Thursday, July 05, 2012

An Old Friend and Dinner c/o Khyber Pass

Some time ago L. contacted me and said that she and her bf were going to be on the east coast, and specifically in Philadelphia, for a hot minute. We soon created a plan for catching up. The last time I saw L. had been at T. and C.'s wedding, before which L. and I took quite an adventurous and epic walk. Since then we've both had some rather major life events and lost touch through no matter of conflict or argument as much as simply life, distance and time. We first had drinks, just the two of us, at Sassafrass. This one on one time allowed us to catch up without having to explain many of our conversations with her bf and his Philly-based friend. After a bit, however, we did meet up with those two folks and enjoyed a meal at Khyber Pass Pub. It was early on in what has become quite a hot streak in Philly, and I had been eyeing the menu trying to figure out what I wanted for at least a day or two. I even tweeted about it and was given the suggestion that with the heat as stifling as it was, a frozen mint julep might catch my fancy. This was true, but by the time I got to dinner all thoughts of juleps had flitted away and instead I had an oatmeal stout. Not the lightest of beers on a hot day, but I very much enjoyed it nonetheless.
L.'s bf wanted to try the hush puppies. I'm not a huge fan of the dish in general - though as a kid I think I really loved their name - but they came out nice and hot and the little dipping sauces were interesting.
For my main meal I went big and tried the meat sampler option, choosing barbequed brisket and pork ribs as the meat and fried okra and mac n' cheese for the sides. All of this was very, very much to my liking. The brisket, tender and smoky. The pork, also rather tender and strangely addictive. The okra were crisp and hot and the mac n' cheese above average and creamy.
It was wonderful to see L. after a nearly four year gap and to meet her bf and his friend as well. Khyber Pass's menu has so many other things I'd like to try that I'll just have to make a little effort to do so.

1 comment:

nc catherine said...

As one living in the south, the mere idea of hushpuppies with dipping sauces made me laugh out loud. The brisket sounds delicious, and it is something not found too regularly here in the south....I have no idea why we smoke the beejeepers out of pork, but not beef. It is strange........