Archive for August, 2006

THE WRAP SHACK

Monday, August 28th, 2006

*** NOW CLOSED ***

wrap shack
The Wrap Shack is literally a shack located on Quarry Street, a little alley street a little bit north of historic Elefreths Alley (in between Race and Arch Streets). The interior of the shack (where all the cooking happens) is decorated with various color printouts of photos from around Philly hung up with donuts of blue tape. A line of Olde Philadelphia Sodas as well as your more widely available sodas adorn the left counter window. Behind the sodas is the large grill where all the goodness is prepared. There are a few tables outside, but the shack is primarily for take-out. The menu indicates that they also deliver and cater. This must be a killer lunch spot for the Olde City crowd, as the wraps are ready in under five minutes.

wrap shackThere are 36 different wrap choices listed on the menu, although we did notice that the printed menu is a little different from menu on the side of the shack (pictured at right). There are eight vegetarian wrap choices listed on the printed menu. One of those is explictly vegan, and the rest are easily vegan-ized. All wraps are available on either white or wheat and cost between $5 and $7, tax included. Aside from wraps, The Wrap Shack has Belgian waffles, salads, appetizers and oven baked potatoes, which come with your choice of three toppings for $3.75. There is an all day breakfast special which looks like a great deal for a hungry person – $6.50 for a Belgian waffle, two eggs and two slices of bacon. They also offer a nice variety of smoothies and milkshakes.

After much deliberation, Messy went with the Honey Mustard Medley ($5) which consists of zucchini, carrots, lettuce, tomato, onions, provolone and honey mustard. Messy expected it to be a cold wrap, but it was warm, wrapped in aluminum foil, and quite delicious. Unfortunately, Messy's lemonade was also warm – but our cheerful server, who was singing along with the radio, was very helpful providing ice, straw and a cup.

Picky had the Freeman ($6.50) which is chicken, bacon, cheddar, BBQ sauce and ranch. The wrap was good — nice and hot. The chicken was nicely chopped up except for one chunk which just happened to be especially hot. Everything was nicely mixed through without huge clumps of one ingredient dominating any part of the wrap. Picky's Olde Philadelphia root beer was flat, but at least it was cold.

All in all, we found The Wrap Shack to be a pretty charming place for a quick dinner on a summer night.

Messy ***
Picky ***

The final word: All the wraps you could ever want. In a shack.

146 N. 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 925-1999

Mon-Fri: 9:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sat: 11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sun: 11:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

FRANKLIN FOUNTAIN

Monday, August 21st, 2006

franklin fountain
We didn't uncover this gem until well into our stay in Philadelphia, it's now one of our favorites. Franklin Fountain has huge servings of delicious ice cream, an amazing variety of soda flavors and various other tasty homemade treats, but going there is as much about the atmosphere as it is about the food. It seriously feels like a time warp in there, with the tin ceilings, pulley-driven dual ceiling fans, and old timey cash register. Nevermind the cheerful servers, decked out in bowties and at least one handlebar mustache. If you like sweet stuff, this place has it all — including an old school soda fountain where they pull the soda water before adding the colorful syrups.

franklin fountainWe haven't tried any of the sodas yet, as we are always lured away by the ice cream. However, the phosphates — "electric sodas with a dash of citric acid" — seem quite tempting as well. Picky did have some root beer in an awesome root beer float once. [Why are good root beer floats so hard to find?] We have tried various ice cream flavors from the long list of choices, including Hydrox cookie [not Oreo!]; green tea; cherry vanilla; and cookie dough.

One of the greatest treats we ever had at Franklin Fountain was a waffle ice cream sandwich, which is made on a freshly made waffle – pressed right behind the counter – and two heaping scoops of the ice cream flavor of your choice, generously topped with hot fudge and whipped cream. It was absolutely delectible, and one order is definitely more than enough for two.

Another incredible creation is their Mt. Vesuvius, which consists of a "mountain" of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate brownie pieces, hot fudge, whipped cream, and malt powder. Messy found it a little heavy on the malt. This one is definitely not for the feint of heart if you can't take a heaping of chocolate explosion.

On our most recent visit, Messy, being Messy, dropped her cone on the floor on the floor and a friendly server said, "Oh no! Did you drop your cone?" And replaced it, for free, immediately.

We love this place, and it's open till midnight on the weekends. It's really the only post movie, non-alcoholic treat place in Olde City. And Messy finds this mustachioed fellow to be a real treat as well.

franklin fountain
This photo was taken in March of 2006.

Update with some cool info from their August 2007 newsletter:
An 'Earful' of Environmental Effort
Although we recycle everything possibly in house, we've rethought our paper & plastic goods and have come up with corn options we didn't know existed. That is, for those who haven't explored such worlds… companies like Fabri-Kal and other "green" companies use 100% corn to make our take-away 'what look like plastic/polystyrene' cups. It is amazing, exciting and next year-we'll have The Franklin Fountain logo printed on all corn cups (which have a 50-day compost date from the time it is trashed). We're also experimenting with corn-based 'plastic' spoons and straws for the same reasons. As one manufacturer asks, would you rather support an Arab oil sheik or a Mid-western corn farmer? In addition, we're also looking into having our ice cream containers pre-printed by an old Philadelphia oyster box maker.

Messy *****
Picky *****

The final word: A delicious timewarp.

Franklin Fountain
116 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 627-1899
Summer Hours:
Sun – Th: Noon – 11pm
Fri & Sat: Noon – Midnight

DOGFISH HEAD: RAISON D'ETRE

Sunday, August 20th, 2006

dogfish head raison d'être

At 8% ABV, this one packs a punch, but you don't really taste the alcohol, this beer is nice. The Dogfish Head site describes this beer as:

A deep, mahogany ale brewed with beet sugar, green raisins, and Belgian-style yeast. As complex as a fine, red wine. Voted "American Beer of the Year" in January 2000 by Malt Advocate Magazine

Very malty with a good amount of taste to it. I wanted to try to chew at it. If it was in some sort of solid form, it would make a good snack. I've never had any of them real Belgians, but this one uses the same yeast and from what I've read, the results aren't exactly what a real Belgian is supposed to taste like, but that don't matter to me.

Available at The Foodery right now, this is a year round brew.

TAMPOPO ASIAN GRILL

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006

tampopo asian grill

We were so excited to learn that Tampopo opened up a second restaurant East of Broad Street, and even more excited to learn that this time it is more than just a take-out joint; it's a classy spot with table service and a menu that is somewhat more expansive than the original Tampopo's. Nestled in an unlikely spot on Jeweler's Row, Tampopo is a great space with a cool minimalist/modern interior. It is a very spacious setting, complete with a sushi bar with polished chrome stools with comfy-looking padded seats jutting out from under the counter. On the night we went, there was hardly anyone else in there, and we were seated at a cozy booth. We did notice, however, that some of the chairs at the smaller tables looked uncomfortable — they were a kind of backless, wooden, one-person bench.

Our server brought us a bowl of complimentary edamame, which was quite tasty, better than either of us expected. This was a surprising treat since edamame is listed as an appetizer on the menu. We also ordered vegetable Korean pancakes (bin dae duk), one of the items that is not on the menu at the original Tampopo. It was a good sized portion for the two of us, but was a couple minutes undercooked which significantly took away from the texture and flavor. (It should be firm on the inside and very crispy on the outside for a nice initial crunch.)

Messy ordered avocado rolls, which she has had at the original Tampopo many times. They were good, and seemed to be a little bigger than those at original Tampopo (although we did not perform an actual side-by-side comparison). Picky had the hot spicy beef don, which is also on the menu at original Tampopo. Picky found it to be basically the same as regular Tampopo's except not as spicy. And as an added bonus, this location is BYOB. We didn't bring anything to drink though, and we didn't ask if there was a corking fee either.

For dessert, we each had two delicious scoops of green tea ice cream. It was quite yummy, but Picky's had a little bit of ice in one of his scoops.

If you work near Jeweler's Row, this is a great idea for a lunch hot spot considering the good portions of healthy dishes at reasonable prices.

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Everything the original has — plus chic ambiance.

Tampopo Asian Grill
719 Sansom St (Jeweler's Row)
(215) 238-9373
Lunch: Mon – Sat: 11:30am – 3:30pm
Dinner: Mon – Sat: 5:30pm – 10pm
Sun: Closed