Asian Restaurant "Crawl" - Philadelphia

Jay and Ken went to the University City area to visit friends, Karin and George, for a "crawl" of Asian Restaurants on Saturday, March 28, 2015.

We visited 3:

Chili Szechuan, 4626 Baltimore Avenue, 19143

Pork fried rice - no need for additional soy sauce

Wonton with chili oil - spicy deliciousness

Pork belly with garlic sauce, with cucumber

Wine enjoyed:

Vientiane Cafe, 4728 Baltimore Avenue, 19143 (Laotian-Thai)
View their menu for more information...

Duck spring rolls

Vegetarian Naam Salad, marinated rice with coconut flakes then tossed with mints, scallions, lime juice, lime leaves, crushed peanuts, served with lettuce to wrap - you won't miss the meat! Jay's favorite!

Homemade Beef Jerky, marinated pieces of beef with steamed vegetables (broccoli and carrots) served with chili paste - indescribably delicious! Ken's favorite!

Wines enjoyed:

Vietnam Cafe, 816 South 47th Street, 19143 (since they are not a BYOB, we did take-out)

Grilled pork rolls - we ordered 2 orders; should have ordered more, because they were awesome!

Crispy spring rolls - couldn't get any crispier and so tasty!

Grilled shrimp vermicelli - grilled to perfection

Wine enjoyed:

Beautiful decor at Vietnam Cafe...

We ended our meal with fruit tarts from Vientiane Cafe

We had such fun, we are going to try an Italian restaurant crawl in the summer!

Ken and Karin enjoyed a bit of Macallan as well...

Allora

Finally caught up with friends Vip and Angie for dinner on Friday, March 27, 2015, at Allora by da Soli in Marlton, NJ. We had a wonderful time. Chef Mark Berenato continues to impress.

Appetizers enjoyed:

Once Jay found out that fried smelts were one of the specials, she couldn't listen to anything else! The smelts were lightly breaded to perfection, accompanied by a lovely sauce of tomatoes and olives goodness. Yum!

Angie and Vip shared the fried calamari, which was lightly breaded and accompanied by a wonderful marinara sauce.

Vip enjoyed the Caesar salad, tossed with house made Caesar dressing, pecorino romano cheese, with crisp garlic croutons.

Ken asked for the chicken sausage and fig appetizer that he had on a previous visit. It was awesome and flavorful!

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Veal Piccata, with lemon, butter, and novella wine sauce with capers. Very lemony and delicious.

Ken ordered the Flounder Francese, egg battered, pan seared, lemon butter white wine sauce, with jumbo lump crabmeat. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Angie enjoyed the Veal San Marco, sauteed with porcini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, jumbo lump crabmeat, Sicilian Marsala wine, with a splash of cream.

Vip (and us all) enjoyed the Chicken Italiano, cutlets topped with char grilled red peppers, Italian long hots, garlic and EVOO. There was enough to take home.

We were treated to Kiwi"cello" - similar process to limoncello but made with kiwi. If you like kiwis, you'll love this!

We were also treated to the biscotti, which was a lovely end to the evening.

Wines enjoyed:

Our server, Mark, remembered Ken and Jay from our previous visit. We'll definitely be back and request him again!

It was nice seeing Lauren from da Soli as well. Very pleasant overall!

Ritz Seafood

Celebrating Ken's birthday a bit late, due to Jay's illness, we finally dined at Ritz Seafood, 910 Rt. 561, Voorhees, NJ 08043, on Sunday, March 22, 2015. We arrived on time for our 6:30 reservation and were seated after a few minutes wait.

Appetizers:
Jay ordered Chef Dan's Tuna Pizza - ahi tuna, tomato, read onion and sesame with chili aioli on brown rice cracker crust. Very good. Wish the tuna had a bit more seasoning...

Ken enjoyed the Vietnamese Bang Bang Shrimp, with chili and garlic aioli. Seasoned to perfection.

Entrees:

Jay wanted the Pan Roasted Hawaiian Butterfish, miso marinated, with wild mushroom risotto and soy syrup. HOWEVER, it had not been available for at least a YEAR. Why not just cross it off the menu?

Instead, she tried the Pan Roasted Sea Scallops, with wild mushroom risotto, miso broth, and truffle essence. It came with broccoli and carrots. Delicious! The scallops were perfectly cooked. More risotto please! So good!

Ken devoured the Coconut Crusted Lobster Tails, with pad thai noodles. Jay helped with the pad thai. Well seasoned and addictive...

Dessert:

Ken saw Bananas Foster and was excited. However, the bananas had to be thrown out so it wasn't available. He was a bit disappointed since not many restaurants make it.

Jay ordered the coconut cream pie, which was featured on the Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate." Very tasty. Not too sweet. Perfect balance of cream and coconut. Ken even munched on the toasted coconut.

Wines enjoyed:

Obviously, we were a bit off today, since both bottles went back home half finished.

We thought it odd that our food came out a bit quickly, but realized what was going on when we were the last to leave around 8pm, and the server locked the door behind us - 2 hours before closing!

Flavors of India

Catching up with Jay’s friend, Mary, who came to town on Thursday, March 19, 2015, we finally decided that we wanted Indian food, but not Monsoon. We decided on Flavors of India, 3111 Route 38 (Larchmont Commons Shopping Center), Mount Laurel, NJ 08054. We were not disappointed!

No reservations, but we were promptly seated at a booth.

Papadum was brought to the table, along with 3 sauces - one green (Jay’s favorite!), one a little spicy, and one a little sweet. Love papadum!

We shared the assorted Pakora appetizer: spinach, onion, and green chili. Each morsel was lightly battered and crunchy deliciousness!

For our entrees, we both ordered thalis, which came with tomato soup, Mulligatawny (lentil) soup, potato curry (oh my goodness!), rice, Raitha, Naan, and rice pudding with raisins and cashews.

Jay couldn’t finish the Goat Fry, which was wonderful!

Mary barely finished the Lamb Korma (medium), but she made it! Its sauce was so flavorful!

Mary commented that she was surprised that more people were not dining. Jay pointed out March Madness, and also noticed that there were many takeout orders.

We left full and satisfied. What a wonderful meal.

Wines enjoyed:

We will return!

Ginger Asian Cuisines (Yes, again!)

After a long week, Jay arrived home tonight hungry and wanting to go out to eat. Ginger's it is! We didn't make reservations, and were quite surprised to find the restaurant full. After being told we would have a half-hour wait, we were extremely happy to be seated in less than 10 minutes. We got to sit in one of their smaller rooms, by the window. Cozy. We liked it!

We visit often enough that most of the people who work there know us. Our server even remembered some of the appetizers that we normally order. Impressive!

Appetizers enjoyed:

Jay wanted spare ribs, and she got them! So good!

Ken ordered the Vietnamese grape leaves, which he hasn't had for a while. Still delicious!

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Bangkok Mango Shrimp - huge, tasty shrimp with fresh mango, peppers and snow peas. She couldn't finish it all - lunch tomorrow! The entree comes with either soup, salad or spring roll. She chose the spring roll.

Ken ordered the Honey Walnut Shrimp, which he preferred over Bhan Thai's version. 10 HUGE shrimp; he could only finish 5.

We always order the House Special Fried Rice, instead of getting white or brown rice. Delicious! Leftovers for another day.

We were given complimentary Mochi ice cream. Jay would describe the texture as being encased in a tasty sweet dough. She ate Ken's portion as well. Was told that one was mango and one was red bean. So good! (Forgot to take a picture - so excited to get it!)

We left pleasantly satisfied.

Wine enjoyed: