comment about making sure I get to Silk City Diner and to try the Bloody Mary there. While it took me a lot longer to get there than I would have liked, I am happy to say that I finally made it to Silk City and I tried a Bloody Mary. Thanks again for the shout out Chris, and as always for everyone else, I always listen to suggestions!

My girlfriend and I headed over for brunch one Saturday when we had plans to go on a Yard's brewery tour for a friend's birthday later that day. We were seated in the bar area right away, and we immediately took notice of the unorthodox decoration of the place. It was a pretty cool spot, and it had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives a few years back. I ordered up a Bloody Mary as I had been instructed to do and waited to delve into the deliciousness, while she ordered a Pimms Cup. We decided on our food in the mean time, the smothered chicken and waffles for me, a biscuit to share, and the poached eggs and cider braised pork belly for my lady. 

The Bloody Mary came and Chris was right it was very good. While I won’t put it up there with the one I had at Pub and Kitchen or the one at Khyber Pass Pub, it would certainly fall directly behind the two of them. The flavor was very good, but it lacked the big kick I like and it just didn’t have the amount of heat that I was looking for. It was a very delicious Bloody Mary though, one that I would order again if back at the Silk City Diner. The Pimms cup my girlfriend ordered was really tasty as well. I love gin, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I liked it, but the taste was very sweet and very delicious.

The food came out shortly thereafter and I was equally as impressed with it. I was super excited about my first encounter with fried chicken and waffles. I could not have been more impressed with the flavor combinations. I had read in many reviews of the place, that the best thing to do was top the chicken and waffles with some sriracha and some of the Vermont maple syrup. I am so glad that I did that, because it made the dish truly amazing. The chicken was crispy and juicy, the waffle was buttery and delicious, the sriracha was spicy, and the maple syrup was sweet. It was as close to an umami bite as you can get outside of Japanese cooking, and I savored each and every heavenly bite. 

My girlfriend's pork belly hash and eggs were fantastic as well. Pork belly is all the rage these days, on more restaurant menus than ever before, and for good reason. It is hard to find something so versatile, easily cooked, and packed with flavor. The pork belly was uber tender, and the sweet potato hash really complemented it well with its sweetness. And of course what is not to like about poached eggs? 

Last but certainly not least was the biscuit. Oh my lord the biscuit. When I tell you that I ate numerous biscuits over the four years I spent at Elon, as well as the in the 21 years of my life that I did not spend at Elon, and I've never had a biscuit this good. You better realize that I am not joking. Hands down the best biscuit I have ever had and I will say it over and over again. IT WAS AMAZING!

Three and half pints for Silk City based on food and atmosphere alone. I would go back just for the biscuit alone, but they have so many good things, I don’t need just one reason. I will go back again and again, and you should too. It’s a really funky place, but it is so cool too. Check it out and don’t tell me you went without trying the chicken and waffles or the biscuits! Cheers!

A Little Bayou Grubbin'...

Khyber Pass Pub

56 South 2nd Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

khyberpasspub.com/‎ 

One Saturday morning we ventured out to the brunch place we had picked out and were both very excited to try. I had found it on a list of the best brunch places in Philadelphia. The place is Khyber Pass Pub, a New Orleans style café in Old City. When we walked in, we knew it was our kind of place. It was a really cool setup, and had a homey feel to it. We took a seat and browsed over the delicious menu options while trying to pick our favorites out to try. We both ordered cocktails, for me a Bloody Mary. This is the best Bloody Mary you will find in the Philadelphia area. I have had many others, but this is by far the best one I have had for many reasons. There was a large amount of grated horseradish dispersed throughout, as well as a nice bit of celery salt around the rim. There was a really nice spice to the Bloody Mary as well, which is the most important thing. It was so delicious; I have to move it above the one at Pub and Kitchen as the best in the city. The pickled okra, olive, pickle, and cherry pepper on toothpicks were a really great addition as well. 

We both decided on dishes containing grits, for me the grillades and grits and for her the shrimp and grits. She also wanted a biscuit, which are hard to come by in good quality in this area, but we ordered it nonetheless figuring that if we were likely to find a good one in Philly, this might be the place to do it. We sipped our drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere while we waited with growling stomachs for our delicious New Orleans brunch. The plates were huge when they came out! We both dug in immediately and were in absolute heaven. My grillades, tender little pieces of steak in a rich and flavorful gravy, were amazing. I had never tried them before, but had seen them made on the food network in the past so I knew what they were. Mixing the gravy with the grits was delicious and taking a bite of a little bit of all three was pure bliss.   

Again we swapped our plates halfway through, and just when I thought I had the perfect dish, I realized that hers was better than mine. The shrimp and grits were to die for. It had the same rich flavor that the grillades and grits had, but the spice level was better and the shrimp were totally fantastic. I am a freak for anything spicy and this dish just made my pallet do back flips. I will order this dish each and every time that I come to this restaurant and if you choose to try Khyber Pass, do not miss out on it. The biscuit was delicious as well, although they messed up by burning the bottom of it. That is a big no no. It is the ultimate mistake you can make because it doesn’t allow you to enjoy the entire thing and it really hardens the bottom in ways that make it unappetizing. The biscuit was buttery and flaky as it should be on top, but the burnt bottom was definitely a turn off. 

We couldn’t miss out on dessert so we ordered up some beignets. I had never had a real New Orleans style beignet, but rather the smaller French versions, so I was pretty excited to see the large fried pieces of dough covered in powdered sugar come out to the table. Unfortunately I was less impressed with them than I had hoped I would be. They were pretty dry, which was not what I was expecting, and the tons of powdered sugar on top actually made them feel even drier. I was really disappointed by this, but the high points of the meal had been so good, that it did not have as much of an effect on the meal as it might have.

Three and a half pints for Khyber Pass Pub. What a fantastic brunch! If the beignets had been as amazing as our drinks and main courses, they definitely would have fallen in the 4 to 5 pint category. I will visit this place again and again, and you should too because you will most definitely love it as I have! Cheers!