Mahinda’s Little World

This is yet another much-belated post. Most, if not all of you, will know by now that I headed to Philadelphia for a whole week, back in May.

It was business rather than pleasure — we had a new author, Samantha, starting in the Philadelphia office, and I was sent over to train her up for a week. Well, almost a week — I flew out on Monday, worked Tuesday-Friday, then had the weekend there before catching an overnight flight home on Sunday.

He Trains

From what I’d heard of Samantha, I was expecting someone who kept to herself — friendly enough, but reserved. Not the kind of person to go wild with a lunchtime pint or three.

Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case — we definitely clicked, and got on really well. I think it would have been a much less fun week if I didn’t get on with the person with whom I was spending most of it.

The training (in the use of our template, processes, etc.) did actually take up the full working week (well, four days of it, anyway)…and, amazingly, it went almost exactly to the plan I drew up. There’s a first time for everything.

He Researches

Philadelphia. What did I know about it before going? Not much. While I’d seen the various Rocky films, I’d missed out on Tom Hanks in Philadelphia and never seen Philadelphia Story either. Somehow, I doubt that Mannequin and Dawn of the Dead would paint a true picture of the place. Hopefully.

So I did some research, and found that, as well as being one of the most historical bits of the USA, it was famous for these two things:

• Cheesesteaks
• Microbreweries

Now, it’s no secret that three of my favourite things in the world are:

• Cheese
• Steak
• Fine Ale

I was pretty confident that I’d be just fine

Incidentally, it turns out that I actually learnt most about Ye Olde Philadelphia and the history therein from a fairly unlikely source — Day of the Tentacle, an old computer game.

He Walks

I was staying in the Crowne Plaza. It was a hotel. I was impressed with the SEVEN different pillows on the bed, and it was generally a cut above the equivalent price point in the UK. Not that I’ve got all that much experience of non-budget hostelries, anyway. It was, however, handily close to work and the city centre.

It also purported to have an "English Style Pub". Which it did. Almost. If you try to imagine the bastard offspring of a back street local and the bar from Cheers, you’d be pretty much there. Interesting. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any non-lager on draught — Sam Adams lager comes close, but that’s about it.

During the week, I walked around just about the whole of central Philly. All the tourist areas, certainly, but also some of the more local bits. Lots of out-of-the-way murals and interesting cafés…and the odd fantastic Belgian bar.

It really is a very nice city — pretty and well-kept. With the current exchange rates, it was also a cheap city. Which is nice.

Unfortunately, I was there on my own (apart from the first evening), and didn’t actually end up going out with anyone in the office of an evening. Maybe next time. So I didn’t exactly go out and sample the nightlife.

Top tip, BTW. One thing they don’t mention in the guides is the street numbering. Okay, so we all know about the whole grid thing, but what about building numbers? i see "1605 Cherry St" and I wonder where the hell along the 3km length of Cherry St that is. Well, it’s between 16th and 17th Streets. Obviously. Still, it took me a while to figure it out!

He Eats (and Drinks!)

What I did do, however, was eat an absolute shedload. This is the little list of restaurants I visited:

1. The Nodding Head
   On the flight over, I bumped into Derek, one of my co-workers. He was doing audit stuff elsewhere, but we were both in Philly on Monday evening…so he took me to a brewpub for dinner. Much jambalaya. Cheap, tasty, and the beer was excellent — I had a mild and a strong porter, both of which were lovely.
2. Quizno’s Subs
   You think Subway is nice? Quizno’s is MUCH better.
3. Moshi Moshi
   Sashimi. Not the best, but pretty good considering my $22 dinner budget.
4. Independence Brewpub
   Lovely lovely steak. Plus a taster selection of all six of their ales. Most were light, with an IPA at something like 9% ABV. Wow. The single dark roasty porter-a-like was my favourite, naturally.
5. El Vez
   This one was quite something. Samantha and I had lunch as a "team building exercise" (Joy, the other Philly-based author, was meant to join us, but she had to take the day off as her kids were sick), recommended by Alison, my boss. A sort of Mexican Elvis (the El Vez of the title) themed joint. Either horribly tacky, or visually stunning…depending on your taste. The food was tasty, and there was an absolute shedload of it — if we’d known, we’d not have got the MONSTROUS nacho starter between us. Samantha packed a doggy bag. We also stuck to beer — the cocktail list was pretty impressive.
6. Pat’s King of Steaks
   The Home of the Cheesesteak. And bloody miles away. It was something like a 30 block walk from the hotel…which is 3km or thereabouts. And back again. Was it worth it? For the experience, yes, plus I got to see the Italian quarter. For the cheesesteak…not sure. It was pretty nice, but I later had a cheesesteak from a no-name place near the hotel, that was pretty close.
7. Seafood Unlimited
   A little seafood joint, which served up some very tasty fish indeed. I can’t remember what it was, but it was nice. Might have been tilapia with a wasabi crust. Yes, that was it. Tasty. Their keyword is definitely ‘fresh’.
8. Cosi
   Just a breakfast sandwich here. The classiest sandwich chain I visited, and the best.
9. Fuji Mountain
   More sashimi. More expensive (I was no longer on expenses), and absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could get my fill of sashimi for $30 around here!
10. Wendy’s
    Burgers as they should be done. MUCH better than the McDonalds and Burger Kings of Blighty…and let’s not even mention Wimpy!
11. Five Guys
    And I thought Wendy’s was good. These guys were IMMENSE. A burger that wouldn’t disappoint in a gastropub, never mind a fast food joint. And the fries. Oh, the fries. I pride myself on making damn fine chips — just how I like them, thin cut, skin on, double (or sometimes treble) fried slightly on the crisp side. These come pretty close, perhaps even surpassing my efforts. Definitely not the Yank fries I was expecting, these were done in peanut oil. Delicious. They even have monkey nuts in little pots on the tables. Seriously — if you’re anywhere near one of their locations, you should give them a try. Unless you’re vegetarian.

I also found some decent-looking joints in Chinatown, including a couple of highly-reviewed Malaysian eateries and also an all-you-can-eat sushi bar. Oh yes. Reading Terminal Market is also worth a mention, for general fineness. I believe one of the other top cheesesteak vendors around is the one in the market.

In summary, I really did eat well, and cheaply too.

As a side-note, Samantha lent me her old guidebook, in which it described the Sam Adams brewery. Anyone who knows beer knows Sam Adams. It’s good stuff. So off I headed…and thought, well, this place looks familiar. I eventually ended up at the Nodding Head again — looks as though Sam Adams outgrew the premises and moved on (away from the city centre). Oh well.

Despite America being the land of tasteless "beer", I didn’t endure any dross in Philly. Pretty much every beer I had was an interesting one, from Sam Adams draught lager upwards. Even restaurants tended to have a bottled ale on, usually Sam Adams, Liberty or…erm…I can’t remember the name…Manayunk.

Here is an article on Philadelphia’s brewing history. Good stuff!

Anyway, that’s quite enough for now. I’ll have to write a Part II at some point, with details of some of the sights wot I saw.