The Original Turkey and Meuller Chocolate Co.

The Original Turkey

After eating at The Original Turkey I had a What About Bob? moment as seen above. If you feel like you need a Thanksgiving Tryptophan fix in August, then head down to the Market immediately. The fresh roasted hand carved turkey will surely make you forget about that guy at the Greyhound Station awkwardly asking you for bus fare to Buffalo so he can be with his wife in labor (If you don’t know what I’m talking about walk past the Greyhound Station next to the market and you'll get a big ole' dose of crazy).  

   
It doesn’t stop at turkey, the menu features… “Steaming hot stuffing, fragrant with celery, onions and spices. Tangy cranberry sauce. Thick slices of freshly baked bread. Giant spoonfuls of real mashed potatoes.  Homestyle gravy, simmering hot.”

The Turkey Steak

I didn’t go to The Original Turkey for one of there many delicious gourmet sandwiches, but I sure left with one in my gut. It was hard to pass over the Dinner Sandwich, packed with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I decided to be daring and stare the Philly Cheesesteak gods in the eyes and chow down on the Turkey Steak. The Turkey Steak had no steak but the delicious turkey was topped with roasted peppers and onions, chipotle and provolone. It was great; I would absolutely recommend the sandwich to anyone. My only qualm with the Turkey Steak is that, the turkey was not served piping hot, it was a little cold. It threw me off a bit, but the cheese and chipotle sauce threw it all back together. The sandwich can’t be finished in one sitting, I highly recommend splitting it with a beloved friend.

Mac Attack

For the side I went with a solid mac and cheese choice, something to weigh me down a little more. I got a half-cup for $4, which easily could have been lunch by itself. The macaroni noodles were giant, didn’t make anything taste better I’m sure but I found it remarkable. I’m not a huge mac and cheese guy but this stuff changed my whole perspective on the food. 

Mueller Chocolate Co.

For desert I splurged on Mueller Chocolate Co. This confectionery market marvel makes really good sweets. Customers can try everything from truffles and fudge to cotton candy flavored rock candy or chocolate molded like an ear. I highly recommend the sea salt caramels; I became a better person after eating them. This cute little corner spot in the Market is great for gift ideas and definitely won’t disappoint the pallet.

Olympia Gyro and Flying Monkey

Last night the wife and I made it a movie night! For the millionth time we broke our rule and watched a movie we both have seen before. We watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which ends up being a perfect segue into reviewing Reading Terminal Market’s Olympia Gyro.

Olympia Gyro

I have walked past Olympia Gyro dozens of times but have never stopped in to say hello to their Athenian goddess-like gyros. Olympia is situated nearest the entrance on 12^th street and Arch. One of the biggest draws to Olympia, is that it has seating available to dine in and is located in a less trafficked aisle of the Market, giving the eater a more peaceful grazing session.

Unlike a main character in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” I eat meat. However, my wife, who dined with me at Olympia has never had lamb because she refuses to eat baby animals. Lamb is usually the primary meat in gyros, thus my wife has never had a gyro. One of the best parts about the Market is that most places will give you free samples if you ask. The sample of the gyro meat convinced my wife to give a gyro a chance! Olympia Gyro’s meat consists of a beef and lamb hybrid, delivered to us from the top of Mount Olympus by a Zeus lightening bolt.

The Gyro

My wife and I ordered the gyro sandwich and were very pleased. The gyro consisted of gyro meat, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce (sour cream, cucumbers and garlic dressing) on pita bread. There was plenty of meat on the sandwich, and was not greasy like the local gyro carts serve throughout the city. The meat and tzatziki, make the gyro and were the dominating the flavors. The gyro would absolutely fill you up and it took less than a minute to make, before I blinked a gyro was in front of me. No lines and immediately receiving your food is great but if I am being 100% truthful, $8.25 for a gyro is steep when comparing it to the many street carts that offer gyros for less than $5. 

Operation Dessert Storm

Flying Monkey

My wife cannot leave the market without dessert…it cannot be done. Finally we stopped at the Flying Monkey to get their famous whoopie pies. I would describe a whoopie as a hand-held cake sandwich. I ordered the Classic Whoopie, which consists of two round mounds of moist chocolate cake sandwiched between a delicious cream cheese based filling, very similar to the icing one would put on a carrot cake. We purchased a S’mores Bar as well only because we needed to reach the $5 credit card limit. The S’mores Bar was a hybrid of a brownie and a s’more, the bar was layered with marshmallow, graham crackers and chocolate chips, it changed my life. 

I would absolutely go back to the Flying Monkey and explore the menu further. Olympia Gyro is worth the visit, but I won’t be mad if you skip it.