Vientiane Cafe (Philly Favorite!)

We met our good friends, Karin and George, for our monthly lunch, on Saturday, December 15, 2018, and had a good time at Vientiane Cafe, 4728 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143 (215-726-1095).

We shared many plates:

Fresh Spring Rolls - soft rice paper with herbs and vermicelli, served with tangy tamarind and sweet chili sauce topped with crushed peanuts. Both tofu and shrimp.

Crispy Spring Rolls - filled with noodles, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms. Served with house sauce. We always order the duck. Today's were especially "ducky." Yum!

The wings are outstanding...

The Naam salad was salty this time, so we couldn't finish. Too bad, because it's our favorite!

Banh-Xeo - Asian crepe stuffed with beansprouts, onions, and carrots, with scallions and house sauce. We ordered the shrimp.

Beef jerky is another favorite. Nothing like homemade...

The Homemade Laotian Sausages, stuffed with chopped pork, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, served with steamed vegetable with a spicy roasted garlic chili sauce and sticky rice (which we didn't eat - we were getting full).

We also stopped at Vietnam Cafe, for Crispy Spring Rolls (ground pork, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, picked daikon, mint leaves, chili vinegar dipping sauce) and Grilled Pork Rolls (rice paper, rice noodles, grilled pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, basil, hoisin peanut dipping sauce). So good!

Wines enjoyed:

ITA 101

We met friends Zach and Diane for dinner at ITA 101, 20 South Main Street, Medford, NJ 08055 (609-654-0101), on Saturday, December 1, 2018. We had to wait a few minutes for a table to become available for our 7:45pm reservation, but it was worth it!

The bread is crusty outside and tender inside, served with olive oil. We ask for pepper flakes, which makes it a bit more special.


Appetizers

Jay, Diane, and Zach each enjoyed the Candereli in Brodo (bread dumplings, chicken broth, qual egg) weekend special. Jay described it as having stuffing in a soup. Slightly crispy outside, and tender inside, the quail egg was a nice touch. The broth was amazing on its own. Delicious!

Ken enjoyed the Focaccia con Prosciutto e Mozzarella di Bufala (focaccia, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, picked garlic scapes).

Entrees

Diane and Jay were extremely satisfied with the Risotto con Radicchio, Taleggio, Anatra (duck breast, risotto, radicchio, taleggio). Wonderful!

Zach enjoyed the Spaghetti con Nero di Seppia (squid ink spaghetti with scallops, shrimp, broccoli, EVOO, garlic, light spice).

Ken was extremely happy with Pesce del Giorno (scallops, coco beans, broccoli).

Dessert

Diane always enjoys the Tiramisu. The presentation is a treat in itself. The espresso she enjoyed before desert smelled heavenly.

Ken loves apples, so he enjoyed the Torte della Nonna all Mele ("grandmother's cake, apples, vanilla), served slightly warm. Just the right amount of sweetness.

Wines enjoyed:

We didn't get to this one, but will save for another meal...