Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Not Your Typical Diner...



Silk City Diner
435 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123

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!

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
I am a food lover living in Philadelphia.

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