Poi Dog Snack Shop

It has really been a while since my last post. My schedule has filled up limiting me to only 2 possible days to get out and the snow has been less than helpful. But I'm back and hope you enjoy this review!

One of my goals in life is to make it to Hawaii just for a luau. I just want the kalua pork. This of course is not to be confused with kahlua - the coffee flavored liquor. But until I can actually make it to Hawaii, I think that Poi Dog will do just fine!

My lunch this past wednesday was the kalua pork and cabbage plate and a side of poi. The plate also came with 2 scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. I was quite satisfied with the portion of food and it also looks nice in its container. 

I've never had poi before this, and I just had to try it. Poi is made from taro root and it's cooked, and then smashed with water added. It has a bluish-purple color and has a very pasty consistency. It has very delicate flavor, and I don't think most people would enjoy eating it by itself, but it tastes great with the pork and cabbage!

The pork is really what stood out, as it should have! The pork had an amazing sweetness and paired with the smoky flavor, it was amazing. The cabbage was underneath and cooked to perfection. I cannot recall having any pork that was as moist and succulent as this was! I am drooling just writing about it!

The macaroni salad was also good. I must admit, I am very particular when it comes to my "salads" - potato, macaroni, etc. I lost my notes about this, but from what I remember, it was every bit creamy and delicious. I think there was potato inside as well as parsley and there was perhaps something else. All in all, an excellent meal! 

Find Poi Dog online at the following:

http://twitter.com/PoiDogPhilly

http://www.facebook.com/PoiDogPhilly

http://poidogphilly.com

Say Cheese Philly!!!

No, I'm not trying to take your picture, but rather tell you about my latest food truck experience. Having promised last week, I headed over to 33rd & Arch to find Say Cheese. A dish with any form of melted cheese is a comfort item for me. It truly makes me feel that wondrous sense of being happy and full, and wonderful. Just writing about it right now makes me feel the same way. 

I hadn't eaten so I was looking for a nice filling lunch. Upon arrival and asking for suggestions, it was recommended that the brisket cheese steak was a solid item. That was also what first caught my eye, not only because it's listed at the top of the menu, it was most appealing to me. The sandwich comes served on a fresh, lightly toasted Italian roll topped with a red pepper spread. The roll is then stuffed with a generous portion of tender, moist, and wonderfully seasoned brisket. I usually pack a lot of flavor into my brisket because on Passover, one needs all the flavor you can get. This however was simply seasoned, and cooked to perfection, allowing the meat to shine on its own. All this is topped with an amazing homemade cheese sauce which I believe had provolone in there - and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Everything on this sandwich was able to stand out on its own, but yet work together to make one cohesive sandwich. 

I also got an order of their house made chips. These chips are fried to order, and seasoned perfectly. The chips were also just the right "thin-ness" They weren't so thin that there was nothing there, but enough that they crisped up nice and even and with nothing wrong about them. I know that I will be sure to make a return for their deep fried bacon cheeseburger mac & cheese balls. Shhh! Just don't tell Mac Mart!! You can check out today's menu below. 

To Find Say Cheese, Visit any of the following for updates to their location and menu

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SayCheesePhilly

or @saycheesephilly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saycheesephiladelphia

or search for Say Cheese Philadelphia

Delicias

With plans to go to Mac Mart for lunch being spoiled by last minute schedule change, I landed at Love Park to find the lone food tuck - Delicias.

The main dish sold here are the arepas. Their website describes them as follows:

Arepas are fresh, home-made corn patties, grilled and stuffed with your choice of delicias. Our arepas are naturally wheat and gluten free

Upon a little more research, the arepa is made with "masarepa" or arepa flour. It's basically precooked, ground corn flour. This gets mixed with water, butter, and salt. 

I  was greeted by Bill who made a few recommendations. I ended up getting the robinita - two arepas stuffed with chorizo, black beans, sweet plantain, guacamole, pico de gallo, cotija cheese. I opted to get without the beans. 

Unsure of how to properly eat this, I took the fork that was placed in the bag and went to work. The first thing I noticed was the wonderful aroma of FRESH, flavorful food. The chorizo was seasoned well and offered just the right level of spice. The pico was great, and coming from a tomato hater in the middle of winter, this says a lot. The guacamole was a vibrant green, with no brown discoloration. 

But of course, the star is the arepa patties themselves. They have a nice fresh corny taste, which helped bring the entire dish together. 

Delicias has two trucks, and just recently opened a restaurant on 4th & South st. Find them at any of the links below!

http://deliciasfoodtruck.com

http://www.deliciasarepas.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Delicias-Food-Truck/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PhillyDelicias

My name is Jason and I am addicted to tacos.

So the entire food truck world up until now has just been an inconvenience. I always worked until 2:30, or 3:00 and then headed to another job. This past September, that all changed. I started by frequenting trucks in Love Park as it was most convenient. I eventually started going to The Porch @ 30th and eventually started frequenting the food truck mecca at 33rd & Arch. The other spot I recently learned about was 33rd & Market. Which I clearly knew it was there, but the trucks? I never noticed.

That's where I found Taco Mondo today. Here's their truck. Pretty cool, huh? I'm quickly learning as a "food blogger" to photograph everything. It makes your posts look so much better! I came for tacos. And tacos I had. I got 2 of em, a smoked pork taco and a sweet & sour fried chicken taco. The two tacos cost me $6, which is not bad at all; $8 gets you three tacos. Right on par with the Mexican joints.

The smoked pork taco was loaded with a decent amount of pork, cheese, fresh tomato and lettuce. Topped with a crema - a Mexican sour cream made from cream and buttermilk. This mixture is then allowed to sit out and culture overnight and it begins to thicken. The pork by itself was superb - tender, moist, and not overly smokey. The tomato and lettuce added some freshness. But all together it didn't wow me. It wasn't bad, and was still better than some other tacos I've had, but just not the wow I was hoping for.

It took me one bite into the fried chicken taco to find the wow factor I was looking and hoping for! Taco Mondo takes their boneless chicken and brines it. They lightly bread it, and fry it. Loaded onto the tortilla was a piece of chicken, pickled vegetables, scallions, black & white sesame seeds, and their homemade sweet & sour sauce. It's like southern food meets chinese takeout. However, this was just so much better. With every bite I got more and more curious. There was this subtle, but welcoming heat adding flavor, bite after bite. Upon inquiring, I found out they make their very own sambal - an asian chili paste. This chili paste not only got added to the sauce, but it makes its way into the brine! Talk about layers of flavor, this taco had me wanting more! 

Be sure to check out Taco Mondo on Facebook and Twitter for menu updates and locations. 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TacoMondo

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TacoMondo

This was today's Menu

SpOt Burger

So the biggest spot (no pun intended) that food trucks seem to gather in this glorious city, is right on Drexel's campus at 33rd & Arch St. This is commonly referred to as the food truck mecca. I agree. I think I may have counted ten different trucks today, if not more. Anyway, today I bring you none other than SpOt Burger. I have to say what got me here today were the free fries I received for microwaving a grape and capturing it in a photograph. It's not as easy as it sounds. However, it wasn't my first visit and you know it won't be my last!

Today, in addition to my free fries, I tried the all new "SpOt Roll" You read right....ROLL!!! we're not talking hoagie roll, but like an egg roll. But better. Stuffed inside the crispy golden brown egg roll wrapper was perfectly cooked beef, cabbage, cheese, and pickles. I also believe there was bacon, as I tasted it every so often. I ordered two of these bad boys. And they were quite a bit larger than I expected! They were served with their signature spOt sauce as well. What they did was take their signature SpOt burger and wrap it in an egg roll and deep fried it. Very excellent meal. The only upset was I wasn't able to squeeze in a donut after eating all that. Oh well, that's for another day!

Birra & Bagels

So Tuseday night on my way home I got a craving for pizza. I usually hit Pizzeria Stella to cure this craving. However, I was practically home and I though about Birra. It's located on the corner of 12th & Morris (& Passyunk) in South Philly. One of their menu pizzas include the "Brooklyn Bagel"

This featured house cured salmon, chive spread, fresh dill, capers, tomato, and an everything crust. The salmon was thinly sliced, and it's saltiness was perfectly balanced by the chive spread, dill and tomato. The everything crust clearly featured poppy seed, onion and/or garlic, and a sprinkle of sea salt. 

It had to be one of the best tasting pizzas I have ever had!

I've eaten here before and have had some other menu items including their garlic & chili mussels and jerk chicken penne. Everything is exceptional!

Deli in Philly

Every once in a while, I manage to consume something other than pork!

Nestled in the center if Reading Terminal Market you can find Hershel's East Side Deli, a nice Jewish -style deli. Everything here is top quality and fresh. Offering pastrami, brisket, turkey, and corned beef, everything is sliced to order. Sandwiches or platters are available. Today I got the pastrami on rye with mustard. Pickle in the side with a Dr. Brown black cherry soda is of course my standard. The only thing I don't like is the cheese on the menu. Even though I'm not kosher it's just strange. At least they don't offer bacon or ham like other delis in the area. 

I needed a small sweet treat after that so I ended up at Kamal's who offer a wonderful assortment of baklava and baklava like desserts. I ordered one of my favorites, the kataifi. No picture, but imagine shredded wheat wrapped around some chopped walnuts covered in a delicious honey syrup. The shredded wheat comes in sheets just like the phyllo dough and is every bit as delicate. I also discovered that they also sell halva, a delicious rich sesame based dessert. Not as good from the shuk in Israel, but still pretty darn good.