Honey's Sit 'N Eat
2101 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Neighborhoods: Rittenhouse Sq, Fitler Sq

After having been out of the country for two months and with only three hours of sleep and a very empty stomach, I headed into Honey's Sit n' Eat on South Street for some good old fashion American brunch. Unlike the Honey's in Northern Liberties, this Honey's had no wait. It was 9AM on a Saturday and we got seated immediately. Also unlike its counterpart in Northern Liberties is the spacious feeling of the establishment. Sunlight permeated the dining area, morning chatter filled up the room, and the smell of coffee aroused my senses.

The summer weather hasn't been kind to the northeast corridor this year.  Rain seems to be the new norm, with a couple days of sunshine in between as the exceptions.  It was thus on Thursday when I came back to Philly.  The rain had just stopped and a light breeze rolled into the city, blowing away what was a very humid evening.  The respite didn't last for long, as the weather dropped twenty degrees on Friday, with strong wind gusts forcing droplets of rain to the ground. But, that was Friday.  Back to Thursday night at Pumpkin.

Pumpkin, a local establishment located in the heart of South Street, uses locally sourced ingredients to craft beautifully plated dishes.

The bread came with roasted garlic olive oil, which was a nice twist.  We started off with the barenegat light scallops with chorizo and squid ink ragout, as well as the cured king salmon with sweet potato, corn, and habanero.  The scallops were tenderly cooked and paired with what tasted and looked like jello!  That was a total surprise.

The cured king salmon was delicious - in a mouthful there were the salmon, popcorn, and sweet potato in a sorbet format.  I was expecting the sweet potato to be warm and mushy, but the second the bite hit my taste buds, the cold and sweetness of the sorbet lit me up and I didn't want to share the rest.

Ants Pants Cafe
2212 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Neighborhood: Graduate Hospital

I've been here twice.  The first time it was only for chai - this was okay.  The second time was for brunch because Cafe Lutecia on 23rd/Lombard was closed.

It was fairly crowded, but this could be a matter of optics since the establishment is quite small.  In fact, my elbows must had gotten bumped quite a few times just sitting there.

We both had the Brekkie Platter - 3 eggs (mine was sunny, the other was scrambled), with bacon and brioche.  Overall, the dish was okay, nothing spectacular and nothing that I couldn't make myself in the kitchen, if I had a functional kitchen anyway. I was fairly hungry, and although it looked like there was a lot of food on the plate, I was left still feeling quite hungry.  The waiter never asked us if we wanted anything more, he just walked by and dropped off the check.  Oh well.  So we went to Capogiro instead.

Also, be warned that this joint is cash only.  Urgh, come one, get Square.

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Rex 1516
1516 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square

Another great Philly find.  Rex 1516 is a gem amongst all the other establishments of South Street.  We dropped by here for brunch, and surprisingly, it wasn't packed (perhaps it was the weather driving everyone to stay indoors).

I started off with the Huevos Rancheros, which was brunch heaven in every bite and by far the best rendition of a Huevos Rancheros I've had anywhere in Philly.   On top of two corn tortilla were a fried egg, crawfish etouffee, avocado, and pico de gallo.  The crawfish etouffee added a bold cajun/creole flavor to the mix.

Huevos Rancheros

I also had a bite of the Monte Cristo - the equivalent of the French's Croque Monsieur with house baked ham, pepperjack, and fig-bourbon preserves layered in between two slices of brioche.  Unlike the Croque Monsieur we had at La Petite Dauphine, the Monte Cristo was worthy of its name.  The portions were large and it tasted much better than the Croque Monsieur.

Monte Cristo

To wrap things up, we split the fried carrot cake - yeah, this can't go wrong.   I enjoyed this, but I'd admit that it tasted very much like a doughnut, with a hint of carrot cake.

Fried Carrot Cake

Overall, great spot.  If food is consistently this good in future visits and the desserts get a little bit more refined, I'll bump it up to a full five stars on Yelp.  Speaking of which, if you haven't already, become a fan to get updates on my Yelp reviews!