I fell in love with doner kebabs when I took a couple of business trips to germany years back. They were unlike anything I had before, and it was instant love. I had many of them throughout germany, but the best one I’ve ever had was in a random shop in Schwabisch Hall. I still dream about it. If you’re ever there, go to the main public parking lot in the city center and when you walk right out of it, past the pay machines, there’s a doner kebab shop. That’s the place. BEST. DONER. KEBAB. EVER. I haven’t had one for a long time. I’ve tried reasonable but disappointing facsimiles in Ireland and Italy, but it’s nothing like a genuine german doner kebab. They’ve somehow taken a turkish street food and evolved it all into an amazing german treat. I haven’t yet experienced a real doner kebab shop in the US. Years ago, there was a random coffee shop on Chestnut Street that supposedly served them, but when I went back there a few weeks later, it had already become a purse shop. Cue the sad face. So when I read that Brauhaus Schmitz was serving them during the soccer season, I had to give it a whirl! They’re only available on the weekend, and only for the soccer season. We enjoyed some delicious beers while we waited, patiently.
They’re typically served with fries, but you can also substitute other sides. I got the cabbage. This doner kebab surprised me. First, the bread was great. It’s actually pretty damn important how the bread is. It’s definitely not thin, limp, pita bread. It’s called fladenbrot, and it does have some heft, but it’s not thick like a regular sandwich roll. They got the bread just right. On the inside they have lamb, along with shredded red onions, red cabbage, pickles, and tomatoes, along with a yogurt-based sauce. While it tasted fairly good, I would have changed a few things. There was way too much meat in here, and it was in really thick slices, like a brisket, but not nice and evenly sliced. It was just random hunks of thick slices. It just ended up being overly stuffed and made it difficult to maneuver. If you get genuine doner kebabs, the spits of meat have slices of the meat wrapped up into a cylinder shape. And the meat is literally shaved off, by something not too far off from clippers, so the meat actually ends up being in little pieces… resembling the shape of slivered almonds, but a little bigger. And the pickles were strange to me. I was much more used to cucumbers. Also, in germany, you always have the option of getting a spicy sauce as well. And there is also some spicy flakes you can shake on, but I have no idea what it’s made of. It still remains a mystery to me. Oh, and the thing is huge! I could not finish it! Also, the fries that come with are great. And my cabbage was plentiful and delicious… if you’re into sour cabbage!
I thoroughly appreciate their valiant effort in serving up doner kebabs in philadelphia. It really made me happy, and a bit wistful. Now I really want to go to germany to have the real thing! But if this is as close as I can get, then it’s still a great substitute. Thanks Brauhaus Schmitz!

We didn’t even know if Adsum served brunch when we were walking around looking for a place to brunch. Even the people at Adsum weren’t that sure. Apparently, they do, starting at 11AM. But there were absolutely no signs of life there at all, and it was slightly after 11. There were some other people milling around outside too, probably wandering the same thing. When we finally asked somebody, they said oh, yeah, we are now. There were only two tables the entire time we were there, and we were the first ones to be seated. We weren’t the first ones to get menus or coffee or food.
Eventually, we got menus, and even more eventually, they brought over coffee. The coffee was good and we all enjoyed it. Yay for free refills! And it’s a good thing too, as we had to wait a hell of a long time for our food. I actually timed it, and we didn’t get fed until 45 minutes after being seated. This does not seem normal. I don’t know about you, but if there are two tables total, does it take 45 minutes to make three dishes for one of the tables? We were all so, so, so, so hungry. Luckily, we were enjoying each other’s company.
Here’s the omelette of the day, which happened to be a veggie one. When I ordered, he asked for a side of home fries. Guess what? The omelette already comes with home fries. You’d think the server would have let him know that, but no, he just took the order anyway. He did get the extra side of the home fries and they were quite good, I was lucky enough to eat most of them.
Here’s the croque madame with black forest ham, smoked gouda, béchamel, brioche, and an egg. Pretty good stuff! This also comes with home fries.
Here’s my mascarpone and strawberry stuffed french toast. This was pretty damn good and decadent, however, it came with frozen strawberries. That disappointed me to no end. It’s summer. This isn’t IHOP. Would it have killed you to get some fresh strawberries? If you’re going to charge me $12 for basically just two thick pieces of bread, at least do me the decency of using fresh strawberries. I know there’s been a lot of drama here with chefs changing and what not, but I was pretty disappointed with this brunch, especially the service. Waiting 45 minutes for frozen strawberries irked me, something fierce!

Wedge + Fig is an adorable cheese shop and casual cafe in old city. I stopped by recently for brunch in their courtyard, truly an oasis. You would think it would be hot out there, but it’s fairly shady and covered, so it was quite lovely. You also get to look into the kitchen to see what everyone’s up to.
I decided to get an orangina just for kicks. I’d forgotten how refreshing this little funny bottle can be.
We both ended up getting a 1/2 sandwich and soup combo. They ended up putting the switching the sandwiches, so this was not my sandwich, but it was my soup. This sandwich is the Svenson, with lemon-dill creme fraiche, nova lox, and sprouts on pumpernickle bread. My soup was one of the specials of the day, which was a creamy lemon and corn soup. It was lemony, it was corny, it was cool and refreshing.
This is my sandwich, the Blue Figs, with fourme d’ambert cheese, fig preserves, and prosciutto on pretzel bread. Ooh, this thing was good, especially the pretzel bread! It’s pressed too, so really easy to eat. i wish I’d had a whole sandwich. The soup that E got was another special of the day, and it was a summer fruit gazpacho, with mango, berries, and other delicious fruits. It tasted like a smoothie! But in a bowl! E also got a side of bacon. Look how lovely and thick that bacon is. Yum.
Here’s what you see when you look up from the adorable courtyard. We both really loved this place, and plan on going back again and again. The inside is adorable too, with some small tables for dining and random food items, along with of course, cheese! There weren’t too many people here, which made us worry, because we don’t want this place to ever go away! Service was friendly, food was great, the courtyard is cool and inviting. I want to try everything on their menu!