Starbucks

This is what happens when your life falls apart. It's a grande chai latte half skim half soy (thank EWS for the recommendation) and it's awesome, but it's not lunch, even with a banana.

Stash it or trash it? Stash it for a rainy day.

Starbucks Coffee
34th and Walnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA

Artisserie Chocolate Cafe

Today (Valentine's day) I made the mistake of attempting to power-lunch at a bakery. Who knew (everyone except me)? I ordered a smoked turkey panini on wheat bread with guacamole, tomato, and maybe some cheese. S.D.B., who was nice enough to stand in line for me while I transcribed interviews at the furious pace of any over-commited American attempting to cram too much into one hour at a "French" cafe, ordered the chicken salad sandwich, which was actually tuna. I don't know how much any of this cost, but I do know that it was cheaper than the three dozen chocolate covered strawberries the overeager skinny guy ahead of Delaney ordered. Skinny guy — hope you got lucky.

Stash it or trash it? Trash it. Duh. It's Valentines Day.

Artisserie Chocolate Cafe

34th and Walnut Streets

Philadelphia, PA 19104

P.S. I really do like Valentines Day. I'm serious.

Cosi (sur la route)

Sometimes you gotta do what's been done. As a Northerner, Panera's usually more my style, but the bread at Cosi's better (go with whole grain--its got the goods and it tastes more legit), and the Signature Salad's not too shabby either. Its got field greens, gorgonzla (I went cheese-less), grapes, apples and pistachios which are awesome in a salad, and the vinaigrette is solid; plus its a good one on the go, which is what I am right now. What's up Manhattan?

Cosi
30th Street Station
Philadelphia, PA

*Note: This post was intended for 02/11/10, but blogger kept responding to me in German, so it took me awhile to get the whole mobile thing going. Meine Entschuldigung.

**Trashing Cosi is like deleting your booty-call contacts. Don't do it. It seems like a good idea now but you'll regret it when you're starving and everything else is closed.

Thanks to an outrageous lack of time to do everything (also known as college) this blog will now feature shorter posts coming to you daily for lunch

Vic Sushi Bar

I’m not going to be starting any cultural revolutions by drawing the conclusion that sushi, as the trendiest of trends, is on its way out. These days, raw fish is about as colloquial as ground beef; they probably have great sushi restaurants in North Dakota. Consequently, sushi-bar philandering is not as fun as it might have been ten years ago. But today, pressed for time and distracted by a vintage store on 20^th and Samson where I managed in twenty minutes to find a great sweater-slash-dress and a killer pair of boots, I found myself crawling right back to Japan.

Located on what is arguably one of the funkiest blocks in Philly—so funky, in fact, that I have at least twice questioned my lucidity while traversing it—Vic Sushi Bar is your average red-and-black-awninged, wooden-countered, fatty-tuna chopping Japanese restaurant. Initially, I had walked in at 11:15, and they asked me to come back at 11:30 (which is when I got my consignment shopping in). When I returned, hungering for sashimi and asking for a warm drink, they directed me to a thermos on the bar from which patrons were invited to draw their own water for green tea—I was thinking sake, but whatever, it was a cute touch. I like cute.

I needed to use the bathroom to wash the thrift-store off my hands. Conveniently, that gave me the opportunity to see the kitchen, which was remarkably clean for small place on a somewhat shoddy street. Returning to my perch at the end of the counter, I spent a few minutes reviewing the typically extensive menu before deciding to order a seaweed salad ($3) and, from the special board, roll filled with spicy tuna and avocado, topped with lump crab in spicy mayo ($13.95, but that’s what you get for doubling up on seafood types), and rolled in brown rice. They called it Crazy; I called it overdone. I couldn’t taste the tuna through all the spicy crab. Eating the roll was sort of like going to prom—or how I imagined going to prom might be (thank you boarding school)—you think there might’ve been something good there, but thanks to the after party you just cant remember.

Under the assumption that I had been just too ambitious with my order—Jay, the guy next to me, had just spent $10.95 on three identical salmon rolls—I asked for some hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi ($5.25), which came in a pair and was a lot better. The seaweed salad, by the way, was perfectly normal, which is how seaweed salad should be, not too soggy, and with just the right amount of kick.

By noon, the place was totally packed with what looked and sounded like regulars; the fact that almost everyone except me was aware of the three-roll deal that Jay had opted for was a good sign for the restaurant and a bad sign for my stomach, which was still a little angry with me for all the mayo I consumed in eating just half the Crazy Roll. Finishing my sashimi, I asked for the check ($22 something), and listened to a guy with a bleached-blonde mane tell his Brazilian date, “I’ve been around the world. I got attacked by gypsies once.” According to him, they didn’t like the way he was dancing, but I’ll bet it was the hair.

All in all, a fine lunch, but I probably won’t be joining Jay for his “almost every day” rendevouz with Vic’s, unless, of course, I need another pair of fabulous boots, in which case I'd gladly suffer even the most platitudinous of soy-sauce pouring establishments.

Stash or Trash? Trash (and not just for the sake of variety!)

Vic Sushi Bar

2035 Sansom Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

http://www.vicsushi.com

(215) 564-4339

Mama's Vegetarian

Mama's is a kosher fast-food joint that serves vegetarian middle-eastern cuisine. I stumbled upon it on a Tuesday morning jaunt to pick up a pair of jeans I had hemmed on 19th and Chestnut. I didn't get to try it out until almost a week later, but it looked like the kind of place I'd be into: small, understated, and operated by guys with accents—that they probably loved their moms a little too much was an entirely separate issue.

When I walked in, I was surprised to find that Mama's was an

order-at-the-counter restaurant with a pizza-place like menu board—the plastic kind into which you slide individual letters when offerings change up every now and then, though I doubt they do at Mama's; the menu is refreshingly simple. Basically, it's got four sections: sandwiches, platters, latkes (which traditionally are potato pancakes, but here look more like veggie burgers), and borekas (puff pastries with various fillings).

It took me awhile to figure out what I want, but while I was waiting the Israeli guy behind the counter handed a falafel ball over the glass. "For you," he said, "try it." I relented and bit in—it was great, not too greasy, but not trying to deny its deep-fried composition, either.

Though I was intrigued by the soup of the day (I'm sick), I decided to err on the eclectic side and go for Samantha's Combo Platter ($8), which was huge, but Mr. Free Falafel promised that if I didn't finish it he'd wrap it up for me "no problem", and asked me if I "liked it hot", before proceeding to douse my hummus with spicy oil.

The platter is served fully loaded with three falafel balls, 1 Eggplant (though I got three slices, so I'm not sure what they mean by that), 1 Latke, diced cucumbers and tomatoes, and pita (white or whole wheat—I opted for the latter). The Hummus was delicious; the spicy oil worked well with the spread, especially because they were smart enough to be economical with the garlic, which is always a plus when it comes to condiments. Falafel—excellent (but I already said that); eggplant—good; latke—not so much. The potato pancake was too tough on the outside, and since they only have plastic cutlery at Mama's, it wasn't worth the effort. Nevertheless, they managed to redeem themselves with the diced veggies, which were cold and the yin to all the fried yang.

If not for the quality of its food, Mama's should be touted for hiring guys with great pick-up lines. As I waited to pay, my very giving friend (I really should have asked his name so I wouldn't have to be so creative) turned quickly chatty, asking, "Do you speak Hebrew?" to which I thought about replying "yes, Shalom", but felt that would be rude so just said no. "You look like you speak Hebrew," he said. I'm still not sure what that meant, but I'm going to assume it's a good thing since my meal ended with a free piece of baklava, whose taste made up for any points the restaurant might have lost otherwise, and I don't even like nuts.

But best of all, while I ate my food I got to listen to Belle and Sebastian's new album and three-yamachaed men arguing over the West Bank, Gaza, and who some girl was flirting with more the night before. If you're someone who doesn't like to eat alone but has to from time to time, lunch-of-shame-it at Mama's—you won't get lonely.

P.S. It's cash only, but they have an ATM.

Stash it or trash it? Stash it.

Mama's Vegetarian

18 S 20th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

http://www.mamasvegetarian.com

(215) 751-0477