Finding Philly

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).

The distance between Matt’s place and 23rd and Lombard is quite a hike (especially in this ongoing winter weather). But I only had one thing on my mind when i woke up on my day off. Cafe Lutecia!

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Shank’s and Evelyn’s (google maps) is the quintessential South Philly Experience.

I’d heard about it from a couple of people a while back but didn’t know exactly where it was. When i was recently reminded of it and realized it was just two short blocks away i decided to stop in with Karen for some breakfast. As you can see in the photo Shank’s has a sweet old RC Cola sign outside and not much more.

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