Bucks County (Iced Coffee Review)

I'm mildly obsessed with coffee. If you put six different iced coffees in front of me sans labels, I could tell you where each one is from. One of my favorites is Bucks County.

The iced coffee at Bucks County has a nice smooth body, relatively low acidity, and a slight hint of mocha (don't worry, you're not getting a frappuccino instead of an iced coffee). It is, however, quite pricey, as a small at $2.56 is nearly double the price of the small at Au Bon Pain ($1.39). Thus, this is well worth it on a hot summer's day, but hardly an everyday purchase on this student's budget.

Bucks County also recently received Philadelphia Magazine's "Best In Philly - Iced Coffee" -- I am not alone.

Bucks has seemingly gotten rid of their huge and delicious pastry selection in favor of sandwiches from Le Bus. While I haven't tried them yet, I'm a little mixed -- the old Bucks County sandwiches were horrible, but the pastry selection is pretty sparse these days.

Bucks County Coffee

Various Locations

Buckscountycoffee.com

Primo's Part Deux

Two days in and already receiving comments.

I've been told to try the "Schwarzie" at Primo's. Apparently the change in ingredients will change my mind, although if the bread is stale again (as in a bad day at Bui's stale, for all you Penn grads), I don't think I'll be going back.

Raven Lounge

Although not a food post, I have to give a plug to Raven Lounge on Monday nights. Go up to the second floor between 10PM and 1 AM and you will be treated to some fantastic jazz by local artists. Technically a jam session (although it sounds much better than any jam session I've ever heard), MC Tony Peebles (full disclosure: a good college friend of mine) calls up various performers to play/sing together. If you're hungry, they serve hot dogs.

Raven Lounge
1718 Sansom Street
Monday Nights 10-1, $3

Primo's Hoagies

I've walked by Primo's almost every day since moving back to Philadelphia. To be honest, it looked pretty gross from the outside. But, if there's one thing we know, it's that you can't judge a restaurant by its apparent cleanliness (e.g. Yue Kee Mobile Kitchen, anything in Reading Terminal).

I probably spent about five minutes looking at the menu outside in order to expedite the process. The combinations of meat and cheese were endless, with add ons such as hot pepper shooters, broccoli rabe, and sweet peppers. Primo's also offers a great selection of sides, such as tortellini salad and shooters by the pound.

I settled on the "Bada Bing," a chicken cutlet sandwich with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe, commonly known in Philadelphia Italian Speak as "greens." The sandwich was served on a Sarcone's roll. Pickles are a dollar extra -- I only eat free pickles, so I skipped the delicious cucumber derivatives. I'll have to go to Rachael's, Tony Jr's, or Roy Rogers for a fix soon enough.

I got home with the sandwich and took a bite. The roll was a little too hard and chewy, the chicken cutlet cold. I stuck the sandwich in the oven for 10 minutes (I'm thinking of investing in the Wawa 35 second sandwich toaaster) and awaited the transformation. The end result was a delicious taste combination. While the chicken could have been less bready, it was white meat and tasty. The garlicky greens were a nice addition, and the sharp provolone had a great bite to it.

I think I'll try Primo's again, but I don't think it's anything special. In fact, without my own oven, the sandwich was fairly mediocre. Two hoagies.

Take Three

So this is my third attempt at a blog. The first one was about politics. The second one was on my life philosophies. This one is on food, with a little bit of sports mixed in where I see fit.

See, I have a very good friend who aspires to be a food writer -- and I told her to start a blog. And as far as I know, she hasn't yet. So I'm going to be inspirational...