Couch Tomato Cafe

102 Rector Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
(215) 483-2233
Website

I LOVE the Couch Tomato Cafe. It is my favorite place to stop for a healthy bite when my weekend rides end up in Manyunk. It is relatively cheap, somewhat healthy and completely delicious.


I normally get a salad or some pizza (or both depending on how the ride was), but I happened to try the salad in wrap form last weekend. It was soo good. They really make some fresh creative salads, and they transferred well to the wrap format. Below is the Thai-phoon, which consisted of chicken, peanuts, carrots, cucumbers and cilantro, and a Thai peanut dressing. A little tip, order extra dressing on the side. The fresh cilantro really shined in this one, and I throughly enjoyed the combination of fresh crisp ingredients (shown with free cape cod chips on the side)


This one was the buffalo chicken wrap, which had some tomato, chicken and gorgonzola. A side of bleu cheese was a perfect dipping companion.

Food Shack

Once again, the Food Shack has wowed me. After eating uninspired unhealthy food for so long, the horseradish crusted tilefish over a mixed fresh tropical fruit salad with lime cilantro vinegarette was more than I could have hoped for. The crust was crunchy and had the sinus-tingling sting I love from fresh grated horseradish. The fish was cooked perfectly and the salad was so refreshing with the dressing, that I was completly satisfied, and felt healthier to boot. Another home run from the Food Shack.

Day Five: Indiantown to Jupiter

Today was an easy one. 28 miles is a cake walk after this ride. Although the forecast said it would be 35 degrees, after checking out of the room and walking outside, I discovered it to be about 50 out. Luckily I was wearing four shirts and long tights. So after a quick breakfast and shedding a couple of layers, this ride was smooth and fast. Awesome time, more pictures to come.




Also, in Indiantown, which has no bars and does not sell hard alcohol, they had Downingtown's own Victory Brewery Golden Monkey for $5.99 for a cork top 750 ml bottle! I am pretty sure that is cheaper than at the brewery.




Can't wait for the next tour/adventure.

Day Four: Clewiston to Indiantown

Today was an easy 60 miles. There were some unexpected detours but nothing too bad, and the weather and wind were mild.







I am getting tired of the mediocre unhealthy food on the lake. It looked promising at Mr. Jellyroll's in Pahokee, but it was some more sub-par unhealthy fried and diner food. Chicken fried steak with bland coleslaw and possibly the worst mac and cheese I have eaten. I mean Kraft would have been terrific in comparison. Ah well, that's what you get in sparsely populated areas.







This trip has been amazing thus far, and I will be sad to see it end tomorrow.

Day Three: Fishing on Lake Okeechobee

A well needed day off involved an early morning and a fishing trip on the lake.





It was cold and windy, and some people might have called it off (I heard people canceling as I checked in). The guide was from PA, so that gave us an instant topic of conversation. He really knew his stuff and I even caught a solid 6 pound fish, one of the largest bass I have landed.







And one more.







Here is a mud fish, an ugly, toothed whisker-less catfish. This is a junk fish that the fishermen hate. This one was about 7 pounds though, and gave an awesome fight.














It was a great day of fishing, and I would gladly do it again. I had to finish it off with some fish tacos and a beer at the Tiki Bar at the marina, complete with hush puppies. Very tasty.

Day Two: Okeechobee to Clewiston

Started out the day nursing the sunburn that turned me into a lobster on my arm and leg. I was even wearing lotion!
Thank godness for aloe.





Quick breakfast club sandwich across from the hotel and into the pouring rain. Luckily the rain only lasted for about a half hour. Now it was the wind's turn. Today was 50 miles of suffering in 30-40 mph headwinds and 10 miles to round out the 60 with a tail wind. This was brutal. The scenery was spectacular,
however. Cattle ranches and all kinds of variation.





Here was an abandoned pump house that was terrifying, as somehow I got lost and ended up by it.





All in all, a great day. Tomorrow is a day off. More to come.

Day One Part Two: Indiantown to Okeechobee

Good ride, finished over 70 miles, and the hotel had a hopping bar with $.75 drafts and $1 wells! More on that later.






Did I mention the food cart that was in the 75 feet between my room and the bar? Awesome! I made a new friend and talked food for a half hour while she closed up shop.







Big Momma herself.