Last week I went to Philadelphia to see my bestie Rachel and to throw a baby shower for another good friend. While I was only there for 4 days they were jam packed with activities. The trip included visiting 5 Steven Starr restaurants, day trip to NYC, and a baby shower! I can’t wait to share my last few days with everyone!
The last time I was in Philly, Marybeth took me to a couple of Steven Starr restaurants and I was blown away, not only by the food, but also by the decor and atmosphere. I blogged about them here and here. We went on a “starr crawl” on Thursday and I was able to knock out 4 more Starr restaurants!
Our first stop was Alma de Cuba for happy hour. From the minute you walk in you feel like you are in Havana. We had 1/2 price mojitos which came in two flavors, sweet or strong so naturally, we opted for the strong. We also nibbled on Chorizo Sliders, Empanada de Verde, and Guacamole with plantain chips. They were so delicious I didn’t have time to take pictures before they were devoured! 
We also had this for dessert, I died just listening to the server explain it. Its a chocolate dome with peanut butter inside. A caramelized banana, marshmallow ice cream and a dark chocolate peanut bark. Peanut butter and chocolate were meant to be together and this desert solidified this fact.
The decor was pretty cool, up stairs in their large dining room there is a large photograph of a man in a tobacco field (and by large, I mean large. I took up an entire wall!)
With a couple of Mojitos in us we headed to our next destination!
Our next stop was The Dandelion, a gastropub with dishes served on cutting boards and the smell of pork wafting through the entire place. We ordered the cheese board, deviled eggs and the Welsh Rarebit. This place was great, and the beer selection was extensive. I had a Yards IPA and it went great with our snacks.
Here is our cheese plate, it was the most kick ass cheese plate I ever had. Each cheese was accompanied with biscuits and jam or fruit. The pairings were as follows:
Aged Cheddar, with onion jam
Parmesan crisp, brie and grape chutney
Stilton and honeycomb
All three were great but my favorite was the parmesan crisp and the stilton with honeycomb.
So I am slowly getting into eggs and I could eat these eggs all day! They had curry, paprika and cayenne pepper and OMG were they good! The curry was not overpowering, it gave such a good flavor I will be making these soon!
Lastly, we had Welsh Rarebit. We didn’t know what this was so after googling it we found out it was a Welsh rabbit dish, so we thought it would be a good thing to try. Well, we couldn’t find the rabbit, but it was like a mustard french toast! 
Marybeth’s expression best explains what we thought of the Rarebit.
I also forgot to mention all the cute little illustrations on the menu!
More Philly posts to follow!
Cherrio!
