Philly Trip Part I: Franklin Upstairs, Dandelion, Tria, Bing Bing

Our first night in Philly was an improv evening of sorts - no rezzies anywhere, so we just headed towards The Franklin Bar for early eve libations. The line for the downstairs bar was too long for us to stand around in the cold, so we opted for the upstairs, more casual bar. They had a big daiquiri list (not my cuppa, generally) and a few interesting cocktails. My man went with two different daiquiris, I had a “In Cold Blood” (= mezcal, amaro nardini, blackberry lime juice), a “Chaos Theory” (= rye, hibiscus, lemon juice, peychaud’s bitters, orange flower water, egg white) and a Paloma, b/c the Franklin is the first place I’ve ever had a Paloma and their version remains my favorite.

Afterwards, we hopped a few feet south to The Dandelion, a pretty overrated British-style pub. Deviled eggs for $8. Meh. Crab/cod/chilli cakes that were good. A duck foie gras & pistachio terrine that was too cold to taste of anything. Had a nice big bottle of dark & dry cider, however.

From there, we went to Tria for a few different cheeses (including one of my favorites, tête de moines) and had too much wine.

Today I met a friend for brunch at Bing Bing, where we shared the soup dumplings (likely not the greatest in the city, but def tasty), shrimp dumplings (really good), sweet & sour Brussels sprouts (meh) and the crispy cumin lamb rolls (just as lovely as the first time).

Tonight, Italian’s on the menu. Kinda psyched about it.

3 Likes

I don’t think it’s fair to judge Bing Bing in the same context as the traditional dumpling shops. They’re just too “hybrid”. I enjoy both Bing Bing and Dim Sum Garden, but I never find myself choosing one or the other. It’s always clear which I’m in the mood for.

I LOVE that place - wasn’t judging at all.

1 Like

Oh, I didn’t take it that way! Just wanted to point out how I feel in general about lumping the two together.

Next time you’re down that way, go one block further and check out Stargazy, English pie shop.

1 Like