Ok well, not everything but decided to combine the last 2 days of my trip since there really isn't anything too exciting on the last day.
Since Hyatt doesn't offer free breakfast (shiesty), I was left to find my own sustenance in the morning, but luckily, Reading Terminal Market opens early so I was able to go there every morning.
Reading Terminal Market
51 N 12th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Old City Coffee pretty much saved me the few days I was there. I needed every drop of the coffee to help me wake up.
Small space. They microroast their own coffee beans!
Possibly the best cafe latte I ever had, anywhere! The espresso flavor is so robust and bold, and it's piping hot, not like Starbucks where it is lukewarm sometimes.
Beiler's Bakery, a Dutch bakery inside the market has great donuts. Even though they are known for the sticky buns, my eyes could not tear away from the donut rack. I heart donuts haha.
Huge huge apple fritter. Fluffy and doesn't taste oily at all. Sometimes if it is fried for too long it has that greasy taste to it, but not here!
For lunch, decided to go back to the market to try out Cajun food at Beck's Cajun!
Who would've thought that you could get authentic Cajun food in Philly?
Jambalaya. Holy it is good. Good amount of sausages, chicken, and veggies. I like how it is moist too and not dry.
Muffuletta! Marinated olive salad with different types of deli meat like mortadella between round Sicilian sesame bread! It's actually one of my favorite sandwiches. I ordered a quarter-sized sandwich thinking it was gonna be small, but I was way wrong.
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A co-worker suggested that we take a few of our customers out to eat Chinese food for dinner, since the convention center is so close to Chinatown. Now... I really am not a big fan of Chinese food, unless it focuses on one regional part. However, some of our customers are from the Mid West and Chinese food is hard to come by except for Panda Express, off we went to a Chinese restaurant in Philly.
Tai Lake Seafood Restaurant
134 N 10th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Philly's Chinatown gate.
Tai Lake.
First thing you see when you walk into the restaurant? FROGS! Yup, frogs are considered seafood, and yes, it did freak a few of the white people in the group. That was funny :P
Kinda cute...? I guess, in that slimy way. We were kind enough to let them live for one more night though since we didn't order frogs :D
Menu book & logo.
Of course, the best soup for all groups of people is the hot & sour soup! Not bad at all! I didn't have much of an expectation but was pleasantly surprised.
Two variety of hot sauces they provided: soy with jalapeno peppers & hot chili oil.
Sweet & Sour Cod. Sweet & sour sauce is the way to go for novice Chinese food eaters. The guy from Indiana said it was the best he's had!
House special fried noodle. Can't go wrong with fried egg noodles!
Broccoli Beef. See the trend now? We only ordered the "usual," so we don't scare people too much.
Beef hofun. Needed a bit hot sauce.
Vegetable medley. Probably my favorite dish actually. Pot of veggies flavored simply with a little vinegar, soy sauce, and the natural flavors of the vegetables.
Seafood tofu pot. Sorry for the half empty picture, but by the time it got to me, it was half gone haha.
Black pepper filet mignon. A little too much baking soda used to make the beef tender.
Tai Lake ended up being a pretty solid Chinese restaurant. All the dishes are the common ones you see but they do a fairly good job. Service was horrible though since it took forever for the food to come out. Apparently one table's ticket got in front of ours. Lamers.
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For my last day in Philly, I decided I must eat another Philly cheesesteak. I've only had one at Jim's so far so I went to Reading Terminal Market once again, and stopped at Spataro's for a cheesesteak.
Cooking. The beef was frozen though so had a little doubt about this place.
Cheesesteak with Provoline, sweet & hot peppers, and onions.
I was a little sad that they didn't have whiz here and it's a little dry probably due to the meat being pretty frozen prior to cooking it. The sweet & hot peppers combo was awesome though!
Since we had time to kill at the airport, decided to grab more donuts from Dunkin' Donuts! More of an East Coast thang, decided I must try it before I leave haha.
Actually got a few but shared with co-workers but did manage to save a iced chocolate donut with sprinles! Kinda weird how the sprinkles is only to the side though haha. I think I like the shop in my neighborhood better. It's a little small :P
Overall, great trip to one of the oldest city in US. Didn't get to explore as much cause after all, I am here on work, so hopefully I'll get to come back here one day to try a few things left on my list!
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