Silk City Diner

What We Ate:

Thai Chili Glazed One Pound Chicken Wings: 5 out of 5 stars

Baked Macaroni & Cheese w/ Garlic Bread Crust: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Pork Belly Empanadas w/ Sweet Potato, Jicama Slaw, Mango Tomatillo Relish, and Honey Mustard Sauce: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Freshly Cut Cheese Fries w/ Scallions and Chipotle Ketchup: 4.75 out of 5 stars

The Silk City diner at first looks simply like an old-fashioned diner car, complete with neon lights.  Upon further inspection, we realized that the establishment’s main doors had “use the other door” signs, pointing us to a bit down the street.  This is because the diner had actually grown so much that it took over buildings in both directions, to the left and the right of its original space.  After checking in, we walked through the original space that glowed of a bright red tinge, and got seated under an umbrella on some wooden benches.  The restaurant and bar was bustling with young, attractive people that made the old time diner theme recede to the back of our minds.  The outdoor seating carried more of an alternative theme, littered with décor such as a metal chicken sculpture over Nate’s left shoulder. 

Ever since I got food poising at school two years ago from the buffalo wings, I have always had a slight phobia of them.  I have to say, though, the experience I had last night at the Silk City diner was the complete antithesis of this.  The wings were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and for a good reason.  We asked the waitress if she would recommend the buffalo or thai chili variety, and without hesitation chose the former.  Coming with blue cheese dressing and some obligatory carrot and celery that we did not even touch, the eight count wings were nicely crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  They were phenomenally meaty wings that were fried just enough to have delicious chicken flavor that stood up to the sauce.  This dish was the definition of spicy and sweet, with bold chili flavor that contrasted with the sweetness of the sauce.  Jack forgot that the basketball we played earlier made his fingers quite dirty, but he was content to lick them anyway.  We mentioned the delectableness of the sauce to the bus boy, who replied with a “it’s just chili and sugar.”  But it was so much more than that.  We would have taken the sauce-drenched plate home with us if we could, but decided just to lick it right at our table instead. 

-Alec

After loving every bite of our first three appetizers, we were still a bit hungry.  We looked at the menu and ordered some of Silk City’s fresh cut homemade cheese fries.  The deep bowl of fries was delivered to our table, smothered in cheese sauce.  I recognized this sauce immediately from the mac and cheese we had earlier.  The fries were crispy and well salted and topped with chives, but most importantly, the delicious cheese sauce was layered in the entire bowl.  All of the other food was excellent, and the cheese fries were no exception.

-Nate

This evening Silk City Diner was our destination, and I was not surprised to see that it was once again in a not-so-great part of Philly. Once inside I was a bit confused to see the classic diner setting inside, but the waitress took us through the old diner car and out to a very nice and friendly outside eating area. Decorated with colorful chairs and strange statues, this was a great place to sit down with my friends Nate and Alec to have an amazing meal. I have to say that Silk City has provided me with my new favorite meal of the trip so far. We settled on the idea of ordering only appetizers due somewhat to pricing but also due to the delicious looking nature of the appetizer portion of the menu. We got the Thai-Chili wings, the crusty Mac & Cheese, the pork belly empanadas, and the cheese fries. Let’s first discuss the Mac & Cheese. Now, pasta is a favorite dish of mine served with most anything; it’s hard to mess up. The cooks here at Silk City really know how to make a fantastic mac though. I would put this dish clearly in my top macs of all time next to my own father’s. Served in an orange crucible and with crumbly garlic bread on top, the Silk City mac was a hit with everyone at the table. We almost had to fight for the last bite and nearly ordered more! I can’t stress enough the importance of the delectability of the creaminess in a mac & cheese, and they really did it right here, adding maybe some cumin and other spices into the melty cheese. It truly was one of the best appetizers I’ve ever eaten. After we dug into (and finished completely) our mac, we cut our two pork belly empanadas in halves and split them equally between the three of us with one left over. I was lucky enough to get the last bite here and was more than happy to snarf down the last half of this awesome dish. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when we ordered them but was definitely not disappointed. The pork belly was perfectly succulent and juicy, complementing nicely the jicama, sweet potato, mango and honey mustard sauce on the plate. The extra ingredients had a lovely sweet taste and went along with the savory empanadas. This was the best (and first) empanada I’ve ever eaten and I’d give it a 5 out 5. All of these appetizers combined to give us (unanimously decided) the best meal of the trip. I would absolutely recommend Silk City to anyone within 100 miles of this awesome chow-down spot.

-Jack