Awesomeness Alert: Mexican Hot Dog

They're all the rage in Los Angeles, although the health department keeps shutting-down the carts that sell them - something about the bacon, I think. Every time I read about the Mexican Hot Dog I develop a powerful craving for one: a hot dog, wrapped in bacon, grilled, doused with mayo, sprinkled with cotija cheese, maybe a couple of slices of jalapeño, plopped in a roll.

And finally, I found one! It was on the specials board at Cantina Dos Segundos.  I'm not sure how regularly they're available, or if they're at the South Philly Cantina Los Caballitos, but I sure hope they're at both places all the time. They're delicious.

Full disclosure: I happen to know the owners of the Cantinas (and am a little shocked that they didn't tell me about these!) but that fact has not affected my assessment of how awesome this snack is!  


Mexican Hot Dog:  $3
Cantina Dos Segundos
http://cantinadossegundos.com/
931 N 2nd St, Philadelphia

Awesomeness Alert: King Crab at Ken's Seafood

We've been fans of the fresh fish at Ken's Seafood in Chinatown since their opening night almost two years ago. We always scan the tanks at the front of the restaurant on our way in, and also ask Ken if there's anything especially good. We've often enjoyed the fresh, vivid taste of live scallops, shrimp, finned fish, eels, geoduck clams and Dungeness crabs. There's always variation in what's available on any given day, but on a recent visit, we saw something we'd never seen there before: a huge King Crab, looking like it might push its way out out of its tank. They don't regularly have these creatures, but someone had requested one for a special dinner, and Ken got two, just in case. So this one happened to be available. We decided it was a sign.

We happened to be marking a significant event, which made it seem doubly appropriate, so we seized the moment and asked Ken to cook it up for us. It weighed about 7 pounds, a little intimidating-looking, with spiny, spindly legs, but luckily, not very large claws, and was not especially happy about being removed from its tank. If you're looking for fresh crabs, I suppose they're going to fight back a little...

We left it up to Ken about how to prepare it. He told us he'd do it in two courses, but we were left to wonder what those would be, but we knew from previous experience that it would be fairly straightforward, highlighting the super-fresh ingredients.

The first course was the legs, quickly wok-roasted with just a little bit of an XO-sauce-like accent of minced garlic, shallot and other mysterious spices crusting the shells. The legs are so large that it was easy to extract large pieces of pure, sweet, unadulterated crab meat, with just a hint of spicing picked up in the process.

Just a we were thinking that these crab legs were the most delicious things we'd ever eaten, the second course arrived. It was the body of the crab, cracked open and steamed with garlic, served over fresh noodles, and might have been even more tasty.
OK, sure, the odds of stumbling across an unclaimed live King Crab in a tank in Chinatown are pretty small. And it's not cheap - this one was about $120 (a bargain compared to the more common price of $25-30 per pound, if you can even get it) but there's a lot to eat on a crab this size, so we felt like it was actually a good value, not just an extravagant indulgence.

It's good to know that it's possible to get a crab like this, in season, and that the chef at Ken's knows how to cook them perfectly. We might not rely completely on luck in the future, if we have some special occasion to mark, we just might need to see if Ken can order one for us.

Ken's Seafood Restaurant
1004 Race St
Philadelphia, PA
215-351-7811


Other Ken's Posts: New Highlight , Duck Tongues

Awesomeness Alert: Charbroiled Beef Short Ribs at Vietnam Palace

I'm not sure how I ended up taking sides on in long-standing rivalry that exists between Vietnam Palace and Vietnam, restaurants directly across 11th street from one another in Philly's Chinatown. But somehow, I ended up in the Vietnam camp, and I still stand by their huge barbecue platter as one of the best appetizers in town - heck a friend and I will sometimes just share one as a meal. But as a result, I hadn't thought to cross the street in years.

But we recently dared to venture across 11th street to visit Vietnam Palace, and it's there where we stumbled upon our current appetizer obsession: Suong Bo Nuong - Charbroiled Beef Short Ribs. They're sticky, they're sweet, they're salty, smoky, a little chewy, intensely beefy. They're addictive. We've been back three times in recent weeks, sometimes just to get a couple of orders of these. They're a little like Korean Barbecued shortribs, specifically the L.A. Kalbi cut that is strangely hard-to-find in Philadelphia, featuring that distictive cross-bone cut. The sauce is a little thicker and sweeter than one usually finds at Korean restaurants, but the grill char and general flavor profile is reminiscent of that style.

We'd actually oniginally returned to Vietnam Palace to have their "Beef Carpaccio," officially called Bo Tai Chanh. It's thin slices of raw beef, marinated in lime juice, accented by basil, peanuts, raw and fried onions, and hot peppers. We'd been disappointed in some other versions we'd tried around town, and remembered this one as being especially good - and it is - maybe even better than we'd remembered - far and away the best rendition of this dish we've found in Philadelphia.

So that makes two compelling reasons to go to Vietnam Palace, and we haven't even gotten off the appetizer page yet. We've been so obsessed with these dishes that we haven't gotten too deep into the rest of the menu, but we can testify that papaya salad, broken-rice dishes and curries are very good. (I'd skip the fried spring rolls, the ones across the street are much better...)

Vietnam Palace
222 N 11th St (west side of the street)
Philadelphia 19107
(215) 592-9596

Awesomeness Alert - Cocktails and Charcuterie at James

Update: sadly James has closed, and the chef has moved to NYC... 

The restaurant James has gotten its share of recognition as a destination restaurant for modern Italian food, a place to go for creative pastas like duck ragu with bitter chocolate and orange, Dover Sole with an egg on top, or perhaps to indulge in a tasting menu. We never think of it as a place to drop in and have a drink, maybe have a bite at the bar.

It turns out we should.

First: the cocktails are delicious. There's not a long list of them, but the specialty cocktails on the menu are quite interesting. The bottles at the back of the bar are high-quality, but not especially numerous, so the options may be more limited than at other cocktalian destinations around town, but the drinks they make are worth a trip. The Cava Cocktail '88' seems like it might be sweet and innocuous, but after an initial hit of fruit, the dryness of the sparkling wine rolls back in, the complex overtones from peach bitters lingering on the palate. Unexpectedly deep for something so pretty.

The Tommy Gunn mixes Tub Gin and absinthe with a touch of lime for a drink that's resiny, piney, herbal, and unexpectedly refreshing. This might just be the summer drink to beat. Served in a big old fashioned glass, it's one of those concoctions that evolves slowly over time, as the temperature changes and the slow dilution from melting ice alters the balance of power.

Despite the comfortable bar and inviting lounge area, James is a restaurant, and it would be a shame to ignore the talents of chef James Burke. There's a smallish bar/lounge menu, but they seem happy to serve selections from the main menu as well, even if you're sitting at the bar. This is one of those bars that's comfortable to eat at, and our bartender was every bit as informed and helpful about the food as the regular waitstaff, so there's little downside to eating at the bar, especially if you're a party of one or two.

The first thing that caught our eyes on the bar menu was the house-made charcuterie platter. It's becoming increasingly common to find interesting charcuterie or salumi in Philly, and in more and more places, some or all of the meats have been cured in-house. We're big fans of the salumi at Osteria, and we recently had a very nice selection of homemade charcuterie at Fork, so it's only after careful consideration when I say that this might be our favorite plate of preserved meats. I'm sure which specific items are included will vary over time, but we got two terrines, one made from rabbit, the other from pork. Duck prosciutto has become almost mundane around here, but this version was especially intense and tender. Porchetta, Sopressata and Rillettes filled out the plate, which was also adorned with two homemade mustards and a fennel mostarda. Accompanying was a dish of three pickles: ramps, radish and tiny cucumber, each marinated in a different brine. Each element was very good, but taken as a whole, it became our favorite charcuterie platter in Philly.

It could be all about the pickles...


James
824 S. 8th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19147
www.jameson8th.com

Awesomeness Alert - Spare Rib Bits at Sang Kee

A cold night recently inspired a visit to Sang Kee for Roast Pork Noodle Soup. While we were there, we couldn't resist getting some Peking Duck too, which was quite delicious, much better than our last sample.

But the real standout was the result of an irresponsible addition of yet more pork to our table: an appetizer of "Spare Rib Bits."

They're sticky and sweet and salty and juicy and porky. Which is to say, awesome...


Sang Kee Peking Duck House
238 N 9th St, Philadelphia 19107
(215) 925-7532

Awesomeness Alert: Mini Beignets

We usually go to Chick's for Katie Loeb's creative cocktails, but it's worth remembering that chef Jim Piano makes food worth checking out as well (the Wild Boar Burger is excellent) and pastry chef Kristin Weber has been quietly making some of the best desserts I've come across in a while. Recently, I did a double-take at the mere mention of one of them: French Quarter Mini Beignets, with Nutella and Raspberry Dipping sauces.

I'm a sucker for a Café du Monde-style beignet of any dimension, and for some reason the idea of a miniature version sounded very appealing. I'm happy to report that the tiny squares of fried dough live up to the promise of their concept: they're airy, crunchy - yet pillowy soft, and not greasy at all. They're delicious as delivered, simply dusted with powdered sugar, but the chocolatey and fruity dips are both welcome accompaniments.

So sure, Chick's is still best-known as a good spot for an interesting beer, a glass of wine or a Best-of-Philly inventive cocktail (you smartphone-addicted Prince fans might want to try the new Blackberry Beret) but don't overlook the food, and whatever you do, don't skip dessert.


Chick's Café and Wine Bar
www.chickscafe.com
614 S.7th Street (at Kater)
215.625.3700

Awesomeness Alert: Espresso Granita

Yeah, sure, in a way this whole blog is meant to be an awesomeness alert, but every once in a while, something in particular jumps out. Therefore, the awesomeness alert.

Today's alert: Espresso Granita from Capogiro.


It's kind of like a water ice, kind of like sorbet, kind of perfect on a hot day. Not at all bad on a cold one. The default preparation is with whipped cream layered-in and on top (and my apologies to Capogiro, that's a prettier one for a photo) but although it's pretty good, after trying both, I much prefer the straight, clean, icy mouthfeel of the unadorned granita.

The Philadining advisory panel came up with an excellent idea though: topping this with a scoop of gelato. In particular, Dulce de Leche, or Burnt Sugar, or Flan flavors... We're imagining a Vietnamese coffee slushy thing! We're definitely trying it, and will report back.

So far, we've only found this at the 20th street Capogiro, no sign of it at 13th street. They sometimes have other flavors of granita, but espresso seems pretty consistently available.

Even better, it's only $3.50, a bargain at Capogiro.

UPDATE:

The grapefruit is almost as awesome...

The Orange flavor was also very good, but the espresso and grapefruit are especially intense.


Capogiro
117 South 20th Street (at Sansom)
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.636.9250
www.capogirogelato.com