The Food of Philadelphia and New Jersey

Ever since I met my friend Megan a couple years ago, she's been telling me how great the food is in her hometown in New Jersey. Her hometown is just outside of Philadelphia, so she's also been telling me how great the food in Philly is. Naturally, as a big lover of food, I've always wanted to try out these things Megan has been telling me about. And this past week I was in luck; I finally managed to make it out to Philadelphia for a visit and try out all of the delicious food the city has to offer. As I'm sure you can imagine, a Philly cheesesteak was the first on my list:

1. Philly Cheesesteak: I'm told that there are 2 places in the city to get the best cheesesteaks (Geno's and Pat's). I had a lot of other things to accomplish on my trip, so I didn't manage to make it to one of the 2 "top" places. But I did still manage to get a cheesesteak. I got mine at the Reading Terminal Market at Carmen's Famous Italian Hoagies and Cheesesteaks and it was delicious. The classic cheesesteak is with cheese whiz and onions. But these days you can get provolone cheese, peppers, and sometimes more on yours too. I opted to get provolone and peppers (both sweet and hot) on mine. Unfortunately, I was too excited to eat it and I forgot to take a picture. You'll have to take my word for it that mine looked something like the picture here that I found on google images ;)


2. Chickie's and Pete's Crab Fries: While in Philly, I also took the opportunity to go see a Phillies game. It was an awesome night with perfect weather and the Phillies won (always a plus). One food that's really popular at the stadium are Chickie's and Pete's crab fries. They were a tad too salty for me, but still tasted really great, especially with a beer.

Watching the game

3. Tommy Dinic's Pork and Beef: For part of my time in Philly I stayed downtown right by the Reading Terminal Market which is an indoor market full of lots and lots of different food options. One of those options is Tommy Dinic's. A coworker of mine (who is from Philly) told me that I had to try the pulled pork sandwich there. So I waited 20 minutes in line to get the delicious sandwich you see below. I only got provolone on mine but you can also get greens (i.e. spinach or broccoli rabe) or peppers. I thought the wait was definitely worth it.

4. Water Ice: The concept of water ice was perplexing to me when Megan told me about it. At first I thought she was describing a snow cone or a slurpee, but she assured me that that's not what it was. It's actually more like Italian ice or sorbet but it comes out of a soft serve ice cream machine. In either case, it was really good. I got halfway through eating it before realizing I forgot to take a picture (so forgive me for the poor quality). I got mango flavored, but they have other kinds like blue raspberry and root beer. You can also mix the water ice with ice cream. Megan ended up getting root beer water ice with vanilla ice cream. Hers was also delicious and tasted like a root beer float. Apparently there are different types of water ice, but Megan recommended Polish water ice, so that's what we had.

5. Manco & Manco's Pizza: Being from New Jersey, Megan naturally wanted to dispel my misconceptions about what is really the Jersey Shore. The prospect of a day at the beach sounded wonderful to me, so of course I agreed to go. We spent a few hours on the beach and then went to walk the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. On the boardwalk we got a slice of pizza at Megan's favorite place, Manco & Manco's. I always like a good slice of pizza, and I definitely enjoyed this one. I just went for their generic plain (i.e. cheese) pizza. But they have other options like broccoli (which is apparently really good), venetian, sicilian, and more.

On the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ

6. Yuengling: If you ever make it out to Philly and try out all this delicious food, a great beer to pair with your food is a Yuengling. It's a lighter beer but has more flavor than something like Bud Light or Miller Lite. I'd never heard of Yuengling until I came out east and Megan told me to try it. It's by no means a craft beer, but this Philly beer is definitely a great choice.





So that concludes by Philly and New Jersey food/traveling experience. Philly sometimes gets a bad rap for being a dirty city, but I truly enjoyed myself. And it helped that I had a great travel guide (thanks Meg!). There are a bunch of things to do in Philly and I just gave you a lot of good food options above :)

My Favorite Restaurants in Minneapolis

A few weeks ago I made a quick decision to move to a new position with my company that would move me from Minneapolis to Indianapolis. I only have a few days left in Minneapolis and I'm in the middle of packing up all my kitchen supplies, so needless to say, cooking hasn't been the easiest. So for this week I decided to do a post about my favorite restaurants (and bars) I've discovered while living in Minneapolis. If you're ever in the Twin Cities, I recommend checking these places out (I've categorized them by areas of the Twin Cities):

Northeast Minneapolis:

Brasa: This is a Creole style rotisserie restaurant. There's also one in St. Paul, but I've only been tot he Northeast one. If you're looking for something a little less traditional and you enjoy pulled pork or roasted chicken, you'll love this restaurant. The other cool thing about Brasa is that their food is sourced locally or are organic or sustainably raised.

Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit: Now I haven't actually eaten at this German restaurant, but I have been to the bar downstairs, and I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for German beer, dancing, and a fun night in Northeast Minneapolis. Things don't really get going until 11 or 12 at night, but it's a lot of fun with a German twist once they do.

Modern Café: I love the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. One time I was watching it and thought that the restaurant they were featuring looked delicious...then I realized it was only a couple miles away from where I lived. Modern Café is a 1940's style diner that serves American food with a French twist and made from local ingredients. Their pot roast is their classic dish, but I encourage you to check out the rest of the menu; it changes based on the time of year. And they serve breakfast and lunch too.

Dinkytown:

Loring Pasta Bar: I came to love the Loring Pasta Bar when i was a poor college student and this was the nice place to take your parents on campus and then have them pay for your dinner (yes, I admit that I did this on occasion). Since graduating, I still go back because the food still tastes great. Personally I really like their fettuccini carbonara. I've also heard that their calamari is good if you're a seafood person. If you're ever on campus (or near it) at the University of Minnesota, check this restaurant out.

Mesa Pizza: It's no gourmet restaurant, but this pizza by the slice place is tasty and different. You can still get your typical pepperoni pizza, but Mesa is known for it's twist on pizza. Your options include: southwest taco, barbeque chicken bacon, penne marinara, avocado delight, and my personal favorite, macaroni and cheese. Mesa now has a location in Uptown too, so you don't have to go to Dinkytown if Uptown is closer.

Downtown:

Brit's Pub: Brit's is a fun English style pub to go to for a happy hour and to unwind. They also have yummy food if you're looking for a little more than drinks. If it's nice out (and yes it IS nice in Minnesota for part of the year), check out the lawn bowling on the roof. If you have a big group, you may want to look into reserving the green or even joining one of their Lawn Bowling Leagues.

Zelo: Zelo is a more expensive restaurant downtown, but if you're looking for a classier place, I highly recommend it. I went to this restaurant with my parents and my aunt and uncle. They were all really impressed with the quality of the fish they ordered. Personally, I'm not a huge seafood fan, but when I had a taste of a couple of their plates, even I was impressed. And the ravioli I ordered (sans seafood) was delicious.

Uptown:

Barbette: If you're looking for food with a French flare, this is the place to go. Now if you don't like French food, don't write it off just yet, there's a good happy hour at this restaurant. You can go for breakfast or dinner here. I've had both and enjoyed both. Barbette is also right down the street from Lake Calhoun, one of the many lakes in the Twin Cities area; if you're visiting, take a walk around the lake and enjoy the nice weather.

St. Paul:

Snuffy's Malt Shop: I was introduced to this diner by a few coworkers. There are 4 locations around the Twin Cities (Highland Park, Minnetonka, Edina, Roseville), but I've only been to the Highland Park (or St. Paul) one. Looking for a greasy but delicious meal accompanied by a large and even more delicious malt? Then this is the place. The menu is limited to mostly burgers, fries, sandwiches, and malts, but it's all very tasty!

Other recommendations I haven't had the chance to experience:

Of course I haven't had the chance to try out every restaurant I wanted to in the Twin Cities...guess I'll have to come back ;)...I think my friends would like that, so here are the places I'd been meaning to check out but didn't have time to before my move. 

Bars:
The Depot Tavern (they call themselves "your neighborhood bar, downtown")
moto-i ("the first sake brewery restaurant outside of Japan" according to their website) 
Pedal Pub (you'll have to check out the website, but you bike while you drink beer)
Williams (I've heard this is a good bar in Uptown)

Restaurants:
112 Eatery (a nice restaurant downtown--be sure to make reservations)

Al's Breakfast (a tiny diner on the University of Minnesota campus)
Haute Dish (a nice twist on your typical Midwestern food)
Manny's Steakhouse (pretty self-explanatory, but I've heard it's good--located downtown)
Panino Brothers (in Apple Valley, so on the outskirts of Minneapolis, but it's supposed to be a unique twist on sandwiches)
Stella's Fish Cafe (bar and restaurant in Uptown--be sure to check out the patio of the roof)