A Day Trip to Princeton, NJ, in Photos

Update 6/17/12: Another successful Father's Day in Princeton. Yankee Doodle Tap Room had some menu changes but everything was pretty good and it has a great outdoor patio. Princeton is still an ideal little day trip from the Philly area - one hour from Center City; lovely, walk-able main drag on Nassau Street and in Palmer Square; lots of shops and restaurants to check out. Stop at the Bent Spoon for ice cream!

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Philadelphia offers an endless list of things to do on the weekends, but sometimes it's just nice to get away. If you're looking for a quick day trip with good food, shopping and atmosphere, my vote is for Princeton, NJ.

We have spent the last few Father's Days in Princeton because it's a convenient meeting spot for both our families. My brother lives there and never fails to pick out a solid restaurant for brunch. This time we went to the Yankee Doodle Tap Room at the Nassau Inn.

The Inn itself is beautiful and worth a stroll through just to see the old, dark wood interior that is nothing short of Ivy League material. I imagine it's one of the priciest places to stay in town, but convenient for Philadelphians, Princeton is only 50 mins away so there's no need to worry about getting a room.

Farmer's Cabinet Offers Mixed Reviews

Barrels used as tables out front

The Farmer's Cabinet is one of Philly's latest restaurants aiming to capitalize on the farm-to-table craze. It is in the former Joe Pesce location at 11th and Walnut and was started by the team behind the popular, but suddenly-closed, Fork & Barrel in East Falls.

We admire the ambition of The Farmer's Cabinet, as it definitely offers a unique atmosphere and menu. But, a decided mix of pros and cons means you're likely to find features there to both enjoy and forget.

Brunch at Sabrina's Cafe: Worth the Wait?

For as long as we've lived in Philadelphia, Sabrina's Cafe has had the reputation of offering the best brunch around town. After completing the ODDyssey Half Marathon a few Sundays ago, I finally had the chance to check it out.

The regular menu has all the usual egg/bagel/fruit cup options, plus some really attractive frittatas, omelets and signature items like Stuffed Challah French Toast (farmer's cream cheese, bananas and vanilla bean syrup - sweet heaven!). There are also burgers, vegetarian options and a handful of salads and sandwiches. Every plate going past our table looked incredible.

My running partner went with the frittata of bleu cheese, sauteed spinach, mushrooms and bacon. She thought it was excellent but estimated it had 5-6 eggs in it, and was therefore way too big for her to eat more than half. We didn't think it would taste too good as a leftover so it was a bummer to waste all that food.

Reader Contribution: Operation "Whiz Wit" Reveals the Best Cheesesteaks

Here's an idea for a party: Bring home eight different cheesesteaks from eight different places, hide the labels and conduct a taste test with your friends. Let the crowd decide: is Pat's really the King of Steaks? Or is there a hidden gem somewhere else?

22nd & Philly reader Sarah recently conducted this experiment with her friends and sent us her results. We've stayed away from reviewing cheesesteaks to not feed the stereotype about Philly's claim-to-fame, but this taste test party was a really cool idea. It covers some steaks we've never heard of and was done by regular joes like us. We appreciate the chance to share it with our hungry audience.

The competing cheesesteaks were chosen based on Yelp reviews, where Sarah is an Elite member. Her friends divided into small groups to pick up the cheesesteaks and get them all home within a 10 min. window, so none got cold/soggy. Labels were hidden and they started eating.

After trying each cheesesteak, Sarah and her eight friends rated them on a scale of 1-10 for six categories: visual appeal, aroma, roll texture, meat quality, toppings and overall taste. Each participant also jotted down comments/notes. Results were analyzed and the pro/cons of each are shared along with the rankings.

The overall winner was Cosmi's, which we've never heard of but according to Sarah, "you'll definitely have to give it a try -- totally unassuming little corner deli but man, that cheesesteak was delicious!" We'll have to add it to our Sandwich Quest (where, in case you missed it, we just reviewed Q.T.'s banh mi).

So, think about what's important to you in a cheesesteak - the quality of meat? the roll? the toppings? Perhaps the next time you're jonesing for the Philly classic, Sarah and her buddies can help you decide where to go.

Click here to open up this Google doc PDF of the competition results and analysis:


Where to find each of the competitors:

Cosmi's Deli - 1501 South 8th Street (at Dickinson)
Ishkabibble's Eatery - 337 South Street
Jim's Steaks - 4 locations (who knew?) but famous one is at 400 South Street
Kite & Key - 1836 Callowhill Street (random but only included because John's Roast Pork was closed that day)
Mamma's Pizzeria - 426 Belmont Avenue, Lower Merion
Max's Steaks - 3653 Germantown Ave
Pat's King of Steaks - 1237 East Passyunk Avenue
Tony Luke's - Multiple locations, original at 39 East Oregon Avenue

Sandwich Quest: Banh Mi at Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich

The second stop on our Philly Sandwich Quest was Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich, located in Chinatown at 10th & Arch, for their Banh Mi sandwich. Anticipation was high since many claim the banh mi is one of the best sandwiches in Philadelphia - a high bar indeed.

For those who are not familiar, a banh mi is basically a Vietnamese-style hoagie consisting of a baguette, Vietnamese style meats and ingredients such as cilantro, pickled carrots and peppers. Like any good sandwich, the bread is the key to a good banh mi.

We ordered the House Special banh mi and the pork banh mi, both just under $5 for about a 10 inch sandwich. It's a a decent deal, but many say the prices at Q.T. are on the expensive side for banh mi. The house special includes vietnamese ham, BBQ pork, apparently pork ears and a spread of pork liver pate. Each sandwich at Q.T. comes with pickled carrots, cilantro, cucumbers and jalepeno peppers (optional). The pork banh mi had a variation of mayo.

Beer Week: Philly Cheese Experiment

After much anticipation and Twitter buzz, The Philadelphia Cheese Experiment made its debut yesterday at the World Cafe Live during Philly Beer Week. Seventeen home chefs competed to win a slew of fabulous prizes, including a trip to Brooklyn to cook in the national competition. Their creations were savory and sweet, traditional and really quite random.

More than anything, the Experiment proved that food events can be just as crowded, entertaining and inclusive when 20 random home chefs give it their best shot as when Food Network stars and Iron Chefs take the stage.

We didn't go to the Burger Brawl; we saved our appetites (and a lot of money) to support average joes who could not have been more pumped to share their creations with 350+ other average joes with one thing in common: a love for food. It's what brings families together every night and strangers together around the world (and in Philly!).

Beer Week: Hill Farmstead at Eulogy Belgian Tavern

Friday night was the official opening of Philly Beer Week, so we hit up beer haven Eulogy Belgian Tavern to meet Nick and Theo from The Food Experiments and hosts of today's Philadelphia Cheese Experiment. Eulogy featured Hill Farmstead, a brewery in Vermont, where it just so happens that Nick's brother works.

(Philadelphia Cheese Experiment is 12pm - 4pm today at the World Cafe Live, and you can just pay at the door. It's $15 and includes tastes of all the cheese dishes in competition plus one beer from Brooklyn Brewery. We. are. pumped.)

Most of Hill Farmstead's beers were quite hoppy, with two double IPAs on tap called Abner and Ephraim, and one single, the Double Citra. Eulogy also offered the Earl, a hoppy coffee stout, and Florence ("Flora"), a Belgian white. There were a few others we didn't try. Fun fact: the beer names all come from the brewer's grandparents, great uncles and other ancestors. Nice touch.

Flora was the favorite because it was by far the lightest and easiest to drink. Very much like a Saison. The rest seemed great for hops fans, but we weren't feeling too hoppy that night.

Of the hoppy beers, I'd go with Earl. I am normally afraid of beers with the word "coffee" in the description but I actually didn't read it closely this time. The bartender recommended it as somewhat lighter than the other IPAs. Agreed, Earl was the most drinkable for a non-IPA girl.


It was mostly just a fun night to get to know the guys behind The Food Experiments better, as they are very chill and easy to talk to about pretty much anything under the sun. One thing about Eulogy though, is that it's just too damn small. It's known for its extensive, high quality beer selection, but if you don't get a seat it is very awkward to stand and try to have a conversation with more than one person and not get bumped around. Best spot to stand is downstairs near the entrance where there is a little more room to breath and you can stalk down a small bar table. Or make a reservation and eat there too - the food is very good and at least you get a seat.

It isn't much wider than you see here, and less so upstairs.