Sabrina’s is an hour wait. Butcher’s is closed. Where can you and your visiting family eat on a weekend morning down in south philly? You’ve got lots of options! Continue Reading »
Smile Cafe
www.thaismilecafe.com
215.564.2502
105 S. 22nd St.
Smile Cafe is one our favorite finds! There are 2 dozen Thai restaurants in Philadelphia – you could have fooled me! I was aware of a few, but it wasn’t until we stumbled out of Smile Cafe (BYOB) that I knew what we found. Our first visit started out with a few tasty bites of fried tofu with a tamarind sauce, and fat New Zealand mussels in lemongrass broth. I also had a most satisfying Pad Thai.
Another time, we started with a perfectly grilled calamari salad, and the brilliant combination of escargot in puff pastry. Then I had a Crispy Half Duck and Matt had Charcoal Beef, served with sticky rice and cabbage slaw. We have never had room for dessert, but next time I must try the fried banana with ice cream. The food seems genuinely Thai and the service is exceptionally friendly (it is called Smile Cafe after all), and the prices are very reasonable. If you are planning ahead reservations are not a bad idea due to Smile’s limited seating; we tried to walk in during the dinner rush once and had to turn around and go to Erawan (luckily just a block away on 23rd, also serving killer Thai food and BYOB).
Pif is one of our favorite restaurants in the city. We first went just over a year ago for my birthday. I loved the food and atmosphere so much both at Pif and Ansill (where we ate a few weeks later for Karen’s birthday) that I decided I wanted to work in either. I introduced myself to some of the people at both restaurants and soon after got a call to see if I could start work.
I started off at Ansill but soon after I started help was needed at Pif and I moved down there. Very convenient because it’s just a half-block away from my apartment. Over the past year I’ve been learning what I can about french food and getting to know the regulars. It’s pretty amazing how many regulars there are for a restaurant so small. I’m sure they’re all very dissapointed to find out that it’s closing after 6 years.
The short version is that David Ansill (the chef) wants to focus more on Ansill, his newer restaurant. I’m not going to get maudlin and spend the rest of the post being sad, but instead point you to my collection of Pif photos (click on the photo to the left). Enjoy and goodbye Pif!