The Newest Tria

Tria has always been one of my favorite restaurants in Philly (R.I.P. their Wine Room near campus that closed down), so I was extremely excited when their long anticipated new Taproom finally opened on the corner of 20th and Walnut. The idea behind this particular brainchild is that everything on the drink menu, both wine and beer, is on tap. It actually makes for a pretty cool piece of decor behind the bar, where, instead of the usual wine cooler and different draft beer labels you see at their other locations, they have a long wall of uniform silver spouts ready to pour out your order (photo here).

For our choice of drink, which were both solid, the boyfriend got the Allagash White and I opted for the Glera Frizzante Costabella, a sweeter white wine with a slight fizz that made it comparable to prosecco. The food menu, however, is where the fun really began.

Kicking Off Restaurant Week

So I might have gone a bit overboard in terms of "calorie-splurging" the past couple days... no regrets.

Round One: Bridget Foy's

First stop of Philly's Restaurant Week was the eclectic Bridget Foy's, a Philadelphia landmark that has been situated at the corner of 2nd and South St since 1978. The decor was pretty interesting with a lot of colorful photos, including one that looked like a family of olives singing together (unfortunately don't have a photo, but I'll let you use your imagination on that one).

Top: Cheese Steak Croquettes, these were great - the perfect combination of crunchiness on the outside and melted cheesiness on the inside. I usually do not like cheese steaks (I find them too salty), but this variation was really enjoyable
Bottom: Crab and Corn Bisque, nothing too memorable about this dish... especially because there wasn't very much crab

Butternut Squash Risotto, Dulche de Leche Cheesecake, Apple Crumble, Steak Frites

Overall, it was a nice experience being able to check this establishment off my list. Would I go back? Probably not. It's rather far from campus and the food wasn't anything that I would make a second trek all the way over to 2nd Street for. 

Wine & Dine at Melograno

I have been wanting to try Melograno for ages... ever since I saw they had a truffle mushroom pasta on their menu that people have literally swooned over. Finally managed to make my way over for a quiet Sunday date night with the boyfriend and was pleasantly surprised that they were offering their Restaurant Week menu, even though it was Sunday.

Long Weekend Fun

A long weekend full of endless possibilities - I chose to spend it in the constant, bustling city of NYC. Having explored the city on my own so many times, I have developed a short list of favorites I tend to frequent every so often when I'm in the need of something familiar. That, along with a couple new experiences, made this last weekend a rather enjoyable one.

Afternoon Tea

A gem of a place in the food-barren wasteland of the financial district (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, I've come to really appreciate the area). They do have other locations farther uptown but I usually end up at this one out of convenience. The ladies almost always offer you a free sample of their chocolates or macarons, even if you're just browsing. To be honest, I actually prefer their macarons over those of Laduree, though their flavors are by far more limited. 

One of my favorite places to spend any free time at - La Maison Du Chocolat. It's both a boutique full of chocolates, macarons, and cakes, but also includes a small cafe where you can sit and relax, drink a pot of tea, and enjoy the different pastries they have to offer. My usual is a pot of the Darjeeling tea with a piece of the Pleyel cake, a smooth chocolate almond treat that reminds me of the flour-less tortes my mom makes.

Dinner Upstate

Dinner is usually the meal where I like to explore new places and check names off my restaurant list (which seems to be getting longer, not shorter). Saturday night, we decided to make our way to Upstate, a very popular no-reservations place known for great seafood and even better whiskey cake.

Taco Tuesdays + Szechuan Takeout

The best part of Penn, in my humble opinion, has to be its close proximity to so many great food options. Since returning from home, I have reverted back to my college student budget, but did manage to get in a couple (somewhat) noteworthy meals.

Taco Tuesday is apparently a pretty big thing (who knew?) here in Philadelphia, and lucky for us, our neighborhood Distrito has joined in on the fun. I have always been a fan of Jose Garces' restaurants, and this place is no exception. Though pricier than some of his other establishments, the $15 pre-fixe lunch and happy hour deals on food are still worth a visit. Tuesdays seem like the best time to take advantage - they have $2 tacos (one of each of the three flavors offered) as well as a few other options on their happy hour menu for a discounted price (all around $5-7). Make sure to get there early though, these prices only last from 5-7! After four tacos and a small helping of chips and guac/salsa, I was pretty satisfied. My favorite by far was the mushroom tacos; I love the flavor of truffles so the truffle puree was perfect. That along with the rich and savory mushrooms topped with the crunchy texture from the fried potato almost made me forget that there wasn't any meat in this particular taco. For only two dollars, I would definitely go back for more.

Top left: Salsa-guacamole mix with chips offered as a special on Tuesdays. If I had known the ratio of salsa to guac was that uneven, I would have opted for the sole guac and chips option offered on the regular HH menu
Bottom left: Cordero tacos, Adobo-braised lamb, mint pipian, quesa panela
Right: Hongos taco, wild mushrooms, truffled potato puree, crispy yukon potato

Today, having finished my classes for the week, I spent a rather lazy Thursday running a few errands, one of which involved finally indulging my Szechuan craving. After passing by the University City Han Dynasty (fondly referred to by Penn kids as 'Handy Nasty') on my walk back home, I couldn't resist and had to step in to order a few dishes to take back with me. Though nothing compares to having the full meal at the original location in Old City with a large group and equally large order, my beef and tripe in chili oil and dry pepper fried chicken were more than enough to make my day. Best part? Enough leftovers for a good few days. Bring on the spice!

"Keep the original spiciness levels?" he asked. Yes, please. Don't mind the incredible amount of water I simultaneously drink and sweat out (Taiwanese food usually isn't spicy so I haven't had much training growing up).

A long weekend in New York City will hopefully yield more food-worthy photos to come!

Final Bits of Home

Last post before returning to Philly in the morning for my final semester at Penn (still in denial). In lieu of spending my last few hours in Seattle driving around the city and eating out, we decided to have some quality family time at home. However, we still managed to make the day exciting with... fresh oysters!

I can now proudly say that I've shucked an oyster - such a satisfying feeling when that stubborn top shell finally pries open and your end product looks like it came straight out of a raw bar at some fancy restaurant

Perfect late lunch / pre-dinner appetizer! Kumamotos on the left and Penn Coves (larger ones outside) and Shigokus (inside) on the right

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I love the seafood in Seattle because of its freshness and abundance. We only had to drive five minutes from our house to a small fish market nearby in order to get these. At about $1.50 an oyster (for the Kumamotos) or $10.99 per dozen for a few of the other varieties, this deal was even more exciting than happy hour at an oyster bar. We decided to get a dozen of the Kumamotos (which I had tried once before at Aquagrill in NYC) and half a dozen each of the Penn Cove and Shigoku oysters. After taking them home, the real fun began.

Bakery Goods + Indian Food

What a gluttonous day! We have been up since seven this morning and spent most of the day near Fremont and the University District, eating and shopping (for food) to our hearts' content. Our first stop was Honore Artisan Bakery, where we arrived before most of the pastries had even come out of the oven. No worries for us, these freshly-baked treats were well worth the wait! We left with a full box of croissants, scones (sweet and savory), and turnovers... enough to last us the next couple of breakfasts, if we exercise some restraint. The shop is rather small with only two short counters with stools for seating, so we took our goodies and drove off to our next stop: Fresh Flours. The first thing my dad did upon entering the bakery was make a beeline towards their "Day-Old" basket, where all the leftover pastries from the previous day are offered for $1. As it was still relatively early in the morning, we managed to grab a green tea muffin from the basket, one of the numerous Japanese fusion offerings available here. Mom also chose a freshly baked Basque cake and I had my cheddar scallion scone from earlier to go along with our much-needed morning coffees. All were very filling and satisfying - the coarse salt sprinkled on the scone really intensified the savoriness while the sweet custard in the cake paired perfectly with the moist and crumbly almond crust.

Top: Basque cake, a traditional French dessert usually consisting of almond-based cake and cream or custard filling
Bottom: My latte and scone

We tried to enjoy our breakfast at a leisurely pace since we had hours to kill, but alas, our plates were clean and coffee mugs drained. Off to the next destination!

Seattle Adventures

Being home for winter break means a number of different things - home cooked meals, endless days lounging around with no to-do lists, a long-awaited and joyful reunion with Riley, our lovable Westie. One of the best parts of calling Seattle home is the bountiful amounts of fresh seafood almost everywhere you look. Just a few snippets of my winter retreat before returning to school for my last semester:

Chirashi Lunch

Musashi's, a lovely albeit small Japanese restaurant just outside Bellevue has quickly become a family favorite when sushi cravings arise. Though the menu is limited and seating can sometimes require a short wait, it is always well worth the visit.

Top: Seared salmon nigiri
Bottom: The largest chirashi bowl I've ever had, only $14?!

Visiting Pike Place

A weekday trip to Downtown Seattle always begins with lunch at Il Corvo, where a daily rotation of three different pastas never disappoints. This time, we opted for a healthy balance of meat and veggies, or more accurately, bolognese and pesto. We've been waiting for a pesto variation here for awhile now and it just so happened to be our lucky day! Following this was a short trek to a quaint coffee shop I've been wanting to try, known for their beautiful latte art and life-changing orange mochas.

Top left: Tagliatelle, Alla Bolognese
Top right: Cresti Di Gallo, with basil-mint-parsley pesto

Orange mocha, apple and brie sandwich, hot chocolate steamer from Moore Coffee Shop
Also walked past this cute little b&b, where I stopped to take this photo. Not sure if the hat sitting atop the sign is always there, but definitely adds a nice touch.