MeltKraft | Valley Shepherd Creamery

(Reading Terminal Market)
12th & Arch St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(267) 639-3309
Website

The Reading Terminal Market has just about every kind of food you might want. So it was no surprise that a cheesemaker has somewhat recently taken residence, and is cranking out some amazing fromage.

They also have a specialty grilled cheese bar.

The most popular sandwiches are prepped, assembly-line style, before a trip to the hot press.

I decided to try one that was toasted, and one that featured their fresh-made mozzarella without toasting.

The "classic mozz" was simple and delicious. Fresh mozzarella, soppresetta, and roasted tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.

There was a significant amount of soft, buttery, salty cheese inside, and the crunchy baguette was a great vessel for delivery.

If I were to make one change, I would probably look for just a bit more acidity, as the rich flavors were definitely there in force. I really liked this simple sandwich, and their house made fresh mozzarella was incredibly good.

The other choice was the "Melter Skelter." This was a non-traditional style grilled cheese with raclette cheese, pickled green tomatoes, crushed BBQ chips, jalapeno, and watercress.

This was no diet sandwich. Between the butter, cheese, and chips, this was a heavy-duty lunch. I could have used some more jalapeno, BBQ chips, and watercress to cut some of the heaviness, but it was definitely a good grilled cheese. As should be expected, the focus is on the cheeses themselves, and they are damn good. Not to mention, they are very generous, with the cheese.

You also get a chance to see them at work, right next to the olive bar (not to be missed).

As we all know, RTM has many offerings and the new Valley Shepherd cheese & grilled sandwich shop is a welcome addition.

Dienner's Bar-B-Q Chicken

51 North 12th Street (Reading Terminal Market)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 925-8755
Website

Dienner's is a staple of the Reading Terminal Market. If you are looking for a rotisserie chicken in Center City, look no further.

They offer San Antonio wings, which are lightly fried and covered in a rich, slightly spicy sauce.

They also offer fried wings, and original rotisserie wings. You really can't go wrong.

If you want more than a snack, go with the whole or half rotisserie chicken, and some wings.

They have these amazing rotating rotisserie baskets that cook the chicken over open flame.

For under $10, you can get a lemonade and a pound of wings served in a foil wrap. I go with half San Antonio and half original.

 

The slow roasting process results in a lean(ish) wing, and the rendered fat crisps the skin nicely. Thesze juicy wings are really a great snack while you are eating your way around RTM.

If I had to choose just one, I would go San Antonio, but it's nice to get a mix and taste the differences.

Given that Dienner's is a long standing institution with a cult-like following, you would be remiss to skip this one if you are eating at Reading Terminal Market.

By George!

After eating a great cheesesteak at By George! a while back, I wanted to try the chicken cheesesteak with wild mushrooms. I got it with grilled onions, wild mushrooms and their house made cheese sauce. Big mistake.


The steak is not cheap, at $9, but it is a healthy sized sandwich. Unfortunately, my experience was not as positive as the last time.

The chicken was dry. Really, really dry. The cheese sauce was congealed within 5 minutes of receiving my sandwich, into a thick weird blob. The mushrooms lacked the earth flavor they had before and kind of came out spongy and wet. Can they learn to spread the cheese out a bit better? This one is better left to the tourists.


At least I got to ride the Wiss and burn off that calorie bomb. I should have stopped eating it, but as usual, I was unable to put food down! Here is a shot of me at the top of mother. It's a climb that is a real mother.

Salumeria

Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Reading Terminal tends to get crowded. Really crowded. But as touristy as it may be, it has a spectacular selection of delicious foods. They even have one of the lightest, freshest hoagies around. Well Salumeria does, to be exact.


One side of the stand sells imported cheeses, olives, oils, and meats. The other side serves delicious made-to-order hoagies.


The first thing you will be asked is if you want house spread. Unless you are allergic to deliciousness (or dijon mustard), get it. You will then get your choice of a gamut of toppings. They brush the bottom of the bread with a healthy dose of their house Dijon Vinaigrette, add the lettuce first, and then start with the cheese. You have to ask for sharp prov ($.50 extra) and it's well worth it. They give you a thick layer of cheese to complement the meats they pre-slice that get slapped on from wax paper. Nothing too crazy, your usual ham, salami, and mortadella. The cold cuts are delicious and high quality (they should be, this place sells imported meats!).


You can get the usual: lettuce (on the bottom), tomato, onion; but they also offer pepper spread, roasted peppers, and artichokes. The artichokes and pepper spread are awesome on the Italian. I feel roasted peppers are kind of played out, but I just can't help myself when they are free. I would rather get them and pull them off if they are too much than pass up a free topping! They also throw on a sprinkle of Parmesan. Delicious.


One of the best parts about this sandwich is the bread. It is slightly crisp outside, but very light and airy. You can eat a whole sandwich and not feel like you are going to fall asleep. One of the others is the freshness of the ingredients. It's like a light salad on top of your salty, sharp Italian. I also get the same sandwich with turkey. It's a more healthy option, that retains all of the pluses of the Italian. They have my vote for best hoagie at RTM.




A hoagie artist at work.

Beck's Cajun Cafe

Reading Terminal Market

12th and Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 592-0505 Website

I was very excited when I heard there was a Cajun place coming to RTM. Although I was worried for them. Could it really be that I wouldn't have to drive to Delco any longer for good Cajun food. Well, the answer is yes and no. Yes you don't need to drive to Boothes Corner market for a Cajun food stand any longer, but you would be foolish not to (I only did because I was craving a Po'boy on a Sunday and Cajun Kate's, the holy grail of Cajun in the Philadelphia area, was not open.

Reading Terminal Market has a surplus of good foodstands. And there are also a surplus of mediocre stands as well. Cue Beck's. I started with an order of Cajun Fries. They are described as Louisiana spiced and served with jalapeno's, green peppers and onions. The were actually wedges, and sad at that. Even the small ones were not crispy, and the overly softened vegetables made no sense. It was a soggy boat of greasy, disappointment. I ate less than a third of them.


I should have known from the start, when the woman working the counter was unable to discern the difference between diet and regular soda, I had to explain three times, eventually pulling out the menu to point to the creole mayo, when asking for extra on the side. Strike two.


The shrimp Po'boy was okay. The shrimp were crispy, but the pickles were sliced too thin, and the tomato was chewy. I understand that tomatoes are generally gross right now, but why do people insist on serving something that is not good. Anyway, the Creole mayo was pretty solid. The one big issue I had with the sandwich was the bread. It would have been great on an Italian hoagie, but as for my Po'boy, I like them on a light and fluffy french roll. These things were pretty solid, and at times I used two hands to rip the bread off with my teeth. The shrimp were hitting the eject button at that point, and things were sliding all over the place. Now, the Catfish Po'boy.


The ingredients were exactly the same as the shrimp, but that was one thing I just could not shake. The catfish was...fishy. Really fishy. I don't know why, but it was although it was handled with fishy hands after the deep frier. The breading was good, crispy and crunchy, but I just don't feel as though fried catfish should ever take that weird fishy flavor. It was even too overpowering for the Crystal hotsauce to cut through. Strike three. So...I had originally felt I would stop here for a quick Po'boy fix, but in retrospect, I would rather wait until Cajun Kate's is open on the weekends. There is literally no contest.


(More catfish shots above and shrimp below).