Pickled Heron

It's nice to see the neighborhood changing for the better.  The chefs at the Pickled Heron are really trying to do something different, doing something well, in Fishtown/East Kensington, and they're succeeding.

I was dining with my friend Emily, and we started with the mussels.  They came in a good white wine sauce, and were a nice way to start the meal.  For our entrees I immediately chose the duck.  While not as flavorful as other duck dishes I've had, the whole dish was well composed, especially the grilled sausage on the side.  Emily stuck with the bream and enjoyed the fish topped with fennel, mussels, and squid.  The food is solid.

Sure there are a few things to complain about.  The menu is small, six starters and six entrees.  It doesn't cater to vegetarians (that's French food for you).  The service is leisurely but not slow.  It's cash only.  But overall, there isn't really anything that takes away from the dining experience.  The biggest problem is that the dining room is overcrowded with chairs.  This would be less of a problem if the place was packed.  But I visited on a saturday night and the place was jammed full of tables, only half of which were occupied.

I like that this spot is BYO, and the servers are really attentive with the wine.  Everyone's white wines chill in a communal ice bath.  The portions are good, and the menu is reasonably priced for the food, if not a tad high for the 'hood.  And while the menu doesn't offer a whole lot of variety, I do respect places that focus on doing things well, even if there are only six of those things.

Bottom Line: Decent BYO with French inspiration.  Certainly worth checking out.

2218 Frankford Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19125(215) 634-5666

Taco Riendo

After biking past here for years, I finally ventured in!  This little Mexican establishment is weird, ordering is done at a counter and the whole place has a cafeteria feel.  Charlie and I were out after a long day of work on the house, and this meal certainly hit the spot.

We ordered chips and salsa to start, and the salsa was a weak, watery excuse for salsa. Although it provided some good heat, it still left something to be desired.

I ordered a spicy shredded chicken burrito.  Overall, it was filling and quite tasty; my only compliant was that it was not spicy.  Charlie ordered the special: salmon tacos and enjoyed his meal as well.  Portion sizes are decent for the prices.

It's BYOB, they sell Mexican (real cane sugar) soda, they use fresh ingredients, and it's pretty cheap.  To be honest, there are a lot of spots similar, but that doesn't mean Taco Riendo isn't enjoyable.  The service seemed a bit slow though.

Bottom Line: If you want great Mexican food in fancy taco bell atmosphere, this is the spot.  The prices and quality make this a great spot, but I'd opt forgo dine in for to-go next time.

Jovan's Place

I've been passing by Jovan's Place for years. I've been meaning to eat her for almost as long. I don't know why I waited. I met with my good friend Ethan for dinner on Friday night. For starters, Jovan's Place is a weird space. It's a corner bar with no windows, and when you walk in there's a large bar, a big screen TV, and then a small dining room, all sort of crammed into one. The place wasn't full, and we were seated right away. All of the food is meticulously made to order, so we grabbed the menus right away to get our orders in; we knew they would take a bit of time.

The menu has about ten different entrees to chose from. There were several enticing options. I went with a schnitzel rolled with ham and cheese. Ethan ordered a pork cutlet. While we were ordering we were given some great bread and homemade pesto dipping sauce. It was an excellent way to pass the time. Ethan and I were catching up and it didn't seem like an abnormal wait time for the food.

The beer selection is weak. Draft beers consist only of major domestics, but there is a small selection from PBC. It's too bad this isn't a BYO, that would take it up a notch.

The service here is unmatched. I think I love it because this restaurant is complete family affair; our man server/bartender was the owner. His wife and mother make all of the food. His young son was sitting at one of the tables playing Nintendo DS. His older son was having dinner with friends at another table. It was a great vibe. On top of that, everyone is incredibly nice and attentive. They were genuinely concerned with us enjoying our meals.

The schnitzel was nothing like I expected. It kind of looked like a corndog. But it tasted amazing. One of the cheeses was home made. It was like a fancy cordon-blue. All of the meats/cheeses were high quality products and complimented each other well. Ethan's dish was more what I expected mine to look like, and he enjoyed it. I did a comparison taste test, and it wasn't as good of a cut as I ordered. We both had a side of mashed potatoes, which were fine, and a lot of veggies. The vegetables were the low point of the meal, I think they were canned. Overall, the meal was excellent.

The owner insisted that we try his homemade cherry liqueur for dessert. They use homegrown cherries, and it tastes phenomenal. I highly recommend it as a perfect end to your meal here.

Bottom Line: Jovan's Place is a self proclaimed Yugoslavian restaurant. I love that. The food is excellent, the service is great, and it's a nice place to chill out. The prices are just a bit higher that comparable spots, but it's so worth it, you shouldn't give it a second thought. Try this place out.

Essentials:

2327 York St (York and Memphis)

(215) 634-3330

Avg Ent: 11-16

Cash only: Yes

Reservations: Not needed. They also do Take Out.

KCFC: A community food co-op in Kensington

There has been a push to get a locally owned and operated, non-profit coomunity food co-op going in Kensington. I attended one of the informational meetings, and it is a really excellent idea. I just want to spread the word on something that I think could be fantastic for the neighborhood.

There is going to be a focus on good business practices, healthy organic local food, minimal packaging, and all kinds of good stuff.

Currently, they're conducting their first membership drive. I'll include the details at the end of this post. A bunch of my (and maybe your) friends are working on it, so you could ask John Kolodziey, Jeff Carpineta, Stephen Way, or others for more info. This is going to be a huge success if the community supports it, and I think there is a lot of potential interest. Now people have to buck up and make it a reality.

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE (1ST Member Investment Campaign)

This initiative is to solicit the 1st financial investment from our future membership. Our goal is to complete this initial investment campaign by August 31, 2009. Review of Proposed Budget Needs: The start-up budget of each committee for basic expenses has been estimated at $3,200.00. This includes a small number of reimbursements due.

NOTE ***At this time, our project has received support in kind from the following organizations: Cooperative Development Services, East Kensington Neighbors Association, Greensgrow, New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Philadelphia Brewing Company, the Spirit Newspaper, Urbane Development LLC, Walking Fish Theater and Weaver’s Way Co-op.

Terms of Investment:
Membership: A “member” is a person who has monetarily invested in the Coop. A "member" is considered to be the primary contact for communications from KCFC.

$ Amount: Based on the start-up needs of the group the recommended minimum initial member investment from each member is $40.00, though members are encouraged to invest as their means allow. This amount is intended to yield sufficient funds for start up expenses for all working committees.

Credit towards KCFC membership: Any direct financial investment in KCFC will be applied as a credit towards the total investment required of members once KCFC is established. At this time, member investment in KCFC (lifetime) is estimated to be $200.00.

NOTE: Members offering the full investment received or postmarked by August 31, 2009, will receive a 10% discount, making the membership investment a total of $180.00.

Limit to Member Investment: Any total capital contribution to KCFC beyond $180.00 will not be considered member investment, but will be handled as a donation. Donations are happily and graciously accepted.

Record Keeping / Accounts: The Steering Committee (SC) has voted to appoint an interim Bookkeeper - Dina Richman, until a permanent Bookkeeper and/or Treasurer is appointed. The Bookkeeper is required to be a regular participant of the planning and finance committee and must report to the Planning + Finance committee upon request. The SC voted to open an account at a local bank.

Signers on Account: The interim bookkeeper will be listed as signer on the account. In addition to the bookkeeper, the SC has approved 3 signers of the account: Lena Helen, Natalie Pollard, and Sarah Daub.

Refunds: If a member requests a refund while KCFC is active, then the full member investment will be returned to the member only if the KCFC store has been operational for one year and only if replacement capital is available at the time of request. If KCFC is no longer viable either before store opening or anytime after, then a refund of member investments is not guaranteed. Donations are considered gifts and will not be returned.

Transfer of Membership: Member Investment is not transferable.

Pho Thanh Thanh

There is a strong Vietnamese community in our neighborhood, which makes for a great authentic restaurant scene. I recently went to meet my friend Brooke for lunch. She told me exactly where the restaurant was, and I arrived and sat down and waited for her. After a few minutes, I realized there was another Vietnamese restaurant directly across the street, and she was waiting for me! We did met for lunch though, and Pho Thanh Thanh is a interesting spot.

This small little cafe was filled with people, and Brooke and I were clearly in the minority; there was only one other white guy. Again, the key word here is authentic. Also, my friend Dahn works here, and that makes the place even cooler. We placed our orders while the TV blared out soccer and commercials in Vietnamese.

The menu only really consists of pho, which is a traditional noodle soup dish. But it's way more gourmet and delicious than any kind of soup I'm used to. The specialty here is chicken pho, which I ordered. A "small" costs $6. It's actually a huge portion, and the only real reason it can be called a small is because there's an even larger portion.

The pho comes with a side dish of greens, jalapenos, and sprouts that should be mixed into the dish. I put a lot of peppers in mine, and it ended up being quite spicy. I'm not great with chopsticks, but I used them for the whole meal. The meat comes in huge chunks, and there's really no elegant way to enjoy your meal. Later in the night I felt a bit sick, but I don't think it was from this meal. I'll report back for sure, because I'm definitely going to eat here again.

Bottom Line: For me, this is a local place with great food where I can sit elbow to elbow with my neighbors. The food, service and atmosphere are all great, and the food is a distinct change from my weekly menu. I image it tastes even better when it's cool outside. If you want to lunch here, just let me know. We'll meet up.

Essentials:

2539 Kensington ave

(215) 427-0483

Pho: $6-8

Cash Only: Yes

Party!

I uploaded the pictures I took the other night from the party. They can all be viewed on my flickr page. I've also just recently starting shooting in RAW and using photoshop to change exposure, color temp, and other settings on my pictures. It's really great:

vs this:

Fiore Pizza: Move over Key!

The only new place I tried out this week was Fiore Pizza. It's a new spot on the corner of Kensington and Huntington. It is as good, if not better than your average corner pizza shops. The pizza is pretty good; I will order again at some point in the future. The prices are great ($7 large cheese) and the staff is nice. They have some other good specials. I like this place because it's within walking distance, too.

It's better than Key Pizza, which for some reason has established itself as the best pizza place in Kensington and Fishtown, at least in the minds on my friends. Fiore is here to challenge that claim. I like promoting new spots, and I think this place is definitely worth a try if you're in the nieghborhood.

(215) 739-6800

Fishtown Kensington Restaurant Week

Jonny told me a few days ago that a local restaurant week was being organized. I love the idea of Philadelphia's restaurant week: literally hundreds of restaurants that I normally wouldn't go to offering fixed prices menus at $30. It's a great deal, especially when a restaurant is more pricey than I want to pay.

An organized restaurant week for Fishtown, Kensington and Port Richmond could be great.But I checked out the list of participating restaurants, and I was pretty disappointed.

I don't believe that a $30 meal at Hinge Cafe or Johnny Brenda's is any kind of deal. Further, with only twelve restaurants participating, there's not even much variety.

To be fair, I still love the idea. Because this is the first year, it is possible that the concept could catch on. But there isn't a single deal listed that is worth making a special trip.

I'm not going to bash any of the establishments because I like supporting local businesses. Hinge Cafe is a great spot, and Jonny Brenda's is far too popular for anything I say to make a difference (JB is overrated).

Put me on the committee to organize next years week. Off the top of my head, I think Memphis Taproom, Tachonelli's and Ekta would all hop on this. And there's plenty more to tap in to.

Que Chula Es Puebla

I have passed Que Chula Es Puebla on my bike a few times since it opened earlier this year. Because I have the inclination to enjoy most Mexican food that I eat, I was expecting to enjoy Que Chula (almost) no matter what I came across.

When I walked in with my friend Lulu, they were blasting (what I think was) Mexican music. Further, I think we were the only native English speakers. This joint felt authentic. Without asking, they turned down the music a bit for us. The place was mostly empty, but clean and generally nice. We sat down right away, and were brought complementary chips. Our server, who I would guess to be one of the owners, was an adorable Mexican woman. She was sweet and attentive.

We ordered guacamole and chips as an appetizer, and I ordered a slow-roast pork grilled burrito while Lulu got a chimichanga. The guacamole was not the best I've ever had. But for being at 2nd and Master on the 2nd day of spring, I was impressed. Our food took a while, but neither of us minded. When it arrived, we had huge portions in front of us. We both got to the point in our meal where we could have stopped eating and been full, but it tasted so good that we didn't want to stop. In case I haven't made my point, the food really was delicious. Moreover, when you consider that everything was slightly less than $20, it was even more awesome.

I think I've already said enough to sell people on this place. But there is more: BYOB and free delivery. (Nick Filirdi, I garentee a more satisfying meal that your last Ekta order). I like to support local businesses, but Que Chula seems to have everything going for it. The menu is extensive enough for me to go back a few times and enjoy myself. Tacos, burritos, and other dishes can be filled with fish, meat or veggies. I would be hard NOT to find something to enjoy here. This is probably the best food you can get in the price range. If you want to go here, let me know. I am down. I've scanned the menu for your (and after I lose it, my future) reference. Menu on my flickr.

Essentials:

1356 N 2nd St (2nd and Master)

215-203-0404

Avg Ent: 6-10

Cash only: Not sure

Reservations: No

BYOB: YES