#11 - Ten Stone and #12 Philly Cupcake - Sam's synopsis

Two stops in one review! How exciting! And let me tell you, this was an exciting stop on our saunter for sure... but we will get to that later.

Some of that cool art on
the wall.

Just prior to leaving for our double bill of restaurants, Sandya came by and wanted to cancel due to an upset stomach, but I told her to suck it up and do it anyways, because I'm a nice person like that. So we make our way to Ten Stone, in fear of impending rain but somehow managing to miss it.  It's early in the evening, only around 5 pm, so there aren't a lot of other people in the restaurant. I like Ten Stone, I think it's a good local bar with decent pub fare (and only a few extraordinary dishes) and a surprisingly good tap list for being billed as a pseudo-sports bar (they didn't have it when we went, but I've been able to get Lagunitas WTF there - one of my favorite beers!). The space is very open and there are more tables hidden in the back, with quite a few tables outside for warmer weather too. The inside is decorated with local art, which is generally really interesting and well-done. For a long time there were lots of paintings with astronauts that I remember striking a chord, but those have since been sold or taken down. 

I love popcorn - I love it so much that if I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, that would probably be it. So, we obviously started with the truffled parmesan popcorn and it was DELICIOUS. And I'm not just saying that because I love popcorn. The flavors were well balanced and the cheese sprinkled on top added a great texture to make every handful invigorating to the senses. Wow, that almost sounded like a real food blog sentence, amirite? Anyways, I would highly recommend it as an appetizer if you ever stop by here, and I'm certainly ordering it the next time I go there. For dinner, I ordered the crispy chicken sandwich. I often get the ham and cheese on a pretzel, which is always a good choice, but I figured it was time to branch out a little. The sandwich was pretty standard - the melted cheese was nice, and you can never say no to bacon (unless you're a vegetarian I guess). The meat was a little dry and not all that seasoned, but overall it hit the spot. I think I'll stick with the ham and cheese sandwich from now on though... 

Popcorn!

close-up of the delicious popcorn

cheese + bacon = winning combo

And, for beer I had a lemon pepper saison. It was pretty tasty, but only as a sampler. It was a mistake to get it as a full beer - too peppery. We should have ordered a second round, because as we were about to leave that pesky rain came - right on cue with Sandya's iPhone app - and we were waiting around for another 10 minutes or so. But alas, the rain let up and we walked (well, I walked, Sandya hobbled) to Philly Cupcake for dessert. 

The colorful exterior

We arrived outside Philly Cupcake minimally wet from the last remnants of rain, and the first thing you notice about the building is how well, cute it is. Bright pink and blue paint, with lots of frilly 50s style posters in the windows. And then you walk inside, and notice that everything inside is very cute too. It feels like Zooey Deschanel should be in there being quirky and serving you a cupcake decorated with bright sprinkles and maybe a ribbon tied around the wrapper (which disclaimer: I would still totally eat). All jesting aside, I really enjoyed the theme of the restaurant, and the cupcakes are delicious too. The cake is the right consistency and the frosting isn't overly sweet. I went for a simple chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, but they have a lot of speciality cupcakes that sound delicious too. I've had the chocolate peanut butter one before and it is just as delectable. They also have plenty of chocolate covered goodies, chocolate truffles and ice cream/milkshake. In fact, on our next saunter, Sandya and I came back to Philly Cupcake to get milkshakes - that's the sign on a winner in my book.

Cupcakes galore!

See, it's cute, right?

Close-up of my delicious cupcake

Let me end by saying, at this point Sandya was not feeling well and we were soon googling signs of appendicitis. The evening ended in a trip to the ER in torrential rains, but now I know that you should never force your friends to eat large quantities of food if they are complaining of stomach pains.

Ten Stone
2063 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 735-9939

Philly Cupcake
1944 South Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 545-2040

#11 Ten Stone and #12 Philly cupcake - Sandy's synopsis

This next visit for our blog started with happy hour at Ten Stone and ended with me going to the Emergency Room. These are the events of June 27th, 2013:

I almost cancelled on Sam because of the pain in my abdomen - but the blog prevails! - over menstrual cramps. Besides a good beer should calm my insides. So we made the walk down over the South Street bridge admiring the view of center city while we cross over. As we walk past Honey's to Ten Stone I have a flash of all the good memories I've had at this bar. Ten Stone is a well established place in Philly and I'd be surprised if someone who has lived in the city for a decent amount of time hasn't made their way here once. We got there around 5:30pm on this Thursday and the place wasn't very crowded. Since I am obsessed with my weather app, we decided to sit indoors (A: You didn't need a weather app to know it was going to pour soon. B: Sit outside if you can in the summer. It is a great place to people watch while enjoying the weather). 

The decor is nice - church pews for chairs, exposed brick on one wall and artwork for sale. They also have a pool table and dartboard in the adjoining room.

As I gingerly settle into a chair, I can't help but look up at the awesome artwork on the wall. The pain reminds me that what I'm really here for is a pint and as I turn around our waitress is right there ready to give me my meds. The beer list has always been good at Ten Stone.  We are given the handwritten list that contains all the beers currently on tap. This to me is also a sign that their taps rotate pretty frequently, its more cost effective to just write them down on paper. 

I got the black lager which was delicious and really hitting the spot. From my previous experiences I remember the food being pretty darn good. But kudos to Sam on ordering the popcorn as an appetizer, because I hadn't had it before and it was awesome.

The food options were mostly foo foo versions of standard pub fare. I couldn't decide what to eat since I was distracted, but I settled on the jamaican jerk chicken cheesesteak. Now, I think that's what I ordered because I will admit from here on out the details get a little bit fuzzy. As we waited for our food we drank beer and ate popcorn and exclaimed about how awesome the weather app I have is. It began pouring outside, which made for a pleasant view out the windows that were next to our table.  It was almost a perfect evening. 

Now I should've realized around this time that something was wrong because I'm really not a cheesesteak person and I really don't know why I ordered one. I was however pleasantly surprised and the sandwich was good.

The rain died down by the time we were done eating and so we got ready to move onto Philly cupcake. As I hobbled the block to get there, I was thinking that a cupcake would really make me feel better. By now, I was doubled over holding my abdomen and wishing I'd had another beer. These were some pretty intense menstrual cramps...

Man, this place looks like the entrance to happy land! But wait till you see what is on the inside.

Those. SO many of those.

Anyhow, if I was remotely with it at this point I wouldve taken more pictures of the marvelous cupcakes, chocolates, nuts, ice-cream and chocolate covered marshmallows that Philly cupcake houses within. I mean - CHOCOLATE COVERED MARSHMALLOWS!  Hint# 37 that something was really up was when I did not order the marshmallows. I own no chocolate or candy in my house except for 3 bags of marshmallows. So please anyone who goes there next - get them...for me.

I got some sort of chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and sat down at their very eclectically designed tables (the chairs have pink tennis balls at the bottom to keep them stable). They made you want to have a tea party and eat scones. The ladies behind the counter were very nice. They offered me a glass of water cause I looked like I was in pain and asked if there was anything they could do. So thank you ladies.

As we slowly ate our delicious cupcakes in this little wonderland a couple of realizations begin to dawn on me. One, these cupcakes are damn good and that Sam and I should use Philly Cupcake as a pit stop after other blog visits. If you like desserts, you should def stop by here (They also have milkshakes. And marshmallows). Two, these aren't your run of the mill monthly cramps.

So when I'm done eating my cupcake I ask Sam the question that's been in swimming around in my head for the past few minutes - "Sam. What is the location of my appendix?"

Ten Stone
2063 South Street
Philadelphia PA 19146

Philly Cupcake
1944 South street
Philadelphia PA 19146

Map - Block of 2000-1800

Here is the roadmap to the next block Sam and I hit on South street. Since the block of 20th-19th was a barren wasteland, we skip ahead to the block of 19th-18th. We have coming up:

Fortune - American Chinese

Randazzo's - Pizza

Kidari - Spanking new sushi place

We'll be going to Fortune this Thursday (11th) and if any of these places strike your fancy and you would like to join us  - leave us a comment.

#10 - Honey's Sit 'N Eat - Sam's synopsis

Ahh, Honey's. In case you don't know, the original Honey's is at 4th and Brown in Northern Liberties, and it's quite the morning excursion for those of us who live in Graduate Hospital. I've been to the original one a few times, so I was very excited to hear that one was opening up the street from my house. In typical Philadelphia fashion, Honey's claimed to be opening its doors in May of 2012 but didn't actually open its doors until mid-winter 2013. Needless to say, I lost a bet and had to buy my boyfriend brunch because of it, but in the end I am reaping the benefits of having a great restaurant only a few blocks from my front door.

Menu + tea container.  It's a strange

looking tea container, but they made it so.

     I had already been to Honey's a few times before Sandya joined me for our saunter, but since it was between 8-10 am on a weekday, I wasn't too adventurous and ordered the bargain breakfast - 2 eggs, choice of potato, toast and coffee for $3.95. Since I don't drink coffee (yes I know I am probably the only person on the planet who doesn't like coffee) I was able to substitute tea, earl grey, hot to my liking.  I decided to get my eggs over medium, the potato latke and a biscuit.  I have to say, I really like Honey's but my meal wasn't anything special. Probably because it's the $3.95 breakfast discount, but the eggs were a little bland and both the latke and biscuit seemed extra dry (go to Sam's Morning Glory for the best biscuit in town).  I've gotten plenty of food I really like at Honey's, but I actually like the egg dishes at Ants Pants better (if we're gonna compare the two local brunch places on South Street).  The pancakes and french toast at Honey's are always fantastic though, and I do like that the portion they give you is just the right size to make you full but not stuffed. Apparently Sandya thinks otherwise, but let's all remember that she and her stomach are a lot smaller than me. All in all, the breakfast special is a great deal, I think I just had an off day with it not being as delicious as usual.

The breakfast bargain.  It's a lot of food for $3.95.

A glimpse of the inside.

The decor inside gets my stamp of approval, and I like the layout a lot more than the original - it seems more spacious.  The walls and tables are decorated with supplies from an old hardware store (old as in 50+ years old), which gives the restaurant a hip industrial vibe. There's also a countertop to sit at, decorated with mouthwatering cakes and desserts - it sort of reminds me of an old timey diner, which is further enhanced by the aforementioned hardware supplies and old signs hanging about the restaurant.

Be warned, if you try and go on the weekend there is always a huge crowd of people waiting both inside and out.  I've been in this crowd before, and the wait time they give you is often an overestimate, but you can still be waiting for upwards to an hour to be seated.  You can enjoy brunch any time at Honey's, but weekdays are best for no waits and breakfast bargains.

Honey's Sit 'N Eat
2101 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 732-5130

#10 Honey's Sit 'N Eat - Sandy's synopsis

We all need to thank Jeb and Ellen for bringing Honey's Sit 'N Eat into this world and then onto South Street. Jeb and Ellen are a couple and decided to name their first restaurant venture together "Honey's" because that's what they were. As we wait for the collective "awwww" to fade, let me just say this review is going to be very positive. I mean look at that delicious french toast.

So, spoiler, I ordered the french toast, but, since we are on the topic - their menu is very varied. They serve breakfast all day and have a lunch menu that is mainly sandwiches. Of particular interest to everybody should be their specials board, etched in chalk on the wall like special boards everywhere. They always seem to have something interesting worth trying on there (like mac and cheese pancakes). For the less adventurous their breakfast menu has staple southern type cuisine, with a Honey's twist. Their early riser special, which Samantha will expand upon, is a fantastic deal. And the coffee, oh the coffee - this was also some damn fine coffee.

Coming back to that french toast however, it was fantastic. Fluffy, thick slices with maple syrup on top. I also ordered the home fries (a staple for my breakfast) and unfortunately I wasn't a fan. The potatoes were in big chunks which meant the outside of the potato had flavour but the inside was bland. The french toast really made up for it so, if you prefer your potato chunks in your homefries a little smaller, do not order them here.

Those infamous homefries

The portions are substantial people, be prepared to be taking some home. We went on a weekday morning and it was very easy to get a table. I have seen lines round the corner on the street however on the weekends around brunch time. Whichever time suits your fancy however, whether its for breakfast, lunch or dinner (they are open till 10pm on the weekdays), find a way to try them out. You will leave a very happy person.

For your gluten-free folk out there, they don't have many gluten-free options but are very accommodating.

For where I got info about who started Honey's go to this article written by Jeb Woody: http://www.philaplace.org/story/582/

Honey's Sit 'N Eat

2101 South street

Philadelphia PA 19146

215-732-5130.