The process of choosing a “Top 10″ list to represent the most exciting dining options of the moment in a food city as vibrant as Philadelphia is an inspiring pursuit, and it should be a dynamic collection that evolves from year to year. But it can also be an exercise in frustration, because there are so many other places I find essential for different reasons. An important restaurant in transition. A great pizzeria that also makes some of the best sandwiches in America’s greatest sandwich city. Some frequently revisited favorites of my family for takeout or special dumplings worth a trip. A chameleon kitchen with a range of dining styles where the highlight of its luxury tasting experience also happens to be Philly’s best burger. So consider this showcase of some additional places a little lagniappe, my restaurant notes on another special six.

1/10

• Kalaya Thai Kitchen

  4 W Palmer St Philadelphia

  

  Any serious list of essential restaurants in Philadelphia should include Kalaya, chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s vibrant homage to the flavors of her native Southern Thailand, with boldly spiced curries, bountiful seafood hot pots, fragrant rice salads, and exquisite tapioca dumplings shaped like birds and sky blue flowers. There’s a reason Suntaranon is a two-time James Beard finalist: Her uncompromising cuisine is considered by many to be among the best Thai food in America. Her restaurant, though, is in a moment of transition as she closes the intimate Italian Market BYOB on South Ninth Street that launched her star and moves into a much grander, full-service space in Fishtown with new partners (Suraya, Condesa, and Pizzeria Beddia) that guarantee Kalaya 2.0 will make a major splash later this year.

  • Websitekalaya.net
  • Instagram@kalayaphilly
  • Phone(215) 385-3777

• Angelo’s Pizzeria

  736 S 9th St

  

  I was hardly surprised when Angelo’s Pizzeria took home the top prize for Philly’s best Italian hoagie in the Inquirer Hoagie Bracket competition this spring when 7,500 readers filled-out their choices from 16 contenders. Angelo’s was my top pick, too, in large part because of its bread — the house-baked, seeded long rolls whose crackle fresh crunch helps every ingredient inside resonate with extra savor, down to the oregano-dusted onions that add an herbal juiciness and snap. Owner Danny DiGiampietro’s passion for dough has been at the core of Angelo’s runaway success since he opened in the former Sarcone’s Deli in early 2019. It’s the reason his shop is one of the few that does multiple specialties at the highest level, from hoagies to cheesesteaks (try it on garlic bread), to roast pork and meatball specials. And then, of course, there are Angelo’s stellar pizzas, which come in various shapes, but whose hearty square Upside Down Jawn is a definitive example of cheese-below-sauce greatness. Angelo’s also serves up a dose of Italian Market wit. The “Scoochamenz” (Italian-American slang for “pain in the butt”) isn’t just a cheeky name for a tasty thin-crusted round pie, it comes with enough fiery toppings (long hots, hot sausage, hot honey) to live up to its name.

  • Websiteangelospizzeriasouthphiladelphia.com
  • Instagram@angelos_pizzeria_south_philly
  • Phone(215) 922-0000

• River Twice

  1601 E Passyunk Ave

  

  Where to go for a dinner splurge? If you love cutting-edge cuisine infused with quirky spontaneity, book a seat for the chef’s counter at Randy Rucker’s East Passyunk atelier across from the Singing Fountain, where the Texas-born chef riffs through 18 or so courses infused with funky ferments and premium ingredients spun with seasonal inspirations and singular creativity. River Twice is, in fact, many things,a vibrant hub of chef collaborations and early week themed dinners, four-course family-style meals on Mondays for $55,; plus a special occasion destination the rest of the week for seven-course $95 tastings inside the little dining room as well as the spacious outdoor streetery. The more expansive $165 chef’s counter experience, though, is where Rucker lets it rip like few Philly chefs can. Our summer meal ranged from mini-tomato sandwiches topped with golden osetra to bottarga-dusted Athena melons, charcoal-roasted soft shell crabs glazed in caviar koji butter, grilled New Jersey sushi rice disks topped with salumi and uni, razor clams with fermented white asparagus butter and herbaceous wormwood granita. Then, just when we thought we could eat no more, the chef delivered Philly’s most perfect burger divided in two. He knew that, even after a dozen other small plates, his double-patty Mother Rucker would be impossible to resist. He wasn’t wrong.

  • Websiterivertwicerestaurant.com
  • Instagram@rivertwicephl
  • Phone(267) 457-3698

• White Yak

  6118 Ridge Ave

  

  Momo! Momo! Momo! The chant in my mind starts softly, then quickly grows stronger until I have a full-on craving for these Tibetan dumplings, and I’m compelled to climb the steep and winding slope of Green Lane until I land at the Roxborough plateau, where White Yak has my vote for Philly’s best cold weather restaurant. There’s just something so satisfying about the hearty noodle skins that chef-owner Treley Parshingtsang pleats into artful bundles around a variety of meats with different sauces. I’ve especially come to love some of the newer additions to the repertoire since White Yak opened in 2019, the tangy spice of the Firecracker momos and the Himalayan momos half submerged in the milder, balanced curry flavor of their house pepper sauce. That’s only just the beginning of White Yak’s wonders, which Parshingtsang delivers with a distinctively light but flavorful touch, from stir fries of garlicky eggplant, pork belly and leeks, chili chicken and dried tofu with vegetables. I’m also obsessed with Thenthuk, a hearty oxtail soup with velvety hand-ripped noodles that tastes even better with a salty hot cup of buttered tea.

  • Websitewhiteyakrestaurant.com
  • Instagram@whiteyakrestaurant
  • Phone(215) 483-0764
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• Kingston 11

  6405 Woodland Ave

  

  I’m usually skeptical of Instagram sensations, but Abbygale Bloomfield’s Jamaican takeout dynamo in Southwest Philly — with 207,000 followers — meets the hype with some of the most skillful Caribbean cooking in town. Check social media to see what daily specials are hot, like the smoky jerk lamb, or especially the every-other-day jerk fried chicken that’s worth the trip. (You also can buy a bag of the jerk fry mix from Bloomfield’s growing Worthwhile Foods condiment company to cook at home.) But I also dream of sinking my teeth again into some of the menu’s exceptional standards — sublimely tender curried goat and oxtails glossed in dark gravy, and an indulgent mac and cheese that all rank among the region’s best. Crowds and long waits are a persistent downside (call ahead!) but Kingston 11 has nonetheless become one of Woodland Avenue’s most essential highlights.

  • Websitekingston-11-jamaican-restaurant.business.site
  • Instagram@kingston11_philly
  • Phone(215) 596-0216

• Tamalex

  1163 S 7th St

  

  South Philadelphia has many great Mexican kitchens. But over the course of the pandemic, the cheerfully muraled corner of Tamalex has emerged as a frequent family favorite for takeout that combines quality, variety, and value. Chef-owner David Piña’s kitchen serves up excellent renditions of specialties from the Puebla region that makes up the large part of South Philly’s Mexican community, from thousands of tamales each weekend (I love the verde and rajas con queso flavors) to a dark and complex mole, hand-pressed huaraches, crispy gorditas, masa pockets stuffed with chicharrones, cemita and pambazo sandwiches, and perhaps my favorite pozole in town. Tamalex also serves Honduran specialties, and a well-built burrito whose green flour tortillas is wrapped around crispy bits of al pastor meat with rice and beans that merits an exception to my usual preference for corn tortilla specialties only.

  • Websitetamalexphilly.com
  • Instagram@tamalex_restaurant
  • Phone(215) 465-1665