Philadelphia: Wedge&Fig + Monk's Cafe

On our second day at Philly, we chose Wedge&Fig to brunch at because of the cute name and they had the normal brunch menu along with BYOB. The cafe was small but they have seatings in the garden which we were instantly interested in.

The garden looked really realistic and made me feel like I was in the rain forest, the floor was made of pebbles too.

We ordered our food and had our waitress opened our bottle of wine. They also provided an ice jacket for our bottle which was pretty neat since a lot of places just give you an ice bucket - boring.

The Strawberry Stuffed French Toast came in quite a big portion, our friend SS wasn't able to finish it and had to wrap up the rest. It was good and not too sweet which I liked but I can't imagine having it again later when it's all soggy.

Knowing how J is, he ordered the Bacon-Lattice Mac + Cheese Pie. Looks insanely unhealthy. Bacon was really good though and surprisingly it wasn't really a big dish. The pie part didn't seem to really work so bacon mac + cheese would've been a lot better by itself.

I had the Eggs NOLA; I like eggs benedict but you have to make it right. What's special about this was the cornbread instead of your average English muffin. The cornbread was a thick cut which makes it a bit soggy to eat. Didn't exactly enjoy it too much because even the sauce was a bit lacking in flavor, I needed salt.

Most likely I wouldn't be coming back because everything felt average and even below that, but one thing, the waitress was really nice.

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The next morning we went to Monk's Cafe. I initially wanted to come here for dinner but SS was like we haven't tried it out this visit to Philly yet so let's just go there before heading back to NYC.

The restaurant was completely empty when we went for lunch. It was quite dim inside with no lights, the only light that we saw was coming from the outside.

They have a huge variety of beer. So this would be a heavenly place for beer lovers.

Started off with some Frog Legs, they were lightly fried and then covered in a light buffalo sauce. Really good, very meaty. If you never had frog, they're very similar to chicken but a little chewier than usual. These would be great beer food.

SS got the Monk's Duck Salad, amazing. Duck was cooked extremely well, meat was tender and soft and the salad had a nice vinaigrette dressing that was really appetizing. Wish I had the whole plate to myself.

J was hungry so he ordered the Rib Cap Steak that came with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes. This is a hungry man's food! Steak was good but could've been better, the cut was a bit tough but nonetheless enjoyable.

I ordered the Provence Mussels because I've been craving. This was a bit disappointing. I specifically wanted this pot because of the amount of vegetables that's in it, from mushrooms to peppers to celery to leeks and garlic, but it was the parsley and cream that made me ultimately want it. The broth was weak and light which I did not like. I wish it was thicker and heavier in taste because my mussels were lacking flavor. The mussels were also small.

The Pomme Frites came with the mussels and they were ok, the bourbon mayo dipping sauce was a bit bland. We all got full in the end regardless. I can definitely be satisfied with just the frogs and duck salad.

Wedge + Fig
160 N 3rd St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(267) 603-3090

Monk's Cafe
264 S 16th St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 545-7005