Pizza Friday...

Nomad Pizza

611 South 7th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.nomadpizzaco.com/ 

One Friday during the summer when I stayed at my fiance's place while she was at work, I was starving and she didn’t have any food to eat for lunch. I had been having pizza cravings for a while, and since Philly's pizza scene is booming, I decided to give one of the places I had  been hearing a lot about a try. Lucikly, one of them happened to be right around the corner, so I walked over to Nomad pizza to pick up a pie.

It was quite small inside, but it had a pretty cool vibe to it. It was a little hipster, but it had a lot of charm. I walked up to the counter and looked over the menu. It was a tough decision because the menu had too many good choices on it, but I wound up choosing the Spicy Soppresatta pizza. 

Nomad is known for having fresh, local and organic ingredients on all of its pizzas. They list the local farms that they get the produce from on a blackboard that hangs on the wall, which I thought was pretty cool. The Spicy Soppresatta had tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, soppressata, oregano, organic garlic, red pepper flakes, organic parmesan and honey. The pizza was made right in front of me as soon as I ordered it,  and it was put into the scorching hot oven. It came out almost as soon as it went in, which goes to show you how hot the oven was, and I could not wait to dig into it. 

The soppresatta had become very crispy, and some of its fat had rendered out onto the pizza. The crust was thin and blistered, the way that I have come to love my pizza. You could taste each of the ingredients on its own, and the flavor was incredibly fresh. I loved the slight heat from the red pepper flakes, especially when it was combined with the sweet touch of the honey. I also really loved the creamy, rich flavor of the mozzarella and the fresh, herbaceous taste of basil. I could have devoured the entire pizza and then some. It was a masterpiece.

Three and a half pints for Nomad Pizza. I really enjoyed the flavors brought out in the pie I tried, and I was really enticed by the entire menu. I love their philosophy on pizza and I cannot wait to try more. Its definitely worth a visit, so check it out and let me know what you think! Cheers!

My Old Friend...

Saying Goodbye to Chifa

707 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

http://garcesgroup.com/chifanews/ 

I heard some really terrible news one day a while back, and I was really upset by it. One of my favorite restaurants since getting into the food scene here in Philly was closing, and at the time I didn’t think I was going to be able to enjoy a meal there one last time before the doors shut. Chifa, one of the most unique dining establishments I had ever been to, was closing its doors. I was caught completely off guard by it, especially since the news broke on a Monday and the restaurant was closing for good on Friday. It was being reconceptualized into a Cuban diner. Unfortunately, I never found out the reason why. I asked around, but no one seemed to have a good answer. Luckily it worked out that I was able to get to the city on a Thursday night and surprise my fiancé with an impromptu visit to say good bye to one of our favorite places.

We were hoping to get a glimpse of the man himself in the kitchen, Iron Chef Garces that is, but we didn’t get to see him. Apparently he had been in earlier, but we missed him. The restaurant was packed as you would assume it would be with the news that it was closing spreading like wildfire. Once we were seated, we decided to order a bunch of things we had not tried before, and a few of our favorites that we had previously. They were out of some things, as you would assume a restaurant trying to get rid of their inventory would be, so we had to switch up a few dishes which was disappointing, but we wound up choosing the pork belly ramen, the Peruvian ceviche, Braised Beef Short Rib and Taro Puff, Char Siu Pork and Cabbage Rice Dumpling, and the spicy Cantonese eggplant. 

The meal started off fantastically as usual with the delicious pan de bono with the spicy guava butter. It is seriously one of the best complimentary items I have had at a restaurant. The food comes out as its ready at Chifa, so the pork belly ramen and the Peruvian ceviche were the first items out. As always the Peruvian ceviche was delicioso. Creamy coconut milk, the fresh fish and the acidity from the citrus juices combine to make a masterful dish. The pork belly ramen was right up my alley. The pork belly had been seared off nicely, and it remained an element of texture in the delicious porky broth. The ramen noodles were tender and the clear flavorful broth showed me how a poor man's dish like ramen can be transformed at the hand of a master.

The two dumplings came out next. My fiancé and I were split about what one was better, but we both agreed that they were each great in their own right. I was pretty partial to the short rib and taro puff. There was something about the texture and fluffiness of the taro puff that just made me feign for more. The outside was deliciously crispy and the sweet chile concoction underneath of it was sweet in a way that balanced out the saltiness of the short rib filling. The pork and cabbage rice dumpling was very tasty as well. I loved the sweet glaze on it that was very reminiscent of hoisin sauce. It complimented the filling very nicely.

We were served the spicy Cantonese eggplant with the dumplings as well and I really enjoyed that. It was so spicy and flavorful. It very much reminded me of the Szechuan dishes I enjoyed in China. It was very nice accompaniment to the dumplings.   

For dessert, we were pretty disappointed that they were also out of the item that we wanted to order. However, we were very understanding that they were trying to close up shop, so we picked another dessert that looked quite delicious. It was a rich chocolate cake with chocolate crispies in the middle and topped with a deliciously creamy coffee ice cream. The coffee flavor was very prominent in the ice cream.

It was a nice visit for a final farewell to one of our favorite places in the city. We had a great meal each and every time we went. I wish it wasn’t gone, but I am excited to see what Jose Garces can do in the realm of Cuban cuisine. After all, he did work at Alma de Cuba as the executive chef for a while. So cheers to a great run Chifa, you will most definitely be missed! Cheers!

Who Wants a Mustache Ride???

Mustache Bill's Diner

8th Street

Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

www.facebook.com/pages/Mustache-Bills-Diner/51953267225 

There aren’t many places in LBI that we haven’t been to and really want to go, but one of those places was Mustache Bill's Diner in Barnegat Light. We never really get down to that side of the island because during the summer, it takes forever to get the 18 miles of driving out of the way to get there. We are almost completely on the other side so with the summer traffic and lights, it’s a hike. My fiancé had never been to that side of the island before, so we headed down there with my brother one Saturday morning to check them both out. 

After we went to the lighthouse, we headed in to Mustache's Bills to put our name in. We waited about 20 minutes before we were seated, which I thought was pretty good for LBI on a weekend in the summer. The menu wasn’t very big, so my decision was made rather quickly. I ordered the corned beef hash with two over easy eggs and hash browns and we sipped some coffee and waited. 

My brother had ordered the SOS (shit on a shingle) for all you military guys out there, also known as cream chipped beef, so I was really interested to try it. I had seen it on menus for years, but had never ordered it because of its nickname. When I tasted his plate I was very happy I had. It was very tasty. The gravy was really creamy and had a peppery flavor to it. The beef was so tender you didn’t need a fork to cut it. The whole thing was really rich, so I am glad I only got a few bites from him.

My breakfast was spot on. I love ordered corned beef hash, but I have definitely realized that I prefer to have my corned beef shredded and mixed amongst hash browns as opposed to being served with diced potatoes and minced corned beef. The flavor was really good though so I can't complain about that. The eggs were cooked perfectly and I used the delicious rye bread to sop up as much of the yolks as I could. The hash browns did not come out like I asked and I was pretty upset about that. I always order my hash browns extra crispy, but these were barely even considered crispy.

Two pints for Mustache Bills. The price point is definitely right on for diner fare, and they know their audience. The food is solid, but it definitely wasn’t anything spectacular. I was hoping for a bit more, but I know I expect a lot some times. Its definitely worth a visit if you are in the area because its cheap and good food, so check it out and let me know what you think! Cheers!

A BYOB Pub????

The British Chip Shop

146 Kings Highway East

Haddonfield, NJ 08033

www.thebritishchipshop.com/ 

My cousin and his wife have lived in the Collingswood area for many years now and have been scoping out the restaurant scene there over that time. They found some really awesome places in the area and then they usually either take us there or give us a gift card to visit on our own. For my last birthday, they gave me a gift card to try the British Chip Shop in Haddonfield, so my fiancé and I headed over there to grab some dinner on a Friday evening.

One of the best things about the Collingswood/Haddonfield restaurant scene is the BYOB option at most places in the area. The British Chip shop is one of those BYOB options, and although it would be nice to grab some pub fare and a Boddingtons there, its nice to not have to pay for marked up booze once in a while. We grabbed a six pack at a local liquor store before heading in, and we dove into those as we looked over the menu. I never get to eat British food, so I could not pass up the opportunity to have some bangers and mash. We had to taste the fish and chips, so my fiancé ordered the fish and salad and we split an order of the madras curry chips.

A lot of people don’t know that there is a lot of Indian influence in British cuisine because India used to be a British colony. The curry covered chips is one of the ways that it can be seen. The chips were covered with melted cheddar and madras curry and boy were they tasty. The chips were piping hot, and the curry sauce dumped over top was as well. It added a really nice curry flavor to the chips, without the heaviness that I have come to expect from Indian curry. I cant ever complain about cheese on fries, so the cheese on them was nice as well.

Our main courses were just as good as our appetizer. The fish was nice and crispy and although it was a little oily, it was still very tasty. The batter wasn’t super thick which was nice, because it made the fish feel a bit lighter than fried fish usually does. My bangers and mash were purely blissful. The sausages were incredibly fat and juicy and they had been roasted to an incredible level of crispiness on their exteriors. Pairing the sausages with the onion gravy and the buttery and smooth mashed potatoes was fantastic. The dish could not have been any better. It was the definition of comforting, and I would order it a hundred times over. 

For dessert, I allowed my fiancé to choose. I was really glad when she picked the option that had toffee in it. Toffee is used a lot in British desserts. The vanilla ice cream was topped with a rich and buttery toffee sauce as well as with peanuts and a crumble of some sort. I didn’t really like the chocolate cookies that were served with it. They looked a bit like biscottis, but they were kind of chalky and didn’t really have much flavor to them. I wish they had been better, because they would have made the dessert much better.

Three pints for the British Chip Shop. They savory part of our meal was really tasty, but unfortunately for me the dessert missed the mark a little bit. I love the fact that it is BYOB as well so they definitely get some points for that. They have some great menu options to choose from and the price point is pretty good, so check it out and let me know what you think! Cheers!