I don’t like to declare any menu item as the “best,†but Good Dog in Center City has a candidate for Philadelphia’s Best Cheeseburger. No, I’m not a hardcore cheeseburger freak, but I know an awesome burger when I have one. And I had one last Friday night.
Yugoslavian food has never been at the top of my list when going out to a restaurant in Philadelphia, but last weekend the opportunity presented itself. During a visit to the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival, Patti and I took a tip from a friend and visited Jovan’s Place in East Kensington to have a Yugoslavian meal.
My friend Dean works at the Yards Brewery and mentioned that Jovan’s Place is their “local.†Could there be a higher
recommendation?
Philadelphia’s Chinatown may be smaller than those of other large cities, but it’s packed with good food. So when Tushar suggested searching for a few alternatives to the many mainstream restaurants in the area, I was enthusiastic about exploring a part of the city that I know nothing about. After some discussion, we selected three lesser known restaurants based on the recommendations of a few random characters that we consider friends. They include: Lee How Fook, Chinese Starlight Diner and Joy Tsin Lau.
Today, I awakened with a strong urge for breakfast, so I headed down to Fishtown’s newest brunch spot, Ida Mae’s Bruncherie. Situated on the corner of E. Norris and Tulip Streets, the restaurant is attractive and welcoming with a brick exterior, classic awnings and open doors.
Entering Ida Mae’s, I found the open kitchen in the front of the restaurant full of activity. The front dining room features a counter seating approximately eight, the kitchen and 4 - 5 small tables ; the back features two smaller connected rooms . Taking a seat at the bar (sorry, “counter” and “Irish” don’t seem to go together 
) it was clear that the staff was preparing for a busy day.
