(energetic music) - Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano.

Each week, three different guests recommend their favorite restaurants, then try each other's picks and come together to tell us what they think.

Right here on "Check Please."

(energetic music) Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano, and welcome to "Check Please," the show where regular people from all over the Philadelphia area recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So, here's how it all works.

Every week we have three guests.

Each guest recommends their favorite restaurant, and then the other two go check them out to see what they think.

This week, Maternal Health Advocate Jacque Caglia's Ambler pasta spot has a menu that changes daily, but always stays delicious.

But Biology Professor Joe Noyes' pick doesn't need to be put under a microscope to see that it's the best Korean spot in town.

Up first though, Cosmetic Chemist and Author Marquita Robinson-Garcia's quaint Center City spot will transport you to the heart of Marrakesh.

For flavors from both sides of the Mediterranean, she heads to Sofi's Corner Cafe.

(Soufiane speaking foreign language) - I am Chef at Sofi's Corner Cafe.

In Morocco, we have French culture.

We have a lot of influence with French cuisine.

I live my life in Paris, between Paris and Morocco.

For this, I mix my concept, like French Moroccan cuisine.

I do it for my family.

My grandmother for me is chef in Morocco.

My father, chef in Paris.

Whenever we go to have summer with my grandmother, every time we need to go all together to kitchen to make a meal for our family.

And when she cooks, she wants to teach everyone how you can make your lunch, and she wants everything to be homemade.

At Sofi's Corner, everything is homemade.

Every time what I learn from her, everything is want to be fresh and same day.

I can't serve for people food from yesterday.

Every time is fresh from the morning.

I have my inspiration from my father and my grandmother.

That is Sofi's Corner.

I try to make everyone here, you feel at your house or at your friend's house, not just coming for have coffee or food quickly and you go.

Yeah, I live before in New York for five years, and I never feel home.

I need to go home every time.

I come just to visit Philly.

After one week, I love Philly.

For me, Philly is my home.

I feel really, I feel I am home.

It's one important city for my life.

So Paris, Tangier and Philadelphia.

(pleasant music) - Marquita, Sofi's Corner Cafe is like a little piece of Morocco in Center City.

Why did you pick it?

- Well, when I walked past Sofi's for the very first time, you could pretty much miss it if you're not paying close enough attention.

But it kind of lures you in with this magical Moroccan French twist, and looking at the menu and just checking out the different flavors, the different way they put the food together, even on the menu, my eyes started to get bigger than my belly.

So we ordered, we had somewhere to sit.

It was just beautiful.

Everything about it was cozy, it was quaint.

It just literally feels like a little bit of Morocco with a French twist right in the middle of Philadelphia.

- There really is a gear shift with this menu, too, because it's this daytime cafe, there's brunch, and then there's this really exquisite dinner, and this last time you went for dinner.

- Yes, so dinner was amazing.

Prefixed, but they actually now have a la carte.

I just think that that's important to mention because if you want to go without, you know, thinking you don't have a huge appetite, it's excellent to still go and grab a few bites here and there.

But yes, the prefixed menu is still really nice when you don't know what to try, because then you get to taste a little bit of everything.

So you have to appreciate a prefix every now and then.

- Absolutely, and one of your favorite dishes is the lunchtime meatballs?

- The lunchtime meatballs were outstanding, okay?

They come to you in a sizzling cast iron Moroccan thingy, and there's bread that comes with it so that you can dip and get all those savory flavors and spices.

Oh my goodness.

The lamb, I have to mention the lamb.

It wasn't for lunch, but the lamb was amazing, braised with dates, and the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

- Jacque, you got a chance to check it out for dinner, too.

How was it?

- I did.

We had a really nice time having dinner.

We were really, really pleased with the appetizers.

I tried the server's recommendation of the Moroccan soup, and it was this deliciously spiced stew with chickpeas and lentils.

It was so good.

I wished the bowl kept going after we had finished it.

My husband ordered the briwat, which was a cheese pastry that came with salad greens, and was the perfect crisp, salty bite to start the meal.

- And for your entrees, you got a tagine, which is a really specialty thing that they do in Morocco.

How was it?

- Yeah, we did.

I specifically had the fish tagine, and it came out in a similar ceramic vessel, very hot, and it was stewed with tomatoes and onions, and it was almost still cooking as it came to the table.

We were enjoying it, and the tomatoes specifically were so jammy and so flavorful with all of the spices and the tagine.

It was delicious.

- Joe, you and your wife went for brunch.

- [Joe] We did.

- How was it?

- Brunch was amazing.

We had the Moroccan eggs, which is shakshuka, which you have basically this tomato base with these eggs in it, and it was phenomenal.

My wife had the croque madam, which is also very, very delicious.

What I just liked about the place was just that vibe that you get.

It feels like you're in that European cafe culture there, and so we walk in and it just feels like a place that you just want to sit and stay for hours on end and just have pastries and have coffee, and that's kind of what we did.

We basically sat around and we had pastries and coffee after our meal, and we just really enjoyed it.

- Oh yeah, their pastry game, very strong.

Very strong pastry game.

There's a lot of different pastries to choose from.

Did you have a few favorites?

- We did.

The almond croissant was phenomenal, really, really full of flavor.

That flaky crust, that was just great.

We had the macarons, which, awesome as well.

We did all different flavors of macarons.

Then we actually had the mint tea, the Moroccan mint tea, which was really nice.

It complimented the sweet of the croissants and the macarons, and so I thought it was just great.

The vibe of the place is just amazing, just the fact that when you're there you feel, like you said, like you're in Morocco or you're in Paris.

You have this beautiful courtyard outside, this beautiful community garden, and then just the place settings they have.

Everything is just so well done.

- And for dessert, there was a tower of desserts?

Someone got a tower of desserts.

- Oh my goodness.

- [Jacque] Did you have the tower, too?

- The tower.

No, please, talk about the tower, because girl.

(both laughing) - We were blown away.

Go ahead, start.

- Well, it comes with everything, right?

There were the macarons, which you mentioned.

They're very sweet.

I mean, you can't go wrong with the macaron, but I think because it was served at Sofi's, it just kind of turned it up a notch.

Did you have the waffle, by chance?

- We didn't have the waffle, no.

Ours, the second tier of our tower came out with two, almost like puddings.

One was a mango and the other was chocolate.

They were really tasty.

And then our bottom tier included the date and walnut cake, which I know they are famous for.

- That date walnut cake is a great way to cap off your meal.

That, and a little espresso.

Perfect ending to a meal.

- You can't go wrong, I agree.

- With all of that that you got, how did you feel about the prices?

- I thought it was really reasonable.

Certainly more than enough food for us to enjoy.

- You're paying for quality, right?

And you can tell that their baked goods, their breakfast, everything that I was served was high quality, so I don't mind paying the prices that they had, and I thought they were very fair.

- Marquita, this was your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Authenticity.

I think the one word that comes to mind when I think of Sofi's Corner Cafe is authentic, delicious, authentic, and very approachable for all party sizes (laughing).

- And Joe, what are your final thoughts?

- It's just a place that can really recreate that European cafe culture.

I think that's just such a special opportunity in Philadelphia, to have that.

- And Jacque, what's the final takeaway?

- I'd say if you want to be transported to a Parisian cafe and experience the cuisine of Morocco, that Sofi's Corner is the place to go.

- Try out Sofi's, located at 1112 Locust Street in Philadelphia.

646-724-9667.

Reservations are accepted for dinner, and the average tab per person without drinks is $30 at lunch and 75 for the BYOB prefix at dinnertime.

Jacque Caglia looks for a surprise when she heads out for dinner.

That's why she loves this pasta spot with a menu that rotates daily.

For rich and flavorful sauces and seasonally-minded offerings, she heads to Sorrentino's Pasta and Provisions in Ambler.

- My name is Rich Sorrentino, and I'm the co-owner of Sorrentino's Pasta and Provisions.

- My name's Max.

I'm the other co-owner of Sorrentino's Pasta and Provisions.

- We're a fresh pasta shop and casual eatery, offering a rotating menu as well as a selection of provisions imported from small producers in Italy.

Place that I love.

Come from an Italian family.

Love the food, who doesn't?

Max and I have known each other for the better part of 20 years, have been best friends since.

Max has a culinary background.

I had pasta making as a hobby, and we would have big dinner parties with all of our friends and stuff, and kind of had this idea for a while.

When COVID came around, we found that as kind of a great opportunity to put things together and see what we can make of this, asked Max if he wanted to get involved, and he was on board, and next thing we knew we were making it happen.

- I was a little aimless for a second.

College wasn't the move, and then decided to go to culinary school.

I have a family that's very interested in food.

We live to eat, not so much eat to live.

And then I've just been working through different restaurants through the years.

Like all Italian restaurants, the simpler the better.

Don't do too much, trust the ingredients, get the right ingredients, just highlight whatever that ingredient is and make it nice.

You can always tell the difference between something mass-produced and something that somebody actually took the time and interest in doing a good job with.

(lighthearted music) - We're fortunate enough to supply a lot of restaurants in the area with our fresh pasta.

- A lot.

- A lot, probably close to about 1,000 pounds.

We have a second building that we've used all of our production out of.

The quality of wheat that we use, we only use Italian wheat.

It's unenriched, it's minimally processed, treats your gut better, treats people who have gluten intolerances a lot better.

And then we make two different types of pasta.

We're either using eggs or just water along with our flour.

All of our eggs come from a select few farms in Lancaster County.

Beautiful, dark, rich yolks, quality of ingredient is what it comes down to.

- Ambler's been nothing but supportive and cool, and we have regulars that have been with us from the start, and that's been, that made us feel like, all right, we're doing something and it's real.

(lighthearted music) - Jacque, this place's menu is like a moving target.

Why did you pick it?

- It is our absolute favorite neighborhood spot in downtown Ambler.

Any time we have visited, we have walked away feeling so happy that we got to enjoy something we haven't had before.

Something that is a bit of a standby on the menu is their focaccia, fresh baked, delicious, fluffy bread, almost always there for the taking.

On our most recent visit, we had the rosemary focaccia, which was absolutely delicious.

They often have roasted garlic as well.

I don't know if any of you tried the focaccia.

- I did not.

I actually had the sardines.

That's one thing I really like about this place.

They actually serve tinned fish we don't see very often, and the tinned fish just had this beautiful presentation with garlic confit, pickled vegetables, and this crouton that you put on, and it just made this perfect bite that I really enjoyed.

So, that was my favorite appetizer.

- Oh, and the best part is that they also sell it in the market there.

- Yes.

Yeah, so that's one thing I really like too, is that you can kind of recreate this at home.

So after I had that, I was like, "This is fantastic.

I gotta try to recreate this."

You could just go a few steps away, purchase the sardines, and then go home and try to recreate it.

So, I really enjoyed that.

- It's a lot of high quality Italian goods right there along the wall.

You've got your balsamic vinegars, your sardines, and all types of fun goodies to bring home.

Marquita, you had a little bit of a unique experience.

- I didn't look ahead to see if our party of six would be able to dine in, and because it is such a nice, cozy, intimate setting, they were not able to sit the six of us together.

And of course with the little ones, because I have three five under, so I wouldn't be able to sit at separate tables.

But nonetheless, they were amazing in terms of service.

I did call ahead to say, "Hey, can we still order out?

Can we get it to go?

Can we pick up?"

They were like, "Oh, absolutely."

And then it was ready.

- Where did you take your food?

Did you just take it home?

- Yes, we took it home.

We didn't make it home, because my son literally demolished and devoured the pasta.

It was even like a butternut squash sauce, and he devoured it.

This is as authentic as it gets when it comes to good, handmade, real pasta where you don't have to worry about the carbs because the ingredients are really good.

I'm big on ingredients, too.

- All of the pasta is made fresh daily right there in the restaurant.

Sometimes you can even see the pasta coming off of the die, which is also fun to watch.

We tried the rigatoni as well as the bucatini, and so they were absolutely delicious.

A lot of fresh tomatoes, fresh cheese, fresh basil mixed in with the pasta.

Really great.

- Yeah, I had the gargonelli, which is a really nice pasta dish, and it had pesto, pistachios and breadcrumbs with arugula, so it had this really nice crunch, a really earthy flavor, but then also was very bright, too.

I just thought that was a really nice dish that just showcased the freshness of their pasta, and I just love how the menu was, you know, there's three items to choose from, which means that they put so much attention into each one of those dishes so they all tasted phenomenal.

So, really, really well done.

- What kind of dessert did you get?

- We had the cheesecake, which it's not just cheesecake.

It's more like cheese with a hint of sweetener and maybe a little bit of flour all melted, and you're literally eating the most creamy, soft, just delicate cheesecake I've ever had.

- I had the wild berry cannoli.

I feel like that was just out of this world good.

I mean, every bite of that, you could taste the berries.

You could taste, well, just the texture, the cannoli, I just thought it was one of the best cannolis I've had.

In Philadelphia, that's saying something.

You have really good cannoli, so yeah, you're right.

- Marquita, I'm sure, you dine out with six people, the tab can kind of add up really quickly.

- Sure.

- What did you feel about the prices?

Was it a good value?

- Prices were phenomenal.

I mean, the per dish was great, about 20 bucks-ish per dish, and then dessert wasn't over the top, either.

It was like $8 for the cheesecake, so you could easily make sure everybody has their fill.

So, no, plenty of bang for the buck.

- Well Jacque, this was your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- It's flavors like home, delicious Italian regional food.

- And Joe, what are your final thoughts?

- I believe it's a place where the chef actually has been to Italy and takes the flavors from different regions of Italy and tries to recreate that for our palates here at home, and I just loved it.

- And Marquita, what's the big takeaway?

- Fun for a whole bunch of folks if you want to try something new and expose your palate to a little taste of Italy.

- Check out Sorrentino's for yourself, located at 91 East Butler Avenue in Ambler.

267-462-4428.

Reservations are not accepted, and the average tab per person without drinks is $25.

Joe Noyes loves the spicy, tangy and fresh flavors coming out of the kitchen at his Elkins Park Korean spot.

For japchae, tteokbokki and sizzling stone bowl bibimbap, he heads to DuBu.

- My name is Shawn Park.

I'm a Regional Manager at DuBu.

DuBu is a Korean restaurant, so when you look at Korean cuisine, they have specific dishes.

We're actually a sundubu restaurant, which is a spicy tofu soup.

This is very traditional, very popular to make in Korea.

It's like your steak and potatoes, almost.

They always say dubujip in Korean, or like a tofu house.

We are like the tofu house of Philadelphia.

Our restaurant, it's very similar to what you would eat in Korea.

It's very rarely just one food item.

So, we serve four of these sides.

We always make sure two of them are vegetables.

One of them is a very popular side dish.

It's kimchi.

Kimchi is one of the side dishes that almost every Korean family will have.

So in Philadelphia, the Korean community is not as big as some areas such as LA, New York City, some areas in New Jersey as well.

I think the entire Korean community knows this restaurant.

We've had everything from just like your meetup with your friends, with your family to eat lunch, dinner here.

We've had everything from weddings, birthdays.

Most people are coming here for just, if they're gonna meet with their friends, their family, just have a good spot to eat, good price.

We can provide an experience that's enjoyable for a lot of our guests.

We want them to remember our food and remember the experience.

We hope they leave happy and with a good experience here and good memories.

(relaxed music) - You lived in Korea, South Korea, for about three years.

Why DuBu?

- When I lived in Korea, one of my comfort foods was sundubu, which is this tofu soup that usually comes out piping hot.

You crack an egg into it, and the residual heat cooks the egg.

I remember that used to be my meal after a long day of teaching.

That's what I did for my comfort food, and so I've been trying to find a place that sort of recreates that experience, and then I stumbled upon DuBu, and it kind of checked all those boxes for me.

So, it's just a place that really takes what I experienced in Korea and kind of brings it here to Philadelphia.

- Oh, one of the best things about this meal is all the little banchan that comes out, yes.

Okay, I know you really love the banchan, Marquita.

- Those side dishes were everything.

When they came out, I was like, "I don't think we ordered this.

I think you have the wrong table."

All of a sudden the table's full and she goes, "Side dish."

And I said, "No, but we didn't order these appetizers."

She says, "No, no, side dish."

And I said, "Okay.

Well, I guess we're gonna eat this."

- [Kae Lani] It's just all par for the course.

- Yeah, it was just amazing.

That's just the side dish.

That wasn't even what I ordered.

- I loved the kimchi as well as the spicy cucumbers.

The cucumbers are so fresh, and they sort of warm your belly and ready you for the rest of the meal.

- Yeah.

I feel like all their banchan was just really well done.

I mean, I'm kind of a kimchi connoisseur, I would say.

I like trying different types of kimchi, and they have just phenomenal kimchi.

I also had the haemul-pajeon, which is the seafood pancake.

- [Jacque] Oh, we had that, too.

- Yeah.

It's really good.

I mean, they have it full of squid.

Just really, really flavorful with the dipping sauce that comes with it.

I think just a great way to start the meal.

- We went as a family of five, so we had to order the mool mandoo.

- Mool mandoo, yeah.

- The steamed dumplings, and so they were a big hit at our table as well.

- [Kae Lani] What was inside the steamed dumplings?

- [Jacque] They are pork, they're pork dumplings.

Pork and vegetable mixture.

- What did you get for your entree?

- For entrees, I had the barbecue, can you help me here?

- LA Galbi.

- LA Galbi, thank you.

So there was this barbecue rib, if you ask me, and it was sliced really nice and thin, and this was just a lunch portion, right?

Yet it came with the barbecue ribs sliced nice and thin, fell off the bone.

And then there was this side soup that also came with it, piping hot, crack the egg like you mentioned, and then you're watching the egg kind of cook into it and then you're eating this fresh egg in this amazing soup.

Like, I just, can we go back?

Can we go now?

- [Joe] Yeah.

- And what other entrees did you try?

- We had the bibimbap as well, which is always good.

I mean, I don't think I've ever had bad bibimbap, but their bibimbap was great.

It's a nice accompaniment to the sundubu, and then, yeah, all the banchan really just completes the meal.

I mean, you have the nice pickled vegetables like the kimchi and the cucumbers, and I think all those flavors combined just create that perfect Korean dining experience.

- I enjoyed the vegetable bibimbap, which they also did a tableside preparation for me of swirling in the egg.

- [Marquita] Yes.

- And chopping up all the goodness inside the stone pot.

My husband had the japchae, and then our two oldest had, there was a king galbi fried rice special on the menu, which came with ribs, fried rice and two fried eggs, and so they were really excited about that.

And then our youngest is probably our most adventurous eater, and she had tteokbokki.

- Tteokbokki.

- Tteokbokki, which is the rice cakes served in a tomato base with seafood, and loved it.

- In terms of the dining room at DuBu is pretty big, so did anyone have a wait time when you arrived?

- [Jacque] No, we walked in and were seated right away at a big, comfortable table where we were really able to spread out ourselves as well as our banchan.

- [Marquita] Yes.

- Yeah, I went on a Friday night at 7:30, probably one of the busiest times of the week, and there was still plenty of seating.

It can accommodate large groups very well, and I think it's just a great place to take somebody who may not be as familiar with Korean food.

You can kind of show them all the different banchan.

You can kind of show them how the sundubu works, and I think it's just a great opportunity to showcase what Korean food can be.

- And if you're not familiar with Korean food, the service, did the servers do a good job explaining the dishes or making recommendations?

- Absolutely.

So patient, so kind and really enthusiastic about sharing the culture.

I felt that it was very warm and they did want you to have the full experience of what it would be like.

I really can't speak enough.

I went back several times (laughing).

- Wow, all right.

- Oh yeah, because I just so happened to have some business in that area as well, so it was like, that is where I will go anytime I'm in the Cheltenham area.

- For everything that you get, Marquita, what did you think of the prices?

- Oh my goodness.

Extremely economical, right?

For me, I didn't go with my family of six that particular day, but if I did, definitely would've made sure everyone had plenty to eat for a very low, I could not believe the bill was so low.

I was almost like, I should order more then, you know, but there was plenty of leftover, and I do look forward to taking my children and exposing them to Korea (laughing).

- And Jacque, yeah, with five people at the table, what did you think of the prices?

- Yeah, it was great.

We had more than enough to share.

Everybody left full, and we even had a little bit of leftovers that we could take home and enjoy the next day.

- Joe, DuBu is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Yeah, so if you're looking for a vibrant, lively Korean experience that serves delicious, hearty comfort food, tofu soup, DuBu is your place to be.

- And Jacque, what's the big takeaway?

- If you're looking for authentic Korean dishes in an unassuming locale, DuBu is a great spot.

- And Marquita, how would you sum up DuBu?

- Plenty to eat, plenty to share, and absolutely authentic, delicious Korean food.

- Head to DuBu, located at 1333 West Cheltenham Avenue.

215-782-3828.

Reservations are accepted, and the average tab per person without drinks is $30.

So, on this week's show, we featured Sofi's in Philadelphia, Sorrentino's in Ambler, and DuBu in Elkins Park.

Special thanks to my guests, Marquita Robinson-Garcia, Jacque Caglia and Joe Noyes.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending their favorite restaurants right here on "Check Please," and don't forget to find us on Instagram and TikTok.

We're @checkpleasephilly.

I'm Kae Lani Palmisano, and I'll see you next time.

Cheers.

- Cheers.

(group laughing) - Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

Awesome, awesome show.

(energetic music)