More rocky road than Rocky Balboa.

Before my trip to Philadelphia I had visions of me running up those famous steps, chased by a horde of cheering kids and boxing training with chilled cows carcasses as punch bags in an old warehouse. Instead I found myself consuming the equivalent of an entire cow in Longhorns with some of the heaviest eating irons known to man. I guess it was a bit of a workout.

First stop on my Philadelphian food cruise was a burger joint called Five Guys. The tattooed staff there all looked liked they had done hard time, but boy can they make burgers. 

With a ton of fries liberally tossed in the bag, 15 different free toppings and a double burger that weighs more than a new born baby, I knew I was in the right place for my first US lunch.

It left me full, happy and thinking if I was ever down on my luck and thinking about holding up a restaurant Five Guys would be a bad choice.

We were staying out in northeast Philly that is not exactly the culinary centre of New Jersey.  It does however have Chickies and Petes THE BEST SPORTS BAR IN PHILADELPIA! That, in my opinion, has a chef obsessed with cheese.  Everything without exception was drowned in yellow goo, or cheese as you might call it. A great place to watch the game and enjoy a cold beer though. 

Another northeast treat is Nifty Fiftys, a neon lit throwback to the golden age of the roadside diner. Nifty’s lays claim to the WORLDS largest soda machine! I cannot confirm or deny this. I can however, confirm that the milkshakes were very good and very big and they serve great fries.

Cheese steak through my heart.

I've not mentioned my hatred for cheese in this blog before. Basically it stinks, it's mouldy milk and cheese is the devil, but i digress. 

I hate it (cheese) by the way and I was told you cannot go to Philly and avoid the cheese steak sandwich. Well actually, I did go to Philadelphia and I did avoid the cheese steak sandwich... but only just!

My saviour came in the shape of Mister Chubby’s and his amazing hoagies.
Mister Chubby’s is located just opposite the state penitentiary and I cant think of a better way (well maybe one other way, but i wouldn't go to Mister Chubby's for that!), to start life as a free man again, than chowing down on a turkey hoagie filled with sweet peppers, onions, mayo, mustard, tomatoes and anything else you can think of.

The reason for my visit to the USA was that we were filming with the Philadelphia Fire Department. These guys were huge and their size was only out weighed by their hospitality, a real great bunch of guys.

Part of the filming called for us to spend the evening on a nightshift with the boys from Ladder 14 and Engine 45. Something I was very much looking forward to.  Especially when I heard fire fighters were renowned for their cooking and I was not disappointed. Captain CJ cooked us all up a batch of his ‘Hood Bird’, slow cooked chicken in stock with lemon and garlic salt. It was melt in the mouth and served with cornbread, gorgeous!