Before heading over to Reading Terminal Market to get some hot donuts, we stopped at Cake and the Beanstalk for a few coffees and bites. It’s an adorable, colorful, and whimsical bakery and cafe on Locust. The owner was a pastry chef at several leading restaurants in Philadelphia before opening up his own place. There’s all kinds of baked goods that change daily. They also have coffee and tea happy hours.
We got a slice of the strawberry pound cake. Ooh… this thing was unbelievably dense and moist, sweet and delicious. I could have eaten the whole damn cake!
Here’s what I would say is the best darn iced latte in the entire city. I’m not sure what kind of magical milk they use, but this is the creamiest and dreamiest, yet strong latte I’ve had all summer. I challenge you to find a better one! And two people can’t be wrong, right?
Although it’s a small space, there’s plenty of seating in this extremely colorful Dr. Seuss inspired room. There’s also a teeny little outdoor area. Or you could chill in the big window seat by the bakery counter! I can’t wait to try more of their sweets!

Izumi is a japanese / sushi spot on East Passyunk, in an otherwise mostly asian food-less strip of the area. It’s got outdoor seating and some indoor seating in tables, hightops, and at the sushi bar. It’s fairly clean, sleek, and modern on the inside.
Here are the gyoza, made with pork. They’re served with pickled cucumber (which weren’t particularly pickley) and already come doused and bathing in some dipping sauce. These were decent.
Here’s the izumi sashimi sampler. We have surf clam with spicy miso, squid with smoked sea salt and lemon oil, fluke with tataki sauce, salmon carpaccio kaiware and shiso oil, and tuna with tofu vinaigrette. These were all excellent and super fresh!

Here are a couple of their specialty rolls. The one on the left had some spicy tuna and avocado and crunchies on top. The one on the right was a special of the night and had a spicy scallop topping. Both of these were great as well.
The dessert was the craziest thing ever. It was a chocolate cake topped with coconut gelato, all covered in meringue, then topped with chocolate sauce and toasted coconut. It was truly decadent and while tasty, was a bit too rich for me. I could only take a couple of small bites. It was a nice meal!

E and I went to one of JG Domestic‘s Sunday Suppers and had a veritable feast. When we saw the menu in advance, we thought oh, ok, we get to pick a starter, pick our meat, and pick some sides. Then we were informed by our server that we got EVERYTHING on the menu. We were floored… and also totally excited! There was also live music!
We first stared with the house baked dinner rolls, served with whipped vermont butter and apple gelee. Whoa, these were warm and buttery and delicious, but we both limited ourselves to one. We weren’t going to ruin ourselves for the rest of the meal. It’s all about pacing!
Next up was the louisiana style gumbo with okra, pulled chicken, and andouille sausage. Man alive, I love gumbo! And I loved this version! It was rich, thick, and hearty, and I love me some okra!
We moved onto the jersey tomato salad with garlic crouton, basil, and fresh ricotta. Tasty tomatoes are sometimes hard to come by, I know I often buy sucky ones. But these were sweet and juicy and full of the right flavors. They must have all the right connections!
We also got a big bowl of local baby greens, seasoned baby veggies, with a citrus vinaigrette. This wasn’t a particularly exciting salad, but all the ingredients were top notch.
Onto the meats! The smoked baby back pork ribs. Yum! There was plenty of tender meat on this and it had a nice smoky flavor.
The other main entree was the fire roasted bbq london broil. Delicious! There were a few chewy bits but the sauces were nice and zesty.
Here is a giant bowl of vermont cheddar and roasted garlic whipped potatoes. This was the only dish that we possibly could not finish. It was so much! We also had the chilled cucumber, roasted peppers, and feta salad. I love cucumber salads! Again, all their ingredients were of the highest quality. I need a connection to their hook-up!
I am crazy about corn, and I am especially crazy about new jersey corn. Oh how I love jersey sweet corn on the cob!
Here we have the bbq baked cranberry beans and some pickled green beans and pearl onions. Man, I think these baked beans were some of my absolute favorites of the night. And I loved these green beans as well, as I love beans when they’re very crispy and practically raw. I can’t stand limp green beans!
As if we could eat any more, we ended the meal with the peach cobber with vanilla ice cream. The peaches in this were amazing and  you could tell they were totally fresh! The topping to the cobbler was delicious as well, being some kind of lemony poppyseed bake. And the ice cream was plain yet perfect. The service was excellent and we just sat there for a long time after the meal and hung out and talked. They didn’t rush us and just let us enjoy ourselves. Considering the amount and quality of food you get, this is one of the most worthwhile prix fixe deals in the city. Go and give it a try!