Truck Food at Temple: Teppanyaki & Coffee
Truck food is alive and well on Temple’s North Philly campus. During a recent visit, I had the opportunity to sample some of the best from area food trucks: Japanese Teppanyaki and coffee. Yeah, I know it’s a weird combination, but let me elaborate…
After checking out Temple’s facilities for an upcoming event, my guide and I found ourselves in the midst of lunchtime. I told Paul from The CaffiNation Podcast to be ready with a suggestion for the best truck food on campus, so we headed directly to the Japanese food truck located at the intersection of N.12th and W. Berks Streets.
Walking up N.12th Street on Temple’s campus, there’s a number of unremarkable looking food trucks and the “Japanese and Korean” truck is no different. Painted white over blue and surrounded by drink coolers, our mobile café had no sign and only displayed its menu taped in the window. I was encouraged upon our arrival: there were a number of people already waiting for their meals (a good sign when it comes to truck food). I took Paul’s lead in ordering the Beef Teppanyaki with noodles, but added an order of Vegetarian Dumplings, both of which set me back a whopping $8 (incl. beverage). Waiting for our food, we watched as the trio of cooks smoothly produced meals for the continual steam of students. After a short wait, it was our turn to take our brown bags away to find a suitable dining spot.
The Beef Teppanyaki was delicious and included a thick, spaghetti-like noodle, broccoli, onions, sesame seeds and a side of homemade chili sauce. The beef was tender, yet flavorful and not overly greasy. Furthermore, the noodles made the dish much more substantial and enjoyable. While the Vegetable Dumplings were good, they weren’t anything fantastic. Regardless, I definitely recommend this spot if you’re in the neighborhood.
“So, what about the coffee?” you ask. Well, as we were finishing up our meal, Paul mentioned that his local caffeine “pusher” roasts its own coffee beans daily. Considering that The Pretzel Hut is almost within spitting distance of a Starbucks, I had to check it out. Located just outside the Paley Library at N. 11th and W. Berks Streets, The Pretzel Hut is a small kiosk that brews a fresh pot every fifteen minutes and serves a fine cup of coffee. While it doesn’t hurt that it’s inexpensive, I’d be willing to spend a little more if they offered an environmentally friendlier coffee cup, but that’s just me. So if you want a really good cup of coffee and rail against world-wide coffee domination, stop by The Pretzel Hut to “stick it to the man.”
The “Japanese and Korean” Food Truck is located at the
intersection of N.12th and W. Berks Streets
Pretzel Hut is located outside the Paley Library at the
intersection of N. 11th St. and W. Berks Street.
TAGS: Japanese, Teppanyaki, Food Truck, Temple
Bensalem’s Uduppi Dosa House is a bit beyond our normal scope of Philadelphia’s city limits, but that’s where we had to go to get some decent Southern Indian food. Adamant that we need to include a South Indian candidate in our Lunch Buffet Roundup, Tushar pointed us north of the border to sample some southern delicacies. I’m happy he did.
Old City’s Beneluxx Tasting Room is a fun and interesting place to visit if you’re interested in trying different types of Belgian beer, wine, cheese and chocolate. Situated just around the corner from its big brother 
Emerging in January, Vietnam Cafe displays all of the characteristics of it’s successful Chinatown brother: excellent food in a comfortable, contemporary environment. Located in up and coming West Philly, Vietnam Cafe offers a smaller, more intimate environment complete with modern touches that are unusual for the neighborhood.
After months of pre-opening updates and post opening assessments, we finally got the opportunity to visit West Philly’s Dock Street Brewery. And we weren’t disappointed.
Thanks go to our fellow Philadelphia Bloggers for introducing us to the South Philadelphia Tap Room. During a recent afternoon, Patti and I burrowed into South Philly to attend the Philadelphia Webloggers Meetup at this laid back neighborhood local. Although this was just our first visit, we found food, atmosphere and beer all delicious.
Something was amiss during our return trip to New Trieu Chau. Pulling up to the restaurant located at 1807 Washington Avenue in South Philly, something was different. At first, I thought it was me: Did we drive by and miss it? A second lap around the block proved that we hadn’t. The hole-in-the-wall spot offering great Southeast Asian food had been usurped by another! After some quick deliberation, we decided to give the replacement a shot.
Tandoor India is the third stop on the Indian Lunch Buffet Round Up and it did not disappoint. A popular place for lunch in University City, Tandoor India offers a great mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian items in a well-lit, comfortable environment.
Center City’s Lucky Strike Lanes has something for everyone with equal parts bowling, bar and restaurant. Maybe the best way to describe Lucky Strike is bowling lounge and restaurant? I dunno, but however you describe it, Lucky Strike Lanes is a cool place to dust off your game, have a few cocktails and maybe even dinner.
University City’s Sitar India is the second stop on our Indian Lunch Buffet Roundup. Still basking in the glow from an excellent experience at our first stop, Sitar already has some tough competition. Fortunately, Sitar India’s Indian Lunch Buffet would prove to be a worthy challenger.
