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the smoked gouda was kinda disjointed; not very good. chili pepper wasn't spicy either but regardless, still a pleasure to eat. fries good too.

You know that burger as you described it sounded very bizarre, but yet I want to try it now.

The traditional burger at Good Dog constantly gets overlook because of their stuffed burger. While I like the stuffed one, I especially love their regular old burger.

I second the suggestion for Rouge. It's a fancy burger but it's really good.

It's nit-picking, I know, but you really meant to write "complement", not "compliment". It's one of those things that really bugs me, like people who write "it's" when they mean "its".

Oddly, Royal Tavern is my favorite burger in Philly and my vegetarian girlfriend's favorite bar food. I'm sorry to hear you didn't love it. Their meatloaf sandwich is also great.

The other burgers I dig in Philly are Good Dog, Rouge and Sketch.

Craig Laban thinks Good Dog is the top dog in Philly burgers.

Monk's is where you go for mussels, fries and awesome Belgian beer...not burgers. Curious that someone recommends Nodding Head, which is a good micro-brewery/restaurant, because its owned by the same guys who own Monks!

For a long time the best burgers in city were at the Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. I haven't had one in several years, but I would most definitely guess that that's still the case.

As far as your vegetarian friend's go, go to Horizon's just south of South St. on 7th St. It's been voted one of the best vegan restaurants in the country several times over. It's the best vege/vegan food I've ever had, and as someone who could eat Shack burgers all day, and everyday...its just plain awesome whether its vegan or not.

Lastly, go to Tacconelli's for pizza already! I can't believe no one on Slice has done this yet. The best pizza in Philly....and perhaps the East Coast....yeah, I said it. Just make sure to order your dough a couple days in advance and bring you own beer/wine.

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I bought this cookbook for my family secret santa pick, and I would love to have it for myself!

I rarely cooked when I lived in a studio apartment with a small kitchen where there was no counter. The fridge, stove, and sink took up all the space. Okay, maybe there was a 1/4" of counter space between the stove and the sink. It wasn't the cooking itself that are a nuisance, it was the prep work and cleanup.

In my new apartment, where I have an actual counter, I cook all the time.

I learned to cook in a 1970 Silver Streak trailer that was 8' wide and had two propane burners. No, a kitchen is not an excuse.

No excuse at ALL. I prepared a dissertation defense party for my roommate, for 40+ guests, when we shared grad student housing that included a minuscule kitchen, with one of those ridiculous stoves that won't even fit a roaster pan in the oven, and that had exactly 10 inches of counter space. I cooked for a week and did some serious planning ahead to maximize space, but it was epic. EPIC.

If you want to cook, you'll be able to cook. I confess to feeling somewhat defeated by electric burners, but not counted out!

I as well have noticed that everyone I know with a huge kitchen never uses the thing. Just once I'd dare them to fill up their entire kitchen island (the one that's bigger than my master bathroom) with something, anything...mass-produce wontons, cookies, SOMETHING.

My husband and I rent an extremely tiny, oppressively overpriced apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and of course, our kitchen-living room-dining room-multipurpose room follows size-appropriate- suit. Our small kitchen "wall' is compact; perhaps what brokers and bachelors might call "charming" and what tinkering chefs or chefs-to-be would deem "impossible". Our committment to keep the Jewish laws of Kosher necessitates that we keep two sets of pots, pans, dishes and utensils packed within our seemingly nonexistent storage space in the kitchen area. It's almost as if our miniscule kitchen is two baby kitchens in one....

Despite this, we have grown quite fond of our oven, which almost bursts when filled with two 9x13 pans, and our pre-school sized fridge (which doesnt allow room for leftovers of any significant proportion). We entertain at minimum on a weekly basis. Though preparing a multi-course meal requires careful planning and strategizing around insignificant prep and cooking space, we are learning to enjoy the challenge of forethought and the creativity these limitations demand of us. Of course, if given the opportunity, we would gladly trade in our cozy stovetop for a generous Viking range, but working around this space is a only small sacrifice to make for the opportunity to live in NYC.