Restaurant Review
Cousins Maine Lobster Food Truck of Freehold N. J. and Levante Brewing Company,208 Carter Drive, Suite 2 (off Matlack St.) West Chester, PA. 19382. You’ll have to poke around a bit to find Levante in the back of a business park, but look for their sign on Matlack and follow GPS.
Owner: Someone with the last name of Cousins, if I had to guess
Telephone: 732-994-3766
Website: CousinsMaineLobster.com, email [email protected]
Ambiance: Food truck ambiance, not too much
Service: The differences between the Connecticut and Maine rolls were explained (butter and warm, vs. mayonnaise and cold). The lobster roll was served quickly, with napkins, and was full of claw and tail meat, warm and buttery. What more could I ask for? My “dining” partner Bob ordered a cup (8 oz.) of lobster bisque with water crackers.
Experience: We took our food inside and ordered two pints of beer, after sampling several to find just the right hazy and citrusy and clear and hoppy beers. I noticed a woman down the bar had a flight of 5 different beers, but Bob said that’s a bad idea, because most of them you probably wouldn’t like. I grabbed a high-top table for two and opened my lobster roll. I was just about to take my first bite of this loaded sandwich on a split roll, as is proper (although it was no longer than 4 inches), when Bob came over and said, “We have to move. See the sign that says “RESERVED?” Well, the place was fairly empty on this 970-degree day, so I doubted it, but we moved. Later, there was a guy sitting at the reserved table setting up his computer and a screen, and I went over to say hello and have some fun about the reserved table. He said he is the man who calls out the bingo numbers, which will happen at 2:00 pm today, Sunday, and every Sunday. He said there is a big crowd that comes out to play bingo. Another sign of the post-pandemic craving people must have to relearn how to reconnect and have fun with others.
I did like that each beer on their very long list on an easy-to-read board with descriptions of flavor, and the percentage of alcohol (so you could decide how buzzed or unbuzzed you wanted to be?). We have had a Levante growler rolling around in the back of our car from the first week Levante opened in 2015, and we’ve never refilled it. Every time we saw it, we would think of flat beer, and more than you might want. So last week we recycled it. Today I was happy to notice a huge cooler filled with cans of beer in six-packs and four-packs. That’s happy!
Menu: The menu of Cousins Maine Lobster is sufficient to have a good lobster experience, and not at a cheap price. The menu did not include prices, because if so, some people would have wandered away. The lobster roll was $22.00 plus tax/tip, and the lobster bisque was $6.50 plus tax/tip. The beers were $6.50 and $7.00 each, plus tax and tip. Other choices: lobster quesadilla, lobster grilled cheese, lobster tacos, lobster tail and tots, lobster tacos, lobster bisque and New England clam chowder. If we each had ordered three courses, we’d be in the fine dining price range; but what the heck, it was the first Sunday of the summer, a hot one, and a splurge for the Cheap Eaters.
Total Bill: $48.44
Additional Comments: the Cousins Maine Lobster Truck can be found on Facebook, where they post when and where they’ll be serving.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com
Cousins Maine Lobster Food Truck of Freehold N. J. and Levante Brewing Company,208 Carter Drive, Suite 2 (off Matlack St.) West Chester, PA. 19382. You’ll have to poke around a bit to find Levante in the back of a business park, but look for their sign on Matlack and follow GPS.
Owner: Someone with the last name of Cousins, if I had to guess
Telephone: 732-994-3766
Website: CousinsMaineLobster.com, email [email protected]
Ambiance: Food truck ambiance, not too much
Service: The differences between the Connecticut and Maine rolls were explained (butter and warm, vs. mayonnaise and cold). The lobster roll was served quickly, with napkins, and was full of claw and tail meat, warm and buttery. What more could I ask for? My “dining” partner Bob ordered a cup (8 oz.) of lobster bisque with water crackers.
Experience: We took our food inside and ordered two pints of beer, after sampling several to find just the right hazy and citrusy and clear and hoppy beers. I noticed a woman down the bar had a flight of 5 different beers, but Bob said that’s a bad idea, because most of them you probably wouldn’t like. I grabbed a high-top table for two and opened my lobster roll. I was just about to take my first bite of this loaded sandwich on a split roll, as is proper (although it was no longer than 4 inches), when Bob came over and said, “We have to move. See the sign that says “RESERVED?” Well, the place was fairly empty on this 970-degree day, so I doubted it, but we moved. Later, there was a guy sitting at the reserved table setting up his computer and a screen, and I went over to say hello and have some fun about the reserved table. He said he is the man who calls out the bingo numbers, which will happen at 2:00 pm today, Sunday, and every Sunday. He said there is a big crowd that comes out to play bingo. Another sign of the post-pandemic craving people must have to relearn how to reconnect and have fun with others.
I did like that each beer on their very long list on an easy-to-read board with descriptions of flavor, and the percentage of alcohol (so you could decide how buzzed or unbuzzed you wanted to be?). We have had a Levante growler rolling around in the back of our car from the first week Levante opened in 2015, and we’ve never refilled it. Every time we saw it, we would think of flat beer, and more than you might want. So last week we recycled it. Today I was happy to notice a huge cooler filled with cans of beer in six-packs and four-packs. That’s happy!
Menu: The menu of Cousins Maine Lobster is sufficient to have a good lobster experience, and not at a cheap price. The menu did not include prices, because if so, some people would have wandered away. The lobster roll was $22.00 plus tax/tip, and the lobster bisque was $6.50 plus tax/tip. The beers were $6.50 and $7.00 each, plus tax and tip. Other choices: lobster quesadilla, lobster grilled cheese, lobster tacos, lobster tail and tots, lobster tacos, lobster bisque and New England clam chowder. If we each had ordered three courses, we’d be in the fine dining price range; but what the heck, it was the first Sunday of the summer, a hot one, and a splurge for the Cheap Eaters.
Total Bill: $48.44
Additional Comments: the Cousins Maine Lobster Truck can be found on Facebook, where they post when and where they’ll be serving.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com
Restaurant Review: Moca Asian Cuisine
Location: 190 Lancaster Ave, Malvern, PA 19355
Telephone 610-708-9090
Website: MocaMalvern.com
Ambiance: This restaurant is in a strip center, but as you walk inside, the interior has an ethereal feel of beauty that made me so glad I was there. Everything I saw was beautiful, soothing, and welcoming.
Service: Service was impeccable, unobtrusive and fast! Every dish was well presented and removed quickly when we finished—we had quite a collection of dishes, and she kept up with keeping the table attractive.
Experience: We shared all we ordered, and each dish was spectacular and beautiful in presentation. The people sitting behind us ordered a dish so great looking that I had to get up and ask them what they ordered. Every dish was that good. Here are the dishes we enjoyed: Beef Negimaki, green onion wrapped in sliced beef, teriyaki glaze, $14 for a generous serving for 2, Shrimp Spring Roll, 2 pieces, at $6, same price for Vegetable spring rolls, and I ordered spicy scallop sushi at $9.50, and my friend Edie ordered Chicken Satay, grilled on a skewer served with Thai peanut sauce and cucumber salad, for $15, and a tempura sushi roll. We both got peach iced tea, but mine was Boba tea with giant tapioca balls ($6.50) to be sucked through a wide straw and munched on thoughtfully.
Menu: I recommend studying their menu online before going there, because there were probably at least 50 different sushis, sashamis, poke bowls, classical dishes, chef’s specials, and vegan and vegetarian options aplenty!
Total Bill: Our total, with tip was about $35 each, and it was well worth it. I believe it is a BYOB, but since we were headed for some serious thrift shop cruising, we sharepend our minds with tea, skipping the alcohol.
Additional Comments: This great find of a restaurant is a bit out of our everyday normal cruising range, but definitely worth the travel, which was only about 25 minutes from Chadds Ford. Also, the food selections are well priced for the high quality and atmosphere, and I want to go again—and again.
Anne Pounds, TheCheapEater.com, a Welcome Neighbor affiliate.
Restaurant Review: Moca Asian Cuisine
Location: 190 Lancaster Ave, Malvern, PA 19355
Telephone 610-708-9090
Website: MocaMalvern.com
Ambiance: This restaurant is in a strip center, but as you walk inside, the interior has an ethereal feel of beauty that made me so glad I was there. Everything I saw was beautiful, soothing, and welcoming.
Service: Service was impeccable, unobtrusive and fast! Every dish was well presented and removed quickly when we finished—we had quite a collection of dishes, and she kept up with keeping the table attractive.
Experience: We shared all we ordered, and each dish was spectacular and beautiful in presentation. The people sitting behind us ordered a dish so great looking that I had to get up and ask them what they ordered. Every dish was that good. Here are the dishes we enjoyed: Beef Negimaki, green onion wrapped in sliced beef, teriyaki glaze, $14 for a generous serving for 2, Shrimp Spring Roll, 2 pieces, at $6, same price for Vegetable spring rolls, and I ordered spicy scallop sushi at $9.50, and my friend Edie ordered Chicken Satay, grilled on a skewer served with Thai peanut sauce and cucumber salad, for $15, and a tempura sushi roll. We both got peach iced tea, but mine was Boba tea with giant tapioca balls ($6.50) to be sucked through a wide straw and munched on thoughtfully.
Menu: I recommend studying their menu online before going there, because there were probably at least 50 different sushis, sashamis, poke bowls, classical dishes, chef’s specials, and vegan and vegetarian options aplenty!
Total Bill: Our total, with tip was about $35 each, and it was well worth it. I believe it is a BYOB, but since we were headed for some serious thrift shop cruising, we sharepend our minds with tea, skipping the alcohol.
Additional Comments: This great find of a restaurant is a bit out of our everyday normal cruising range, but definitely worth the travel, which was only about 25 minutes from Chadds Ford. Also, the food selections are well priced for the high quality and atmosphere, and I want to go again—and again.
Anne Pounds, TheCheapEater.com, a Welcome Neighbor affiliate.
Restaurant Review: Mercato
Location: 1216 Spruce Street, Center City Philadelphia, PA Partners: George and Valerie Anni
Telephone: 215-985-BYOB (2962)
Website: mercatobyob.com
Ambiance: Close, small, tightly spaced tables for about 40 in a corner property at Spruce and Camac Streets, between 12th and 13th Sts. In Philadelphia. The exterior is hardly noticeable, so we walked right past it, but there are tables with well-attended outside dining. We sat in front of a window and watched the happy revelers enjoying St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Inside, it was bright and cheerful and clean with an informal but caring atmosphere.
Service: The wait staff were informally dressed, friendly and very attentive. Food arrived fast and was well presented. The appetizer I ordered was preceded with a large stainless bowl, and I had to ask what it was for, since I hadn’t ordered mussels.
Experience: I ordered as an appetizer the grilled artichokes, imagining a plate of deep fried artichoke hearts, which I had enjoyed and never forgotten at a little place in New Hope called Amelia’s (also highly recommended and much like Mercato). What arrived were two large whole artichokes and a side of melted butter with lemon. I had never eaten or cooked a whole artichoke, and when I got my courage to ask about the big bowl, the server told me it was for “the leaves.” Then I remembered that you pull the leaves through your teeth after dipping a leaf in butter. It definitely was slow food! Enjoyable, and it took me a long time to get through those leaves! We had forgotten to bring the special wine I had planned, so we were stuck with “still” water. The experience was a night designated as a mental health break to do something different, and we had tickets to hear Emanual Ax play a Mozart piano concerto at the newly named Marian Anderson Hall, aka The Kimmel Center. Bob ordered a large meatball in red gravy for his appetizer, satisfying for him and not unique enough for me. He ordered a Caesar salad, beautifully presented; and I ordered the wild mushroom risotto. Mine was sublime! It was an “I-don’t-care-if-I-ever-eat-anything-else-again” meal, as luscious as it gets, and while it was listed as an appetizer, it was generous, rich and all I needed after the artichoke—at $11 for the risotto! We attacked a tiramisu dessert together like we were piranha fish.
Menu: the menu is fairly small but full of so many wonderful choices it was difficult to decide.
Total Bill: Because we did not order entrees, our total bill was only $63.00, with tip, as I remember! Since there is now a surcharge of 3.25% for using a credit card, we paid cash. And no bar bill sure helped!
Additional Comments: Mercato sure qualified as a place for cheap eaters, and I now want to go back. On the downside, we parked in a nearby parking garage for $25 for the night, rather than cruising around looking for a parking spot that might not last for our whole evening. On the upside, we sat next to an Asian man and his wife at Mercato and got in a conversation when they admired our dishes and then ordered the same dishes. They are both doctors at Penn. They seemed possibly a little older than us, but they asked why we weren’t retired😊. Later we exchanged cards and sent some emails back and forth. I invited them to come see us if they wandered out of the city to go to the Brandywine River Museum.
That night we had such an abundance of time (and money) before the orchestra began that we walked the two blocks to the corner of Spruce and Broad to find the Loch Bar, where we wandered in to find seats right in front of the raw bar, and we ordered old-fashioneds with bourbon. On Bob’s right was a young woman eating a dish of shrimp, and on my left was a well-polished man drinking a dry martini. Bob talked to his friend and found she was an adopted child from Ukraine who was now a center city lawyer, so they began exchanging lawyer jokes. David on my left and I discussed the evening’s program and the best English gins. When we were ready to leave, Bob’s friend said, “Allow me to buy your drinks,” and we accepted his gracious offer. Everyone we met that night was going to the same concert as we were. We felt so sophisticated and part of the city vibe for an evening. The conversations took us way beyond just enjoying the food and drink and music. We even made friends
Location: 1216 Spruce Street, Center City Philadelphia, PA Partners: George and Valerie Anni
Telephone: 215-985-BYOB (2962)
Website: mercatobyob.com
Ambiance: Close, small, tightly spaced tables for about 40 in a corner property at Spruce and Camac Streets, between 12th and 13th Sts. In Philadelphia. The exterior is hardly noticeable, so we walked right past it, but there are tables with well-attended outside dining. We sat in front of a window and watched the happy revelers enjoying St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Inside, it was bright and cheerful and clean with an informal but caring atmosphere.
Service: The wait staff were informally dressed, friendly and very attentive. Food arrived fast and was well presented. The appetizer I ordered was preceded with a large stainless bowl, and I had to ask what it was for, since I hadn’t ordered mussels.
Experience: I ordered as an appetizer the grilled artichokes, imagining a plate of deep fried artichoke hearts, which I had enjoyed and never forgotten at a little place in New Hope called Amelia’s (also highly recommended and much like Mercato). What arrived were two large whole artichokes and a side of melted butter with lemon. I had never eaten or cooked a whole artichoke, and when I got my courage to ask about the big bowl, the server told me it was for “the leaves.” Then I remembered that you pull the leaves through your teeth after dipping a leaf in butter. It definitely was slow food! Enjoyable, and it took me a long time to get through those leaves! We had forgotten to bring the special wine I had planned, so we were stuck with “still” water. The experience was a night designated as a mental health break to do something different, and we had tickets to hear Emanual Ax play a Mozart piano concerto at the newly named Marian Anderson Hall, aka The Kimmel Center. Bob ordered a large meatball in red gravy for his appetizer, satisfying for him and not unique enough for me. He ordered a Caesar salad, beautifully presented; and I ordered the wild mushroom risotto. Mine was sublime! It was an “I-don’t-care-if-I-ever-eat-anything-else-again” meal, as luscious as it gets, and while it was listed as an appetizer, it was generous, rich and all I needed after the artichoke—at $11 for the risotto! We attacked a tiramisu dessert together like we were piranha fish.
Menu: the menu is fairly small but full of so many wonderful choices it was difficult to decide.
Total Bill: Because we did not order entrees, our total bill was only $63.00, with tip, as I remember! Since there is now a surcharge of 3.25% for using a credit card, we paid cash. And no bar bill sure helped!
Additional Comments: Mercato sure qualified as a place for cheap eaters, and I now want to go back. On the downside, we parked in a nearby parking garage for $25 for the night, rather than cruising around looking for a parking spot that might not last for our whole evening. On the upside, we sat next to an Asian man and his wife at Mercato and got in a conversation when they admired our dishes and then ordered the same dishes. They are both doctors at Penn. They seemed possibly a little older than us, but they asked why we weren’t retired😊. Later we exchanged cards and sent some emails back and forth. I invited them to come see us if they wandered out of the city to go to the Brandywine River Museum.
That night we had such an abundance of time (and money) before the orchestra began that we walked the two blocks to the corner of Spruce and Broad to find the Loch Bar, where we wandered in to find seats right in front of the raw bar, and we ordered old-fashioneds with bourbon. On Bob’s right was a young woman eating a dish of shrimp, and on my left was a well-polished man drinking a dry martini. Bob talked to his friend and found she was an adopted child from Ukraine who was now a center city lawyer, so they began exchanging lawyer jokes. David on my left and I discussed the evening’s program and the best English gins. When we were ready to leave, Bob’s friend said, “Allow me to buy your drinks,” and we accepted his gracious offer. Everyone we met that night was going to the same concert as we were. We felt so sophisticated and part of the city vibe for an evening. The conversations took us way beyond just enjoying the food and drink and music. We even made friends
Restaurant Review: Avenue Kitchen Brunch, 3-28-24
Location: Glen Eagle Square, 509 Wilmington-West Chester Pike,Glen Mills, PA 19342
Owner: Dana Farrell, who has been building and running top-brand restaurants for 30 years
Telephone 484-800-8070, reservations never hurt
Website: avenuekitchen.com, email [email protected]
Ambiance: Modern, sparkly, clean and elegant. There are booths, tables, and a beautiful bar that seats 11 easily. I saw many diners enjoying interesting cocktails at brunch and lunch, which separates Avenue from many breakfast/lunch venues. The restaurant was almost full on a Thursday around noon.
Service: Fast and efficient, even though there was a table of 11 women who had just asked for separate check AFTER eating their meal!
Experience: My willing dining partner Bob agreed to split several dishes so we could experience more tastes. I had learned from Dana, proprietor, that every sauce and every dish is home made from scratch, so we had anticipation. The hollandaise on Eggs Benedict (there are six varieties to choose from, including vegetarian, short rib, and crab) was lush, and the home fries were perfectly sauteed. The second dish, brioche caramel-apple French toast with stuffed with vanilla bean cream cheese and sliced apples on top was simply delicious. Fresh-squeezed orange juice was also shared, as was the La Colombe coffee. (How do think we qualify as cheap eaters, very important to us who like to dine out often?)
Menu: Brunch offers a big variety of Benedicts, custom omelettes that include home fries and toast, breakfast sandwiches, Lox and bagels, latkes, short rib hash, and avocado toast. The pancake and waffle offerings are decadent, even including fried chicken and waffles. Warning: the candied bacon and scones and biscuits are addictive. On a previous visit I was taken with the candied bacon and can’t get my mind off it!
Lunch diners will find a Million-Dollar burger with that candied bacon added to all the other fixings, fish/shrimp/short rib tacos, grilled cheese and short rib sandwiches on grilled sourdough, six different varieties of pizzas (including vegetarian and gluten-free, and unique and thoughtfully designed salads, to which you can add protein for a complete meal. Don’t miss the truffle fries, either.
Total Bill: About $45 with generous tip. As many restaurants now seem to be doing, there was a 3.5 percent charge for using a credit or debit card, so we paid cash. It’s not the cheapest place to be found, but what is these days? Top quality takes the sting out!
Additional Comments: If you go for dinner, it is served only on Friday and Saturdays from 4-8 pm., Happy Hour 4-8 on the same evenings.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com
Location: Glen Eagle Square, 509 Wilmington-West Chester Pike,Glen Mills, PA 19342
Owner: Dana Farrell, who has been building and running top-brand restaurants for 30 years
Telephone 484-800-8070, reservations never hurt
Website: avenuekitchen.com, email [email protected]
Ambiance: Modern, sparkly, clean and elegant. There are booths, tables, and a beautiful bar that seats 11 easily. I saw many diners enjoying interesting cocktails at brunch and lunch, which separates Avenue from many breakfast/lunch venues. The restaurant was almost full on a Thursday around noon.
Service: Fast and efficient, even though there was a table of 11 women who had just asked for separate check AFTER eating their meal!
Experience: My willing dining partner Bob agreed to split several dishes so we could experience more tastes. I had learned from Dana, proprietor, that every sauce and every dish is home made from scratch, so we had anticipation. The hollandaise on Eggs Benedict (there are six varieties to choose from, including vegetarian, short rib, and crab) was lush, and the home fries were perfectly sauteed. The second dish, brioche caramel-apple French toast with stuffed with vanilla bean cream cheese and sliced apples on top was simply delicious. Fresh-squeezed orange juice was also shared, as was the La Colombe coffee. (How do think we qualify as cheap eaters, very important to us who like to dine out often?)
Menu: Brunch offers a big variety of Benedicts, custom omelettes that include home fries and toast, breakfast sandwiches, Lox and bagels, latkes, short rib hash, and avocado toast. The pancake and waffle offerings are decadent, even including fried chicken and waffles. Warning: the candied bacon and scones and biscuits are addictive. On a previous visit I was taken with the candied bacon and can’t get my mind off it!
Lunch diners will find a Million-Dollar burger with that candied bacon added to all the other fixings, fish/shrimp/short rib tacos, grilled cheese and short rib sandwiches on grilled sourdough, six different varieties of pizzas (including vegetarian and gluten-free, and unique and thoughtfully designed salads, to which you can add protein for a complete meal. Don’t miss the truffle fries, either.
Total Bill: About $45 with generous tip. As many restaurants now seem to be doing, there was a 3.5 percent charge for using a credit or debit card, so we paid cash. It’s not the cheapest place to be found, but what is these days? Top quality takes the sting out!
Additional Comments: If you go for dinner, it is served only on Friday and Saturdays from 4-8 pm., Happy Hour 4-8 on the same evenings.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com
Restaurant Review
Location: Jennersville Shopping Center, 49 Jenners Village, West Grove, PA 19390
Owner: Chef Mike Stiglitz and partners
Telephone: 610-345-5689
Website: Two Stones Pub
Ambiance: Friendly, with a long bar stretching in front of diners on entry, with high-top tables, booths and bar seats on the right, and some cozy nook seating on the left. It was crowded in mid-afternoon Sunday.
Service: We were seated right away and brought menus and water. We asked questions about the beers so we could find our favorite IPA’s. I like cloudy and citrusy; he likes his more hoppy. The server brought us teeny-tiny samples to find what we liked, very nice (but small). We both found good beers we liked, at reasonable prices of $6 and $8.00.
Experience: Since it was mid-afternoon, we were going to eat light. My fellow diner Bob ordered loaded potato soup, which was hearty and delicious at $6.95. We shared the brussels sprouts with siracha aoli, and in fairness to the $13.95 price, it was a nice serving for 2. I ordered the Kennett Square mussels at $14.95, which were described as having shitake, cremini and oyster mushrooms with onion and fresh herbs in a Madiera cream. Yum! However, the mussels were just barely cooked and kind of stringy and unappetizing, so I could not finish them. And quite honestly, the Madeira cream was more like thin milk with no real Madeira flavor. I was disappointed, as I am a mussels lover and often make Vietnamese mussels with kefir lime leaf, cilantro, and Thai basil in a cream sauce instead of the traditional red or white wine and garlic. On a high note, the bread served with both the soup and the mussels is outstanding!
Menu: It is a gastropub menu that I know the owners are highly committed to making unique, and it does have many unique offerings. Any menu that features pork belly rings my bell as a make of my own pork belly bacon. And there are Asian flavorings and traditional and vegetarian dishes and great salads. As a cheap eater, though, I can’t warm up to a salad priced at $15.95, not matter how many cranberries and pumpkins seeds and red onion are in it. Know what I mean? On a good note, the entrees are complete meals, which gets high marks with me. I saw another restaurant’s menu recently that charged $7.95 for a side of “biscuits.” Help!
Total Bill: $52.00, with tip $62.00. I wouldn’t say the snacks qualified for a top Cheap Eater spot, but I think we will go back again, being the gluttons for punishment and good food (and good beer) that we are.
Additional Comments: Gastropubs sometimes go over the top in comfort food, meaning “come here and overeat,” which is not what us Americans need more of. So they do a good job of keeping balance in the menu.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com
Location: Jennersville Shopping Center, 49 Jenners Village, West Grove, PA 19390
Owner: Chef Mike Stiglitz and partners
Telephone: 610-345-5689
Website: Two Stones Pub
Ambiance: Friendly, with a long bar stretching in front of diners on entry, with high-top tables, booths and bar seats on the right, and some cozy nook seating on the left. It was crowded in mid-afternoon Sunday.
Service: We were seated right away and brought menus and water. We asked questions about the beers so we could find our favorite IPA’s. I like cloudy and citrusy; he likes his more hoppy. The server brought us teeny-tiny samples to find what we liked, very nice (but small). We both found good beers we liked, at reasonable prices of $6 and $8.00.
Experience: Since it was mid-afternoon, we were going to eat light. My fellow diner Bob ordered loaded potato soup, which was hearty and delicious at $6.95. We shared the brussels sprouts with siracha aoli, and in fairness to the $13.95 price, it was a nice serving for 2. I ordered the Kennett Square mussels at $14.95, which were described as having shitake, cremini and oyster mushrooms with onion and fresh herbs in a Madiera cream. Yum! However, the mussels were just barely cooked and kind of stringy and unappetizing, so I could not finish them. And quite honestly, the Madeira cream was more like thin milk with no real Madeira flavor. I was disappointed, as I am a mussels lover and often make Vietnamese mussels with kefir lime leaf, cilantro, and Thai basil in a cream sauce instead of the traditional red or white wine and garlic. On a high note, the bread served with both the soup and the mussels is outstanding!
Menu: It is a gastropub menu that I know the owners are highly committed to making unique, and it does have many unique offerings. Any menu that features pork belly rings my bell as a make of my own pork belly bacon. And there are Asian flavorings and traditional and vegetarian dishes and great salads. As a cheap eater, though, I can’t warm up to a salad priced at $15.95, not matter how many cranberries and pumpkins seeds and red onion are in it. Know what I mean? On a good note, the entrees are complete meals, which gets high marks with me. I saw another restaurant’s menu recently that charged $7.95 for a side of “biscuits.” Help!
Total Bill: $52.00, with tip $62.00. I wouldn’t say the snacks qualified for a top Cheap Eater spot, but I think we will go back again, being the gluttons for punishment and good food (and good beer) that we are.
Additional Comments: Gastropubs sometimes go over the top in comfort food, meaning “come here and overeat,” which is not what us Americans need more of. So they do a good job of keeping balance in the menu.
Anne Pounds
TheCheapEater.com, an affiliate of WelcomeNeighborPA.com