a not-so-old memory

Of course as soon as I promise to cook more, what do I have but another restaurant update. Except this one is slightly different. I mentioned this place in my last post about Raw citing that there was a restaurant near my home that has THE best sushi I have ever had, even better than anything I've had in Philly.

Welcome to Bonjung.

This was the place where I fell in love with sushi, where I learned everything I know about Japanese/Korean cuisine, and where I spent the second half of high school working. I was making a quick detour home tonight and realized this would be the last time I could eat at one of my favorite restaurants for a very long time. And who can resist sushi?

Naturally, we ordered all of my favorite rolls :D

last samurai: soft shell crab tempura, cucumber, spicy crunchy mix inside & outside, topped w/ tobiko, scallion & chili sauce

mudslide: tuna & avocado, topped w/ spicy crunchy miso sauce, scallion, & chili sauce

incredible: shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, cucumber, topped w/ seared tuna, white tuna, avocado w/ special sauce, tobiko, & scallion

volcano: shrimp tempura, topped w/ avocado, spicy seafood topping, scallion, eel sauce, & chili sauce

Last Samurai = BEST ROLL EVER

And then there was dessert...

I can NEVER resist tiramisu

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

After we devoured these 2 babies, the kitchen sent out this complimentary dessert:

I'm not the biggest fan of fried ice cream except this was green tea ice cream.

Needless to say we were all stuffed after dinner. In fact, it is 4 hours later and I am still full...probably not the best idea when we are all going to the beach tomorrow :p

Hopefully I'll get some shots of boardwalk eats on our 3 day trip to the beach!

Is there Taro in that Tiramisu?

This blog is called Tea and Taro so why is there that irresistible looking picture of tiramisu the moment you stumble upon the front page? Well  I've decided to take up a challenge testing the culinary prowess of Philadelphia. Each month (or however long it takes to complete the challenge/how accommodating my purse is at the time), I shall pick one of my favorite dishes and try the best that Philadelphia has to offer. First up on the list: my favorite dessert of all time.

So where did the inspiration for this idea come from? Where else but the food network (and my insatiable sweet tooth). On a recent episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", Chef Robert Irvine fanatically appraised the Italian/Mexican infused Tiramisu a La Mexicana at the Mexican BYO Lolita. Naturally, I am now dying to try this dish. And that got me thinking. Is this really the best tiramisu in all of Philadelphia??

Well, we shall have to wait and see.

Recommendations and suggestions for other tiramisu hotspots are welcome (and needed)!

....and the bread is even warm

Last Friday, my pledge sisters and I journeyed to a semi-commerical joint known as Pietro's in downtown Philadelphia. The restaurant is located by the intersection of 17th and Walnut although there is another establishment on South Street. Despite some blaise reviews found on Yelp, my girlfriend's own enthusiastic reviews was enough to convince me to check out the Italian eatery. 

Look at all that cheese...mmmm...

Deciding to try a little bit of everything, we ordered 3 dishes to share:

• Fettuccine Carbonara - Spinach fetuccine with shiitake mushrooms, Pecorino and pork pancetta.
• Stuffed Mushrooms - With four cheeses, and spinach
• Barese - Wood oven pizza with sausage, hot pesto, tomato, basil, mozzarella

.... just because everything else had an absurd amount of cheese in it didn't mean we ought to neglect on protein hence the pick of sausage (Never mind all of the bread we devoured beforehand!).  To finish off the meal: Tiramisu! you can never go wrong by topping it all off with mascarpone cheese. (I'm starting to see a pattern with this "c" word hmm...)  Sure it's not the fanciest place in Philadelphia but if you're looking for an inexpensive yet satisfying Italian meal, this is the place to go.

 

The best part? The bread is even warm. 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5