Poke Bowl

Poke Bowl (958 N. 2nd Street) is a fairly new restaurant serving what its name suggests, poke bowls. Poke bowls are essentially sushi bowls that originated in Hawaii. According to my friend when she was in Hawaii, poke bowls are ubiquitous. They can even be found at gas stations. However, Hawaii's poke bowls' presentations are much simpler than the ones at Poke Bowl's. In Hawaii, most of the time it is just rice topped with fish, soy sauce, and maybe some green onions. Well, poke bowls have made its way to Philadelphia and they are more luxurious here than in Hawaii. 

Poke Bowl

Poke Bowl's ordering process is similar to chipotle in which you can watch the employees assemble the bowl together behind counter. You follow steps to customize your bowl. You can either get the bowl in a size small or large. You pick a base (white rice, brown rice, or salad), proteins (octopus, tuna, salmon, etc.), soy sauce (ginger, sweet, or hot), and various toppings (tobiko, onions, seaweed, nori, mango, pineapple, etc.). Then it gets garnished with a flower and what I believe to alfafa sprouts.  I got brown rice with octopus, tuna, salmon, seaweed, green onions, sesame, tobiko, ginger soy sauce, and sriracha aloli. The octopus appears to have been boiled. It was tender. The raw tuna and raw salmon were smooth and melted in your mouth. The toppings I choose went well with the rice and protein. All the ingredients were fresh. It was absolutely delicious. This is my kind of food. If you love sushi and raw fish, I highly recommend poke bowl:)

Jamaican Jerk Hut

On day after work, some of my coworkers and I went to the PHS Pop Up Garden South Street. Next door to the garden was Jamaican Jerk Hut (1436 South Street). The restaurant had a side window in the back so you can order food while in the garden. I ordered two veggie patties.

Jamaican Veggie Patties

The veggie patties came out fresh and hot. I think the patties were baked. The crust was crusty and somewhat thick. Nonetheless, it was great. The filling was mostly mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, and onions. The patties had curry flavor and were spicy. I enjoyed them very much. In addition, they were good size patties and quite filling for $2 a piece. I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a hearty savory snack. 

Chaat and Chai

One lovely evening, my friends and I went to a relatively new in Indian restaurant, Chaat and Chai (1532 Snyder Ave). The restaurant is small and very cute with a few seatings. It had a lot of colorful and bold decor. See pictures of inside below. 

Inside Chaat and Chai

I decided to try a chaat. Afterall, it should be good since the restaurant is name after it.
Chaats are very popular street snacks in India and Middle East. It is basically a combination of different texture foods. Depending on the type of chaat you get, the ingredients vary. Chaat and Chai offered Samosa chaat (warm potato and pea turnover, chick peas, tamarind-mango sauce, indian yogurt, sev), Chana Chaat (chick peas, red onion, tomatoes, mints, tamarind-date chutney, Indian yogurt, crunchies), North Indian Chicken Chaat (Mint-cumin roasted chicken, radishes, tomatoes, red onions, raita, tamarind date chutney, mine-coriander chutney), and Bhel Puri (puffed rice, papdi, potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, mint-cilantro chutney, date-ginger chutney, yogurt, crunchies). As you can see chaats are really a mix of ingredients. 

Samosa Chaat

I ordered the Samosa Chaat. The visuals of dish was appealing. It came with a Samosa in the middle that was surrounded by chick peas, tamarind-mango sauce, mango, green onions, and Indian yogurt and topped with sev. Just in case you were wondering. Sev are crunchy fried noodle pieces made with seasoned chickpea flour. I cut up the samosa and ate the pieces with all the goodies on the plate. I thought it was delicious. It was sweet yet savory yet sour. It was also warm and cold in my mouth. Cold from the mango and yogurt and warm from the samosa. The samosa itself was very tasty. I enjoyed the combination of flavors and texture. I am very satisfied with what I got.

Assorted Nan

In addition, we got Assorted Naan for the table. The server informed us there were three types of naan, but I don't remember what they were. I think one was garlic and one might had cheese. Overall, the naan was okay. I didn't really eat much of it. These naan were somewhat thin and not really fluffy. Maybe they were not fresh. I don't recall them being hot when they arrived. I like my naan thick, fluffy, and somewhat chewy. Unfortunately, these naan did not fit those criteria for me.

Lamb Vindaloo

Chicken Chettinand

Bonus pictures. My friends got meat dishes. One of them got the Lamb Vindaloo (fiery and tangy curry from Goa with red chillies, vinegar) and the other got the Chicken Chettinand (spicy south indian curry with coconut, black peppercorns, star anise). For both entree, the rice was underneath the meat and sauce. I got to taste the sauce with some rice. The vindaloo was delicious. It was spicy and full of flavor. Before I became a vegetarian, Chicken Vindaloo was one of my favorite dishes. As a vegetarian, it is hard to find vegetarian vindaloo. Maybe I will try to make veggie vindaloo for myself, but knowing I this won't probably happen until maybe 2 years later. The chicken chettinand was okay. I thought that dish lacked some flavor.

Baltimore- Mama's on the Half Shell and Cup Love

I took a day trip with my friends to Baltimore. Of course, incorporated in the day trip was food.
We got lunch from Mama's on the Half Shell (2901 O'Donnell St, Baltimore, MD 21224) and dessert at Cup Love (2928 O'Donnell St, Baltimore, MD 21224). Below are my reviews.

Seafood Melt

The restaurant was quite busy. There were two levels and outside seating. We wanted to sit on the first level. Luckily, a table freed up shortly after we arrived. I got the Seafood Melt. The melt came with fries and was made of shrimps, baby scallops, supposedly lump crab salad, cheese, and tomato serve on top of an english muffin. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the melt. In the melt, I could not really taste the crab. Also, I think the restaurant used frozen shrimp and frozen baby scallops because it was quite watery under the cheesy layer and the english muffin under the melt was soggy but then again the water can be from the tomatoes. I also thought the baby scallops tasted kind of funny. They were definitely not fresh tasting. On the bright sides, the fries tasted great. They were thick, tender inside, and crispy outside. I wished I order something else on the menu. My friends ordered mussels and the crabcake and they loved it. 

Frozen Yogurt

For dessert, we went to Cup Love. The establishment was small, cozy, and very cute. There was alot of pink. The place offered cupcakes and frozen yogurt. We got frozen yogurt. It appeared that their frozen yogurt were made with Fage greek yogurt since there were Fage greek yogurt logos located under the flavor names. I got the vanilla, strawberry, and low fat mango topped with mango, black berries, blue berries, and mochi. The yogurts were good. They were not too tarry and not too sweet. It was a perfect balance. My favorite flavor was the vanilla. The vanilla was very rich. The fruit toppings were fresh, but I could have done without the berries. The berries were sour, but the mango was very sweet. The mochi was chewy and went well with the yogurt. Overall, I really like the frozen yogurt. It's not as good as Yogorino but it's up there.

Food Trucks-Tater Tots and Margherita Pizza

In Philadelphia, we have these Night Market events organized by the Food Trust several times during the year. Night Markets are gatherings of different food trucks around the city at one designated location in the evening (6PM-10PM) so that patrons can taste and sample a number of food trucks at one location. In the past, they had have the Night Market at Northern Liberties, Chinatown, South Street, Fairmount, etc. The particular Night Market I went to about two weeks ago was the Callowhill Night Market held on 12th and 13th Streets between Callowhill and Spring Garden Streets. That night I was in the mood for pizza and tater tots so I got something from Wood Fired Pizza and The Tot Cart food trucks. 

Margherita Pizza

The Margherita Pizza was delicious. The ingredients tasted fresh and it had the brick oven taste. I sprinkled some chili pepper flakes because I like it hot...and oh boy, it was awesome. The crust was thin and somewhat crispy and chewy. I thought the pizza had a good balance of crust and sauce. Even though it was quite pricey for a personal size pizza ($14), it was worth it; however, I wish there was more. 

Parm Tots

The Parmesan Tots were also delicious. In general, I love tater tots and these were some good tots. They were tender and very crispy. The parmesan seasoning was tasty. I would definitely recommend The Tot Cart.

Oriental Pearl- Teriyaki Tofu

While chilling at a friend's house in New Jersey, we decided to feed ourselves something from Oriental Pearl Restaurant (1880 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003). Oriental Pearl Restaurant has three locations in New Jersey--- one in Moorestown, one in Haddonfield, and one in Cherry Hill. We ordered from the one in Cherry Hill. The restaurant lived up to its name and offered a vast variety of Asian cuisine. On the menu, there were Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food.

I got the Tofu Teriyaki and it was delicious. See my review below. My friends ordered Vietnamese Vermiceilli and the Thai Sweet and Sour Chicken. Unfortunately, they were not as pleased with their choices like I was. I guess when you have so much on your menu it is hard to be good at all the dishes.

Tofu Teriyaki

The Tofu Teriyaki came with pint of rice which was pictured. The entree tasted great. The tofu was well fried. It was somewhat crispy on the outside and chewy in the inside. It absorbed the flavor of the sauce. Sometimes I think Teriyaki sauce can have a overpowering soy sauce taste; however, this sauce was balanced and excellent. There were elements of sweetness and savoriness which I think might be from rice vinegar and soy sauce. The vegetables on the side were steamed perfectly. They were not too soft or too raw. I really enjoyed the texture of the tofu, the sauce, and vegetables. This is something I can imagine me having cravings for...it was that good. 

Ice Land- Rolled Ice Cream

A novelty has came to Philadelphia- rolled ice cream. Although on the news Sweet Charlie claims to be the first rolled ice cream shop, the first shop was actually Ice Land (224 N 10th Street). Ice Land opened two weeks earlier than Sweet Charlie. The rolled ice cream is made to order and they prepare the rolled ice cream on top of cold metal top behind the glass counter. To order you pick from a number of base, topping, and sauce options. There were also set items on menu which you can choose from. We chose something on the set menu and customized another one.

So apparently, the ones listed on the set menu were shaved ice cream. We got the Matcha Kingdom which was green tea ice cream topped with mochi, red beans, and condensed milk. Overall, it was good. The flavor was good. The texture of ice cream was icy flaky if you know what I mean. The toppings were okay.

Matcha Kingdom

For our customized beauty, we got the thai tea ice cream with lychee and condense milk. The thai tea ice cream resembled the taste of thai tea. The rolled ice cream was dense and creamy. I prefer this way more than the shaved ice cream. It was delicious. I wouldn't mind just eating this without the toppings. 

Thai Tea Rolled Ice Cream with Lychee and Condensed Milk

I recommend trying the rolled ice cream. It is definitely worth a try. Another cool thing is that the spoon changes color with temperature. The yellow spoon turn orange when it touches the ice cream and turns back to orange when you heat it with you mouth...awesome, right?