Kountry Kart Deli (KKD) – Where are you? / Philly on French

KKD Menu Specials <- PDF of KKD specials.

Kountry Kart Deli on Main Street in  Burlington Vermont is having “20th anniversary rollback specials.” But how would you know?

KKD doesn’t have any on-line presence: you’re doing it wrong!

Radio Deli is doing it right: http://radiodeli.blogspot.com/

Oh and here’s a picture of KKD’s large Philly on French Bread all the veggies (sautéed green peppers, onions, mushrooms) and provolone.

I’m going to recommend against provolone, it gets cold rather quickly and loses its’ melted consistency resulting in chewy cheese. American cheese is the default and has its’ rightful place on Phillys.

French bread is the way to go @ KKD, it’s nice and crusty. The Philly meat is also very good, sometimes it needs a little more chop, but is usually good. What’s inconsistent is the done-ness  of the veggies.

$8.82 with tax.

KKD - Large Philly on French bread with Provolone

R.I.P. Tommy’s City Grill – Hello The Spot!

Tommy's City Grill - Former location

I was very sad when I went to Tommy’s website and saw that it was down, Still disbelieving I  called their phone number. I didn’t give up hope until I actually drove there.

After a little searching, I see that the former TCG chef Tommy Winrock is now cooking at “The Spot.” I don’t see any Phillys on the menu but maybe they have some specials. Either way, I’m sold on checking out The Spot.

Philly Cart – Cheesesteak

After the dearth of good Philly Cheesesteaks in town, on my way home on Friday I stopped at a suspicious cart on Bank Street (near the corner of Bank and Church) in Burlington Vermont:

Philly Cart - Burlington Vermont

 After a quick interrogation of the vendor, I discovered he was indeed slinging cheesesteaks.

The Amoroso bakeryplacard plastered on the side of the cart may have been a good clue. Notice the above photo the technique. He chops the fresh shaved ribeye steak “from New York” on the cooler (left) side of the griddle then added pre-sweated onions to the mix and grills it on the right hotter side.

Philly Cheesesteak - Burlington Vermont

Three slices of American cheese also are part of the formula. All of this is crammed into the aforementioned famous (for Phillys) roll.

The taste? Tremendous! It reminds me of when I had my first “cheesesteak” on a family trip to Maine, known in those parts as a “steak bomb”.

 This folks is a mean mean cheesesteak, I’m not sure if it will earn my number one cheesesteak spot; I’ll have to

do some more “research”. The vendor promises to be around starting at 11am during the week, save Mondays and Tuesdays.

Oh and it’s $6.

Kountry Kart Deli – Philly Shiner Sandwich

Kountry Kart Deli - Burlington, Vermont

Kountry Kart Deli on Main Street in Burlington Vermont is a late night munchie classic.  Drunken from the bars will fill KKD to capacity shortly after the 2am last call; sandwich chaos ensues.

But they’re also open for lunch. I’ve been lunching on KKD’s Philly on French bread, so when I noticed the “Shiner Philly” I decided to try it (sans French bread as the circumference of the hash brown would likely cause severe over-hang).

Kountry Kart Deli - Philly Shiner

KKD is known for their “Risers” and “Shiners”; a shiner being a deep-fried hash-brown / egg / meat breakfast themed sandwich.  I couldn’t resist trying collaboration of the Shiner Philly. The hash-brown is nicely fried, and has a satisfying crunch.  The egg is real, the steak and cheese is good.  I which there were more steak, I may ask for “extra Philly” when ordering this sandwich in the future.  I should have ordered it with the trifecta of grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms. Also I didn’t enjoy eating two large hash-browns. I would recommend ordering this sandwich as a small, as to not kill exceed your hash-brown budget.

KKD - Sandwich card and order sheet

Speaking of budgets, this sandwich was $9.45 for large with tax, one of their more expensive sandwiches.  If you become a frequenter of KKD, grab one of their “sandwich cards.”

Boo-Kies – Philly Cheese Steak

Boo-kies – Burlington Vermont (Church Street)

So if you’re on Church Street in Burlington, hankering for a Philly Steak and can’t make it to Tommy’s City Grill, where are you going to go? The answer lies in a food cart, named “Boo-kies”. Thankfully due to having a roof over his head, he was available just after a rainstorm while other food carts were no where to be seen.

Boo-kies – Philly Cheese Steak

The default configuration of the Philly Cheese Steak comes with the traditional Cheez Wiz (wit Wiz).

Boo-kies – Philly Cheese Steak (American-Swiss cheese)

I prefer my philly’s with real cheese, Boo-kies told me they had “Swiss-American” which they use on their burgers. The meat was frozen, but nicely marbled, so I suspect this may be the semi-traditional shaved Ribeye Steak. Onions, green AND red peppers, and finally a decent roll, that was slightly toasted with some butter on the grill.

At $4.75 the Philly is a little pricey considering it’s half of a full sub, but it’s one of the better cheese steaks around town. I recommend waiting more than 2-3mins to eat it, as you will burn you mouth as I did. I also hear the burgers are awesome (the hotdogs are not bad). Food carts are cash only of course.

Global Markets, “Falafel”

Global Markets, Cafe, Grill and Grocery in the Old North End (ONE) in Burlington Vermont, as the name implies, serves up some diverse food and groceries. Global Markets is a cool place to go for lunch, for example you can get a Bosnian specialty for lunch, and then grab some Russian candy for desert off the shelf.

 
Global Markets – Moving December 16th from its current location, down the street.

Falafel – deep-fried chickpea or fava bean balls, served with house salad in pita.

Falafel is a classic middle eastern snack, and what better place to get a falafel than at a place that specializes in middle-eastern and world food? I think that despite the deep-fried factor, this lunch is a fairly healthy vegertarian meal.

World Markets – Falafel, a little more detailed shot, showing the salad. I think it consists of cucumber, onion and tahini as the primary ingredients.

The falafel and salad is made fresh before your eyes, and the owner / proprietor is very personable. The falafel is nice and crispy (fresh!), and the salad has nice tanginess, acid and texture to contrast with the falafel. The falafel pita is not quite enough food for lunch, so I ordered two. But I found that two is little too much, I would recommend ordering one falafel pita, and one other small item off the menu, or maybe an interesting snack from the store shelves.

The falafel is awful cheap at ~$3.60, bring cash as Global Markets is cash-only! I will be back to try some other world foods, and what is proclaimed as a great Philly cheesesteak in their new location.

V.T. Famous Philly Cheese Steak (@ Larow’s Market) “Philly Cheese Steak”

I love reading about food. In this Monday’s Burlington Freepress, there is an article about V.T. Famous Philly Cheese Steak Inc. According to the article, V.T. Famous Philly Cheese Steak Inc used to be operated out of a cart in downtown Burlington, it is now co-located inside Larow’s Market.

Larow’s Market’s Iconic Like Cola Sign, Home to V.T. Famous Philly Cheese Steak Inc. Larow’s is an easy landmark on North St, in the O.N.E. (Old North End) of Burlington Vermont.

Marinated fresh beef makes this sandwich distinctive. Worcestershire sauce is the most obvious component of the marinade, and shredded beef is super tender. You can pick from American, Swiss, cheddar, or provolone cheese. Onions and green peppers come with the sandwich by default, I added mushrooms (button) at no charge.

V.T. Famous Philly Cheese Steak, flipped to show cornmeal on roll. The role of the roll, is an important one with Philly’s and V.T. (a play on words with his initials and Vermont) made a good selection with an “authentic” type roll. The deli paper wrap disintegrated a little bit compared to foil, but it’s not a huge issue.

There was a little less cheese on my sandwich that I would have liked, I think next time I may opt for American cheese instead of Swiss to try to balance out the savory marinade. This is a different take on the Philly, and I will definitely be back to try it again. The large was reasonably priced at ~$7.50, and V.T. the owner is super friendly.

Tommy’s City Grill “Philly Cheese Steak”

I love “Philly’s” AKA Cheese Steaks, not to be confused with the incorrect name “steak and cheese”. I have been on a bit of a mission to find the best “Philly” around town and I think I found it at Tommy’s City Grill in South Burlington, Vermont.

I ordered a 12″ Philly, by default is comes with sauteed onions, green peppers, and pricey red peppers. I also added mushrooms to mine; the house mushrooms at Tommy’s are shitacki!

The steak is nice and tender, no chewy gristle. American cheese shines in this sandwich, layered between the toasted roll and the steak and sauteed peppers and onions, the cheese flows through all of these elements.

Also of importance is the roll, if you’ve ever had an “authentic” Philly, you’ll recognize the roll. Long, fairly narrow, with cornmeal on the bottom, the last two photos are of the bottom of the Philly. The roll is coated with oil or butter and toasted on the grill, giving it a slight crunch adding to the delicious texture. While the peppers and mushrooms may not be authentic, they add to this sandwich, it’s like having a slightly different sandwich with every bite combination.

The chef at Tommy’s City Grill went to school at NECI which may have a little something to do with this inspired sandwich. The 12″ is normally $8.75, with mushrooms added it’s just over $9.