Alma de Cuba

1623 Walnut St

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Occasion: Jared and Mark took Ella and I out to dinner on a Monday night. 10.18.10

Tuna Tartare Tacos

candied lemon and pickled onion

Yummy little appetizers with tuna tartar in it. I am always down to eat some good raw tuna. I loved the fish in combination with the tart lemon and pickled onion. It really did compliment the fish well.  Too bad Ella does not eat raw fish...cuz it was delicious.

Thai Mixto

Crab, shrimp, octopus and fluke with coconut-leche de tigre, mango and tomatillo

Amazing! Love the combination of all the flavors. Coconut, mango...it just tasted very tropical to me. It is definitely worth trying.

Panela Chilean Sea Bass

Creamy quinoa with a cubanelle sauce and a baby cucumber and poblano pepper salad

It was the best entree we got and everyone else agreed.  The seabass was soooooooooooo goood and the meat was so tender. The outsides were crispy and full of flavor. The flavor was so unique I still remember it til this day.  I had to ask the waiter what the secret was and he says that it is the flavor of the quinoa that gets soaked up to the fish. It's seriously the most scrumptious thing I had all night...maybe even my whole trip in Philly. I love love loved it!

Maine Diver Scallops

Pastel de chocolo and piquillo chimichurri

Ella got this dish, but she wished she'd gotten mine. It was good, but it did not compare to my seabass which was amazing.  It was my first time having chimichurri flavored anything, well at least first time I'm actually aware of, and it was pretty tasty.  It had all the herbs and flavors that I liked, so no complaints for me.

Beef Tenderloin

Jumbo lump crab salad, grilled asparagus and horseradish chimichurri

I got to try a little bit of Mark's and thought it was pretty tasty, but not as tasty as my seabass. Yes I'm still talking about it! I'm not big on meat anyway, so I'm glad I didn't get an entree to myself.  I like how it came with a crab salad, which wasn't much but at least there's variety. Meat and seafood. Nom Nom Nom!

Yucca with Creamy Mojo

I wanted sweet plantains and Mark thought my description sounded like yucca.  It has a crispy fried skin with a soft inside. It was really really tasty and I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely, not the plantain I wanted but still delicious. Yucca, another first for me that night.

Sweet Plantains

Yes, exactly what i was looking for. It was AMAZING and hit the spot. When I think of latin american cuisine, I think of plantains.  I absolutely love them and it was very scrumptious here. I'm glad I got three other people to split this with because between the four of us, we did order kind of a lot of food.

Chocolate Cigar
Award winning almond cake wrapped in chocolate mousse, dusted with chocolate and served with dulce de leche ice cream

Though we were reallly full, Jared said they're famous for their chocolate cigar dessert and that we had to try it. Presentation was amazing. It really looked like a cigar.  In my opinion it was too rich for my liking. I only had a bite and that was enough. But if you love cholocate...this is the dessert to get. It's so chocolatey!

Geno's Steaks

1219 S 9th St

Philadelphia, PA 19147

Occasion: Mark and Jared's after school snack. Mark had Pat's and Jared had Genos. Ella and I took a bite out of each, just to say we tried it. 10.18.10

Geno's Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

The meat is cut way too thick. Its hard to take a bite without pulling out a whole slice of meat. Though, I did think the bread was tastier than Pat's. But the bread is just a small portion of what makes the sandwich. The thickness of the meat (which is an important factor) had a rubbery texture. That's not good. So we had to rank this joint #3 out of the 3 philly cheessteak places we tried.

Pat's King of Steaks

1237 E Passyunk Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19147

Occasion: Jared and Mark's after school snack. 10.18.10

 

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Compared to Geno's this place is better! The other three agree with that.  Though I didn't like the bread too much.  The bread just didn't taste fresh, but the meat was good. I never thought cheese whiz could taste so good. YUM! This place comes in second after Jim's.

Jim's Steaks

400 South Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

Occasion: After noon snack after playing tourist by visiting the liberty bell and historical building in philly. 10.18.10  We were actually on our way to Genos and Pats when this local guy told us that Jim's was way better. Mark and Jared said the same thing, but said we should just give Pat and Genos a try since they're more famous.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

with cheese whiz and onions

It was so good. I am so glad I came here because out of the three steak sandwich places, this was seriously the best one. Everything from the flavor of the meat, to the way the meat was cut to the bread. It was absolutely delicious.

Rouge

205 S 18th St

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Occasion: Right after we get off the bolt bus from NYC to PHILLY we drop off our things at Jared's and Mark's place and then head here for some lunch.10.18.10

Lobster Egg White Omelette

Delicious and filling. Ella and I shared this. It came with salad and fries. Soo good!