Hidden Place!

                                                              (Ouside Shane Confectionery)

Shane Confectionery is a step back in time when men wore straw hats and women wore long skirts. The inside of it feels like you are stepping back into another era. The workers in Shane’s are dressed like people dressed a  100 years ago. The glassware that the candy is stored in is just like an old candy shop. They have old candies that my mom hasn’t seen for years. They have a mixture of candies that are fun and unusual. Just because the look and feel old don’t let that fool you.  They had chocolate covered bacon. It was so sweet, salty and fun to eat.  They have something called red planet rock. It looks like a pink rice krispy treat from far away. It had the same consistency of a rice krispy treat but it tastes like pop rocks in your mouth. They also have dark chocolate covered peppermint sticks. They were nice and refreshing in your mouth. The thing to die for at Shane’s is the buttercreams. They have a mixture of flavors from strawberry, chocolate, coconut, and plenty more. The flavors inside of the buttercream can either be dipped on the outside with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. Shane Confectionery is very subtle on the outside since there is no big sign above the door. They have a little sign on the door and a stand sign on the sidewalk. It’s definitely a hidden gem inside the city of Philadelphia.

(Inside Shane Confectionery)

(Inside Shane Confectionery)

(Inside Shane Confectionery)

(Red Planet Rock)

(Mixture of Buttercreams)

(Chocolate Covered Bacon)

Shane Confectionary

110 Market Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

215-922-1048

www.shanescandies.com

Back to Comfort Food

(Outside Smokin Betty's)

I have always heard great stuff about Smokin Betty’s from everyone I know. They are known to have comfort food with a southern style. The place is very open with 2 floors. When you walk in the bar is to your right in its own room. They have upstairs seating and downstairs seating. They even have seating outside for a warm day. It has a very open feel to it and all the servers have their own recommendations about the food and plus they know their food inside and out that they serve there. I started out with a cocktail for the night which was called Not Your Mama’s Pie. It had Beefeater, strawberry jam, Rhuby liquor, and club soda. It was definitely a fun drink I liked with the strawberry jam in it. It added a little sweetness to the drink which I love.

                                               (Not Your Mama's Pie )

Everyone I was with that night was definitely excited to try this food. We started off with two appetizers which were BBQ sliders and the Cheesesteak Eggrolls.  The BBQ sliders are a trio of sliders which are hickory smoked beef brisket, Carolina pulled pork, and Caribbean pulled chicken served with Carolina slaw. Smokin Betty’s definitely knows how to barbecue.  Their barbecue is sweet, tangy and definitely melts in your mouth. Each of us got to have one to ourselves. I got the hickory smoked beef brisket which was to die for.  The cheesesteak eggrolls were nice and crispy.  They were served perfectly with the cheese nice and gooey inside. The cheese wasn’t too overpowering which was awesome. The tomato jam it was served with was nice and smoky. It was definitely not ketchup it was elevated to the next level.  I had to go for the Betty Burger while I was at Smokin Betty’s. The Betty Burger consists of ½ pound sirloin, confit pork belly, avocado, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, roasted garlic aioli, and fried eggs. The best part about the burgers here is that they cook to your choice of wellness. The burger is so big it’s served with a knife right down the center of it. My two new obsessions are pork belly and fried eggs. Give me a fried egg on anything and I will definitely try it. I think a fried egg is one of the best things in the world when you cut it, it has a taste of yolk and white which you can’t escape. The egg on the burger definitely added a tangy taste to it which definitely helped it. This burger is definitely worth trying. You could also split it between two people since it’s that big.  Everything that is on that burger goes together since there is nothing that doesn’t belong on that burger.  All the ingredients on it are so fresh. For dessert we had to go with the special of the day which was fried whoopie pie with cookies n’ cream ice cream. I am still thinking about that dessert since the whoopie pie was fried perfectly. Tt was so crispy on the outside. The whoopie pie inside just was oozing with melted goodness.  The cookies n’cream ice cream was served with big chucks of cookie pieces in it. The base of the ice cream was so creamy.  That was one of the best desserts I have ever had which was executed perfectly.

(Part of BBQ Sliders)

(Cheesesteak Eggrolls)

(Betty Burger)

(Deep Fried Whoopie Pie with Cookies n'cream ice cream)

Smokin Betty’s

116 South 11^th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-922-6500

www.smokinbettys.com

                                                         

Not the Stephen Starr restaurant you would expect !

(Outside Frankford Hall)

A week ago I made a trip to Frankford Hall which is a Stephen Starr Restaurant. The person I brought with me has never been to a Stephen Starr Restaurant. I was really surprised when we walked through the door and saw the ping pong table in the back area with a bunch of games to play. It was a relaxing place to eat with large tables where you can sit next to people you know or be joined by people who you don’t know. There was an outside beer garden with pit fires where you can toast your own s’mores.(Hmm – s’mores are every where!). I would definitely go there if you want a relaxing time and some good beer.

(Inside Frankford Hall)

                When you first arrive in the building you see a host and explain what to do which was really helpful. You order all your food and drinks and they bring it to you. You are given a number on a stand to put at your table. The food is focused around German food with beer.  For our appetizer we ordered the warm Bavarian pretzel with the cheese dip and the spatzle.  I didn’t know too much about German food before going into this but the person I was with filled me in. German pretzels are supposed to be dry and crunchy. I got the pretzel and I fell in love with that cheese dip. That is definitely not your classic cheese dip since it is bumped up a few notches to make it classy. It was tangy with spices and onions and it didn’t taste too cheesy either which I liked. The person I was with ordered the spatzle. That was the best thing in the entire place. It was served with bacon and mushrooms. Spatzle is flour and egged based homemade pasta. The spatzle tasted so good and the bacon inside it was nice and crispy. The spatzle absorbed the taste of the bacon which made it so flavorful.  I ordered the classic frankfurter which is a basic hot dog. I love hot dogs when they are served in a classic potato roll. The roll was toasted which made it crunchy which I love. The frankfurter was pretty good. The spicy mustard that was served with it made it really good. I am not a big fan of sauerkraut but the person I was with loved it. It was a little tangy and sweet.  The desserts here are very simple including cupcakes and s’mores. When you order the s’mores they give you a little bag  with marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. You go roast the marshmallow outside in their fire pit which was fun to do. I was a little bit disappointed in thier cupcakes. They have a German chocolate cupcake and a seasonal cupcake. The seasonal cupcake they were offering then was a strawberry cupcake. The strawberry cupcake was soo dry. The icing was like rock hard on top and the cupcake inside was very dry and crumbly inside. The German chocolate cupcake was a little different. The cake part was very moist but the icing on top was like rock hard. Aren’t German Chocolate Cupcakes suppose to have coconut with them too? I don’t recommend trying the cupcakes but definitely go for the s’mores.

(Warm Bavarian Pretzel with Cheese Dip)

(Spatzle with Bacon and Mushrooms)

(Frankfurter with sauerkraut)

(German Chocolate Cupcake & Strawberry Cupcake)

Frankford Hall

1210 Frankford Hall

Philadelphia, PA

www.frankfordhall.com

215-634-3338

The Newbies !

(First row is pistachio halva, Second row is Smore's, Third row is Raspberry Balsamic,

Fourth row is 2 pina colada and banana caramel  )

I do have a little sweet spot in my heart for Federal Donuts. Their donuts are amazing. I recently saw they released some new donuts. The newbies are pistachio halva, s’mores, and raspberry balsamic. I made a trip down there on a Saturday morning at 7 am and they were packed with a customer line already started.  I had no idea what halva was so I did a little research.  Halva is a sesame paste. The pistachio halva was coated in a sesame seed coating with a crumble of pistachios on top. I liked the halva on it I loved the sesame seeds in it. The S’mores donut is a marshmallow coating on the donut with graham cracker crumble on top with a chocolate drizzle on top.  The Raspberry Balsamic is a donut coated with a raspberry glaze with a white balsamic drizzle. All of these new flavors are good. I love going back to Federal Donuts and checking out new flavors that come and go. The personal reason why I love Federal Donuts is because you can taste the distinct flavors that they say the donuts are.

 Federal Donuts               

1219 South 2^nd Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

The Burger and Shake Place

I have heard so much about PYT Burger and was dying to go and I made it there last night. The place reminds me of a retro place where simple is the way to go. You have basic tables and pop up of color randomly around the restaurant. The burgers and fries are posted like cartons on the outside of the restaurant and on the menus. The place is soo simple but it’s fun to groove with the music in the background. The music is classic from the 70’s through the 80’s. The service was very slow it took a couple of minutes for a server to come over to the table which was not fun. Their menu is very fun and unusual but their menu online does not match up to their menu in the restaurant. They have more options and unusual combinations.

                                                                         (Lobster Burger)

(Samoa Adult Milkshake)

They had their own deal for restaurant week. Their deal was one hall of fame burger and one adult milkshake for 20 dollars which is a pretty good deal. Their adult milkshakes are 10 dollars alone. Right now they have a special going on with their own milkshakes made with Girl Scout cookies. My favorite cookie is Caramel Delites or Samoa’s as they are known. It was a milkshake made with Caramel Delite cookies, caramel vodka and vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream, cherry and a caramel drizzle. It hit the spot for my craving of Caramel Delite cookies. I ordered the lobster burger which was a basic burger topped lobster meat served on a knot roll and served with Old Bay fries to go. The burger itself was cooked perfectly it was soo juicy. Each burger is served with a pickle; I think they make their own pickles in house. The pickles are spicy but the spice is good. The flavor was something different and new. The service was not up to the food quality. I am a person who would have gotten another adult milkshake because they had a couple on the list that I wanted to try but it took forever to get our milkshakes. The burgers actually came out before we even got our milkshakes. It was such a disappointment. We decided to stick around for dessert. A special they had going on for dessert which was a fried PB&J sandwich topped with peanut butter puff cereal and served with vanilla ice cream. It was the highlight of the night. The peanut butter and jelly was soo warm and just oozing out of the slices of bread. The peanut puffs on top added crispiness to the sandwich. The food is fun and unusual but the service is not that good.

 

(Fried PB & J Sundae)

PYT Burger
1050 Hancock Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
www.pytphilly.com

Restaurant Week Stop #3

My last and final stop during Restaurant Week was the Oyster House. This is a repeat stop and a favorite one of mine during Restaurant Week. This place offers four courses instead of the normal three courses that every other restaurant offers during Restaurant Week. The service is amazing there and they are always constantly refilling your water when you just take a sip out of it. The walls are decorated with clams on the half shell or oyster on the half shell plates with all decorative styles and shapes. It is something very fun and unusual to see in a restaurant. The atmosphere is seafood house. They have a shucking counter where it would be fun to sit and watch people just shuck oysters and clams. It’s like you’rr being entertained by the people who prepare your food which is always fun to see.

(Inside the oyster house)

When you sit down at their tables they have those oyster crackers sitting in a big bowl with horseradish in a jar next to them. The crackers are fun to start snacking on when you’re waiting for your food.  For my first course I ordered 4 clams on the half shell. The second course I ordered was clams casino. The third course I ordered was their famous lobster roll. For dessert course I ordered the coconut tres leches cake.  The 4 clams on the half shell were huge. The clams were so juicy and delicate. I love the presentation of them served over ice.  Their own housemade cocktail sauce is not to spicy so its fun to add the horseradish that’s on the table to it. The clams casino were really small but packed with a punch of flavor. The peppers are spicy and add a kick of heat which adds a bunch of flavor to it. The lobster roll there is one of the best. The lobster is soo fresh. The bread is a brioche bun toasted with the taste of butter lingering in your mouth.  The lobster roll was served New England Style. The lobster was gently tossed in mayonnaise with some celery. It was such a simple dish but the roll brought it to the next level. It was served with hand cut French fries. I love the smell of fresh cut fries that are fried.  They were so crispy and fresh. The coconut tres lesches cake was so simple. The cake was soo moist from being soaked. The toasted coconut just added a nice toasty flavor to it. It has nice and sweet roasted pineapples served it which are amazing. The pairing of coconut and pineapple together makes you feel like your escaping this cold weather. It is definitely one of the places you need to check out during Restaurant Week or any week.

                                                              (Clams on the half shell)

                                                                            (Clams Casino)

(Lobster roll served with french fries)

                                                               (Coconut tres lesches cake)
Oyster House
1516 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
http://oysterhousephilly.com/