Author Topic: Philadelphia Master Thread (Read 189093 times)

username · « **Reply #300 on:** June 25, 2015, 02:19:10 PM »

http://www.greatlakesgelatin.com/business/docs/KosherCert2013.pdf

AShap21 · « **Reply #301 on:** July 09, 2015, 01:02:07 PM »

Looking to spend Shabbos in Philly in early February to be near Philly airport for motzei Shabbos flight. Any suggestions on where to stay and what to do about food? flight is 9:15 and Shabbos is over about 6:15. So figure I should be ok if I am within 25-30 minutes of the airport.

We are a family of 6. Would be interested if others have done this and/or recommendations.

Adam101 · « **Reply #302 on:** July 09, 2015, 08:22:42 PM »

Need a ride from Lakewood to Philadelphia next thursday. PHL actually. Any leads?

tzifanya54 · « **Reply #303 on:** July 10, 2015, 12:21:21 AM »

One way rentals

Adam101 · « **Reply #304 on:** July 10, 2015, 12:56:33 AM »

Quote from: tzifanya54 on July 10, 2015, 12:21:21 AM

One way rentals

Very expensive. Especially in the summer.

damaxer91 · « **Reply #305 on:** July 11, 2015, 11:43:08 PM »

The Dairy is very solid. Best cheese fries I've ever had and Pizza is up there

Lakewood750 · « **Reply #306 on:** July 12, 2015, 09:26:18 AM »

Need a ride from Lakewood to PHL Airport today (7/12/2015 late in the afternoon. Any leads?

TimT · « **Reply #307 on:** July 12, 2015, 09:31:04 AM »

Quote from: Lakewood750 on July 12, 2015, 09:26:18 AM

Need a ride from Lakewood to PHL Airport today (7/12/2015 late in the afternoon. Any leads?

Try posting here

zow · « **Reply #308 on:** July 17, 2015, 09:15:34 AM »

zow's Mini Trip Report: Philadelphia
July 2015

BOS-PHL on AA; revenue for me; Avios (4500) for DW
PHL-BOS on AA; revenue for me; Avios (4500) for DW

I recently had a work-related meeting in Philly, and given that most of the kids are away at camp, DW decided she wanted to come with me to make a little mini vacation out of it. It was a whirlwind trip, only 24 hours, and I spent about 6 hours at my meeting, but it was fun. Very high score on the fun-per-unit-time scale.

Our BOS-PHL flight was scheduled to depart around 8:45. We got to the airport early (7:30pm) via Uber from home. At that hour, security was a piece of cake. We went to the Admiral Lounge in Terminal B. They were getting ready to close, but I always love the calm setting of an empty lounge! They had Food Should Taste Good chip bags (OU-Pareve), Heinz salsa packets (OU-Pareve) and individually wrapped Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies (each OU-D…and each acknowledging almost 300 calories per cookie!).

Our flight to PHL was uneventful. We took Uber Black from airport to our hotel. I infer that PHL doesn’t (yet?) allow Uber X. It was $45 flat rate. Easy peasy.

We stayed at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, because that was the conference hotel. I have the Chase Marriott credit card, which gets me silver elite status. And as my late grandfather, a’h, would have said: that and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee. The guy at check in thanked me for being a loyal Marriott Rewards member and smiled when I handed him the black credit card, but no upgrades or anything special. I don’t think I actually asked for anything. I did subsequently call and request late checkout. Check out time is noon. I asked for 4pm. They gave me until 2pm, which was fair and generous, IMO.
The room itself was fine. Not much view, but plenty of space, and everything worked fine, and the bed was comfortable. No complaints. We worked out in the fitness center, which was pretty nice. They also had an indoor pool, but we didn’t use.

I broke from my meeting to have lunch with my wife. We walked to Mama’s Vegetarian. Maybe 15 minute walk. Delicious falafel. I love that they give a falafel ball sample while you wait in line (might have to ask). The place was packed…people streamed in and out constantly. Nice mix of frum and non-frum (and not Jewish) clientele. The ambiance is pretty bare bones, wooden chairs and wooden tables, suitable to a falafel joint. Most people were getting take out, but eating in was fine. Sorry, forgot to take pix. Key thing is that they are cash only. (Who carries cash?!)

After my meeting concluded in the afternoon, we took an Uber X to Citron and Rose. We were hoping that it might be an opportunity for a DO, but alas, no one was available.

Loved that place. It’s pricey, for sure, but living in Boston, where we really don’t have any “nice” kosher restaurants, it’s always a treat to enjoy dinner out at a restaurant that could compete, from a culinary standpoint, with any non-kosher establishment. We each had a glass of wine (DW had a glass of pinot noir and I had a Weinstock chardonnay, because I’m trying to avoid tannins to figure out if they are giving me dyspepsia, but that’s a story for another thread.)

We had three appetizers (and I remembered to take pictures!) and two main courses.

(I want to post 3 photos of the apps, but I can't figure out how to use the "insert image" icon/function...maybe someone could PM me with instructions? And they are too big for the attachments.)

Apps were the chicken wings, the pretzel and the tuna tartare. Entrees were the lamb pasta in bolognaise sauce and the duck. All were excellent. WE couldn’t finish everything, so we took a nice serving of lamb pasta home with us. Total tab was $116 plus tip. We couldn’t do justice to dessert, and truth be told, nothing jumped out at us from the dessert menus.

However, we did make one stop on the way to the airport. We called Uber (of course), and asked the driver to detour via Krispy Kreme Donuts, where we picked up 3 dozen original. Of course they are dairy, so we had to save them until the next day at home, but 8-10 seconds in the microwave, and they are just like fresh out of the oven at the store. We gave a half-dozen to our Uber driver, who seemed appreciative.

Once we got to PHL, we had about 45 minutes before boarding, so we went to the Admiral Lounge. Considerably bigger than Boston, and open later. I recall that PHL used to be a USAir hub, but I don’t think it still is. In any case, nice story there, as I didn’t want to use up one of my one-day passes (from my AAdvantage card sign up) for a 30-minute stay when we weren’t even going to be eating anything, so I asked the agent at the desk if we could get in based on the pass we used the night before (which was from my US Airways Dividend Miles CC sign up!). Even though it was a little more than 24 hours past the time we first used it, he allowed us entry without using a new pass. I appreciated that he was able to use judgment and flexibility, and I made it a point to send a note to his supervisor to acknowledge his excellent customer service.

The PHL Admiral Lounge had same chips as BOS. The cookies were bulk, so don’t know kashrut. And the salsa was not Heinz and did not have hechsher. They did have a nice selection of herbal tea, which we appreciated.

And then it was back home. Although we wanted to take Uber from Logan, it would have been a 20 minute wait, so we just grabbed a taxi. That’s the second time in two tries that I have been unable to get Uber at Logan. I suspect others are having same experience – probably an effort by the taxi companies and the airport to keep Uber out. It’s too bad for the consumer.
All in all, it was a whirlwind 24-hour trip, with two good meals, and a fun getaway with my DW (and, as an afterthought, a pretty good work meeting, too!)

Hope someone gets some benefit from this TR. I recognize it’s a lot more depth than we usually see for a short domestic trip, but maybe there’s some value in the restaurant and lounge info. I’m using this as a warm-up writing exercise for our upcoming Europe-Israel trip, after Tisha B’Av.

D93 · « **Reply #309 on:** July 17, 2015, 09:36:41 AM »

Quote from: zow on July 17, 2015, 09:15:34 AM

Loved that place. It’s pricey, for sure, but living in Boston, where we really don’t have any “nice” kosher restaurants, it’s always a treat to enjoy dinner out at a restaurant that could compete, from a culinary standpoint, with any non-kosher establishment.

It's still cheaper than NYC prices

Quote from: zow on July 17, 2015, 09:15:34 AM

I recall that PHL used to be a USAir hub, but I don’t think it still is.

It still is, and soon it will be an AA hub.

zow · « **Reply #310 on:** July 17, 2015, 09:43:35 AM »

Quote from: D93 on July 17, 2015, 09:36:41 AM

It still is, and soon it will be an AA hub.

I have some recollection of USAir(ways) having both PIT and PHL but dropping one as a hub. So, is PIT no longer considered a hub for them?

lunatic · « **Reply #311 on:** July 17, 2015, 09:50:36 AM »

Something Fishy had a thread for help with pictures. But nice tr

zow · « **Reply #312 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:26:52 PM »

Quote from: lunatic on July 17, 2015, 09:50:36 AM

Something Fishy had a thread for help with pictures. But nice tr

Thanks. I checked. Seems like I need to host the photos myself on a different site, say Flickr, and link to them there. But my employer is Big Brother, and He doesn't allow access to such sites, so it will have to wait. (In fact, I could see great photos last night from Iceland and Gibralter, but today from work, they're absent. Thank you for keeping my personal data safe, OPM.)

lunatic · « **Reply #313 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:44:12 PM »

Are you on tapatalk?

zow · « **Reply #314 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:47:27 PM »

Quote from: lunatic on July 17, 2015, 01:44:12 PM

Are you on tapatalk?

I can be...great idea. I can upload from there. I hope it's worth it to you to see these three appetizers!

zow · « **Reply #315 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:49:46 PM »

HT to lunatic. You can see the giant pretzel, the tuna tartare, and the chicken wings.

lunatic · « **Reply #316 on:** July 17, 2015, 02:36:50 PM »

Looks good

pghtown · « **Reply #317 on:** July 23, 2015, 10:44:00 PM »

Have a several hour layover in PHL - looking to take a cab somewhere relatively close for milchig lunch. Any suggestions? TIA

username · « **Reply #318 on:** July 24, 2015, 12:02:29 AM »

Lakewood:

D93 · « **Reply #319 on:** July 24, 2015, 01:23:26 AM »

Quote from: pghtown on July 23, 2015, 10:44:00 PM

Have a several hour layover in PHL - looking to take a cab somewhere relatively close for milchig lunch. Any suggestions? TIA

The Dairy Cafe

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Author Topic: Philadelphia Master Thread (Read 189093 times)