Restaurant week...

Hi!  Hope you guys are having a good Tuesday.  Did I ever mention I HATE Tuesdays??  It's lacks the "motivation" of a Monday, but is still WAYYY to early in the week to dream of Friday.  Not a fan of you, Tuesday.  Not. at. all.

Anyway, Tuesday rant over....I digress.

Soooo we'll rewind back to the GLORIOUS day that was Sunday, when Scott & I decided to take advantage of the BEAUTIFUL WEATHER....

...and the FANTASTIC prices from Philadelphia Restaurant week!  $20 for a 3-course lunch?  Yes, please!

After scouring menus all week from the massive list of participating restaurants, we settled on Bridget Foy's and their nice outside seating area down on South Street.

OK, OK...truth be told:  It was a LITTLE chilly sitting outside (and maybe not the BRIGHTEST of ideas to wear carpi's & flip flops....opppsJ), so I couldn't have been more pleased with my first course:  Crab & Sweet corn chowder...

Oh man...they were lucky I wasn't licking the bowl when I was through with this!  It was sooooo warm, cozy and delicious FILLED with chucks of potato, sweet corn, bacon, celery, carrots and...yes, CHUNKS of fresh crab...

YUMMMMMMMM!

Next up was Scott's pick...the "how could you go wrong" Cheesesteak Croquettes...

Provolone cheesesteak stuffed into a little fried package??  Yeah.  They were as good as they sound...J

And...OK, OK...I we just had to sample ONE more thing off the appetizer menu because the Thai Lobster Basil Spring Rolls just sounded too intriguing to pass up...

Thai spring rolls always amaze me...they just have this strange lightness to them, despite being PACKED with filling...in this case: sweet lobster, herby basil, crunchy carrots...and honestly, I don't know what elseJ  But they were so good...especially in the refreshing lime, ginger dipping sauce.  Extra appetizer = worth itJ

Next up was our main dishes...I went with the Herr's potato chip crusted fish that was soooo super flaky & tender and made only BETTER with a side of ROASTED GREEN CHILLIES TARTER SAUCE...Yow!

And those hand cut 'chips'????  Some of the crispiest & saltiest around....LOVVVEEEEEE!

OK, OK...Scott was a rebel and didn't order exclusively off the "restaurant week" menu.  While he had his mind set on the sausage stuffed peppers...as soon as I spied this burger on the regular menu, I knew he was DONE for it!  And I was right....

The "New Mexico" burger with roasted green chillies, chipolte aioli and pepper jack just SCREAMMMMED "Scott" J  I NEVER make spicy foods, so he needs to get his fix somewhere, right?? hahahahahhaa....I can't vouch for it because I was too scared to try it, but he said it was subtly spicy with spontaneous bites of HOT!  hehehehehehe.... 

And to round out our lunch...the dessert that was the nail in the coffin to picking Bridget Foy's:  the Butterscotch Krimpet Tiramisu...

Was it what I was hoping for which was a tiramisu with a DISTINGUISHABLE layer of butterscotch frosting??  No...but the texture of the krimpets made for an interesting variation.  But Scott & I's dessert had a common factor of fabulous.....and what, you ask??   

THE BURNT CARAMEL DRIZZLE on each plate....WOW!  The desserts were good on their own, but with a swipe of that sauce and they were EXTRAORDINARY!  Especially on Scott's spicy pumpkin cheesecake.  Delish!

Such a good lunch on a beautiful day!  It's fun to try so many unique dishes in one meal...and we already spied 8 more things that we'd like to try from Bridget Foy's (a brunch of French Toast Bread Pudding, anyone??)...sooooo me thinks we'll be back someday soonJ

After lunch we strolled down South Street and all along Penn's Landing taking in the water, boats and PIRATE SHIP REENACTMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummmmmmmmm...let's just say in 2011, it's a LITTLE DISCONCERTING to hear LOUD BOOMS while walking around a city, only to find them coming from replica cannons!  Ummmm...thanks for the warning, Philadelphia! J hahahahahahahha

And our walk gave us justtttt alittle bit of extra room to make one more stop at one of our favorite places: Franklin Fountian.  Ice cream has really not been my friend these last few months, but the thought of FF's PURE, CREAMY & SMOOOOTH vanilla ice cream sounded worth the stop....

Just check out all the vanilla beans in that thing!!!!  The ice cream actually CRUNCHED when you bit into it!  (even if I still had had ENOUGH about 1/2 way throughJ  Scott got the rest and I got to crunch on the coneJ)

And Scott got an ol' fashioned coffee milkshake...

...complete with a cardboard strawJ  Love those little touches from Franklin FoutainJ  That place is awesome!

After a little more wandering and stumbling on a house where the Declaration of Independence was drafted (ain't it pretty??)...

...we headed off for home.  More specifically, I headed home & to the COUCH.  I was beat after our LITTLE excursion!  Makes me think we'll be participating FULLY in the Italian tradition of SIESTA in a couple weeksJ hahahahahahahhahaha....when in Rome, right???  (oh man...how many times am I gonna say THAT line??J

Whichhhhhh brings us back to Tuesday...sighh...and a rainy one at that.  My only saving grace of today is that dinner is already made and slowly simmering away todayJ  hehehehe...hope it's worth the 9 hour effort by my slow cookerJ

Alright....I'm outta here!  Have a great day!