The night after Buddakan and M.I.A., Lara and I woke up relatively bright and early on Monday and headed out in search of a good Philadelphia breakfast. We just had two things on our minds—mimosas (or some variety of brunch cocktail) and eggs. We wandered around for a while and were just starting to think we needed to ask for advice when Lara pointed to Lush across the street. Lush, which deals in all natural bath and body products, is one of my favorite places in the world, and luckily they have locations in many major cities. Score. After getting a decadent hand treatment and picking out the many luscious goods that we couldn’t resist, one of the salespeople suggested trying Jones for breakfast. We took her advice and headed over to 700 Chestnut Street to check it out.
When we arrived we discovered that they only served breakfast on weekends, but the lunch looked great and they did have the brunchy cocktails we were in search of. Perfect. And it became even more perfect when we realized they had a huge offering of grilled cheese sandwiches. But which to try?
While we weighed the options of the different grilled cheeses we each ordered a Morning Glory, which consisted of Danzka Grapefruit Vodka, grapefruit juice, and champagne. I do believe I prefer this drink to a traditional mimosa. Lara summed it up nicely as she said, "It's like a mimosa with a punch." It was more light and refreshing and less sweet than a mimosa. The grapefruit juice also offered a little more of a bite, although that could have been the vodka as well. In any case, it was the perfect way to start the day and pregame for grilled cheese.
We came up with the brilliant idea to each order the grilled cheese that appealed to us most and then swap a half a sandwich with one another. We also opted for the fries with the sandwiches rather than the other option of a side salad because, really, who actually prefers a salad to fries?
I ordered the Brie grilled cheese, which came with black forest ham, granny smith apples, and honey dijon on raisin nut bread. The Brie was lovely and creamy and there was just the right amount of ham. The granny smith apples were sliced nice and thin, offering just a hint of sweetness and crunch. But the raisin nut bread was incredible. Who makes a grilled cheese on raisin nut bread? Jones does, that’s who. And they are brilliant. The combination of salty and sweet was absolutely perfect. It was the most decadent grilled cheese I’ve ever consumed.
Lara ordered the cheddar grilled cheese with roast turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce on pullman white bread. Wow. “It’s like Thanksgiving in a grilled cheese sandwich,” she remarked. And she was absolutely right. Just imagine the best parts of Thanksgiving on delicious, thick bread all held together with gooey, melted cheese. I’m salivating just thinking about it.
Jones was a great place for an accidental lunch even though we’d had out hearts set on breakfast. As soon as we saw the lunch menu we forgot all about our craving for eggs and hash browns. Jones is definitely worth a visit if you’re in Philadelphia and in the mood for the most tasty grilled cheeses on the planet! I was sad to say goodbye to Philly and to Lara, but at least my stomach was satisfied.
I recently reunited with one of my good friends from college—Lara (aka Nimbo Stratus)—in Philly, where we caught up, balled out, and hit up an M.I.A. concert. We met up at the hotey on a Sunday and made plans for the night, which of course included dinner.
“So,” asked Lara, “where do you want to go? I assumed you would have already figured out all the best places to eat around here.”
Her question caught me by surprise. Yes, I normally would have something all planned and ready to go if it involved food, but I had nothing. Nothing at all. So while Lara jumped in the shower to get ready to go out I went to the Internet. Urbanspoon, a Web site I link my restaurant reviews to, is usually a good bet so I went there first. On the list of the top ten restaurants in Philly was Morimoto. Now that was pretty tempting. He’s my favorite Iron Chef, and I’d salivated over the menu at Morimoto a year ago when I scoped it out online. But then I noticed Buddakan on the top of the list. I was intrigued.
Lara and I looked at the menu together and determined that Buddakan looked absolutely amazing. So we made reservations, drank a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to pass the time, and headed out into the night.
When we arrived at Buddakan the restaurant was beautiful. We walked in and were greeted a waterfall, a glowing red dining room, and a radiant, gold Buddha. Nice.
We were in a little bit of a time constraint because we had to head out to the concert afterward, so we decided to just order a couple of appetizers and split an entree. But first came drinks. The Dream was phenomenal: Bombay gin, elderflower cordial, thyme, and fresh lime juice. Simply delicious. I love a good creative cocktail, and all the ones on the Buddakan menu looked incredible.
For an appetizer we decided to split crispy shrimp and scallop spring rolls served with plum and spicy mustard sauces. We also opted to try the edamame ravioli in a truffle scented Sauternes-shallot broth. The spring rolls were wonderful, but the edamame ravioli was out of this world. I’ve never heard of such a thing before, and I hope it catches on because the filling was creamy and satisfying while the broth burst with a delicate layering of flavors. Just to try the edamame ravioli is a worth a visit to Buddakan.
For an entrée we shared the lobster fried rice with crispy scallops and Chinese celery. I have high standards for fried rice having lived in China for a summer, but Buddakan delivered. The lobster and scallops were perfect and the rice was had that quintessential fried-rice tastiness without being overly greasy.
Everything was loaded with incredible flavors, and we definitely picked the right dishes to share. The portion sizes were perfect for the two of us, and when we finished we were both satisfied and yet not too full. The last thing you want before a concert is the itis, and Buddakan left us with plenty of energy.
The service was also great. All the dishes came out quickly, which was fabulous since we needed to make it to the Electric Factory for the concert. Unfortunately, M.I.A. was weak sauce on our tasty Buddakan dinner, but it was still a great night.
If you find yourself in Philadelphia and want to treat yourself to a lovely dinner then you should definitely check out Buddakan. They have locations in New York City and Atlantic City as well, which are apt to be just as delicious.
