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Must-Try Items from Our Menu

With the unexpected and unwelcome spread of COVID-19, it seems like everything’s been turned completely upside down. Businesses have been shuttered and people have resorted to staying indoors for prolonged periods of time in order to help stop, or at least slow, the spread of this disease.

While the past few months certainly have been unpredictable and we made the tough decision to voluntarily close our locations and halt our Philly catering for a time in the best interest of our employees and patrons, we’ve kept you up to date on ways to stay healthy and active indoors – and stressed the importance of not becoming isolated from the people that are important to you.

Since we’ve always placed a focus on healthy living and wellness, we shared some of our tips for staying healthy at home and ways to engage the mind in the past few weeks, and we hope you capitalized on some of them. It can be tough to be stuck inside all the time with what seems like no end in sight.

But there is an end in sight. New cases of the disease have been on the decline and our governor has engaged in talks of easing the restrictions that are currently in place. On May 1st, 2020 we were proud to announce the reopening of some of our locations under a temporary new operating schedule.

Once again, our Penn’s Landing, University City, and Dilworth Plaza locations are open for take-out, though you can also order online or by phone and pick up in-store. We’re looking forward to offering you the level of service for which we are so well known once again in the near future, but until then, keep up to date on our developments by following our blog and visiting our site. For details on ordering online, visit our homepage, and for an up to date schedule of our new hours, visit our locations page.

While we are operating under altered and limited hours and are only offering a limited menu, we have to take this chance to give you a little something extra to look forward to for our full service reopening. When we announce our reopening, you’ll have to take advantage of some of these highlights from our full menu that we offer in our locations.

Highlights for Coffee and Breakfast 

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We’re not doctors – maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. We are culinary wizards, though, and we can tell you with confidence that breakfast has great potential to be much more than cold cereal or an apple.

If it is the most important meal of the day, then you might as well elevate it to the status it deserves with some of these fresh offerings from our breakfast menu.

Waterfront Lox

In our Waterfront Lox, we take a classic breakfast menu item and put it on a pedestal the likes of which will probably not be rivaled from here on out. It comes on your choice of bagel, so you can complement the flavors that follow in any way you choose. From there, we lay a foundation of rich cream cheese and full-bodied, savory salmon that are enough sustenance on their own. Then we grace this palette of colors and flavors with spicy red onions, tomatoes, and succulent, crisp cucumbers. The finishing touch of capers adds the perfect zing to the piece and brings out all of the subtleties in flavor. The brine adds a little kick, too. There’s lox, and then there’s our Waterfront Lox. Do not confuse the two.

Breakfast A La California

Our Waterfront Lox is a classic with a zesty twist, but out Breakfast A La California is a nourishing experience to be reckoned with. Amazingly filling and made from wholesome, fresh, healthy ingredients, it’s something you need to try at least once if you visit us for breakfast. It is bursting with an extraordinary combination of flavors and is a definite must try – it comes with two home fried eggs and a full half of an avocado. It’s hard to beat that in its own right, but from there we add the graces of tangy cilantro, refreshing feta cheese, and a hearty sriracha sauce, replete with the notes of garlic and sweet chilis. It’s like a three-course meal in its own right – at a fraction of the calories.

These are only a pair of our breakfast offerings – and there’s so much more to showcase we almost can’t wait to detail them for you in future blog posts, so if you like what you see make sure you stay up on our blog.

Of course, few breakfasts (if any) are complete without the stimulating, invigorating influences of fresh coffee. Here at Waterfront Gourmet, we serve distinguished, signature coffees from bali espresso, along with cappuccino, cold brews, iced coffees, lattes, and many more. Peruse our menu online and when we reopen, give the more salient, eye-catching options a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Gourmet Lunch Dishes

Our breakfast offerings are world-class in their own right, but here at Waterfront Gourmet, and we take the same pains to serve up excellence in each and every one of our dishes. When it comes to lunch, we get the extra yard to titillate your taste buds with novel twists on classic dishes. When we reopen, make sure you give these a try. Here are some of our highlights.

London Broil

This is such a classic concoction that we could almost forgive you for thinking that you’ve been there, done that, and subsequently seen it all. We could but we’d rather challenge you to try our own London Broil, which goes by the same name as the classic but which we have reinvented with new life.

We take delectable, juicy roast beef that is absolutely bursting with umami, slice it thinly and tuck it with care into a bed of peppery arugula and sweet, roasted peppers, before melting rich and creamy provolone cheese over the entire contents. We serve it on a hearty focaccia roll that has been graced with a piquant basil pesto to add a little extra flair to the sandwich. The flavors come together in a delightful symphony of richness that does not fail to satisfy. If you love beef, this is a must-try.

Pier 5 Cheesesteak

This is another hearty dish for those that really love a satisfying lunch. Philadelphia is famous for its cheesesteaks, and we’d be remiss in our duties as one of Philly’s fine eateries if we didn’t let you in on this little secret: our Pier 5 Cheesesteak is in a league of its own.

We take distinctively seasoned fillets of roast beef and pair them with melted pepper jack cheese for an unforgettable combination. The pepper jack cheese adds a kick to the sandwich and a whole lot of character. From there, we perfect the offerings with a flight of red peppers, red onions, and mushrooms. Finally, and not that there is one secret ingredient, we add the final winning note – our spicy mayonnaise. A cheesesteak is a satisfying meal to begin with, but ours is a sensory experience.

Chipotle Chicken Panini

Here’s another serious delight that is completely alive with vibrant flavors, united in an entirely incomparable manner. We take our zesty chipotle chicken breast, which you could honestly make a meal of on its own, and then decorate it with grand finery. We melt chipotle Gouda over the offering and then anoint it with bacon and avocado. The salty goodness of bacon and the savory, filling delight of avocado is a pairing that everyone should experience at least once, but we make it even better. To this already beautiful painting for the palate, we add onions for some extra zing, and then we bless the entire offering with sweet, delicious honey mustard. It’s one of a kind, delicious, and heartily satisfying.

Asian Decker

We’ll let you in on one more hidden gem before we get on to the next category, since, after all, we have to let your imagination roam a little bit. This is one to do it.

Our Asian Decker is a true achievement of culinary ingenuity and innovation. This sandwich is a triple-decker with a delicate balance of flavors that will absolutely thrill you. Its signature notes come from the Boar’s Head Ichiban Teriyaki Chicken that makes up the backbone of the sandwich, and it is further complemented by a rainbow of flavors in the form of tomatoes, lettuce, avocado set off by the pleasing saltiness of crispy bacon. Our finishing touch comes in the form of Russian Mayo that gives a pleasing bite to the entire dish, while at the same time providing a satisfying backdrop for all of the flavors to come together.

Healthy Offerings

We might be best known at Waterfront Gourmet as the insightful culinary artisans that have brought you the above selections to stimulate and satisfy, but the truth is we put health and freshness at the front of everything we do. That’s why a large portion of our menu is composed of vegan-friendly and vegetarian dishes aimed at the needs of the health-conscious. Many of our dishes that you will find on our menus, including our Philly catering menu, are made with locally sourced ingredients, and all of them are always fresh and always amazing. If you are looking for the healthiest of meals that will still delight you and leave you feeling satisfied, give some of these a try once we open back up.

Veggie Panini

Our Veggie Panini is parading around under the disguise of being a light meal. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a very healthy offering, but it will still excite your senses and leave you with a feeling of great satisfaction when you finish it. It’s the best of both worlds – healthy eating and delicious, satiating flavor. 

Don’t hold your breath for this one – on this sandwich we arrange a delicate and flavorful balance of spinach, tomato, peppers, onions, avocado, sprouts, and mushrooms. That brings together the notes of sweetness, spice, unctuousness, piquancy, and more into one healthy package. On top of it all, we add select pepper jack cheese and honey mustard for an even more satisfactory zing.

Arugula Apple Salad

There are times when you just really feel the need for the crisp, refreshing bite and flavors of a healthy yet pleasing salad. This is one of our top offerings in salads at Waterfront Gourmet, and for good reason.

If you’ve ever had the pair together (it’s a pretty common combo) then you might know to expect the tart sweetness of the apples to dance a delicate waltz with the almost citrusy bite of the arugula. To this already stellar mating, we pair the additional sweetness and bitterness of tomatoes, cranberries, and raisins with almonds, walnuts, and goat cheese. The entire dish almost sings its own praises. It has everything from sweetness to tartness to the peppery notes of the arugula, and the nuts and goat cheese add a pleasantly filling finish.

These are only some of the dazzling offerings that you can find on our full menu, that you will be able to enjoy once we reopen under our normal hours and schedule. Rest assured, you can find many more delectable items on both our in-store and the menu we offer for Philly catering, and if you check back soon we’ll do more exposés on some of our choice selections.

We’ve been proud to serve the Philadelphia area with fresh, healthy dishes crafted from local ingredients during our history, and though we are operating under a limited schedule, we can’t wait to open back up at full capacity.

Till then, be sure to order your favorite dishes online or by phone and pick them up at one of our open locations, and stay posted to our website and our blog. We’ll update you with news and announcements as they become available.

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