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!

Smoke 'em If Ya Got 'em...

Percy Street BBQ

900 South Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.percystreet.com/ 

Since I rarely have fun on New Year’s Eve and my girlfriend was actually going to be back in Philly for once (she normally spends it in Miami or Puerto Rico with family), I spent it with her in the city. We made reservations at Percy Street BBQ, a gem in the empire of Michael Solomonov, and in very close proximity to her apartment. I was very excited to try it, having walked past it hundreds of times and smelled the delicious aroma that emanated from its smoker. 

When we were seated, I immediately loved the atmosphere. It was very casual, as a good BBQ joint should be, with a roll of paper towels stationed near your table, and a holder full of different sauce options also on the table. Our waitress told us that they were having a buy 5 cans get 1 free special, so we ordered a mix six pack of Flying Dog Underdog, Butternuts Pork Slap, 21st Amendment Fireside, Sprecher Special Ale, Narragansett Porter, and Starr Northern Lights IPA. They put the entire six-pack on ice for us so that we could enjoy them at our leisure. I could not resist ordering one of the weirdest drinks I had ever heard of. It is called the Hillbilly Gatorade, a concoction of pickle juice, Miller Hi-Life, and Old Faithful BBQ sauce. As weird as it sounds, it was actually pretty tasty. Nothing was too overpowering in the drink, so everything worked pretty well together. I especially liked the pickle juice element. I hate Miller Hi-Life, but it wasn’t so bad in this case, as the BBQ sauce and pickle juice hid the nastiness that usually lies within its bottle. 

The way it works at Percy Street is that you can either order platters or sandwiches with accompanying sides. I decided on the smoked pork belly with sides of burnt end beans and mustard green beans, while my girlfriend decided on the brisket with fries and sauerkraut. Whenever we go out to eat now we pretty much split everything 50/50, so we each get a taste of each thing we order. The food didn’t take long, and we were quite happy about that as we got our baskets and immediately dug in. The pork belly was phenomenal. I never would have thought of pork belly to be served BBQ style with a dry rub and smoke flavor, but it was amazing. It wasn’t overly fatty as I thought it might be, but rather tender and juicy, as the fat seemed to have rendered perfectly during the low and slow cooking process. The green beans were nothing too exciting, just crispy blanched green beans with mustard dressing, but the burnt end beans were spot on. Hot damn were they tasty. I have come to really enjoy baked beans, especially with a little bit of spice and some burnt ends dispersed throughout… there aren’t too many things I would find more delicious. 

My girlfriend and I switched plates halfway through our meal, and I got to try out the brisket. She got the lean brisket, as you can order lean or fatty, and it was super tender. It was flavorful, with a great smoky taste and a really nice texture. It pulled apart the way BBQ competition judges say it should, and melted in my mouth with each and every bite. The sauerkraut was forgettable. It really lacked flavor and the vinegary punch that I expect from truly good sauerkraut. The fries on the other hand were fantastic. They were seasoned nicely, and crispy on the outside while remaining light and airy on the inside. 

 

You all know by now that skipping dessert isn’t really an option, and while we usually split a dessert these days, we decided to order two, because we each particularly wanted something. We decided on the Yards root beer float, and the pecan pie. I am as big a fan of root beer as anyone, so I knew I would love the root beer float. This particular brand of root beer is made by a local beer company in Philadelphia called Yards Brewery. It was very tasty, and the ice cream held up well in the soda. I had never tasted a pecan pie before, a sin I know, especially since I went to college below the Mason Dixon line, so my girlfriend told me we had to order it. I am glad she said that, because it was a really tasty dessert. I know it isn’t good for you, but I don’t really care because it was really good. The pecans are really nice, and the crust is really what kicks it into another gear. I will definitely be adding it to my list of desserts to eat more often.

Three and a half pints for Percy Street BBQ for their excellent food, their ability to nail their mantra in a city not known for BBQ, and their simplistic yet flawless approach to food. I really enjoy this restaurant for many reasons, and it just further points out to me what a great chef Michael Solomonov is. Each of his restaurants  that I have been to has been a homerun, and each of them has impressed me in a different way. They are inventive and original and I have nothing but respect for them. You should check out Percy Street as soon as you can! Cheers!