- Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano.

Each week, three different guests recommend their favorite restaurants, then try each other's picks and come together to tell us what they think.

Right here on Check Please.

Hi, I am Kae Lani Palmisano and welcome to Check Please the show where regular people from all over the Philadelphia area recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So here's how it all works.

Every week we have three guests.

Each guest recommends their favorite restaurant and then the other two go check them out to see what they think.

This week we've got a very special episode for you, featuring three of WHYY's very own hosts.

From Studio two, Avi Wolfman-Arent and Cherri Gregg are bringing their favorite spots, a swanky African fusion restaurant in Gray's Ferry and a coffee and pastry spot doing some serious window service on Passyunk Avenue.

But up first You Oughta Know host Shirley Min is WHYY's resident Delaware expert, and she's bringing this iconic steakhouse to the table.

For your next big night out, jump on 95 South and head to Harry Savoy Grill in Wilmington.

In - This has been part of this community since 1940.

We purchased it in 1988 and we remade it into a restaurant that was gonna celebrate classics.

We could never come up with a name.

We had run into three or four people named Harry and they were all great people.

The most famous place in the world for Prime Rib was the Savoy Grill in London.

What if this was Harry's Savoy Grill?

And that's how it came to be.

I think what sets us apart from other steakhouses is you can get a steak here and you expect to get a great steak here, but you're gonna come here and say, wow, they have handmade pastas, they have great seafood.

- We really emphasize on freshness and using local ingredients.

We do specialty cocktails that we change up all the time depending on the season.

So it's a pretty aggressive cocktail program that I'm proud of.

- We have some very classic things like Clams Casino packed with bacon and butter and the vegetables on top and roasted our crab cakes.

We've had jumbo lump and colossal lump crab cakes since we've opened.

Our signature item was prime rib, which was very unusual because at the time Prime rib was not a feature item.

So we said No, we're gonna go back and we're gonna do it with the way that made prime rib famous.

I'd like our guests to walk in here and see people they recognize on the floor from our staff and see people that they recognize from their community in the seats.

- I want them to feel that it was worth it.

I want them to say, can you make me a reservation for next week?

I just want them to feel - Valued.

- Valued.

Yes.

- Shirley, this is a classic steakhouse.

Why did you pick Harry Savoy?

- Harry's Savoy Grill is an institution in Wilmington and I think it embodies Delaware in that it's traditional, but it's not overly fancy.

And the things they do, they do really well.

- Do you have some favorite dishes?

- Yes.

So Harry's is known for their prime rib.

They do that really well and sometimes I try to go there and I try to veer off the menu, but I almost always go back to the prime rib because it's so good and I can't resist it.

It was incredible.

Just I, I like it rare, so I got it rare.

The aju is nice and beefy and salty and just everything I wanted in a prime rib.

And then it comes with this potatoes all gritten.

It's so good.

Their shrimp cocktail always is lights out and I like that.

It says it's jumbo shrimp cocktail and when the shrimp comes out, it is jumbo.

- I had the hot crab and artichoke dip for my appetizer and it was totally solid.

You had the same thing.

I got - The same thing.

Get out.

Delicious.

It's almost like y'all are on the save wing lake.

Yeah, - Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's true.

It was real classic.

You know, I feel like that's kind of a classic dish, right?

- Yeah.

- Hot crab orange.

I've never - Heard it there.

I do love it.

But do they serve it with pita or - It'll, it's a little, it's a little piece of focaccia bread.

- Oh, - Okay.

That they kind of put on a grill and they serve it in one of those little mini skillets love mini skill.

So that's a nice presentation and totally solid.

Exactly like it was what I expected.

It wasn't too gloopy or heavy, which you can get with some of those creamy dips sometimes.

Yep.

It was, it felt light enough, but still heavy enough to feel like, you know, satisfying.

- Surely.

This last time around you got something new, the Clams Casino.

- Yes.

Was it?

Ooh.

So I love Clams Casino and what's funny, and this is gonna sound wrong, it came out, the clams were huge.

They were hot, it had a little bit of the breading and some bacon.

I wanted more filler.

You know, you sometimes want less filler on dishes like that.

I wanted a little more of like the cheesy taste to it.

It was a little overpowered by bacon, but it was still delicious.

- So my entree was also crab.

I haven't, I didn't really think this through.

Okay.

I don't know why I got crab for Because you were in the mood then.

You were in the mood.

I was in the mood.

Mood I got, we got the crab cakes.

The crab cakes were good and there was lots of actual crab in there and it was delicious.

- I got the lobster roll.

It was so good it, they put it on a toasted buttery roll and it was a lot of lobster.

And then they had fries that were perfect and I'm a fry like snob.

Their fries were perfectly salted.

You didn't even need ketchup.

And like I said, they toasted the roll and it was buttery and it was just so delicious.

- A nice steak.

You gotta have some red wine.

I know.

Shirley, we are some red wine ladies.

- Yes.

- Tell us a little bit about the wine list.

- It's expansive but it's not overwhelming.

So you have a lot of options by the glass, a lot of bottles that you can choose from.

I had had a Pinot noir and then a second glass of Cabernet and I was really pleased with both glasses.

- I got a mocktail called the Infusion.

It was delicious.

And I thought it was well priced.

It was light, it had ginger in it, it had some fizz in it.

I feel like it complimented the, the whole meal that I had.

So it was great.

- And how about the best course of the meal dessert?

- How was your dessert?

My dessert was delicious.

I got, they had a 13 layer carrot cake.

- Oh the dang.

- It was huge.

It was delicious.

And I love carrot cake.

So this is probably one of the best slices of carrot cake I've ever gotten.

The layers were very thin.

They had this cream cheese icing in between.

They had these candied currents on the side that were infused with brandy.

There was a candied carrot on the top and some carrot butter on the plate.

And you would take it down, dip it in the carrot butter, grab a couple of those candy currents and eat it.

And let me tell you, I made, that's where I made all my friends in the bar because they were like, can I have a piece?

And then we were like, no, that good.

Gotta order your own.

But it was - Huge.

Yeah, - It was $20.

But you could literally share that with four people.

That's how big it was.

And I took more than half home.

- Do you often get dessert Shirley?

- Not often.

My husband though, is a big dessert person, so he ordered the warm blueberry cobbler.

I do love, - That was my second choice cobbler though.

It was good.

- Yeah, it was in a little soup bowl kind of dish.

Really?

It was hot.

And it had that cold vanilla ice cream on top.

See that's want mean.

It was delicious.

- Well, surely this is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Harry's is not somewhere you're going to get cutting edge food, but it's where you're going to get traditional American food.

That's done really well.

- It was like 30, 40 years ago when you went out for fine dining.

I feel like every place was like Harry's.

But a lot of those places have died off and everyone's trying to do something kind of edgier.

- Yes.

- And then you go back now and you're like, man, I miss places like this.

I don't go to places like this anymore.

- It is time for a steakhouse renaissance.

Yeah, it - Might be.

It might be.

- And it met expectations for me.

And I mean sometimes it's hit or miss with restaurants.

But it was nice.

You you, I wasn't, it was worth the ride down 95.

You know, you go there, it's like, all right.

- That's a strong - Statement.

This was good.

No, because you know, I live in Philly, had to drive 30 minutes, get there, but I wasn't disappointed.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So the food was good and that the, that dessert hit it out the ballpark for me.

So for sure.

There you go.

- Try out Harry's Savoy Grill.

Located at 2020 Naaman's Road in Wilmington.

3 0 2 4 7 5 3000.

Reservations are accepted on The average tab per person without drinks is $70.

When Cherri Greg is off the air, she likes to relax at this Grays Ferry date night spot for dishes with inspiration from Africa to the Caribbean, Cherri recommends Prime Fusion lounge.

- Eight years ago, moved to Philadelphia.

I realized there wasn't too many dine-in West African styled restaurants.

South Philadelphia.

It's a great diverse neighborhood and that reflects our clienteles as well.

We have people that are familiar with the cuisine, people that are coming for the first time to try the cuisine 'cause they've heard about how great it is.

The reception so far, it's excellent.

You're more than a restaurant.

You come here, you get to experience not just the food, some aspects of the culture from the decor to the music.

It's a melt of pot.

Being able to bring authentic Nigerian dishes and also fusion.

I would describe West Catholic cuisine as very diverse.

We try to touch on the popular dishes back home.

It's bold flavors with spicy and hot.

We have some very popular dishes like the Rasta Pasta or Oxa, which is Caribbean heritage.

You also are able to bring that with our own spin on it.

Crime is just associated with excellence.

That's what we try to bring to the table.

I think that in every African household you're introduced to cooking from childhood.

Growing up in a Nigerian household, food is a big part of the day.

Dinner's always a time to spend with family.

Sit there on the table, enjoying home-cooked meals.

Cooking is a heart of love.

I would hope that guests had a very fulfilling experience.

Got to experience part of the West African culture.

Wanna bring people back, wanna come back with their families and celebrate life.

- Cherri.

This is a taste of West African flavors in Grays Ferry.

Why did you pick it?

- Well, first of all, I love West African food.

I love food from the diaspora anyway.

And so this restaurant, they have that jo of rice, they have oxtails, they have all the flavors of West Africa and it's, it just feels so soulful when you go in there.

And I love the vibe.

- And what were some of the things that you ordered this last time around?

- It's a great place to go and just sit at the bar and get drinks.

Have a few appetizers.

They're, they're perfectly priced, but I really like their, their egg rolls.

They have cheese steak, egg rolls.

They also have coconut shrimp.

Those were the two dishes I got.

And like I said, I love their, their appetizers and so I had to get two.

- Ooh.

Okay.

So walk us through each of these.

You had the cheese steak, egg rolls.

Yes.

Was it, were they like crispy on the outside?

- They were crispy on the outside.

They had ground beef in there and it was very cheesy.

And they gave you two and they were pretty big size and they sliced them up.

And then they had this really sweet sauce that you dip it in and it was very delicious.

And then I got the coconut shrimp and the shrimp are really big and they gave you the sweet sauce to go with that as well.

So you can kind of dip all your items in their - Oh, I love a dip party.

Like and their sweet - Chili sauce.

Yeah, it was delicious.

- So I ordered the beef soya and it was beef with Nigerian spices.

And I was warned it was going to be very spicy.

Okay.

But I like spicy.

- So you can handle the heat.

- Yeah, I can handle the heat.

And it was little strips of beef with raw red onion and raw grape tomatoes.

So it did a number on my breath.

But it's a date night morning right there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it was spicy.

It tasted okay.

My, I think the temperature, which it was cooked, it was overcooked and so it was very tough.

- So I did not get a traditional appetizer.

I just, because I wanted to go my own way.

So I ended up for my appetizer, having one of their soups.

And it was a spicy soup.

It was the goat meat, hot pepper soup.

The best thing I had there.

So good.

So good.

That was the high of the meal for me.

The goat meat was shockingly tender, fall off the bone.

So tender.

The broth I assumed was gonna be more like thick stew.

Like it was actually a very thin broth.

More like a, like a beef broth.

It was spicy, it was delicious.

And they served it with, I think it's called fufu.

It's this pounded yam.

The waiter said like just break off a chunk and dip it in the soup - And - It really helps calm down the spice a lot.

Hmm.

It in itself did not have a lot of flavor, but if you just took a spoonful of the broth, it was the type of dish that you just don't find a lot.

Right.

Like it was, it felt like discovering something for the entree.

We did the jerk catfish also Excellent strange dish.

It was catfish but then there was also shrimp on it.

Then there was also strangely enough some cheese, which is very unusual.

- Yeah.

For catfish.

Yeah.

- But, and - Especially with fish.

With fish - Actually worked was really good.

You could pick what you wanted to have with it as an accompaniment.

And we went with joof rice and that was delicious.

- I got the oxtail RAA pasta and I love oxtails.

And it was, they were tender.

They were delicious.

They gave you like three pieces of oxtail in there and the pasta itself, it was delicious and had a little bit of a kick to it.

I love spicy food by the way.

I just want to whole disclaimer.

And so it had like the perfect amount of spice and it was just absolutely good.

And I just took the oxtail, wrapped it with that spaghetti.

That was, and it was, it had these spices in it and you could see chunks of like green peppers and vegetables on top.

And you mix that.

- We can't skip over.

There is a staple dish.

Joof rice.

I know you tried it.

How was it?

I - Did get the joof and Ami.

You liked it.

It was very good.

It was delicious.

It was good.

It was fluffy, flavorful.

Yeah.

I really liked the texture.

You know, just growing up eating so much sticky rice.

It was nice to have something that was more ploy, you know?

Exactly.

It's very good.

- I know it's a standard thing.

I'm sure lots of people have had it.

I just hadn't had it and I loved it.

I would order that again for sure.

- And of course it's a bar too.

Did anyone get drinks?

- Low point for us was the drink.

Ah.

Dark and stormy.

- I got the dark and stormy too.

- So sweet.

Really, really sweet.

At least ours was.

- Oh really?

- Yes.

We would've won a little more balance with a drink.

It felt like it was, I'll stereotype a little bit.

A younger person who's out for a drink doesn't really want to taste the alcohol.

Maybe a little newer to drinking wants that sugar rush.

Was it yours?

Totally different.

- Well yeah, because the bartender said, well, do you like sweet?

And I said, no, I don't like sweet.

I said, but let me try the dark and stormy.

And he, I feel like made, made it less sweet because it was not sweet at all.

Mine was actually more sour and desserts.

- Did anyone try dessert?

- We got a cheesecake.

The only disappointment with it was that, you know, the soup and the entree were interesting.

The dessert we got was not interesting.

It was just a slice of cheesecake.

- Yeah.

The dessert that I wanted, they did not have ended up getting red velvet cake, which was good.

I love velvet cake.

I love anything with cream cheese icing.

And it wasn't like stellar but it was, it was good.

But I wish that they had their puff pastry dessert.

- Cherri prime fusion is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- Well if you like West African Caribbean and soul food, prime fusion is your spot.

- Avi, what's the big takeaway?

- This to me is a place with a ton of potential and it has a chance to be a really special spot.

- And Shirley, what are your final thoughts?

- I just did not pick the right things that really represented West Africa.

I do wish that the wait staff had steered me in a different direction.

You know, I was really looking for that West African experience when I asked for that.

I think they kind of led me in the wrong direction.

So I would hope that if you have someone come in there asking for this question, maybe they can say, look.

Well how West African are we talking?

How - Spicy do you want it to be?

Yeah.

- How spicy you know.

And then maybe we can figure out a different ordering path than what I experienced.

- Check out Prime Fusion lounge for yourself.

Located at 2425 Grays Ferry Avenue in Philadelphia.

2 6 7 7 0 8 6 8 3 6.

Reservations are accepted and the average tab per person is $55.

Before Avi gets on the mic, he likes to fuel up at this East Passyunk Avenue Cafe for pastries, coffees, and a hidden gem bagel.

He stops at Vanilya in South Philly.

- This is Vanilya Bakery.

I'm Turkish and Vanilya means vanilla in Turkish.

So when I first opened up this place, I thought that it was a perfect fit.

I was born in Turkey, lived in America since I was five years old.

Food was a big part of my life.

My mom and grandmother always bake.

The thing that has the most of my influence are the bagels because I grew up eating them in Brooklyn.

And this bagel that I make here is very similar to the bagel shop that I used to walk to with my brother.

My parents were butchers and my mom used to make suji, which is a Turkish sausage.

So we sell a suic egg and cheese, which is something that's very close to my heart because it's my mom's recipe.

I have a neighbor across the street who is from Ecuador and she loved guava and cheese hand pies.

And she would come by every time I tried to make one.

And finally she's like, this tastes like home.

That was about eight years ago.

And we still sell the guava and cheese hand pie.

The takeout window was put in during COVID.

So essential for people that are walking their dogs and also for new moms who can never be able to get a stroller into the South Philly business.

'cause there's three steps to get in anyway.

So that's one of the reasons why we have the takeout window and why the takeout window will stay.

Everything at this bakery is 100% from scratch.

We try our best to use local products and it's always seasonal.

I think Vanilya is home to me and I think that it should feel like home to everybody that comes here.

- Obvious Avi.

This is like literally a hole in the wall.

Yeah.

On East Passyunk, surrounded by tons of great restaurants.

Why did you pick it?

- There are, I would say, about five places that have been on like the best of Philly list, top 50 restaurants in the city on this one block.

So you could be forgiven for walking by Vanilya and not stopping in because like you said, it's actually just a storefront.

They slide open a window and take your order.

But the upshot of this place is very simple in my opinion.

They have the best bagels in all of Philadelphia.

I like 'em all.

Cheddar is one of my favorite.

Zatar is one of my favorite.

The Cacho Pepper.

Also really good.

- Aside from just cream cheese.

This last time around you tried something with green olive in it.

- It was, yeah.

Green olive cream cheese.

It's not like what you go for.

To me it's just the bagel.

They have a classic breakfast, egg, and cheese.

They also have one with Turkish sausage, which is a nice little mix up.

- I got two different sandwiches.

I got the broad and the Morris, the broad.

I had a plain bagel.

It had brie on it.

It had fig jam and it had arugula.

Hmm.

It was really good.

I can't say that I really like the the crusty chewy bagels because when you put all that together, it's a little tough to bite through.

But I like that flavor combination.

I thought the jam was so good.

I really do like their cream cheese.

On the second sandwich I got, which was the Morris, which was, it was smoked salmon.

They had some dill cream cheese and it was delicious 'cause I really like smoked salmon.

And I had the zaatar bagel with that one.

Oh, interesting.

And so, yeah, it was really good.

It's a nice lunch.

So I I I, I wanted to sample and see what they had and I think they only had two bagel options.

They were like plain O atar.

That's all they had.

- Yeah.

They sold out pretty fast.

- They sold out, they on it.

Slim - Pickens.

- Yeah.

It was Slim Pickens at that point.

Get early.

I had orange hibiscus tea with it.

It was a little sour for me.

They didn't have the lemonade that I really wanted, but my stepdaughter loved the hibiscus tea.

So that just goes to show like different flavors.

She was like, oh, I love hibiscus, I'll take it.

And I had an apple turnover or something.

Okay.

Which was absolutely delicious.

And it was very fresh.

It had a little crust to it that you could taste the full apples.

It wasn't too sweet.

It was just right.

- So I went for lunch and I got the morris also, which was the smoked salmon with the cucumber dill cream cheese, which I did like the cucumber dill cream cheese.

It was kind of tki it.

The bagel for me also was a little too chewy, particularly with a sandwich.

I also got a reed, which was a Turkey sandwich with avocado, maybe bacon and a harissa mayo.

- That sounds - Good.

It was good.

Except the second You took a bite because of that chew.

- Yeah, - Everything went shot out.

Shot out the back.

Harissa mayo everywhere.

Oh no.

And then we had no napkins.

Oh no.

So it was real messy.

- This place is, it is rough around the edges.

I will, I will admit that.

- Well we also, when we were looking at the menu, I think they make their pastrami in house based on what the menu read.

And that was what we had intentionally gone out to get.

And they were sold out.

- Yeah.

- So they were sold out of everything.

And then we also wanted the lemonade and they were sold out.

Sold out.

Yeah.

So we got the iced orange hibiscus tea as well.

There was a little bit of, okay, well now what?

Because as you're trying to figure out, well what else am I gonna have?

There's a line forming behind you at the window.

I, - So you gotta get - Decision.

And so decision, there's pressure and then it's like, well what do you want?

I did get cookies though too.

So I went crazy.

I got a ginger snap cookie.

Ooh.

I got a sugar cookie with Pelles all over it, which if you're gonna bake, Pelles are incredible because they give this nice crunch to everything.

I got a mudslide cookie and I got a brownie, which also had non parels.

The ginger snap cookie was Oh wow.

Incredible.

I would go back - For, I had the, the guava and cheese hand pie that was also really solid.

I like their pastries.

I like their cookies.

I get them occasionally.

- They're sweet.

They are really on - Sweet.

They're sweet.

I've often found, and I can't say for sure, but when, when I go up to the window, oftentimes the person taking your order appears to be the child or one of the children of the owner.

Yeah.

So it's mom, mom and pop for sure.

It's a true mom and hot place.

And their capacity's not huge, but I think if you know what to order it's, it's a place that will surprise you.

- Avi, this is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- One of the most surprising, pleasantly surprising bagels I've had in my whole life.

I, I think it's the best in the city.

And you would never think it walking by.

You wouldn't even think that it was a bagel spot.

So prepare to be prepared to be surprised a little bit by a mom and pop bakery.

- Surely what's the big takeaway?

- I think I am going to try to go again in the morning.

Keep it simple.

But I would encourage the folks at Vanilya please.

Napkins.

Please maybe consider a bench.

But cookies.

You're doing a good job with the cookies.

- Cherri bring it on home.

- I really like the pastry that I got.

The apple turnover was delicious.

I say you have to get there early.

I got there at almost one o'clock and my choices were very limited.

But I will go back on the strength of Avi's Stumping for Vanilya.

Like I gotta go back.

Come on, I gotta go back.

- Grab a coffee and a bagel to go at Vanilya.

Located at 1611 East Pass Young Avenue in South Philly.

9 1 7 7 5 1 7 0 4 4.

Reservations are not accepted.

And the average tab per person without drinks is $15.

So on this week's show, we featured Harry's Savoy Grill in Wilmington Prime Fusion Lounge in Grays Ferry and Vanilya in South Philly.

Special thanks to my guests, Shirley Min, Cherri Gregg and Avi Wolfman-Arent.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending their favorite restaurants right here on Check Please.

And don't forget to find us on Instagram and TikTok.

We're at Check Please Philly.

I'm Kae Lani Palmisano and I'll see you next time.

Cheer, cheer.

Cheer.

Thank.