Noord, 1046 Tasker St, Philadelphia, PA 19148, (267) 909-9704
Lisa Leonard and I share a birth date, so every year we all get together to celebrate in one way or another. This year, Brunch in the Passyunk Square Area of Philadelphia: Passyunk Square is an up-and-coming neighborhood of brownstones and historic, narrow "trinity" houses. Affordable housing and diverse dining options attract hipsters and young professionals alike. East Passyunk Avenue is lined with vintage shops, gastropubs and Vietnamese pho soup spots, as well as cheesesteak rivals Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. Outdoor street festivals are popular here during the warmer months. (Thanks Google for the verbiage)
The location, the unusual yet familiar items on the Brunch menu and the BYOB policy drew us to this restaurant.
As it was a celebration, we brought Prosecco. The table was brought molasses Bread with brown sugar butter.
I ordered the Keshi Yena (Netherland Antilles Cheesy Casserole): ground chicken, gouda, sambal, raisin, olive, pepper, grilled pineapple. The casserole was tasty if not attractive under the eggs, but if you were to serve lasagna sans noodles, it would not be pretty either.
Lisa ordered a different item from the hash menu, the Seasonal Vegetable Hash: a saute of market vegetables, red potatoes, fresh herbs, lemon, two sunny side eggs. Seasonal today meant potato and cauliflower in a tomato sauce. I tasted it and found it uninspired.
Amy had the Gooseberry Wenteltefjes (Classic Dutch Toast) with nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, whipped cream, powdered sugar. These were not the sweet slices of French Toast I think of, they are almost savory.
I sampled the sauerkraut and the beets. I bought the seeded sauerkraut. It has cumin seeds in addition to the traditional caraway. .
We also hit Urban Jungle, a fun garden shop, currently starting to move into the spring planting season.
A white wine is made from Glera grapes (same grape as Prosecco) and a second red wine is made from Pinot Noir grapes. These two wines are then blended, creating a wine with a beautiful rose hue and bright flavors. In the second stage, the Charmat method is used to bring about a secondary fermentation before the wine is bottled under pressure, preserving all of the fresh and fragrant characteristics of the wine.
