#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