The best things we ate this week
It was a week of snacks, from oversize lumpia Manong and fat-rolled sushi at Yanaga Kappo Izakaya to a hot chicken sandwich from chef Chad Rosenthal.
By Michael Klein, Kiki Aranita, Julia Duarte
The Spicy Siren at Mary’s Chicken Strip Club
t Mary’s Chicken Strip Club, the Spicy Siren lives up to the name: hot, cheeky, and impossible to ignore.
It’s the showpiece of chef Chad Rosenthal’s stand at Ridge Hall, the Ambler food hall around the corner from his restaurant, Mary. Rosenthal has been in the chicken game for a while, first with the COVID project Motel Fried Chicken and then as a permanent menu item at his former Lucky Well restaurants. His fried chicken even cinched his win on Beat Bobby Flay in 2022.
This sandwich struts. You get three buttermilk-brined pieces of chicken breast coated in a thick, crackly crust that brings both crunch and seasoning. The hot sauce has a wink to it, not a wallop. There’s enough spice to keep things lively, but not so much that it steamrolls the sandwich.
Pickles cut through the richness, the soft potato bun keeps everything together, and each bite lands with that happy fried-chicken-shop satisfaction. It’s messy in the right way, and polished enough to show that Rosenthal is doing more than playing with a strip club pun. Mary’s Chicken Strip Club at Ridge Hall, 15 S. Ridge Ave., Ambler, 215-802-6995, instagram.com/maryschickenstripclub
— Michael Klein
YKI Toro Scallion (Futomaki Style) and a salmon and avocado roll at Yanaga Kappo Izakaya
Between reviewing Japanese restaurants and compiling guides like a map of Philly’s best delivery sushi, I regularly consume so many sushi rolls in this city. I’m a tough critic, considering everything from the ingredients to the rice’s stickiness and the rolls’ structural integrity. Still, it’s rare for me to be presented with rolls as excellent as the ones I had at Yanaga Kappo Izakaya last weekend.
Both rolls from chef Kevin Yanaga’s Northern Liberties spot were simple; you can tell they were made with a light touch. And the ingredients were top-notch, too, including the Tamaki Gold — a premium brand of California koshihikari rice — that enveloped each cut of fish. I had a casually excellent roll of Scottish salmon and avocado, and this futomaki (fat-rolled) toro scallion that was positively crammed with luscious tuna but still managed to be structurally sound. How lucky am I to find a neighborhood bar that serves such perfectly-executed snacks? Yanaga Kappo Izakaya, 637 N. Third St., 215-305-4130, ykisushi.com
— Kiki Aranita
Dynamite Lumpia at Manong
Manong is a Filipino-American culinary fever dream. Chef-owner Chance Anies built Manong as an homage to his childhood and third culture identity, pulling inspiration from the Outback Steakhouse dinners he grew up sharing with family. That playful nostalgia runs throughout the menu, from Filipino classics like Chicken Inasal and Lechon Liempo, to experimental dishes like a deep-fried enoki mushroom that feels like a classier version of Outback’s Bloomin’ Onion..
But Manong’s Fil-Am spirit is embodied best in their Dynamite Lumpia. The dish consists of two impressively long eggrolls, both nearly as long as my head. Savory pork and melty mozzarella are encased in a crispy, golden eggroll wrapper. When you split it open, the cheese dramatically drapes across the table, almost like a chain restaurant mozzarella stick straight from the fryer. If a traditional Filipino pork lumpia egg roll and a Chili’s fried mozzarella had a love child, it would be this dish. Manong, 1833 Fairmount Ave., 445-223-2141, manongphilly.com
— Julia Duarte
