I’ve been to Philly a few times, but each of those times has been either in 8th grade on a field trip, to catch my favorite band play a show or a cousin’s wedding.  On this recent day trip to the city of Brotherly Love, it was the first time I really got to “see” Philadelphia.  And with seeing comes eating!  I’m a bit OCD when it comes to eating in new cities…I will plan plan plan where we’re going to consume each meal.  It’s just easier this way especially when you are in tow with your entire family who are

1. vegetarian and

2. not as keen to simply stumbling upon a lunch spot.

I did some research on the City of Philadelphia’s website to see what was around some of the touristy spots we’d be hitting and would be easily accessible.  There were some cafe’s near the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall area, however since we hit that first thing in the morning it was still a little too early for any dining.  The always popular South Street had a lot of options, however we weren’t really intending to head down that way.  Then I came across the Reading Terminal Market.

Now I love markets like these because there’s so much variety and every person can get something different if they want.  Plus you can have your entree at one place and a dessert or snack at another.  So I settled on this for our lunch spot.

After walking around a bit my family collectively decided that By George’s Pizza Pasta and Cheesesteaks looked appealing.  With an extensive menu of Italian eats hot and cold we found it to be perfect for their vegetarian palettes.  We ended up ordering 2 Mozzarella/Basil/Tomato paninis for my parents and my brother and then got 1/2 pound of gnocchi marinara, 1/2 pound of pesto tortellini and 1/2 pound of marinated mozzarella balls.

I’m not too fond of paninis unless I’m the one making them, mostly because I tend to find them a bit dry and these were no exceptions. So instead i busied myself with the mozzarella balls and gnocchi.  Now anyone who’s had gnocchi understands it too can have a tendency to be a dry dish if not paired with the right sauce.  Plus this gnocchi was taken from the cold items.  While Marinara isn’t any extravagant sauce I noticed this was more pinkish than traditional marinara.  Hands down it was the best gnocchi I’ve ever had in my life.  Actually I take that back, the gnocchi was the same that I’ve had at any Italian restaurant it was the sauce that was amazing.  It was full of basil and garlic and very creamy. They definitely had to have included mayonnaise in the sauce (an interesting mix — not something I would’ve thought of) but it definitely was the gusto that made this gnocchi.

The mozzarella balls were very succulent and tasty considering that fresh mozzarella tends to be bland and very watery.  However, the marinade of olive oil, garlic, basil, and red pepper made it very flavorful.  I was eating the mozzarella with a spoonful of gnocchi at the same time which equaled a heavenly combination. At that moment I wished we had gotten a pound of each as opposed to 1/2 a pound.

The pesto tortellini I was a bit disappointed in. Tortellini is one of my favorite pastas and pesto is one of my favorite sauces but this was extremely dry. Better fit maybe for a pasta salad.  Since it was my brother’s pick I let him finish the rest.

I had been craving for some ice cream but I couldn’t help but notice the assortment of brownies located in the window of FlyingMonkey Patisserie which we were sitting immediately next to.  I glanced at the case and proclaimed (in my head) that if they had a mint-chip brownie I would buy it but if not then I would steer clear of any brownie consumption.  Luckily or unluckily for me when I got up to take a closer look there it was in all its glory on the top shelf, a perfectly paisley mint-chocolate chip brownie. I had to keep to my word so I bought one when I noticed in the corner of my eye something called a Santa Fe Brownie.  The Santa Fe brownie consisted of chocolate, cinnamon and chili powder.  Because of my fascination with chili and chocolate i had to grab one of those as well.  In case you are wondering I didn’t consumer either brownie ’til much later.

This however did not curb my craving for some ice cream so we found Bassett’s Ice Cream.  No single scoops allowed here. Minimum double scoops only which i was fine with.  Also cash only. I opted for mint & chip and Heath bar crunch in a sugar cone. The results:

We decided to eat our ice creams while walking to LOVE park. This may or may not have been a great idea as in the end most of the ice cream ended up on my face and hands than in my mouth and tummy much to the delight of other lunch goers seated in the patio area. Unfortunately, for all of you this is where the food adventure ended. I know I know who ends their food adventure after lunch? With all the food and desserts we simply were too full to consume anything further for the duration of the trip. But you will be pleased to know that we left Philly with some happy bellies.