The best things we ate this week

The creamy oat milk-based chia breakfast pudding at Enswell — the swanky all-day café in Center City from the Rival Bros. team — is as beautiful as its Art Deco setting. Weekday brunch there is a dream: You can gaze at the hand-painted murals while sipping a cappuccino and tucking into a healthy-feeling breakfast. Served in a fancy bowl and dusted with a mix of bursting pomegranate seeds and crunchy toasted coconut, the chia pudding is laced with so much matcha, it matches the vibrant green walls. I pay it the highest of compliments: It’s a breakfast treat that isn’t too sweet. Enswell, 1528 Spruce St., 215-398-5919, enswellphilly.com

— Kiki Aranita

Some good restaurants (if they survive long enough) can take on a sustainable life force beyond the names of whichever head chef happens to be leading their kitchens. I was reminded of this after an enjoyable dinner at Rex at the Royal — one of my best there, actually — only to learn afterward that its kitchen leadership is in transition once again. The restaurant is in search of its fifth executive chef in the four years since it moved from the cozy Rex 1516 space down the block into the sprawling grandeur of the renovated Royal Theater at 1524 South St.

I savored some of the flakiest biscuits in town, a juicy smoked chicken with Hoppin’ John, and fried catfish over cornmeal waffles, whose dimpled grids were stuffed with warm butter and jewels of trout roe. But the star of our meal was a flashback to Rex’s original opening menu from 14 years ago: a flaky crawfish pie handed down from its Alabama-born opening chef, the late Regis Jansen. The pie has evolved lightly in the intervening years and even disappeared for a spell until it was recently resurrected. Its return is triumphant as ever: a double-crusted puff pastry pocket stuffed with spiced crawfish étoufée enriched with creamy cheese that’s tucked into a cast-iron pan.

According to Aaron Daniels, culinary director of parent company Sojourn Philly, the continuity of this dish is thanks to a trio of veteran kitchen staffers from the same family: pastry chef Consuela Méndez, who makes the puff pastry; her son, Jonny Méndez, the lead prep cook who builds the pie; and her husband, Pedro Méndez, lead line cook (and facilities director), who bakes it to a golden crisp. I took one flaky, oozy crawfish bite and could almost hear the accordions from the New Orlean JazzFest’s zydeco tent pumping in the background. They nailed it.

Whoever becomes Rex’s next executive chef will no doubt have plenty to do to maintain this South Street standby and help it keep improving. But crawfish pie — and the steady support of this stalwart kitchen crew — are two things that won’t need fixing. Rex at the Royal, 1524 South St., 267-319-1366; rexphl.com

— Craig LaBan

Dancerobot’s best-kept secret is its take on the Philly cheesesteak. With only 10 available per day, this off-menu item pays homage to Nihonbashi Philly, Tokyo’s Philadelphia-themed bar. This sandwich marries rich, dry-aged rib-eye dressed in whiz made with New School American cheese with caramelized bell peppers. It’s all packed into a house-made sourdough roll.

This is no ordinary Philly cheesesteak. Dare I say it’s say even better? Brightened by the sweet peppers and balanced by the sourdough, the sandwich is comforting but not so overwhelming that it sits in heavy in your stomach. When I split it with friends, I had the selfish thought of wanting to take home an entire cheesesteak for myself. Fortunately for everyone else, I have self-restraint. Dancerobot, 1710 Sansom St., 215-419-5202, dancerobotphl.com

— Julia Duarte

I recently met a friend for drinks in Media at Maris, the Mediterranean seafood restaurant that opened in December in the previous home of new American restaurant Two Fourteen and Mexican spot Diego’s Cantina. I’ve liked the space in every iteration, and while the aesthetic changes in this latest version are fairly subtle, it’s enough to make the restaurant feel different. I mean, I’ve seen dining room aquariums before, but certainly never a circular seafood display case with fresh fish before.

I ordered a Baklava Sour, which came with bourbon, fresh lemon juice, honey simple syrup, cinnamon, egg white, and a crushed pistachio rim. The drink was well-crafted, but a bit more whiskey than sour for my taste — though the incredible pistachio rim made up for it. I’m going to need all my drinks to come with a halo of crushed pistachios from now on. (They have a pistachio martini I’ll be trying on my next visit.) Maris, 214 W. State St., Media, 267-500-2979, marisseafood.com

— Stephanie Farr