Philadelphia: Irwin's

📍 800 Mifflin St, Philadelphia, PA 19148 🌟 Featured in Bon Appétit as one of the best restaurants! Garlic-fried seafood: Under a small pile of fried shrimp and crispy skin, there are two types of fried lemon peels. I initially thought it was some boring garnish and almost had the waiter take it away after finishing the main part. But by accident, I picked up a bit to taste, and it turned out to be a large piece made of deep-fried, crispy lemon peel combined with salt-and-garlic-flavored lemon peel... It's like a snack! ✨ The lemon peel is fried to a golden brown, salty, fragrant, and garlicky—totally against the rules. I didn't expect their fried shrimp and fish to be better than the tempura in many tonkatsu and katsudon specialty shops. Even when it's almost cold on the table, you can still taste the juiciness and crispness, and it's not the kind of thick, batter-covered crust. The drop of chili oil on the mayonnaise is quite soulful. ✨I thought this kind of popular, old-school Sicilian restaurant wouldn't have many surprises left. The waitstaff probably serve the same dishes over and over, pretending to be busy with a roll of their eyes. The only fresh items on the menu are the front-page specials, like the oil-infused pea purée with scallops; the rest feels like the dishes at Quanjude beyond the roast duck—just there to fill up the menu. But surprisingly, almost every dish on the menu here is worth trying—no worries about encountering any half-hearted cooking. 🌟The scallops are tender and fresh, so fragrant that you'd think they were soaked in lard, similar to eating at Xin Rong Ji. The clams are all almost exactly the same size, making you wonder if there's some kind of military-style management. The simple flavor of white wine, parsley, and cheese is very rustic. The only thing to worry about at this restaurant is that you'll always eat too much. I finished an entire plate of fried eggplant, pepper, and tomato sauce pasta, and I was so full I felt dizzy. I really couldn't handle it anymore. 🤩 #MyDailyLife #LifeInNorthAmerica #FoodieCheckIn #GlobalEatingSquad