(upbeat 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!"

(upbeat music) Hi, I am 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, associate professor, Stephanie Scordia, says her spot is so nice, you'll say it twice.

But attorney, Snigdha Sharma, says you can save the plane ride and find some tasty British fare right here in Philly.

But up first, when tech sales rep and actor, Chris Newcomer, wants to chow down in Fishtown, he heads to Sulimay's.

(transition whooshing) (upbeat music) - So, I'm Monica Lynne Chase, I am a waitress at Sulimay's, but retired.

So basically, I just help Chad train now and help out.

I grew up in this neighborhood, I used to come here when it was Girard Restaurant and also Sulimay's, the building's from 1973, and I was born in 1973, so when people say, "Hey, you know, how old is this building?"

I'm like, "It's as old as me, I come with the building."

(Monica laughing) 10, 15 years ago, it was old world Irish neighborhood, straight up.

You came here for the news, like you came here and got like a pancake, and my grandfather would get like coffee and toast, and he would just talk to everybody, and you'd find out not just the gossip, but the actual news.

The neighborhood changed, gentrified, it took 15 years, but it's pretty much a whole new neighborhood now.

The owner makes literally everything from scratch.

At 3:00 AM he comes down, and he renders off 50 pounds of bacon, he saves all the fat, and then he makes four or five dozen biscuits every single day with the bacon fat.

The corn beef hash is a side of brisket with Kenzinger beer, a local beer.

He makes his own gravy, he makes his own sausage.

Like every single thing is either farm to table, locally sourced, or in-house made.

I appreciate Chad's attitude and the preservation of what it actually is, you know, he didn't gut the place and totally change the menu, he preserved what was already here.

And I think history, especially neighbors and neighborhoods, even with how things are changing, and change is great, you have to preserve that, you know, the old world.

(upbeat music) (transition whooshing) - Chris, Sulimay's is one of the last bastions of Philly's gritty culture, why did you pick it?

- Well, for that exact reason.

You go there and you can feel the years that are a part of those walls, part of the people who work there.

And I used to live right around the corner from Sulimay's, and so I would go there pretty often and it just, you know what you're gonna get there, which is just really good, well made diner food, and then it has like a twist to it too.

Like they've got some great things, like their whitefish scrapple, which is a very unique kind of thing they do.

They just do it right, you're getting that old school Philly like, "All right, come in, sit down, here's your food, we're going for it."

Kind of thing, and I think- - And what's one of your go-tos?

- I get the Port Richmond scramble, which is really good.

I think it's like the scrambled eggs with cheddar and then also, I never say this right, but the kielbasa from that local place, Czerw's?- - Oh, yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really good.

Actually this last time I went, I actually went just yesterday, my friend got the french toast, he couldn't finish it, 'cause the portions were so huge, as we've been saying, and so great.

And so, I got to try some of that, and I'm not normally like a sweets person for breakfast, but I was glad that I did it.

It was so good, I mean, the toast itself was so thick and it was covered- - Yeah.

- [Chris] In great maple syrup, and then a lot of fresh fruit.

- It was, Stephanie, your daughter got something sweet, what was it, the pancake with the chocolate chips?

- She did, yes, the chocolate chip pancakes.

So yeah, she loved them, and she's got a very discriminating palette.

So the fact that she liked these chocolate chip pancakes says a lot.

But yeah, I agree, like there was a good mix of the savory and the sweet kind of, you know, breakfast items that's typical for a diner, but they do, they do them with like a Fishtown, you know, attitude- - Twist.

- Yeah, with the Fishtown attitude, you had the, what was it, the Bensington?

- Yes, the eggs, which I love, anytime that the Fishtown, Port Richmond, Kensington hybrid of names, I love that- - Port Kensington.

- So whoever came up with that name- - Port Fishington.

- Port Fishington, yeah.

- Port Fishington, yeah.

- [Stephanie] So, the Eggs Bensington were very good, the portions, I'm jumping ahead a little bit, but they were really big, it was like- - Yeah.

- You know, thick toast, the scrapple, and you know, the egg, and it was just prepared perfectly.

So it was a, yeah, I would definitely- - Yeah.

- I would eat that again when I go back, for sure.

- To touch on the portions point, I got the biscuits and gravy, and I don't think I'm allowed to say this on the air, but let's just say when the plate came out, I was not expecting it to be so big, so an expletive was uttered at the time.

(everyone laughing) But yeah, it was awesome, I took like over half of it home- - Yeah.

- It was so good.

- Dig a little deeper into these biscuits and gravy, like describe the biscuits for me.

- The biscuits were perfect.

I feel like it's hard to get a perfect biscuit, 'cause like, these were huge, so you kind of expect them maybe to be like a little dry, or like a little, you know, no, these were great.

They were huge, they were moist on the inside, one of them, they were very kind, they know what the people want, one of them was absolutely slathered in gravy and the other one wasn't, so you could just- - Oh.

- Enjoy the biscuit by itself.

- Yeah, best of both worlds.

- Yeah, so that was great.

- We touched a little bit on the whitefish scrapple, and scrapple is such a tradition here in Philadelphia, but the whitefish is like definitely an interesting twist.

- My husband ordered that, and I was glad that he did, 'cause you know, we tend to share plates when we go out anyway.

But, so we saw this, so unique, you know, scrapple made of whitefish?

- Right.

- [Stephanie] And you don't know, you're like, "All right, sure, you know, I'll be adventurous."

It was great, like it wasn't overly fishy- - Yeah.

- I don't know how they make this, (Stephanie and Kae Lani laughing) whitefish scrapple, but highly recommend.

For something, you know, that you're not gonna find probably anywhere else.

- Snigdha, did you sit at the bar, or did you get a seat in a booth?

- No, my fiance and I, we sat in a booth, and I love booths.

God, every time I go to a diner I'm like, "Please let me get a booth."

(everyone laughing) - Yeah.

- So, that was great.

- [Kae Lani] Instead of a coffee, you got a, what was it, the hot chocolate?

- Yes, I got a hot chocolate.

- That's so nice, that's so sweet.

- Yeah, coffee doesn't agree with me, so I always go for hot chocolate.

- Well this was like kind of souped up, this was like- - Yeah, yeah.

Oh, our server was so sweet, I was like, "Can I please got a hot chocolate?"

And she said, "Yeah, do you want whipped cream on that?"

And I was like, "Yeah, sure."

She was like, "Do you want chocolate syrup on that?"

I was like, "Yes, sure, please."

- It was like a sundae?

- Just load it up, why not?

(everyone laughing) - Sounds great.

- So she brought it out, there was just like this pile of whipped cream- - Oh my gosh.

- And chocolate sauce, I'm like, "Oh my God."

If I wasn't reminded of Kansas before, I was right then.

And it was so good, like the best part of a hot chocolate like that is when like the whipped cream like melts into the hot chocolate.

It was perfect, it was like really cold and rainy that morning, so it was just like, it was perfect.

- Mm.

- [Snigdha] Chef's kiss, no notes.

- Stephanie, what did you think of the prices?

- Very affordable.

You're not gonna leave there hungry, you'll probably have something you could maybe bring home, and so for the price, yeah, can't be beat, I would say.

- Chris, what are some other tips for first-timers?

- If you're gonna have a party of more than four, maybe get there a little earlier, because seating wise, it gets pretty packed on the weekend, so it's good to get in there and get your name in.

And they're great about that, we had a party of five, and they came out and they let us know how long the wait it would be, we got to wait outside, so it worked out just fine.

- Sulimay's is your pick, sum it up for us.

- Sulimay's is a great spot to come and have an authentic, delicious breakfast meal with every bit of Philly charisma that one would hope for.

- And Stephanie, what are your final thoughts?

- I would say Sulimay's is a down home diner experience with a Fishtown flair.

- And Snigdha, what is the big takeaway?

- Sulimay's is just fantastic, classic diner style, but still extremely Philly feeling.

- Try out Sulimay's for yourself, located at 632 East Girard Avenue in Fishtown, 215-423-1773.

Reservations are not accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $15.

(bright music) (transition whooshing) Stephanie Scordia loves the hip vibe and inventive menu at her pick.

Looking for eclectic Mediterranean tapas and a cheeky glass of Vinho Verde?

Check out Mish Mish in South Philly.

(transition whooshing) - My name is Zev Flores, I'm the CDC here at Mish Mish.

- My name is Alex Tewfik, I'm the owner of Mish Mish.

Mish Mish has been has been open for two and a half years.

I used to be in journalism, I used to be the Food Editor at "Philadelphia Magazine", and I was essentially a professional student of the Philadelphia dining scene.

"Mish Mish" means "apricot" in Arabic, there's a saying, (Alex speaking in Arabic) which means, "Tomorrow when the apricots blossom."

Which is essentially like the Arabic version of, "When pigs fly."

When you're a food writer for a living, everybody's constantly angrily asking you, "When are you gonna open your restaurant?"

The answer was always, "Yeah, yeah, one day, one day, one day."

And then I opened a restaurant.

- Kind of have the like, classic, you know, I was very young, didn't really have much direction, and a friend of mine was already in the kitchen, he was like a little bit older.

And he called me one day and was like, "I need someone to come work, do you wanna come work?"

And I showed up, and it was like a wrap.

It was all these different people from all different walks of life who just like shared that like commonality, and I was just like, "This is where I belong, I'm supposed to be here."

I have like an awesome team, I like to ask them, "What are you excited about?"

And we kind of like build around that.

We're doing stuff we wanna do, and it translates to like everyone's eating and they're enjoying it.

You have something nice, you treat it really nice, and kiss it on some fire, and then serve it to people, and it's usually like really good.

- The whole conceit of Mish Mish is we are celebrating simple pleasures.

(gentle upbeat music) (transition whooshing) - Stephanie, there are so many restaurants on East Passyunk Avenue, but why did you pick Mish Mish?

- Mish Mish really stands out in my opinion, because there are a lot of restaurants down there, but the menu is so unique, and the thought and care and preparation that went into each dish really comes across.

- This time around, you got almost the entire menu.

- Yes.

(everyone laughing) - What was your favorite appetizer?

- So the apple salad is really delightful, it's fresh, it's light, it's, you know, a great way to kind of start out.

The fried string cheese.

- Oh yeah, oh yeah.

- [Stephanie] Right?

(Chris laughing) It's not Polly-O string cheese.

- [Chris] No.

- Really delicious, so that's another one that really was a lot of fun.

I went with my husband and another couple, and so yes, we ordered a lot off of the menu.

- Well, that's what's fun, it's easy to share a lot of things.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, everybody got a chance to have, you know, a couple bites of each dish, so it was really good.

- You had fun with the wine list, Stephanie?

- Yes, now again, there were four of us, so.

(everyone laughing) We had two bottles, and what's really fun is the names of the wines are not the names of the wines.

So what I mean by that is we had Bonfire, The Bonfire, which was a red, and it really kind of evoked this like feeling of like, "Yeah, I could see myself sitting around a bonfire and like drinking this red wine."

And then we had The Vacation, which was a white.

So like the names of the wines really, they kind of like set a vibe almost, you know?

Like, you're here, you're having the wine, but it is sort of like a special occasion, and you are at a bonfire, or you are having like a vacation.

You're not just having dinner on the, you know.

- [Chris] Right.

- Chris, what type of vibe does the filthy martini set?

- Oh, a very chill vibe.

(everyone laughing) No, it was perfect, 'cause also we sat down like right around sunset, and then I get served this beautiful martini, which really was delicious, and it was just a lovely feeling.

- Yeah, it's such like a chill, kind of relaxing atmosphere, great place to take, you know, a martini, or a spritz.

How is your spritz?

- Very refreshing.

- Yes.

- I love that they had like four different flavor options, I think?

I picked blood orange, just like today.

- Mm.

- And it was great, actually, it went perfectly with all the appetizers, which the beets, the string cheese, I also got the beets.

- [Chris] Yeah.

- I still don't love beets, but I really love what they did with the beets.

- [Kae Lani] Yes.

(everyone laughing) - Well, because my friend, who really likes beets, so she was the one who was like, "Oh, let's get the beets."

I was like, "All right, let's get the beets."

On the menu, it was like, "Oh, there's golden beets, and there's raisins"- - Yes.

- "And there's horseradish."

It actually all went really well together.

- Yeah.

- And those were three flavors that I like never would have thought to put together on my own, which I just think is very emblematic of what I felt Mish Mish was like.

There's all these things on the menu that's like, "Oh, I wouldn't have thought to put those together"- - Exactly.

- But then ate it and it was so good.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- We got the steak, it was amazing, it was perfectly, you know, prepared.

It comes with this anchovy mayo- - [Chris] Mm.

- Which, you know, sounds maybe a little like, "What?"

(Stephanie and Snigdha laughing) But again, you know, flavors and ingredients that you don't think are going to go well together really do mesh well, and so, or they "Mish" well.

(everyone laughing) And, yeah, it was not overpowering anchovy, you know, just a hint of it, and it just, you know, you think about you put steak sauce on steak or something, but no, this like was a really nice enhancement to a really nice cut of meat.

- What I thought of sort of as my main was the squash, which was I thought really, really incredible.

It was my favorite thing that we ate I think that whole evening, it was with dressed kohlrabi, capers, and a brown butter vinaigrette, and oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

- Wait, capers with brown butter?

- Yeah.

- Whoa.

- It worked.

- Yeah, it worked, it worked.

And really, I mean, all of it was very good, and maybe, you know, it's just the brown butter vinegarette really for me brought it all together.

I mean, I maybe only just wished that there was more of it to eat.

You know, but I definitely, as you had saved your cheese sauce for the fries, I had saved that brown butter for a little bit of that bread- - Right.

- That was left over, which the bread was also so good.

- Let's not forget dessert, the most important- - Yes.

- You know, part of the meal.

- Yes.

- Snigdha, how was your dessert?

- We got the chocolate cake with pear jam.

It was incredible, it was incredible.

I think chocolate cake's my favorite dessert of all time, and Mish Mish did it very well.

Once again, true to form, pairing, pearing.

(everyone laughing) Something that I wouldn't expect with the chocolate cake, I would never think to put pear jam with chocolate cake, but it was so good.

The cake was like fluffy, it was rich without being too heavy- - Mhm.

- The frosting was incredible, also like not too sweet, almost like a ganache almost, and the pear jam was such a fantastic like sort of a complement to the rich chocolate cake.

It was one of the top five chocolate cakes I've had in my life- - Ooh.

- I would say.

- It's a relatively small but intimate space.

- Yes, yeah.

- And you actually spent some time at the bar, which, people might not even realize that there's a bar there- - Yes.

- But there's a few seats.

- Yeah.

- What was that like?

- Yes, there's like four or five seats at the bar.

Yeah, we didn't have reservations, so we walked in and they said, "You can have a seat at the bar."

Very tiny, very cozy, the lighting is low- - Mhm.

- The music is great, it's like a chill millennial playlist.

I wish I could remember the specific songs, I just remember I was really vibing through the dinner, which like really helped.

It's a open kitchen basically, so you're just like- - Mhm.

- Watching the chefs do their thing, and sometimes you would think that maybe service when you're at the bar will be a little bit different than when you at the tables, no, it was totally, you know, they were extremely attentive, everything came out like on time.

Actually, it was brilliant, it was like we bought so many things, right?

And they brought out everything, it was so well timed.

- Stephanie, Mish Mish is your pick, sum it up for us.

- I would say for Mediterranean inspired, unique dishes in a fancy but cozy setting, head to Mish Mish.

- Snigdha, what are your final thoughts?

- I think Mish Mish is a super intimate, elegant spot, and whether you know what you like or you're adventurous, anyone can find something to love there.

- And Chris, what's the big takeaway?

- I think you've got just warm vibes, delicious, unique food in a great setting, you can't go wrong.

- Check out Mish Mish for yourself, located at 1046 Tasker Street in South Philly, 267-761-9750.

Reservations are accepted, and the average tab per person without drinks is $60.

(upbeat music) (transition whooshing) Snigdha Sharma doesn't need to hop the pond for her bangers and mash, her South Philly pick has everything you'll need for a right proper nosh.

This is Stargazy in South Philly.

(transition whooshing) (upbeat music) - My name is Sam Jacobson, I am the chef owner of Stargazy.

Stargazy is an English pie and mash shop, meat pies, mashed potatoes, and we slather it in parsley liquor, which is a parsley gravy, if you like.

It's an East London tradition.

Oh well, we do a lot of other things as well.

The full English breakfast we do on Saturday mornings, it's gonna really set you up for the day, it's a great hangover cure.

We make all our bangers in-house, that's sausages, we import bacon from Ireland, and we use great local bread from Mighty Bread, and we do a pretty good one.

I grew up in London, I moved here when I was about 25, I've been here ever since.

I lived here for about 10 years before I opened this place, and I couldn't get this food anywhere, so I decided if I wanted it, I would have to make it myself.

Our menu's increased a lot since we opened, we used to just do pie and mash and a couple of other things, and now we do fish and chips on Fridays, we do the breakfast on Saturdays, we often do a Sunday roast, and we sell a lot of frozen stuff and wholesale as well.

A woman came in once, and she saw that we had imported Cadbury Easter Eggs, she burst into tears.

Like literally flat out bawling in the middle of the dining room.

That was pretty rewarding.

(transition whooshing) - Snigdha, you used to live across the street from Stargazy, but it wasn't just the convenience that kept you going back, why did you pick it?

- Stargazy has one of my favorite desserts of all time, which is why I kept going, it's the sea salt millionaire bar.

And every weekend, regardless of whether I would get something savory or not, I would always get a sea salt millionaire bar in the year that I lived there.

I had no idea what it was before I went for the first time, I had one, and I was like, "What is this beautiful, amazing, like God's creation on earth"- - So what exactly is it?

- It's almost like a Twix, but better.

So there's like this shortbread crust almost, like a piece of shortbread, and then a thick layer of caramel that does not move, like just the most stable, beautiful caramel, smooth, that you've ever seen in your life, and then chocolate, like another cold, it's a cold dessert, chocolate on top with flaky sea salt, which is the real kicker.

- Oh.

- It just really sets everything off so beautifully.

It's just a great place to go for like, whether you want like a nice, solid, formal sit down breakfast or lunch, or whether you just want something quick to go while you're like walking up and down just the beautiful avenue that is Passyunk, it's just fantastic.

And I was born in Liverpool in the UK so it's a fun- - Oh.

- Little connection- - Yeah.

- That I have, yeah.

- Oh, that's nice.

- So it was really unique, it was a really unique thing to find.

- And this time you kicked off your meal with the, was it the Priddy Oggy?

- Correct, yes.

So, they've got a variety of Cornish pasties there all filled with something savory, the standard cheese and onion, or like a potato.

Somewhat recently they've started doing the Priddy Oggy, which is a really, really unique set of flavors.

It's like pork tenderloin, streaky bacon, apple, cheese, and onion inside, and it's all dusted with some shaved Parmesan.

- Ooh.

- It's just fantastic, and it's like huge, it's like this big- - It is huge, I got it as well.

- Yeah.

- I was like, "Whoa, this is a lot."

(Chris laughing) - [Snigdha] It is so good.

- Whoa, that was like pork on pork on pork.

- [Chris] Yeah, yeah.

(everyone laughing) - It was worth it though, 'cause it like, it was one of those things where it doesn't feel too heavy because of the apples and the onions that are in there.

- [Chris] Right.

- [Snigdha] Just a really fantastic pairing of flavors.

Pork and apple together, turns out that's really good, I had no idea.

- Yeah.

- [Snigdha] Yeah, until then.

- What were your thoughts on the Priddy Oggy?

- I really enjoyed it, I probably shouldn't have also ordered another pasty as well, I probably could have just eaten the Priddy Oggy.

But I, you know, honoring Philadelphia, had to get the cheese stick pasty, which I went for, which was delicious, and I finished that first, so then I got halfway through the Priddy Oggy and I was like, "I might need a nap."

(everyone laughing) "I may need to go lay down."

But, the food was really, really delicious, really good.

- I didn't know what meat pies were, like I'm looking at this, I'm like, "What is a meat pie?"

And so, I asked the person working there, like I said, "All right, you know, new to coming here, what do you recommend?"

And they said, "Well, the traditional beef and onion for sure."

And then there was a venison- - Mm.

- Bacon and porcini.

And so my husband ordered that, and I ordered the traditional, but of course we shared, and both were just amazing.

And the venison in particular, venison is I think one of those things that is tough to prepare, it could be really gamey.

- Mhm.

- However they prepared this, you know, whatever their process was, it was just, it was great.

- You said that they had heaping helpings of mashed potatoes?

- Yes.

These mashed potatoes were so good, my gosh.

Yeah, in fact, we were so full, we didn't get the desserts, so we have to go back.

The mashed potatoes definitely, you know, made from scratch, you could tell, really complimented this idea of kind of getting like some of the meat, the crust, the potato, all in one fork full- - Right, the perfect bite.

- Yes, yes.

And you know, while it was a pretty big sized portion, we both cleared our plates completely.

- They're open Thursday through Sunday, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday, there's like a special like thing that they do each day.

So Friday night is fish and chips, Saturday morning where I went, was full English breakfast, and Sunday is like a Sunday dinner, like a roast meat with Yorkshire pudding.

I went with a friend of mine, so we got a full English, very traditional.

It's got everything that you could think of on it, it's got a big hunk of toast, two eggs, like a fried tomato, sausage, again, huge chunks of that special bacon- - Yeah.

- Mm.

- Beans on toast, which can be controversial, but I love it, I love it.

So thank you, Britain, for that one.

I have never had a traditional, traditional English breakfast in England, but I'm pretty sure this is like- - This is as close as it gets- - This is as close as it gets.

- Oh yeah.

- Yeah.

- So yeah, that was great.

- Chris, what did you think of the decor?

- I mean, you definitely feel like you're in a pasty shop.

You know, you get the feeling like, "Am I in Little Britain, where am I?"

You know.

(everyone laughing) Which was very fun, and they had a football game on.

European football- - Wait, okay, I was about to say- - Yeah, no it was not- - Big distinction.

Are we talking Eagles or- - Yeah, it wasn't Eagles- - "Bend It Like Beckham".

- [Chris] Yeah, it was like "Bend It Like Beckham", exactly.

And they've got all that, they're selling all this like UK-based candy and stuff.

- Yeah, the crisps.

- The crisps, yes, it was very cool, and I'm a bit of an anglophile, so I very much enjoyed that, and was just pretending that Dr. Who was gonna swoop in and take me away from all of this.

(everyone laughing) As I ate my pasty.

(Chris laughing) - Did they have like British themed drinks too?

- They do.

- Yeah, right, the sodas I think- - Yeah.

- Were, yeah.

- They have all sorts of sodas, they have Iron Brew, which I think is from Scotland, and then they have, my favorite one is called Whites, it's lemonade.

Apparently in England, lemonade means like a Fresca sort of thing, like carbonated.

- Oh!

- That's my favorite thing to drink, it's really goes really well with all like the rich, heavy food.

- Snigdha, this was your pick, sum it up for us.

- Stargazy is a cozy English pastry shop in the heart of Philadelphia's East Passyunk district, where you know, you can genuinely feel at home with what you're eating.

- And Chris, how would you sum it up?

- A must visit spot for anglophiles who have a richer taste profile.

(Chris laughing) Like something that's gonna really leave them feeling full and happy.

- And Stephanie, bring it on home.

- I'd say Stargazy is a cozy family friendly spot that offers traditional British fare that is quick, but you don't feel rushed.

- Pick up some pies and pasties for yourself at Stargazy, located at 1838 East Passyunk Avenue in South Philly, 215-309-2761.

Reservations are not accepted, and the average tab per person without drinks is $15.

(transition whooshing) So on this week's show, we featured Sulimay's in Fishtown, Mish Mish in South Philly, and Stargazy in South Philly.

Special thanks to my guests, Chris Newcomer, Stephanie Scordia, and Snigdha Sharma.

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, ooh.

(upbeat music)