Khyber
Pass Pub
56 South 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
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!
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