Discovery! Merl’s South Philly Breakfast Spot

Welcome to Newbold. Bounded by Washington, Broad, West Passyunk and 18th Street, this formerly nameless hood was knighted Newbold by the SPTR peeps, so in theory, it owes its very existence to ale. Whether your beer of choice is an Ommegang Three Philosophers quad or 40 of Old E, you can drink well here (and get some awesome Indonesian), but as recent as a few months ago you had to cross Broad for bunch somewhere other than the Tap Room.




Now there’s a sweet new diner serving up soulful breakfast and lunch. Find Merle’s South Philly Breakfast Spot on the corner of 16th and Dickinson, a few blocks north of the new Station Bar & Grill. Locals saddle up to the counter for mugs striped mugs of hot coffee, while families and hungry hipsters grab a table in the sunny, baby blue dining room decorated with homey knickknacks and potted plants. Natural light pours in through the picture windows taped with paper signs proclaiming, “Now featuring Belgian waffles”. What more do you need to know?

How about chicken with those waffles? Three peerlessly crisp, juicy Southern fried wings arrived alongside a fluffy Belgian bad boy with toasty edges and a soft center. After Friday night Ketel-and-clubbing, this syrup-drizzled, butter-drenched duo got our mind right. Other options: scrambled eggs with salmon cakes, crazy-good pancakes with crunchy, skillet-browned perimeters, turkey sausage. The grits were divine, served with or without cheese, topped with a generous pat of butter that looked like a lemon Starburst slowly melting in the sun.

Coupled with the homespun food and friendly service, Styrofoam plates, plastic utensils and paper napkins imparted a cozy charm. It’s like being at your grandmom’s house, if your grandmom was black and could cook her ass off. Please, adopt us.

Photo: blogalicious

Discovery! Irie Caribbean Grill

Today we kick off a recurring blogalicious feature, Discovery! All those out-of-the-way, off-the-beaten-path places people with real jobs would never have the time to find. Rejoice, nine-to-fivers, we’ve done the work for you.

Looking for Jamaican jerk on the go? Shawty, we can take you there. Follow us down into the trenches of Deep South Philly, along Passyunk Avenue’s western arm. If you wind up at the crossing the bridge into Southwest, you’ve gone to far, though really we can’t imagine anyone missing this Irie Caribbean Grill, a festive hunter green-and-banana yellow lunch truck parked on the corner of 24th Street. If “oxtail”, “curry goat” and the owner Veronica Clark’s other West Indies delights hand-painted on the truck’s southern side won’t stop traffic, we don’t know what will.

Lunch platters cost $6, $9 or $11 for small, medium or large portions, respectively. Served over killer red beans and rice, the medium-sized jerk chicken was more like a supersized order; zippy, zesty pieces of succulent chicken splashed with a brown hot sauce we just said yes to without knowing what the hell it was. Clark poured it on like she was putting out a fire. We began with the plastic fork and knife, but eventually got hands on, gnawing till our lips stung and fingernails were dirty. To the dark meat- and bone-averse, consider yourselves warned. Not to be missed: Irie’s mac ‘n’ cheese, the springiest, creamiest we’ve ever encountered. All those truffled, lobster-studded imposters, you should be ashamed of yourselves. This is what mac ‘n’ cheese is supposed to be, elbow noodles packed together into a sublimely soft, supple, square pillow. Visual aid incoming.

Photo: blogalicious