Uncle Jimmy Eats: SoPhi & The Glories of the West

It was brought to my attention yesterday that everyone does not know the glories of the Asian markets in South Philadelphia.

(Ow Wait! I think I just made up a new word - SoPhi - Wow. THAT'S going to be a hit. Or did someone else already invent that? Either way, watch me use it ad nauseum in the rest of the piece.)

Of course there are also some in Chinatown but SoPhi is closer to me and as a result, where I do my shopping.

It first occurred to me when a friend told me of her recent discovery.

Oh. Shit. I thought. EVERYONE should be able to enjoy the wonder.

So I wrote a post about it. You want to hear it? Here it goes:

1. egg tarts (F yeah)

2. the amazing, exotic, and cheap produce

3. the fact that you can't leave w/o buying some strange thing like shrimp flavored candy

4. your entire Christmas list can be taken care of in one shot and it will be cheaper then you have ever experienced before (Knives, bowls, teas, soaps, and packaged products galore! Not to mention the free Asian newspapers you can grab on the way out which work great as wrapping paper)

5. the biggest bags of rice man has ever seen

6. peeping at the live toads, eels, and other creepy crawlies

7. the gargantuan sacks of rejected fortune cookies they practically pay you to take away

8. the free fish sauce or carton of eggs they give you when you spend over a hundred dollars

9. Mr. Browns Coffee (TOTALLY underrated. A little sweet - coming from a black coffee drinker - but you will still thank me later)

10. Pho is generally only a few steps away from any of the markets (beware of mixing a Mr. Brown with Vietnamese Coffee. Both delicious but together they create a cocktail for sweaty palms, eyeballs shaking in head and the sensation of wearing a really tight hat)