pod, Philadelphia

pod, and that's the name, all lower case (so it looks the same upside down) is an interesting little Asian fusian restaurant, at 3636 Sansom, Philadelphia.

Apparently, it's one of several Starr-owned (managed?) restos in Philly, including The Continental Diner, Morimoto, and Budokan.

It's got 1960's mod styling: curves and stucco and "pods" to eat in, curved plastic chairs... kinda kitchy, but really not that cool, if you ask me.

The food, though was excellent. Edamame was undersalted, and that's the only gripe for the whole meal.

Rockshrimp tempura bits with candied walnuts, pineapple and mango aioli was awesome: nice pepper heat, sweet and suculent shrimp.

The other starters we had were sushi -- very good but not ethereal. The special for the night was a 3-way tuna, including a sashimi tartare, a tempura'd tekkamaki and a tuna taco (sort of). All very good. We also had the U-like Salmon -- several nigiri, california roll and salmon/cream cheese roll. The nigiri was excellent, I didn't have the other two (waste of salmon, IMHO).

My entree was szechuan lamb -- well flavored but not spicy lamb, 5 chops a little bigger than lollipop sized. This was atop a pile of shanghai noodles with peanut sauce, shiitakes and eggplant strips. Out-freakin-standing.

Others at the table had beatiful duck, tuna, chicken... didn't taste any, but it all looked good (although I question the wisdom of delivering peking duck in several stacked bamboo steamers -- just no room for that silliness).

Worth another visit.

We were in Philadelphia around the same time. In addition to the areas around Reading Terminal, Samson St and South St that have been noted in other threads, we have been discovering the up-and-coming section of town just north of Vine (and the East/West expressway) called Northern Liberties.

There are a couple of good beer bars, and a new Foodery will be opening up there soon (store with excellent beer selection, and hopefully easier parking than the other location), all have probably been attracted by the neighborhood anchor, the Standard Tap.

Standard Tap has a nice selection of local microbrews and clean lines. They also have excellent food. We have been impressed on several occaisions and this trip was no different.

On this visit, we selected a spot on a second floor patio that we did not know existed before (the bartender at another bar told us about it) -- it is an alcove between front and back houses and is shaded by some nice old trees on the street.

We were trying to eat light as we were heading to Monk's for our next stop (exceptional belgian beer and food establishment) and wanted some mussels later.

We ordered the fried oysters and the grilled octopus. The oysters were fried in a crumb/meal that turned very dark in the fryer, but they were not overdone. The tartar sauce that was served with them was exceptional and was perhaps the best example we had tasted, with capers and mustard seeds in the usual mix of pickle, lemon juice/vinegar and mayo.

The octopus was quite a spectacle and prompted a "we'll have what they're having" response from the couple at the next table. The whole creature was served collapsed on the plate, perfectly mauve with some char and glistening with balsamic and oil. Here are the pictures in media res. Our gut instinct was to dig in, posterity be damned!



For beers we had the Lunacy Tripel from Heavyweight and Yard's Saison, both on tap. The Lunacy was a sweet, light tripel and was excellent. Brewed by a true artisan in NJ, we were happy to see this on tap. The Yard's Saison was a light, somewhat grainy summer beer. It was not bad either.

Oysters and Octopus were both $9. Beers were $3 a piece (I think we were there during happy hour).



Monk's was great as usual as well. With Map Room's excellent selection of Belgians, we are finding it harder to find new Belgian beers we don't get in Chicago, but the mussels were plump and frites par excellence.

We also had a nice nightcap at Nodding Head, a brewery a couple blocks away on Sansom St (owned by an owner of Monk's, located above the Sansom St Oyster House). They had a 60 shilling, a Berliner Weisse and a very very hoppy beer (Hoptimus Prime) that Griffin enjoyed. Also an interesting beer called "Monkey Knife Fight" -- a lager with lemongrass and ginger. Not sure I could take a whole pint of it -- but very tasty, novel and adventurous. The further bonus was a very knowledgable and friendly bartender and waitress who were happy to chat about beer geek things.

Standard Tap
2nd & Poplar St.
Philadelphia 19123
http://www.standardtap.com/

The Foodery
10th& Pine Philadelphia. 215-928-1111.
Northern Liberties Location: 837 N 2nd St. (Opening soon)
http://www.fooderybeer.com/

Monk's Cafe
16th & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA
http://www.monkscafe.com/

Nodding Head Brewery
1516 Sansom St (second floor)
http://www.noddinghead.com/directions.html
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Thanks so much for the post, and I'll definitely try to get to the Standard Tap when I'm in Philly about 2 weeks from now.

It's encouraging to hear that Northern Liberties has climbed so far north (In Philly, the downtown renewal has literally proceeded block-by-block), particularly since my Mom (she's 90 now) grew up six blocks from there (at 8th & Poplar) when the area was Philly's version of the Lower East Side, full of tenements and crumbling housing, a neighborhood from which you escaped as soon as it was financially feasible.

Since the Famous 4th Street Deli has changed hands, and since we'd had Manny's (Chicago), Corky & Lenny's (Cleveland) and Katz's (New York) within the last 10 days before this trip to Philly, I was ready to venture to a non-deli breakfast choice for our morning after.

I found two options that sounded appealing -- Morning Glory Diner on 10th & Fitzpatrick and Sabrina's at 910 Christian. Sabrina's is near the Italian Market, and is rumored to have interesting pancake creations (like pumpkin/pear pancakes and corn cakes)

The Morning Glory is near by -- a few blocks closer to South St (which is actually a bit to the north). Morning Glory specializes in frittatas. I also found a mention that the owner makes almost everything from scratch that she serves including her catsup. I gave Griffin the choice between these two and he picked Morning Glory.

We arrived around 10ish on a Tuesday morning. The place was somewhat busy given that this was probably a "between" meal time (6 or so other parties, mostly singles). I'm pretty sure everyone else was locals.

We ordered a wild greens, smoked ham and potato fritatta with grits on the side, and a special of the day which was a brie, granny smith and proscuitto frittata with carmelized onions. The frittatas were cooked perfectly. Light, puffy, and still moist in the center.

The potatoes (home fries) were seasoned with thyme. A bit too much thyme for my tastes, but still done well on the grill. Grits were wonderful, light and grainy. They went especially well with the wild greens and ham. The biscuit was the dryish, crumbly sort. Very good with the homeade blackberry jam on the table. But who had room? The frittatas were huge.



Unfortunately we didn't have anything that needed the homemade catsup -- the potatoes already had too much thyme on them. We ate it anyway of course. A very interesting flavor -- not the usual sugary vinegery condiment. It had a distinct curried flavor -- like an indian curry with cloves and ginger and was a little fruity too.



Coffee was quite good (strong for a diner) and served in interesting dineresque stainless steel mugs -- not that we had ever seen such a thing at any diner before. A couple regulars ordered the veggie burrito. Clearly a great place for vegheads. All in all, the food was quite good. Plus, I really respected what this owner was trying to do.

If I had prepared by reading HollyEats.com before this trip, I would have known that his top two choices (or atleast the 2 I found with 5 greasestains) in Philly for breakfast are the Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market, and Carman's Country Kitchen at 11th & Wharton.

He favorably reviews Sabrina's (4 grease stains), but either hasn't made it to Morning Glory yet, or has, but doesn't post unfavorable reviews (I am pretty sure he used to have a review up for Famous 4th St Deli from before it changed hands, now it is only for Famous 4th St Cookies, which are still produced and owned by the original owner). No mention of the deli any more...

I am rambling now but I guess my point is that LTHer's might appreciate the memory jog/info that Philly is HollyEats' home turf. I knew this once, but forgot. In rediscovery of that fact I happened upon mention that Cathy2 has met (what I assumed to be a her), and then further discovered, that Cathy2 has met *him*. Either way, HollyEats.com is a great site in the same spirit as much of LTH.

And, the Morning Glory was a nice neighborhood spot for breakfast.

Morning Glory Diner (CASH ONLY)
10th & Fitzwater
http://www.morningglorydiner.com/index.html

Sabrina's
910 Christian Street

Down Home Diner
12th & Filbert

Carman's Country Kitchen
11th & Wharton

Memory jog for a great site, especially if you are exploring Philly:
http://HollyEats.com