In my last post I mentioned that Pat’s and Geno’s are where tourists go for a Philly cheese steak. We started our Philly weekend with a cheese steak at Dalesandro’s in the Manayunk section of Philly..
The cheese steak is the story here. The people in line are not interested in ambiance or even a good cheese steak. Only a “great” cheese steak is acceptable. That is a true Philadelphia requirement.
The Dalesandro’s Cheese steak for lunch set a quality level for our Philly weekend that required a “10” for everything that followed.
After time with friends and family in Philadelphia it was time to head for Ocean City NJ to visit the family expatriates who have migrated to that Philly colony on the ocean. The traffic was unbelievable for a weekend in early May. Especially unbelievable to me since my traffic skills have been winnowed down by my years in the boondocks.
The cheese steak joy was fading as the evening ride in traffic started to stimulate dinner thoughts. The closer we got to the shore, thoughts of seafood became the most prominent choice for dinner. For 12 years we lived in Colorado where seafood was 2000 miles old by the time it got to our table. We were anxious to find a crab cake and some mussels that carried a memory of recent residence in salt water.
Fortunately the Philly based Chickie and Pete’s restaurant chain has opened a location in Egg Harbor Township right where we arrived at 8 PM. Chickie and Pete’s features just what we needed, crabs, mussels and french fries that are so good you will forget all those fast food place fries that you once thought were OK..
Mussels in red sauce piled high and a crab cake platter were the dinner choices. One of Dorothy’s three crab cakes came my way and I sent a pile of mussels in her direction.. I skipped the wine since I still needed to navigate 20 miles in the traffic tsunami that was roaring toward AC and Ocean City.
At Chickie and Pete’s the service was great and the food was a solid “10”. The mussel’s red sauce is a living legend and the crab cakes were perfect. I was also getting my East Coast driving legs back and was starting to regain a Philly state of mind as we completed the day.