Plenty to eat at the Manayunk bike race

  With the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship (known more colloquially as the “Manayunk bike race”) taking place this Sunday, the city’s eyes return to the mill town neighborhood. A decade after Manayunk’s restaurant scene was outpacing Center City’s, it seems the town is getting its culinary swagger back.

Recent months have seen the opening of several new restaurants. Cooper’s Brick Oven Wine Bar (4367 Main St.) is the more casual sibling to Main Street mainstay Jake’s. The brick oven is put to good use, baking thin crust pizza beauties topped with everything from pears to short rib and even ham and egg. If you’re looking for nothing more than a nibble as you sample one of the 30 wines or 20 craft beers, consider a brown bag of potato chips dusted in a vinegar powder.

The ambitious MangoMoon (4161 Main St.) provides Manayunk with a second Thai restaurant from Moon Krapugthong, who also owns Chabaa Thai (4371 Main St.). MangoMoon goes beyond Pad Thai and delivers more authentic tastes of Thailand, perhaps best exemplified by the Sai Auh, a minced pork sausage with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, scallions and red curry.

Off Main Street there’s action as well. Dawson Street Pub (100 Dawson St.) has one of the ’yunk’s best beer lists, complete with three brews on hand pumps and a must-be-tried chorizo burger.

Looking to dine outdoors? There are 900 al fresco seats available in the ’hood. The deck at the Manayunk Brew Pub (4120 Main St.) provides the most seats and is worth a visit as their improving in-house brews are even being exported to other beer bars across the city, reminding residents that they, like the rest of Manayunk, are open for business.