After our stop in Hershey, we headed to Philadelphia. On the way, we stopped in King of Prussia for lunch at Wonder, which lets you order from a bunch of different “restaurants” within. There’s very limited seating but we nabbed some to eat our huge repentant salads (grownups) and kids burger and fries. I was skeptical about the concept of Wonder but the food was great and the prices, as they promise, are pretty reasonable given that with the model it’s mostly takeout and that the “restaurants” are co-located. We had a very important reservation for the Bluey experience at the KOP mall, which my daughter thoroughly enjoyed, her parents less so . It’s an enormous mall but we didn’t stick around, other than to pop into the Polish craft store for a wooden hand painted Easter egg.
After that, we drove into Philly and checked into our hotel. We had a quick cocktail/Shirley Temple at our hotel’s bar and then grabbed an Uber to Amada. My husband and I have been here at least 3 times just the two of us, and we figured the Sunday “tapas and vino” special (discounted wine and assorted $6 tapas) would be a great opportunity for our daughter to try tapas for the first time. We were told we needed to be in the bar room to partake, but after I reasoned with our very reasonable waiter, he relented and let us order off of that menu. We ordered one of everything off the tapas and vino menu and they definitely are not dialing it in for this special. They are full size versions, most heavily discounted to $6. I’ll attach some photos. The tortilla, cockles, chamuça (spiced lamb turnover in phyllo), and patatas bravas were favorites off that menu. We got a salad off the regular menu, which was enormous and a nice fresh crunchy counterpart to all the many tapas. We also got inexplicably gifted two freebies off the regular menu, the manager citing the long wait for a particular dish which none of us noticed since we were too busy stuffing our faces. One was calamari, not a favorite of mine, but done very nicely, tender with a potato foam, and a spinach and Manchego cheese empanada that was gooey on the inside and flaky on the outside. Cocktails were great - love their g&ts. My daughter gave her first tapas experience two thumbs up and somehow still had room for dessert.
Dessert was at Matcha Panda, for all things matcha. They have booths with enormous stuffed animals (think Costco sized) and lots of sweet treats. My husband got a matcha coffee drink with a delicious creamy matcha foam and we split the chocolate Lady M style crepe cake (they were out of the pistachio) and a variation on one of their specialty sundaes with matcha ice cream and boba. Fun place for an after dinner treat.
The next morning, the two adults were too stuffed to eat breakfast, but room service pancakes were ordered up for our daughter. She pronounced them delicious; I cannot confirm or deny. We spent the morning at the Franklin Institute, which @digga if you haven’t been to yet, I highly recommend! It’s super interactive and lots of fun for kids and adults alike.
We hoofed it to Reading Terminal Market for lunch, which was MUCH less crowded on this April Monday than it is when we usually visit (Nov or Dec). Also, after 15 years of visiting, I finally realized there is a MAP of the market available on the website which makes it so much more manageable (although there is something to be said for wandering serendipitously in the market, that doesn’t usually work out well with a hungry child). Our daughter secured her Reading Market standard, a pretzel wrapped hot dog, and we also nabbed a couple of freshly baked pretzels at the same spot (Miller’s I think). Nothing in the world like those! Yum. We shared a cheesesteak from Uncle Gus’s- our daughter’s first (she liked it - though it did not eclipse the pretzel dog’s greatness in her eyes) and also shared some incredible doughnuts from Beiler’s, which is another standard stop for us.
Dinner, many hours and a lot of walking later, was at Sang Kee Peking Duck House. This meal was fantastic! It is a cheerful spot with friendly servers. We split the Peking Duck Dinner for 2 fixed price menu, which could easily serve 3-4 adults. It comes with half a Peking duck with all the accoutrements (and a choice between pancakes or buns), wonton noodle soup, XO shredded duck and green bean stir fry, and spicy duck and pineapple fried rice. We also ordered some fried shrimp dumplings for our daughter, which ended up being wholly unnecessary given the sheer volume of food that came with our meal deal. The food is prepared with care, and we enjoyed it so much. I especially couldn’t get enough of the duck and pineapple fried rice. The Peking duck was textbook as far as I’m concerned - great flavoring and nice crispy skin. We had planned on going out for dessert, but they gift each table (I think???) green tea and vanilla ice cream so we ended our night there and took a very long walk back to our hotel, completely satisfied!!
Our last morning, we had breakfast at Parc, which is our breakfast/brunch tradition in Philly. Hands down my favorite breakfast spot. It never disappoints - they just do breakfast and brunch perfectly. My daughter and I each got the two eggs any way - she and I both prefer poached, which they make just right - and she got bacon and I got sausage, and we split each. Their breakfast potatoes are incredible - not oniony (I dislike oniony breakfast potatoes) - crispy on the outside and so fluffy on the inside, with delicious brioche toast. Their sausages are fat and flavorful, and the bacon is perfectly crispy. My husband went with the polenta, which comes with poached eggs, piperade, and Serrano ham. It was a little spicy for me, but he devoured it. We also shared a yogurt bowl, which shines in its simplicity - it came with homemade cranberry compote and homemade granola and felt somewhat virtuous amidst the rest of our meal!
Our last stop was Vernick’s coffee bar inside the Comcast building. We grabbed two pastries to go- a lemon buttermilk scone and a rhubarb pandan danish. We saved these for when we got home later in the day, and they held up fabulously. Rave reviews all around for both - we will definitely grab lunch here next time we’re in town. So long for now, Philly, and thanks for another amazing trip!
Science museums are always high on our list when we travel. We’ve never been to the Franklin Institute but have known about it. We haven’t taken Spring Onion to Philly yet. He would love all the historical stuff, too.
Yes - Philly is my favorite East Coast city to visit and it is so walkable. My daughter is just beginning to get into history, so I think next time we’ll check out some more of that.
. It’s an enormous mall but we didn’t stick around, other than to pop into the Polish craft store for a wooden hand painted Easter egg.
