The Blind Pig

702 N 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(267) 639-4565
Website

The Blind Pig is a relatively new(ish)-comer to the Northern Liberties area, tucked away on 2nd street right next to the infamous The 700. Although I had known about The Blind Pig since it's inception, I wanted to give them time to get things in order before stopping in. Last weekend a couple of happy hour beers and some food were in order, so in I went.

Forgive the grainyness of some of the photos, it is bad lighting for pictures, but good lighting for atmosphere.

The menu presents a mix of regional comfort foods, and although they don't have an overall "theme" (besides comfort), there is a strong mix of food you (I) would want to eat.

After talking to the co-owner/bartender/wife of the chef, and hearing that people "follow her husband for his lamb," I decided to try the lamb sliders. I also decided that the poutine needed to be had, as I have a soft spot in my heart for poutine. Luckily, the bar tender asked if I would like to sub out the fries that came with my sliders for a side salad. I was going to ask for that, but I didn't know the policy on substitutions. Believe me, an extra order of fries is not needed with the boatload of gravy cheese fries that their poutine entails.

The french fries are crispy, fresh and delicious. The curds are sourced from Wholesome Dairy Farms out in Douglassville, Pa. The curds had apparently been delivered fresh that afternoon, and were fantastic. The gravy, oh that gravy, came from a mother stock of veal parts that is developed over a week of braising. It's one part gravy, one part au jus, and one part magic.

Look at the beefy goodness below.

The lamb sliders were another big winner, even though I am opposed to sliders for the most part. These worked out well, because of consistency and share-ability. Well-seasoned lamb patties cooked to a perfect medium rare, topped with a pickle slice, diced onion and smoked paprika aioli. Usually served with a side of fries, as mentioned above, I got mine with a side salad, which is served with a chocolate stout vinaigrette.

The sliders were delicious, just the right mix and number of ingredients, and to repeat myself, they were very well cooked (to a nice medium). The stout vinaigrette was totally addicting. I believe it was the blend of salt, sugar, black pepper, shallot and choco-stout that had me shoveling this generous portion of mixed greens in as fast as I could.

 

Overall, The Blind Pig is a great addition to the No Libs corridor, and I will certainly return, if for nothing other than to order a pint glass of that gravy. That being said, I will also be back to try the fried oyster sandwich as well as the highly acclaimed "blue balls," a fried chicken and blue cheese concoction that sounds mighty delicious, physical discomfort aside.

Far From Home Cafe (Food Truck)

Love Park
16th and JFK
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Website

Far from home, this food truck serves a mash-up of comfort-style foods from around the globe. Look for their brightly painted truck at Love Park around lunchtime, and follow their twitter feed to see what specials they are serving for the day.

If you have any question about them being far from home, just talk to them for a minute, and their friendliness might shock you. It is not your typical Philadelphia greeting. More like you just showed up at an old family friend's diner and they want you to be well received and well feed.

I wanted some of the delicious sounding empanadas, and the tacos looked like too good of a deal to pass up (2 for $5). I mentioned Fidel Gastro after reading on "the twitter" that it was the word of the day, and got a soda for a quarter. Like Tyson Bee's, they give you a card to hold until your order is up. This one was from the deck of an Old Maid set. Might carry some negative connotations depending on who is holding it.

 

The beef tacos were nothing fancy, but the ground beef was well seasoned and the ingredients were packed to the top of the soft flour tortillas. Beef, lettuce, tomato, onion, black olives and cheese. They were definitely a comforting, Americanized version of tacos, which sometimes is just what the doctor ordered. Two were definitely a filling meal.

The empanadas were what I was the most excited about, however, as they offered three different varietals, Puerto-Rican style, Argentin-ish style, and mac and cheese (you might call that "American style"). They came out perfectly warm, but not too hot on the inside, with a deep golden crust that was not the least bit greasy (the beef inside took care of that).

The Puerto Rican might have been the most flavorful, with ground beef, cheddar cheese, and spices. I really liked this empanada. It had a perfect crust, that made the perfect vessel to hold the juicy fillings.

The Argentin-ish beef empanada was another winner (inside tip, they all were), containing more of the delicious ground beef, but this time spruced up with raisins, green olives, onion, egg and paprika with a soft cream cheese (the "ish") instead of the traditional hard cheese. What was remarkable was that all three of these meat applications had completely different flavor profiles.

 

The mac and cheese was comfort food at its finest. The mac was tangy from the addition of sour cream, and had a hint of spice from the copious amount of black pepper that was blended throughout.

I am always a fan of Philly gaining more weight - I mean great, cheap places to eat and Far From Home fills a comfort food void in the heart of Center City. They were sold out of the delicious sounding hotdogs, and I will return to sample the burger, texas dog, and frito pie (one of my favorites) in the near future.