Sampan: Asian Fusion in Washington Square West

Hello hello! Finally, an update from Philly! I had a great, relaxing weekend. On Friday I went to dinner with some coworkers at a restaurant called El-Rey, where the zucchini blossom quesadilla is delicious. It's the perfect mix of unhealthy with a little bit of healthy snuck in. Then on Saturday my parents came to visit. We wandered around old graveyards, watched an ice cream eating contest at Reading Terminal, sipped ice teas in my local coffee shop, people watched in Washington Square, and then had a lovely dinner at Sampan.

I will (eventually) post about the graveyards, market, and park, but right now I have to share some of our favorite dishes from dinner. It is small plate style, and we had (in photo order): the crab and scallion tacos, the suckling pig satay, the edamame dumplings, the pork bao buns, the mushroom dumplings, the tuna rice crackers, the Korean BBQ satay, the beef tataki, and the shrimp dumplings. We also got the pork and shrimp crepe, which is not pictured because I took a horrible picture of it. Everything was very good, but a few things were stand outs. First, the edamame dumplings are the best thing there: inventive, well-executed, and just delicious. We ended up getting 3 orders. In addition, the beef tataki and tuna rice crackers (like an Asian-style spicy tuna bruschetta) were also phenomenal. The service was also great. The atmosphere was trendy, but not too loud. So it was easy to have a conversation while enjoying the food.

Brooches as Necklaces - Part II

So sorry for the long absence! There were a few weeks there where life was completely non-stop. I imagine posting will still be spotty until I get back to LA since I am trying to play catch up in life, but for now, check out the brooch as necklace look (previously seen here) that I'm thinking should be a new trend!

As seen on the Glamourai.