The citizens of Dawnville traveled to Washington DC (via Philadelphia) for Barack Obama's inauguration. More on that magical day later. After arriving at our hotel (a perfectly pleasant airport Hilton) at 1 am the previous evening, we decided to sleep in on Sunday. By the time we got ourselves up, dressed and retrieved the rental car, we'd missed breakfast and were well into the lunch hour. Starved, we decided to head into Center City for an all-day breakfast at the Down Home Diner in the Reading Terminal Market. The Market, in operation since the 1800's, is filled with independently operated stalls selling everything from seafood to flowers to Indian to baked goods to the ever-popular cheesesteak. It's like the San Francisco Ferry Building Market for people without stock options. One corner of the market is given over to the local Amish, but unfortunately and not unexpectedly their stalls were closed on Sunday. And, in another dose of disappointment, the diner workers decided to close up early on this particular Sunday. No breakfast for us. However, we couldn't be discouraged for long. After a few spins around the floor, we decided to try Carmen's version of the classic chessesteak. Taking the counterman's advice, we got a straightforward version with steak, cheese and some sweet peppers. The roll was fresh, the cheese melty and steak hot. It didn't knock me out, but it was tasty. Next visit we will try one of the much heralded versions at Chink's. We also tried an Italian hoagie which was also good, especially with the homemade hot peppers that added a feisty kick at the end of each bite.
Giselle was not in the mood for a sandwich so she sampled the delights at Delilah's, a family-run shop that was recognized by Oprah as having the best Mac and Cheese in America. Now that's a dish we had to try. We ordered the two piece chicken dinner (dark meat) with the aforementioned mac and cheese and collard greens. The chicken was ok, a bit underseasoned for my taste and also not cooked to order. I like my fried chicken hot out of the fryer. The greens on the other hand were well-seasoned and tasty. And the mac and cheese, it was very good, but not the best I've ever had. I think it also suffered from sitting on the steam table, resulting in lukewarm temperature and too-soft noodles.
I would definitely go back to the Reading Terminal Market to explore some of the other vendors, especially the local Amish favorites. If you're in town, I'd recommend you do the same.
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