Rosy's Taco Bar - 2220 Walnut Street West of Rittenhouse Square

[Tweaked]

It sure looks like Philly has a lot of taco options.  Probably too many to sample during a day trip, especially during our Age of Corona. 

The best taco joint seems to be universally ageed upon:  South Philly Barbacoa.  But we weren't anywhere nearby and 3 out of the 4 of us were veg/vegan.  No lamb for Tweaked. 

Rosy's Taco Bar, four blocks west of Rittenhouse Square, appears to be fairly new on the scene, having opened in 2018.  It has already received solid accolades, making various Bests Tacos in Philly lists.  It's near my gf's sister's place so off we went.  We ordered take out so the overall quality suffered a bit.  I'm not sure tacos are the best option for takeout containers.  But overall Rosy's did a good job.  

The large order of nachos ($13) was indeed large.  They suffered the most during the trip home, with the cheese congealing.  But they were still tasty.  The good thick and well fried nacho chips held up to the toppings.  

An order of the vegetable tacos ($10 for 3), with eggplant, corn, poblano and chihuahua were again solid.  The filling was a bit bland and some salsa helped.

Now, the plantains, whom ever is working the plantain station is working some magic.  We ended up ordering plantains two ways.  The side dish of plantains with crema and cilantro ($5) and the plantain dessert with spiced honey and peanuts ($5).  Both orders were huge, I'd say at least two plantains worth of delicously fried chunks in each container.  The plantain side dish was standard issue, but very good.  The plantain dessert was a revelation.  I've never seen plantains with peanuts before, but everyone should know about this.  In addition, along with crushed up peanuts and honey, the plantains came with scoops of a peanut butter filling, much like one might find in Ben and Jerry's peanut butter cookie dough style ice cream.  Fantastic.

I'm sure there are other high quality taco places in Philly.  So I would rate Rosy's tacos as good, certainly good for a neighborhood joint, but perhaps not drive across town good.  The plantains with peanuts and honey...these are drive to Philly good. 

Sorry for the crappy photo.  This represents about half of the container of the dessert plantains. 

      

[DonRocks]

On 9/21/2020 at 3:00 PM, Tweaked said:

It sure looks like Philly has a lot of taco options.  Probably too many to sample during a day trip, especially during our Age of Corona.  

Say hi next time!

On 9/21/2020 at 3:00 PM, Tweaked said:

An order of the vegetable tacos ($10 for 3), with eggplant, corn, poblano and chihuahua were again solid. 

Not vegetarian.

On 9/21/2020 at 3:00 PM, Tweaked said:

The plantain dessert was a revelation.  I've never seen plantains with peanuts before, but everyone should know about this.  In addition, along with crushed up peanuts and honey, the plantains came with scoops of a peanut butter filling, much like one might find in Ben and Jerry's peanut butter cookie dough style ice cream.  Fantastic.

I'm sure there are other high quality taco places in Philly.  So I would rate Rosy's tacos as good, certainly good for a neighborhood joint, but perhaps not drive across town good.  The plantains with peanuts and honey...these are drive to Philly good.       

Interesting. All these ingredients are common in West Africa - I wonder if this dish originated from there.

[Tweaked]

15 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Say hi next time!

Not vegetarian.

Interesting. All these ingredients are common in West Africa - I wonder if this dish originated from there.

Haha, yes, Philadelphia free range chihuahua (in cheese form) is delicious. 

I did look into the plantain and peanut combo and found a couple references to Ecuador, although in that prep the plantain is mashed.  Most other references online for plantains and peanuts are indeed West African.  Or, perhaps, at the end of service one day, chef had some leftover plantains and a jar of peanut butter and a new dessert was created.  Whichever, it's delicious.