Byblos - Mediterranean @ 114 S 18th St.

History of my Discovery: My colleague took us to a team lunch about 2 years ago in 2006. That was my first experinece of a Greek(Mediterranean) cuisine.

Location: Located on the 18th st and Chestnut St intersection, to restuarant is on 18th St and south of Chestnut St to the right while going south on 18th St.

Ambiance: It resembles a bar lounge that is converted to a restaurant in the day. The tables are comfortable and lighting is good enough. The restaurant is really busy all the time. More busy for dinner sometimes than for lunch. I had to wait 45 minutes to be seated for dinner.

Food I had: I have had lamb kabobs, falafel sandwich at a very low price of $6.5. 

Price: The average lunch menu is priced $6 and the item is priced considerably more for dinner.

Customer Service: The service is excellent. The waiters are very courteous and willing to offer advice when needed. 

Rating 3.5/5.

Wrap Shack - American @ 120 S 18th St.

Wrap Shack on the square is an exclusive wrap restaurant located between Chestnut and Sansom on the 18th St in Center City. Dont let the name dupe you.This place is no shack, but a full blown restaurant that is well maintained.

I decided to try it just to satisfy my craving for a quick bite after my writer's workshop at Rittenhouse sqaure on a cold May Tuesday at 7:45PM. I was walking along the 18th St towards Market and saw the name Wrap Shack on the wall that was next to a cheese steak place. I quickly read the menu from outside. I liked the content and most importantly the price. The description on the menu was also very simple and clear.

I was quickly asked by the cashier with a pleasant smile as to what I wanted. I said give me couple minutes. I read the menu again and was torn between the Thai peanut popper on the Vegetable Wraps section and Shrimp Stir Fry wrap on the Seafood Wraps section of the menu. For a moment I also wanted to be safe and try the Buffalo Chicken Wrap on the Chicken and Steak Wraps section. But my love for seafood took me over and I asked for the Shrimp Stir Fry Wrap.

The cashier was a young lady and there was a gentleman cleaning the tables on the rear end of the restaurant. On hearing me order the Shrimp Stir Fry the gentleman came over and said that they are out of bean sprouts and asked if I want to replace with carrots, zucchini or mushrooms. I thought that was a nice gesture. I would not have known the difference if he did not mention it. I said I will have zucchini. He instructed the cashier not to bill me for zucchini. You have a choice of white, wheat, spinach or tomato for the outer tortilla kind of bread. I asked for the spinach wrap.

The restaurant was well lit and the ambiance had a wooden tone to it. The walls had wooden panels and the floor was also wooden. The wrap was about $8.5 including taxes. While I was waiting for the wrap, I struck a conversation and asked how when the restaurant was opened. She said the restaurant had been at the present location for about a year and it was situated in old city for the about four years prior to that. I asked how the business was and she replied that they were doing well.

The restaurant was quite empty when I entered at 8:05PM but a little later a group of about 8 entered. Some of them looked like repeat customers as they were explaining what was good to the others.

The restaurant had a board displaying the specials for the day. They had Chicken Parm Wrap with French Fries and Soda for about $10. The same display was located at the cashiers counter as well.

I brought the wrap home and wanted to see how it looked. That was a mistake which I found soon. I had wraps several times before but nothing that was stir fried in them. I opened the aluminum foil and cut the wrap into two in the middle. As I did that the juices of the stir fry came out. The wrap had succulent shrimp in broccoli, fried onions and zucchini. The wrap was tasty. But it became tough to manage the wrap with the juices flowing out continuously. The shrimp were fresh and succulent and the vegetables were well cooked in the stir fry sauce that had a subtle deliciousness to it. I would have been fine if the wrap had been in the aluminum foil.

The size of the wrap was big enough to satisfy the appetite. The spinach wrap was also good. It was thin than wraps from other places and hence did not contain the juices well within it. But it did not have the raw taste to it like that of a tortilla.

The menu also contains Breakfast Wraps, Salads, Appetizers and sides like fries and onion rings, Smoothies and Milkshakes. Overall, I liked the enthusiastic people, the ambiance and food was great. I will definitely try the Thai Peanut Popper my next time.

I could not find a website for this restuarant excepting thier page on my space at http://www.myspace.com/wrapshack. You can find their complete menu on this myspace page though. They have another location at 146 N. 2nd Street in Old City which is actually a shack. I have not been to the shack in Old City. I am just reporting what I found on thier myspace page. Correct me if I am wrong and I will do my due diligence in updating the information.

Tampopo - Korean Restaurant @ 104 south 21st street

The blocks between Rittenhouse Square and market Street has some good looking restaurants on the 21st street. I do a lot of walking and strolling in the evening along those blocks and have noticed this Korean restaurant named Tampopo.
Tampopo is a Korean fast food joint located a little south of Chestnut St on the 21st street in Center City.

My colleague Marina got a promotion recently and will be joining her new team next month. My other colleague suggested we should give her a congratulatory Lunch. So I did some search on google to find what kind of reviews this restaurant had. I always wanted to try this place but did not want to subject my colleagues to the cruelty of my curiousness. I was not surprised when I found some really good reviews and decided to take a chance.

We were a group of 6 who walked to this restaurant on a windy Tuesday afternoon. The interior is small, simple and well kept. They had about 8 small tables, each table could seat only 2. We had to join 3 tables together so that we could have our lunch together as a team.

Since this is a fast food kind of a place, they take a note of our name while taking orders and announce our name when the food is ready. The food is to be paid for while placing the orders like any fast food place.

It was first time to all of us excepting one who gave a overview of the menu. Having read some good reviews and deciding to be safe I ordered bi-bim-bob with chicken($7.50). My other colleagues ordered a very similar stuff which was really surprising. One colleague who had been to other Korean Restuarants had bi-bim-bob with beef($7.50). Marina ordered bi-bim-bob with chicken and egg($8.00). One friend requested hot spicy chicken breast bowl($7.25), one ordered chicken breast bowl($6.75) and other had chicken breast bowl($6.50).

All the stuff we ordered fell under [Donburi Rice Bowl] section. According to their menu site Donburi (don) means a bowl of rice served with different toppings. You can choose from white rice or brown rice. The bi-bim-bob with chicken that I ordered had cooked carrots, bean sprouts, zuchini apart from chicken and white rice. The zuchini was cooked in some mild spices that gave it a very good taste. The chicken was grilled and had a flavor like barbeque chicken. The food also came with a sauce that was sweet, sour, spicy all in one. It was great with the rice. It was so good that my colleague who ordered just the chicken breast bowl had some and did not stop raving about it. The bi-bim-bob that I took had a mild pleasant smell and looked colorful and beautiful in the bowl.

At first the serving seemed to be small. The food was served in a maroon colored bowl that looked like procelain at first. But my colleagues who had almost finished my lunch while I was half way through said the quantity was more than enough to satiate the hunger. I found that they were right as I was full on completion on my meal.

The maroon bowls looked really cute and were sturdy. I was almost tempted to take it home with me, but did not do that to avoid people staring at me on the road. The colleagues all liked their food and thoroughly enjoyed their food. I was happy that they liked their food as it was the first time for most. It is difficult to make everyone happy while trying an ethnic food but this place proved to be match for everone on our team.

None of the items on the menu were more than $10. Most items fell with the range of $7-$8. You can also find [Bento Box](comes with white or brown rice, salad w/ginger
dressing,edamame and your choice of broccoli, mushroom, gyoza,or egg cake), Sushi Rolls, Noodles items, Salad Bowls and some side dishes like Kimchi (I will try this the next time I come here). They will find in me a very satisfied and returning customer. By the way if you are not used to eating with chopsticks, you have to specifically ask for a spoon or a fork. The bowl comes with chopsticks only.

Swiss Haus Bakery - Bakery @ 35 S 19th Street

I saw this bakery called Swiss Huas on my way out of a restaurant on a Thursday afternoon. I had been to this bakery a long time ago. I am fond of Tiramisu cake and wanted to see if they had one. The exterior and interior looked great. The floor had yellow tiles with exquisite design. I was floored seeing the paintings and decor of the bakery.

I ordered a Tiramisu cake. It was the smallest for a price of $4.50 that I have ever paid for a Tiramisu cake. The cake was the size of a cup cake about 3 in diameter and about 3 in thick. Very small by all standards.

The base was hard unlike any Tiramisu I had ever tasted. The mascarpone cheese layer on the top had a salty taste as if the baker put excess liquor (I don’t know if they put rum or anything to Tiramisu but I am assuming they do from the taste of this).

There were lot of cookies, cakes and pastries. But the prices were expensive. As they say what you see is what you get. But not exactly. The statement is right for the prices but not truly for the taste here. Nothing was available for a casual morning breakfast or a lunch. They do have coffee and Tazo tea. I don't think I will be going back again.

Ashoka Palace - Indian fast food @ 38 S. 19th St.

I was walking home one day from the Rittenhouse square and saw a sign 'Grand Opening' to this place called Ashoka Palace. From the name of it, I instantly recognized it to be Indian. The same week my wife wanted some Indian biryani and so I decided to get some food to take home from this restaurant.

I went there when it was about 1:00 PM on a sunny Thursday. The bad part was, instead of walking I was driving. It was very difficult to finding a parking on this block. I had to drive around for about 30 minutes before I could find a parking. If only I could see this as an omen for how the food would be.

I went inside and found the restaurant to be quite busy for 1:30PM. I really hoped the food was good. The interior was not well designed. I expected a little more from a newly opened restaurant. From the looks of it, one can clearly make that it is place for quick and cheap Indian food. The color of the walls was pink and ceiling was sky blue - Horrible combination. No wall paintings or any other decorations. The sofa next to the food counter was torn already. There were a lot of tables though. It is a self service kind of place or an Indian fast food joint if you prefer to call it.

I waited in line for about 15 Min's before I could order. As I said before there was quite a number of people inside. I ordered vegetable Biryani, Chicken Curry, one Kulcha and Masala Chai. As I mentioned earlier I had ordered these to take home with me. The people behind the counter were courteous and smiling. There were 2 ladies behind the counter, the older one for taking the order and younger lady was cashier or vice versa. There was a little confusion between them in getting a handle of taking the order, delivering food and taking the money. It looked like a story of Marie and Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond and cook in the kitchen must have been Ray hiding.

I took Masala Chai for my drive home. I was expecting Masala chai to have some spices like cinnamon in it. I guess for a $1.30 I should not complain as much.

Biryani sucked big time as they mostly do with Indian restaurants. The problem with Biryani at Indian restaurants is that they are not biryani but a concoction of vegetable curry and white rice. I think they should take biryani out of their menu and say curried rice as they say in Malaysian and Thai restaurants. But the fact is this tasted just like the $15 biryani that I had from other expensive Indian restaurants. The biryani here was only $7 and the same taste as a $15. Well for some that would be a bargain but that surely does make it only compromise of a Biryani to me.

After that shock called Biryani, I had horror waiting for me by the name of Kulcha. What I found on unwrapping the aluminum foil which was supposed to contain Kulcha was nothing but toasted peta bread. The peta bread called Kulcha was $1. I could buy a whole 5 pack of peta breads from nearby Trader Joes for under $2. After this I said I am not going back to this place again.

Chicken curry was acceptable though. It was not spicy but the chicken was well cooled and the gravy was tasty. The chicken curry was a saving grace to this place that was really cheap at $7 also.

The only positive is that the prices of items are really low. But the taste and ambiance has a lot to improve upon. It truly is caters to the typical American who wants an occasional bite of Indian food and not get burnt by the spices. But to me an ethnic place has to have some authenticity to them in the food and taste and not just in their names.

They had some snacks that looked great while others were ordering like the potato Samosa and Chana chat. To conclude I would not recommended this place at all except for the price for Indian stuff which is about half the regular Indian restaurant costs. You give something and get a lot less for what you give with this restaurant.

Vietnam Palace - Vietnamese Restaurant @ 222 N 11st St.

I had mentioned on previous blog dated April 12, 2008 that I had never been to a true Vietnamese restaurant. I wanted to break this and stumbled upon a review of Vietnam Palace in Zagat. I am normally not a big fan of Zagat ratings as I have been severely burnt by taking their review on face value. I also saw them listed on the free print version of Philadelphia Style Mag that can be found in different places in Center City. It's a guide to Center City tourists. So I decided to try them out.

I dragged along with me my brother and a cousin once removed who also lives in Philadelphia. I have been to Chinatown several times mostly for dining at my favorite place but never to this side on the 11st street. We reached there around 8:30PM. That part of the street is kind of dark at this time of the day and there was construction going on, which blocked the east side walkway and a lane of the road. I felt that I should have come during day time. My fear subsided as I crossed Race St where the restaurant is located to the North of Race Street on West side of 11th street.

The facade was a modern two storied building with two huge polished doors as the entrance. It kind of has a big restaurant feel to it and the inside ambiance was brightly lit and well decored. The chairs were made of cane and the walls had pictures of ladies having a stroll during fall time in Vietnam (or so I assumed from the costumes on the ladies). I was impressed. The waiter handed us the menus and asked for drinks. We all had water and dug ourselves perusing the menu. The menu was huge and it took a while for us to decide as it was our first time. The waiter came back the second time and asked if we needed more time. We said yes and he reminded that the kitchen closes at 9:00 PM and won't take orders after that time.

It was already 8:55PM and so we decided to have an appetizer, 2 entrees to share it among us. We ordered a Chicken on the Skewer as an Appetizer, Fish in Clay Pot and Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice. It was bad idea to settle on 2 instead of 3. Normally restaurants in china town have big servings and we did not want to have left overs for brown bagging. This one was not like the other Chinatown restaurants in that aspect.

The chicken skewer had 3 large chicken breast pieces on a skewer. They were well grilled and had a mildly sweet seasoning applied to them. It was simply delicious. The Fish in Clay Pot was a catfish stewed in a mix of mild spices and scallions. The quantity was a about an inch thick single mid section slice of the catfish that was well cooked and tasty. The sauce that the pot had was eclectic. It was tangy, spicy and sweet at the same time and had the color of a barbeque sauce.

The fried rice was tasty as well but oily despite our requests to have less oil. It has been a long time since I had a really tasty fried rice. One can argue as to who can go bad with a fried rice. True but only a good chef can make a really tasty fried rice and this place passed my palate test in all the food we ordered.

The price was not high either. The entrees be it rice/noodle items or Chicken/Seafood/Beef items ranged from $7 to $9. You can find a few that are as expensive as $14 but the menu is huge so to make your selection without compromising on what you want to eat. The Chicken Skewer was $7, the Catfish Clay Pot was $9 and the shrimp fried rice was $7. I paid about $29 including taxes and tips for three. The food portions of an entree are small and will fill the appetite of a single person at best. So $29 for three should read as $29 for 2 or 2.5 that makes it about $12-$14 per person which is not bad for a dinner. For a cheap lunch the menu is huge with entrees for $7.

All in all I was a highly satisfied customer and will definitely go back.