Sushi Land: An Oasis in the Culinary Desert

Moving into a new house with good friends is exciting, as is starting graduate school and kicking off a research project in neurodegenerative diseases. But commencing all three within the same month was, well, a little ridiculous. Okay, a lot ridiculous. I’ve eaten more food from the not-very-good Chinese take-out half a block from my house than I care to admit, which is why my updates have been lagging. Hitting up Bed, Bath and Beyond last week was a necessary evil for setting up the new house and a trip to the ‘burbs meant a chance to stop at Sushi Land in Bryn Mawr.

To be sure, Sushi Land is the only restaurant on the Mainline that I’ve missed since graduating from Haverford College. The interior of the restaurant is sparsely decorated. There are Japanese beer bottles on display above the sushi bar, which is confusing since the restaurant is a BYO. Yet the service is gracious and the sushi is, in a word, bangin’.

My friend Kosher Hotdawg ordered the lunch bento box with teriyaki chicken and tempura and reports that it was quite good. I ordered off the adult menu (...slam!) and selected the Rainbow Roll ($8.50), two pieces of Sake nigiri ($4) and the Honeymoon Roll ($8.50). All of the fish in the Rainbow Roll—a standby in which California roll is topped with a variety of raw fish—was buttery, sweet and fresh. By far, my favorite roll is the Honeymoon Roll: a spicy yellowtail roll with tempura flakes that is layered with unagi and avocado and topped with red tobiko. The saltiness of the roe compliments the sweetness of the unagi sauce and the tempura flakes lend a nice crunch to the otherwise soft-textured ingredients. The house salad ($1.50) features a creamy, nutty dressing that is tasty if a bit inauthentic.

So city dwellers, fear not the next time you’re out on the Mainline, there’s an oasis in the culinary desert.

Sushi Land
861 W. Lancaster Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

M-Th 11am-3pm, 5-10pm
F 11am-3pm, 5-11pm
Sa 11am-11pm
Sun 4pm-10pm

Abyssinia: Damn Good Food, No Utensils Required

Yegeb Tibs, cubed lamb seasoned with jalapeño peppers and rosemary, is to Ethiopian restaurants what General Tso’s is to Chinese take-out. Kitfo, rare beef in chili pepper spiced butter, is ever-present as well. It may come as somewhat of a surprise then that Ethiopian cuisine offers some damn good vegetarian food. I bartend on the side at an Ethiopian bar and restaurant in Fairmount and I live in West Philly, the city’s mecca for Ethiopian food, so I eat my fair share. By far, the best Ethiopian cuisine I’ve found in the ‘hood is at Abyssinia.

The Vegetarian Combination ($9) is a favorite of the regulars at Abyssinia. The combination offers tastes of six distinct dishes served alongside a salad of romaine lettuce and tomatoes that, simply dressed in oil and vinegar, serves as a palate cleanser. Azifa, a piquant blend of brown lentils with mustard and onion, is served cold. The Shiro Wot in contrast is Ethiopian comfort food: served hot, the smooth powdered red split peas are simple and slightly sweet. Fresh green beans, carrots and cabbage simmered in a turmeric sauce are buttery and mild while Yemesir Wot, split lentils in a sauce of berbere (a mixture, generally, of ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice), garlic, and basil, is as pungent as any Indian curry. Gomen, collard greens sautéed in olive oil, has a straightforward, earthy taste. As is customary, these dishes are served on top of Injera, the signature Ethiopian unleavened bread. Made of the grain tef, the bread has a light sourdough flavor and a distinct, spongy texture. Abyssinia’s injera is thinner and softer than it is at other restaurants and has a fresher taste.

I was told that in Amharic, the language spoken in Ethiopia, the word for friend translates as “someone with whom one shares bread.” Recently, when I suggested to an out-of-town friend, Bread Pudding Boy, that we go to Abyssinia for dinner, he responded, “Ethiopian food? I didn't know they had food in Ethiopia!” An original joke if I ever heard one… And as you’d probably guess, he ate his words once he tried the food.

Abyssinia Restaurant
229 S. 45th Street
7 days a week, 10am-midnight

Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House: Ghetto Delicious

Looking around dining room, I couldn’t help but notice that my friend Baker Boy and I were the only non-Chinese patrons in the noodle house. As a general rule, when it comes to hole-in-the-wall restaurants, this is good sign.

Baker Boy ordered the Fish Ball Noodle Soup ($4.50), his long-time favorite, and I opted for the Seafood Noodle Soup ($5.75). Both soups came with the house-made hand-drawn wheat noodles that were incredibly fresh. Beads of oil danced on the surface of the mild, aromatic broth to which mustard greens, spinach leaves and fresh cilantro were added. The fish balls themselves, which are made out of a pulverized mild white fish and flour, were soft yet chewy, a perfect texture, though they were a little fishy for my taste. In addition to the fish balls, the Seafood Noodle Soup includes sea scallops, littleneck clams in the shell and tail-on shrimp, all of which were fresh and perfectly cooked. Not bad for five bucks. Not bad at all.

The Aromatic Mixed Platter ($8.75) from the appetizer menu featured sliced beef, beef tendon and pig ears topped with a sweet garlic sauce. Baker Boy persuaded me to get it, mistaking my pursuit of cheap food for a desire to venture into the wilds of ethnic cuisine. For the record, folks, I am not Andrew Zimmern and this is not the Travel Channel. After trying a piece of each, I carefully pushed the plate to the other side of the table, smiled at my dining companion and told him to knock himself out.

The décor—laminate tabletops and florescent lighting—leaves something to be desired but that’s par for the course. As I listened to the diners at neighboring tables eagerly and audibly slurping up their noodles, Baker Boy summed it all up nicely, saying, “It’s not ghetto fabulous, it’s ghetto delicious.”

Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House
927 Race Street
Lunch & Dinner

Fu Wah Market: You, Me and Bánh mì

Fu Wah Market is a lesson in the good business practice of listening to your customers. The ostensible convenience store shares a block with a traditional convenience store chock full of chips and soda, which suggests that the former offers something different—and, indeed, it does. Pints of Ben and Jerry’s sit side-by-side with Soy Delicious, a vegan alternative, instant quasi-Asian flavored noodles share a shelf with Goya brand canned black beans, and the mini produce aisle includes bean sprouts and bags of fresh herbs. In fact, of my now many trips to Fu Wah, it’s been a rare occasion when this market didn’t have whatever ingredient I needed at the last minute. No, they’re not psychic, they just listen to their customers—and I’m apparently a rather predictable West Philly resident, culinarily speaking.

Foremost, in addition to the usual suspects on the hoagie menu, Fu Wah sells the so-called “Tofu Hoagie” ($3.75). Known elsewhere as Bánh mì, Vietnamese hoagies are typically filled with roast pork or chicken and dressed with a mayonnaise-like spread. Knowing well their clientele, Fu Wah offers this West Philly version that, being meat, egg and dairy-free, is not only vegetarian but vegan and deserves the accolade it invariably gets from neighborhood devotees. Haven’t heard of the Tofu Hoagie? You know we elected our first African-American presidents last fall, right? Just checking... It’s hard not to have heard about this sandwich of local fame but just in case, I thought I’d give it a proper review.

Fu Wah starts with an always-fresh long roll, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and fills it with warm, marinated tofu. The tofu is topped with pickled, finely julienned carrot and daikon radish, the crunch of which pairs nicely with the soft texture of the tofu. The sandwich is finished with a few sprigs of cilantro, paper-thin slices of fresh jalapeño pepper and the hot sauce of hipster fame, Sriacha, often referred to as “Cock Sauce” in reference to its logo—not as a suggestion to alternate usage, unless you’re into that I suppose. The slightly sweet marinade for the tofu pairs well with the acidity of the pickling vinegar and the heat of the peppers and sauce.

My friend Hot Sauce Lady once told me, “You had me at cilantro.” When it comes to Fu Wah’s Tofu Hoagie, those were my sentiments exactly.

Fu Wah Market
810 S 47th Street
7 days a week, 10am-9pm

Vientiane Café: Can't Not Love It

There are a few dishes that I can’t not order when they appear on a menu and green papaya salad is one of them. The salad is made with unripe, green papaya, which has a very mild flavor and, not unlike tofu, readily takes on the flavors of its seasoning. The green papaya is shredded and has a nice crunch to it, with a texture akin to that of fresh carrots. Tossed in a simple dressing of lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar, it’s a culinary lesson in less-is-more. And I can’t get enough of it.

Last week my friend Leg of Lamb Boy and I hit up our neighborhood Laotian restaurant, Vientiane Café, for an upscale but still frugal dinner. We kicked off the meal, of course, with their Green Papaya Salad ($7). Instead of cherry tomatoes, Vientiane combined the shredded papaya with chopped plum tomatoes; these have a more concentrated flavor and therefore weren’t overwhelmed by the dressing, which struck a pleasant balance of spicy and sweet and had a nice acidity to it. Without a doubt, it’s the best green papaya salad I’ve located on either side of the Schuylkill.

We also ordered the Coconut Soup ($5), which tempers the flavors of galanga root, kafir lime leaves and lemon grass—the same trio used to flavor the Tom Yum soup—with coconut milk. The soup tasted watered down to me but Leg of Lamb Boy said he preferred it that way. I guess there’s no accounting for taste…

In contrast, I am happy to report that the Homemade Sausages ($11) nearly trumped the green papaya salad victory. My former roommate, Picklin’ n’ Bakin’ Lady, used to rave about them so when I started eating meat again this fall—after no less than a fourteen-year sabbatical—I put these sausages near the top of my To Eat list. And what homage to lemongrass they were! Seasoned also with fresh cilantro, the sausages were pan fried until crispy on the outside while the pork filling remained incredibly moist and sweet. Truth is, I think Thai sausages have joined the short list of dishes I can’t not order when they appear on a menu.

Vientiane Café
4728 Baltimore Avenue
Dinner and Lunch, closed between 3pm-5pm and Sundays
BYOB

Vic Sushi Bar: Cheap Sushi That Doesn't Bite

This isn’t so much a review as a shout out. Seriously, I haven’t been this excited since I discovered the $4 Royal Burger at The Khyber last month. Above all, living on a shoestring budget has left me craving sushi and at long last I have found a place to satisfy my craving. Yeehaw!

My friend Shabbat Dinner Man recommended that I check out Vic Sushi Bar in Rittenhouse Square, claiming that the 3 Roll Special at Vic would cost me a mere $10.95. No shit? I replied. I was there before the tide turned.

I don’t mess around with sushi. Crappy, pre-made grocery store sushi just leaves me craving the real thing all the more, and what’s the point of that? Let me explain, I was raised in Portland, OR, which boasts an incredible number of southeast Asian restaurants, and I grew up eating a lot of Japanese food in particular. I was not unaware of the curiosity of my fellow third graders when I pulled out inari and futomaki from my lunchbox; in fact, I got a real kick out of it.

All of the fish at Vic’s was incredibly fresh, buttery and sweet. The rolls in the 3 Roll Special aren’t huge, of course, but with each roll comprising eight pieces each, I left quite full. Better still, Vic’s didn’t do what most “good deal” sushi bars with do: they didn’t make the rolls heavy on rice. Omega 3 Mama, who’s a bit of a carbohydrate-a-phobe, would have approved. Best of all, the fish really was some of the best quality sushi grade fish I’ve tasted in Philly. We ordered the Alaska Roll, the Philadelphia Roll and the Spicy Tuna Roll. Yes, awesomely enough, you get to create your own 3 Roll Special from a sizable list:

Futomaki (crab stick, egg, avocado, cucumber, masago)
Boston Roll (shrimp, cucumber, mayo)
Philadelphia Roll (salmon, cucumber, cream cheese)
Alaska Roll (salmon, avocado)
California Roll (crab stick, avocado, cucumber)
Spicy Salmon Roll (Salmon and, uh, spicy, of course)
Spicy Tuna Roll
Shrimp Tempura Roll (also known as Wuss Roll)
Eel Roll (also known as delicious)
Yellowtail-Scallion Roll
Salmon Roll
Tuna Roll
Inari Roll
Seaweed Salad Roll
Asparagus Roll
Avocado Roll
Cucumber Roll

In addition to the special, Hot Tamale Man ordered the Birthday Roll since it was, you guessed it, his birthday. The Birthday Roll ($12.95) came wrapped in pink-colored “soy paper.” To be sure, the pink color of the soy paper was a novelty, but I would have preferred the salty, earthy taste of seaweed against the flavor of the buttery salmon coupled with both white and yellowfin tunas, avocado, cucumber, oshinko and masago. Vic’s features a number of rolls with untraditional wrappers, including the Tiger Roll (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado and masago) that our neighbors at the sushi bar ordered, which is wrapped in white seaweed.

Vic’s might be a big bargain but it is one tiny place. There aren’t any tables and are only seven seats at the sushi bar. Between the limited seating and the free delivery (for orders of $10 or more, which means that the special is included!), it’s no wonder that we saw them prepare three times more orders for delivery than for in-house customers. The atmosphere is bright but not institutional and the service is friendly and—dare I say it?—genuine. Honestly, I was tempted not to write about this place, lest it becomes even harder to get a seat, but nobody reads this blog anyways, right?

Vic Sushi Bar
2035 Sansom Street
Lunch & Dinner Monday-Friday
Dinner Only Saturday
Closed Sunday

Falafel and Hummus and Salads, Oh My!

I dream of tahini. I dream of other foods too, to be fair, but by far my favorite meal on the cheap is falafel. Served in a pita or on a platter, it doesn’t matter.

My friend Hot Tamale Man and I headed to South Street last week only to discover that Mama’s Grill, the South Philly outpost of Mama’s Vegetarian in Rittenhouse Square, had been replaced by Chickpeas Falafel & Grill. The “chickpeas falafel” tautology wasn’t inspiring, but the staff spoke in Hebrew and I was jonesing for falafel and the food actually turned out to be quite good.

We ordered the Falafel Platter ($11), which was enough for two, and shelled out a few extra bucks for a side of baba ghanoush. The platter included falafel, fries (or “chips” as Israelis, like Brits, like to call ‘em), a side of hummus and a selection of four salads. The salads were incredibly fresh. We ate our meal mid-afternoon and it’s hard to believe that any of those salads were prepared any earlier than noon that day. The sweetness of the roasted sugar beets was countered by the bite of raw onion. The classic “Israeli salad” of cucumber and tomato was simply dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, as were the salads of lightly blanched carrots and red cabbage with parsley.

The loose-packed falafel balls were fried to perfection and had a nice, nutty flavor. The smooth, Lebanese-style hummus was dressed up right with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of paprika. The baba ghanoush had a pleasantly smoky taste but a just bit too much lemon juice for my palate.

A way serious notification: I am undertaking a comparative review of the better-known and lesser-known joints where folks in Philly can get their falafel on. Stay tuned for reviews of Saad’s, Maoz, Bitar’s, Mama’s Vegetarian and food trucks here, there and anywhere accessible via SEPTA.

Suggestions welcome, as always.

Chickpeas Falafel & Grill
630 South Street
(Closed Saturday for Shabbat)