Trying to conquer the Philly foodie scene in about 24 hours, while also incorporating birthday bar hopping, is quite an overwhelming challenge to take on. With a food and drink list the length of a child’s Christmas wishes, we knew that realistically, we would just have to come back again.
On the way to the city, we stopped at Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Company for a pre-train brewsky (ew people use this word?). For dinner, we devoured Dim Sum Garden in Chinatown as a partying intermission, if you will. For breakfast, we took a hungover, borderline brutal, three mile trek to Chestnut Street Bagels for rainbow/tie dye bagels. In between, we hit up Milk and Honey for some latte art (yes, the art took precedence over the latte). And for lunch we explored the Reading Terminal Market.
Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Company: Chill environment with arcade games and lots of different paint colors all over the walls. If only it wasn’t so far away, we’d hit that place up on the regs. The IPA’s were great (which is all that really matters for Natanda). However, their “funnel cake” beer was so weird. When making vodka-beer-mosas (don’t even ask), later in the evening, I was almost repulsed by the after taste of their #1 brew.
Dim Sum Garden: This actually was not on the list, but was highly recommended by all of the locals. And damn, does it receive 5-stars. From the fried dumplings to the soup dumplings, to the various soups and entrees that were ordered, all nine of us were beyond impressed. The check came to about $100, as well, which is unheard of for nine people at a restaurant! I still fantasize about these dumplings every. single. day.
Chestnut Street Philly Bagels: These rainbow bagels are a food photographers dream. The bagel itself was about a 3/5, but boy was this bagel photogenic. They also offer cake batter cream cheese, which sounds cool, and looks cool, but just is not for me. We got veggie cream cheese in ours!
Milk and Honey: Cute little hipster place. Latte art *check*. Above par latte *check*. Totes satisfied.
Reading Terminal Market: This place is hard to rank, because it is just a large enclosed space, jam packed with ethnic vendors with dishes of their culture and mad tourists. I’ve been here twice and never had a bad meal, however, there’s no way one could possibly sample everything in this entire market unless you live right there and that’s like your life goal? On this particular day, we got some Indian food, a lamb gyro from the Greek eatery, and some local cheese called “Red Cat” (lol). The Indian food and the Greek food were both bomb, coming from Indian’s (jk, but we eat enough of this food as if we are Indian) and Greeks (this one is true).
Overall, we had great experiences. Now, we just have to find the time to return and taste more beautiful foods!
Gastronaut Girls 