Lunch 12/19/10— PJ Whelihan’s Pub 853 E. Lancaster Ave. Downingtown, PA

Today, I decided to eat lunch on this Sunday rather than our more usually desired breakfast so that our college-aged daughter could join us--  you know those college kids trying to wake up early!

We had tried to get into the new PJ Whelihan’s Pub a few times, but the place had been extremely busy with some long waiting times so we had kept it in reserve to “circle back to”.  We arrived at Whelihan’s at noon and I was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to get home to see the Eagles/Giants game at 1:00.  The place was not too busy so I didn’t think this would be a problem. 

We were seated almost immediately, but it did take more than 5 minutes for a server to come over.  At this point, we placed the entire order rather than simply drinks because we wanted to expedite the service.  The drinks came out relatively quickly, but it took almost 25 minutes for our food to show up. 

I ordered PJ’s world famous buffalo wings with a mild sauce.  There are several types of sauces to choose from.  Ten wings were $8.99.  As I put the first wing almost to my mouth, the wing sauce almost knocked my nose out and I knew they were going to be a lot hotter than what the mild sauce is in most places.  I finished the first wing and had my dining companion try one.  She again, is one who likes hot foods and she indicated immediately as well that these wings were in a much hotter sauce than a mild.  I ate about two or three more (remember I am a die-hard Eagles fan!) and pushed the rest away.  My partner ate one more and chose not to finish the others still sitting there.  I debated whether to say anything or just let it go.

My first dining partner ordered the Smokin’ Port BBQ with spicy fries ($8.49).  This was served on a nice roll and was a very good sandwich.  Too bad I hadn’t ordered this instead!  My partner was very happy with this choice—she liked the fries as well, but I didn’t try those since they were deemed spicy. 

My daughter ordered the PJ’s Burger ($8.49) which was topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and fried onions.   A small point to add here is that she ordered the burger with the fried onions on the side and while there was a small cup of fried onions on the side, there were still fried onions on the burger!?!  She is generally not a big eater and I only ordered the wings knowing that my partner would eat a few and I would finish the burger.  This plan went awry as soon as I tasted the cardboard like texture of this burger!  Albeit she ordered the burger medium, this burger was well done.  Since I was now thwarted in my attempt to have any redeeming morsels from this lunch, I chose to ask for the manager at this point. 

The manager came over and I told him of our aforementioned experience(s).  He was rather short with me and simply said, “If it’s not to your satisfaction, we take it off the bill for you—it’s what we do here.”

The check was adjusted and the meal ended up being $13 before tip, but the entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth (both figuratively as well as literally).  There has to be some quality control coming out of the kitchen!  Whelihan’s has a dozen locations and is becoming a nice regional operation and they need to have better quality coming out of the kitchen. 

My own belief is that Whelihan’s doesn’t care all that much about the food on a Sunday like I just described because they are a sports bar and the place was becoming extremely busy with fans gathering for an NFL Sunday to root on their favorite teams around the numerous screens in the restaurant.  As one who is not a drinker, I am also concerned when I witness small tables of 2 and 3 people ordering what looks like a small draft/tap setup for the table which easily must be 60 to 72 oz of beer.  “Downingtown’s finest” will have a field day with people leaving the bar with these types of drinks!

I don’t know that I will give Whelihan’s a second chance.  This is the site of the old Primavera Pizza Kitchen and although there was a lot of money put into the location to renovate it, I will be curious to see how they do here in the long run with the formidable competition around them.

1 Brownie

Dinner 12/18/10— Pietro’s Prime Steakhouse 125 W. Market Street West Chester, PA

In the on-going quest to find the “best of the best” in steak houses, we decided to try Pietro’s Prime Steakhouse located in West Chester, PA. 

Our reservation was for 7:30 and we waited 20 minutes at the bar to be seated.  This is an immediate “no-no” to this “Fat Foodie” who is not a drinker and truly doesn’t like to wait for a table any place when we have procured a reservation. 

Once seated, we were approached by someone who I thought was the bus person because he moved the place settings ever so slightly and lit the candle at the table.  He then asked if we were okay with drinks (since we had drinks from the bar) and then started to recite the specials for the evening (this list was rather extensive).  The only reason I make this point is that he never said his name and never indicated when he first came to the table that he would be our server.  A little odd for a steak house seeking to compete with the upper tier places! 

I did not choose an appetizer for the evening because I thought I might splurge on dessert.  I chose one of the specials—the one I ordered was a 14 oz Fillet ($48)served on the bone.  I am always a bit hesitant to order specials in a place that doesn’t tell you the price of the item because I feel it can be overpriced, but I went with the steak any way.  The fillet was good and had nice flavor, but could have been served a bit hotter.  The menu indicates that the restaurant serves 4 different steak sauces, but the waiter neglected to ask me if I wanted one when I ordered, so I assumed that they would provide a proper one with the serving, but I was mistaken.  When I asked for the Bearnaise sauce, it came out cold and really did nothing to enhance the steak.  This further bothered me since the menu indicates that steaks are served with a complimentary sauce, but on the bill, I was charged ($1.50).  I ordered the fillet medium-rare as I order all meat and the waiter indicated that as you got very close to the bone it would be more to the rare side—I expected this to be the case, but was not pleased overall with the steak’s temperature because it was more rare than medium rare, but our server did not come back to check to see if the meal was to our liking.  I ordered as a side dish my standard creamed spinach order ($6) to compare against the others and I will say that the spinach passed the test with flying colors!

One of my companions started with French Onion soup ($6).  The cheese on the outside of the small bowl and on top of the soup was very good, but the broth was rather lacking.  This was a poor start for my companion’s meal.  She then ordered one of the specials which were described as blackened scallops with mussels over crab risotto in a lobster cream sauce ($36).   The presentation of this entrée was nice, but the scallops were extremely over-seasoned and the crab risotto was dry without using the lobster cream sauce over it.  My dining companion is one who enjoys blackened food, but remarked that it was spiced much too much for even her liking. 

My other dining partner ordered the Lobster Bisque ($5) first.  This soup had one piece of lobster in the entire cup and truly tasted more like a tomato bisque that had some seafood stock added to it.  This was  very disappointing for a soup lover like the “Fat Foodie”.  His entrée was the Lamb Chop dinner ($32) which was presented nicely over mashed potatoes.  Now I will comment also on the price of this dinner.  On the menu, this entrée is listed as $32; however, on the check we received, the price of the dinner was $35?  This meal was not one of the specials so I was confused with the pricing, but again did not say anything because I was reviewing the restaurant.  This meal was complemented with a side of steamed asparagus which was very tough in nature and over done since the bottoms of the asparagus were very discolored vs. the rest of the asparagus spear(s). 

Upon finishing the meal, the server cleared the table and did not ask whether he could bring us coffee, tea or dessert, but asked, “What else can I do for you this evening?” 

I then had to ask what was on the dessert menu and he had to go check.  He came back to tell us there were four regular desserts on the menu and four specials-- we split the Brownie sundae ($8).  This was a dark chocolate brownie with a chocolate chip cookie bar also served over vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce drizzled on the side of the dish and maraschino cherries.  This dessert was reasonably good, but awkward to eat with the brownies being on the top and the ice cream on the bottom. 

This is a restaurant in which we had a server who was aloof at times who was very interested in getting his “side work” done.  I watched him a lot during the meal wiping water glasses (just below where our table was positioned) rather than being attentive to our table.  While he was friendly in nature, he lacked skills for a steak house pricing themselves with the others.  On the home page of this restaurant’s website it states, “Pietro’s is what West Chester has been missing!  No need to go to King of Prussia for the “other” steak houses.  Very good steaks cooked to perfection.” 

The “other steak houses” in King of Prussia include Sullivan’s, Morton’s, Ruth Chris and Capital Grille.  I have eaten at all four numerous times although not the King of Prussia location for Capital Grille as of yet.  This place, Pietro’s, is not close!  Dinner for three before tax and tip was $153 and truly not worth it.

This location is the old Murray’s Delicatessen in West Chester and it might have been better to have left it as the deli.  The various rooms are small and the noise level is extremely loud in a place you are spending this kind of money.

1.5 Brownies

Lunch 12/17/10— Zodiac Restaurant at Neiman Marcus King of Prussia Plaza King of Prussia, PA

Normally, I am not a proponent of eating in a mall; however, Zodiac in the Neiman Marcus store in King of Prussia is an exception to my rule.  Today, I took off from work to get a little shopping done for the Holiday and also spend time with my college-aged daughter.  One of our favorite places over the years has been this restaurant although we may only get to it once or twice annually since they are only open for lunch.

Neiman Marcus’ restaurant is a dying breed in that it is one of the last of the department store restaurants that I know of.  I recall fondly as a child being taken to the likes of every department store in our area for lunch.  Downtown it was Wanamaker’s Crystal Tea Room or the basement counter (ah the rum raisin ice cream!), Lit Brother’s and Strawbridge’s.  Closer to home we had the Trellis room at the Wynnewood Wanamaker’s, the Bird Cage Restaurant in Lord and Taylor (always 2 desserts from the cart for boys and men!  Talk about a chauvinistic start!) and the Charleston Garden in B. Altman’s (Wednesday night buffet with sliced prime rib for $7.95! along with baked Alaska!).   What child wouldn’t remember these places?  This was the pre-cursor to my days as the “Fat Foodie”!  Thank you chief!!

Zodiac is a contemporary restaurant on the 3^rd floor of the Neiman Marcus store.  It is bright and cheerful and you have a nice vantage point to look out over the rest of the mall outside areas.  The restaurant today was crowded since it was the week before Christmas.  We were seated almost immediately and I asked for our favorite waiter, Richard.

Richard has worked at Neiman for a while and served my mother for years when she would frequent the restaurant.  It becomes very nostalgic for me because she and I shared many lunches here.

I started off with the strawberry lemonade ($4) which is a fabulous unique blend of sweetness and tartness in one.  This is a house specialty.   There were numerous hot lunch choices as well as specials, but I ordered the Tuna Pecan Salad on Wheat with lettuce and tomato ($12.50).  Prior to receiving my sandwich I was treated to Zodiac’s traditional offering to all diners which is a small cup of chicken broth along with homemade popovers.  The chicken broth is always delicious and today was no exception.  This is a wonderful treat on a cold day!  The Neiman Marcus popovers are served with strawberry butter (I always order plain butter as well) and are second to none!  Picture a popover on steroids because that is the size of the popover you receive.  Seconds are no problem on either the broth or popover and are readily encouraged! 

My Tuna Pecan sandwich arrived and was very good also.  There was nothing fancy about this sandwich, but it is good wholesome food!

My companion ordered the Cheeseburger which was quite delicious.  This is a half pound grilled angus burger ($12.50) served with shoestring fries—the burger was done perfectly and was juicy and hot throughout.  My dining partner was quite pleased with her choice! 

While dining, there was a fashion show going on to pique the interest of the mostly female clientele. 

Lunch for 2 was $25 before tax and tip because Richard gave us our drinks “on the house” since we had to wait a few minutes for a table at the counter. 

This is still a really good dining experience and highly recommended!

4.5 Brownies

Dinner 12/16/10— Nonna’s Restaurant 116 E. Gay Street West Chester, PA

Tonight we had our office Christmas party from 5 to 8 and there were a variety of hors d’oeuvres served along with some pasta.  I chose to take time to mingle and talk to people rather really focusing on eating and conversely once I was on my way home from Philadelphia, I was getting very hungry by 8:30.  Late night eating is never good for anyone, but I seem to have perfected it with the best of them!

I put my handy Open Table application to use on my Iphone and tried to get a table at my favorite Italian place in West Chester (Limoncello), but there were no reservations until 9:30.  I decided to try Nonna’s which is located in the same site as the former Trattoria Alberto’s.  We frequented Alberto’s for quite a few years including many New Years Eve celebrations so I was excited to try the new restaurant here which probably has been open for about a year.

I started off my meal with a bowl of the Pasta Fagiole soup ($4).  This soup was very average and would not compare favorably to my more desired Pasta Fagiole from the Olive Garden.  This Pasta Fagiole had no redeeming quality to it and the broth was not very flavorful.  I even tried adding some parmesan cheese which is atypical for me and it did nothing to “spruce” it up.

My main course was Chicken Parmesan ($16).  The Chicken was served over a rather flat linguine noodle.  The portion of Chicken Parm was definitely large enough for 2!  It was reasonably good, but not great.  If I was comparing the Chicken Parm to the Phillies lineup it would be Raul Ibanez!!  A good performer and steady, but not really any more than that!  The Chicken was served with an ample amount of mozzarella cheese, but had too much tomato sauce for my liking and the pasta was okay, but not great as well.

My companion had eaten more at the Christmas party and I believe was happy she had done so.  She had a small Caesar salad with anchovies ($5) and was happy with her choice.  The Caesar was good when I tasted it, but again not memorable. 

Dinner for 2 was only $26 before tax and tip because my companion truly didn’t eat.

Nonna’s is part of the Giunta family who has a lot of heritage in Chester County, but I found myself wishing that Trattoria Alberto had still been in the location rather than Nonna’s.  As I have stated before, we have many great Italian restaurants in the area and I believe Nonna’s will struggle against the competition in the long term.  

2.5 Brownies 

Lunch 12/13/10— Devon Seafood Grill 225 South 18th Street Philadelphia

Today’s lunch is a place I am quite familiar with although have not eaten in for a while due to my problems in getting around on my bad foot.  It was nice to be able to take the 5 block walk from my office today to Devon Seafood Grill located on 18^th Street in Rittenhouse Square. 

Devon is a restaurant that has made a nice transformation in the city.  At one point, I thought they were pricing themselves out a bit, but they have made a conscious effort to coupon as well as offer reduced priced lunches to try to bring people in.

It is always a good idea to have a reservation for lunch because there are certain days that the restaurant can be crowded with a slight wait. 

Today, I started off with a bowl of the spicy creole gumbo soup.  This is served in a small pitcher which the server pours over rice before serving to the customer.  This soup is about as spicy as this writer can handle, but it is a delicious blend of gumbo with a small piece of sausage in it as well as shrimp.  This soup is served with a small package of crackers and is just delicious.  This soup accompanies one of the several Power Lunches for $12.50.  My accompaniment to the soup was the half of crab melt sandwich.  This sandwich is jumbo lump crab meat with a sharp cheddar, slice of tomato and remoulade sauce on a rustic country white bread.  This sandwich was delicious and just the right amount of food with the bowl of soup.  While we waited for the food to be served, we were treated to a Devon biscuit which is a small uniquely sweet type of biscuit which was very good. 

One of my dining partners had the Grilled Salmon Panzanella salad which is described on the menu as spinach, montrachet goat cheese, balsamic roasted onions, tomatoes, basil oil and balsamic vinaigrette.  This salad ($15) comes with a beautifully cooked piece of salmon and is a very nice size for us “Foodies”.  The aforementioned cheese that is served with it is absolutely delicious and really enhances this salad.  My partner was thrilled with her choice and I tasted both the salmon and the salad part and concur with her assessment of the entrée.

My other dining partner opted for the fully sized crab melt sandwich rather than the half with soup.  This is $13 this way.  She also enjoyed the sandwich which I described previously. 

Lunch for 3 before tax and tip today was $40.50.  While we dined, the manager came around with cards to promote business in January—these were cards good for $20 off of $50 or more-- good during January.   This is a smart idea to spur on January business when people may not eat out quite as much.

4 Brownies

Dinner 12/13/10— Hibachi of Valley Forge 240 W. Swedesford Road Berwyn, PA

Tonight we chose Hibachi Restaurant in the Valley Forge area.  Hibachi has multiple locations in the Philadelphia area and puts on the familiar Japanese steakhouse “show” when cooking hibachi style in front of the customers.  If I choose to eat at Hibachi, I generally will choose this location rather than Downingtown which is closer to me only because the Downingtown location always seems to have a wait. 

If you are going to choose Hibachi, Monday night is a great night to consider because their Monday night specials are hard to beat and you will see that with the prices described below.

I chose the Fillet Mignon and Chicken dinner ($13.95 on Monday evenings!).  This meal is served with a complimentary small tossed salad as an appetizer.  The dressing for the salad is a special Hibachi blend which is a bit on the sweet side; however, very delicious.  One recommendation would be to order the dressing on the side because they put a lot on the salad!

Hibachi offers each customer with their dinner a 2 shrimp sampler, fried rice and oriental vegetables.  This is served a few minutes before your desired selection.  All of the above was delicious and the chicken and fillet were done to perfection. 

The chef performing the cooking show tonight was very good and was able to spin an egg quite nicely on the grill and then also crack the egg perfectly on his spatula.  This is a neat show for children if they have never seen something like this. 

My companion chose the Fillet Mignon and Scallops ($13.95) and again this was excellent also.  The Fillet was done as ordered and the scallops were perfectly executed on the grill. 

Both of these entrees are normally priced more appropriately at $27.95 other evenings.  Hibachi does a nice job at this location and was very good this evening!

Total before tax and tip was $27.90.

4 Brownies

Dinner 12/12/10— Mile High Steak and Seafood 1102 Baltimore Pike #101 Glen Mills, PA

Tonight’s dinner was at Mile High Steak and Seafood.  I discovered this neighborhood gem a few months ago and have been a frequent visitor since.

Mile High is located in Glen Mills in a strip center just to the east of the intersection of Rtes 1&202 on Baltimore Pike.  I was surprised to learn that the restaurant has been in place for approximately two years.

I have not dined at Mile High on a Sunday before this.  The restaurant had a larger private party in its back dining room and much to my surprise, we were the only party seated in the main dining room.  This is an absolute shame because the dining room is a contemporary beautiful design and the food is extremely good.  I hope it was just an anomaly due to the cold and rainy night outside.

I wanted to try Mile High on a Sunday because of their new Sunday December special.  That special was a complimentary 6 oz. Filet Mignon dinner with the purchase of a Prime Rib Dinner ($34).  This is easily a $40 value in most of the well known steak houses!

Tonight, we ordered 2 orders of the Lobster Mac n Cheese which is actually a side dish on the menu, but we wanted them as our appetizers.  This was absolutely decadent!  The sauce was smooth and creamy and there was a generous amount of lobster throughout the fusili pasta.  Each side dish was $10, but when ordering 2 plates for 4 people, it is a very reasonably priced appetizer at $5 per person.   Mile High also gives a very nice bread basket with homemade rolls and bread along with regular butter and a very good apricot flavored butter. 

Before the main course is served at Mile High, you are treated to a scoop of lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate.  I am not a big fan of the lemon sorbet, but it is a nice touch.

We ordered for the table 2 orders of Prime Rib and received 2 complimentary 6 oz Filet Mignons.  I should also say that both Filets were served with their own vegetables as well!  My partner and I split half of the Prime Rib and half of the Filet so we could have some of each and both cuts of meat were done to perfection and had great flavor.  The meat is also served with a complimentary steak sauce and we both chose the gorgonzola one whereas our other 2 dining partners chose the mile high sauce which is a more traditional Worcestershire based sauce.  The gorgonzola sauce was truly outstanding!  The other nice touch with Mile High vs. other steak houses is that sides are included! 

My companion and I both chose mashed potatoes and broccoli for the sides.  This is the first time for me in trying the mashed because I usually opt for the scalloped potatoes au gratin which they did not have this evening, but I would say that the mashed were very good!  The steamed broccoli was done perfectly! 

My other two dining companions as I said above had the same dinner as well, but slightly changed the side dishes with one having a baked potato and the other having asparagus.  All of their sides were very good as well! 

Normally, I will think about dessert, but not tonight!  Even this “Fat Foodie” was quite full after this meal. 

This is a restaurant with excellent value and the wait staff and management team are first class!  If you cost-average the entrees, it was $17 per person with sides!!  Total bill before tax and tip was $97.  I don’t know if Mile High will continue this Sunday special beyond December, but even if they do not, there are numerous great offerings in a beautiful setting!

5 Brownies 

Dinner 12/11/10— Max Brenner 1500 Walnut Street #2 Philadelphia, PA

Faced with the usual daunting fact that someone’s flight is late in arriving in Philadelphia, it adds stress to knowing that the arriving traveler will be famished and it is 10:30 in the evening already!  Thus was our Saturday evening!  We had gone to a Christmas party which featured lots of good hors d’oeuvres including this “Fat Foodie’s” special baby lamb chops!! 

After picking up our college student at the airport, I used my trusty iphone application for Open Table searching for a restaurant that would take an 11:00 reservation.  I was happy to find Max Brenner open with seating.  We were able to park on 15^th Street  at a meter(no easy task) and walk less than a block to the restaurant. 

My companions had never been to Max Brenner, but I have, and was eager to see their opinion of a restaurant that specializes in chocolate.

Max Brenner is a small chain of restaurants with locations in the U.S. in Las Vegas, NY city, and Boston opening in a few months.  Internationally they have locations in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and Israel. 

My companion who was famished since she had not eaten anything prior to her air trip (delayed two plus hours) ordered the Brenner Burger ($13.50).  This burger was served on a brioche type of roll and was delicious.  The Burger was served with an ample amount of cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, a Vidalia onion ring and the secret bbq sauce.  My companion chose the butterscotch chocolate cream milkshake ($7.95) which is served with dulce de leche ice cream, toffee sauce and pure milk chocolate in a very uniquely designed mug called the “alice cup”.  This milkshake was excellent and albeit a bit pricey, definitely delicious!

As aforementioned, I had hors d’oeuvres earlier in the evening so I wanted to complement those with a nice dessert.  I chose the Melting chocolate truffle heart cake and shake which was a very tasty heart-shaped molten chocolate cake served with caramel on the inside and warm chocolate that could be poured on top of it.  This was served with vanilla bourbon ice cream, raspberries and the smallest shot glass of iced milk chocolate ($13.25).  This molten cake was delicious and the small shake was a nice touch as well.  The desserts are presented elegantly and plated uniquely. 

My other companion had the Swiss whipped cream Chocolat which included a choice of dark, milk or white hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream ($5.25).  She then chose the Milk Chocolate Apple Caramel Crisp which features oatmeal streusel, toffee ice cream and pure melted cinnamon chocolate ($9.95).  Both of these were delicious as well and warmed up the body on a cool rainy evening!

Max Brenner is open until 1:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights and is a nice alternative to other establishments at the bewitching hour!  My traveling companion truly wanted a Philadelphia cheesesteak, but on a cool rainy evening, one would much sooner opt for the warmth and rich aromatic smells from Max Brenner.

4 Brownies

Dinner 12/10/10— Parker’s Prime Steakhouse 4755 West Chester Pike Newtown Square, PA

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by fellow foodie Lucas who indicated that Parker’s Prime was a steak house that could play with the “big boys”.  He compared it favorably to one of our favorites—Sullivan’s.  I will let you know my feelings about that as the review proceeds.

Parker’s Prime is part of the Win small chain of restaurants from the Main Line area—their other places include Thai Pepper and Mikado in Ardmore,  Flavor in Wayne,  Teikoku in Newtown Square and Azie in Media and Villanova.  This is their 7^th restaurant.  I have not dined in any of the aforementioned restaurants before choosing Parker’s Prime. 

We had an 8:00 reservation and were fairly surprised to see that the restaurant was almost empty—they do have a bar which is well partitioned from the restaurant and it sounded like there were some people in there, but there were only 7 parties dining during the time that we ate which is not good for any restaurant two weeks before Christmas. 

We were seated immediately and I ordered the Parker’s Prime Salad which is their version of an Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with blue cheese dressing ($8).  The wedge was served at the proper temperature and the dressing was good.   I ordered the Ribeye 14 oz. steak as my entrée.  The steak was served again at the proper temperature, but lacked in quality and was tough for a ribeye steak and lacked flavor.    I ordered a side of sautéed mushrooms (included in the price), but the steak was served with garlic mashed potatoes instead which I pointed out to our server.  The mushrooms took a while to come out as a result and I was about halfway through the steak when they arrived.  I will say that Craig (our waiter) was very apologetic for the mishap.   I ordered a side of creamed spinach also for tasting purposes to compare against many of our favored steakhouses.  This spinach ($6) was interesting in that the cream of the spinach was very liquid-like in comparison to others that I have had.  While the flavor was good, the liquid-like cream made the side seem strange.  

One of my dining companions began the meal with the Onion Gratin soup—described on the menu as beef and chicken bouillon, baguette and gruyere.  This soup was average at best and when asked by the maitre d’ after the appetizers had been served how we liked them, my partner gave a true opinion of the soup and this was deducted from the final bill.  My other companion chose mac  n cheese as his appetizer.  This is described on the menu as elbow macaroni, cheddar béchamel and panko crumbs.  The flavor of this was delicious, but an elbow macaroni is difficult to eat in comparison to other types of pasta used in serving mac n cheese in restaurants.  Again, this Fat Foodie is interested in flavor, but ease of getting it into one’s mouth is still important!!

My companions had as main courses the 8 oz. Chilean Sea Bass and the 10 oz. Filet Mignon.  With respect to the Chilean Sea Bass ($24), I thought it lacked flavor.  This was served with a side of broccoli.    The Fillet ($32) was served with a side of the garlic mashed potatoes and looked like a nice cut of meat for a 10 oz serving.  Upon tasting the fillet, I found it to be rather dry for the medium rare temperature that it was served at. 

For dessert, I chose the bread pudding with chocolate chips and a chocolate ganache.  This was served almost too hot for a dessert item and was very average and rather heavy in nature.  One of my companions had the Apple Crumble which included a scoop of vanilla gelato.  The waiter had raved about this dessert, but I found it to be average.  My other companion had the chocolate molten cake which seemed very commercial in nature, but was served with a nice scoop of banana gelato which was actually much better than the molten cake!  All desserts were $8. 

Dinner for 3 was around $145.00 before tip and I would tell you that I did not find any value here for that price.  This restaurant is across from the popular Winner’s Circle Sports Bar and Grill in Edgemont and site of the old Roux 3 restaurant.  As stated above also, if the restaurant is this empty on a night two weeks before Christmas, it doesn’t make this reviewer believe January can be very promising to this restaurant.  While the restaurant is beautiful inside with a very contemporary design, it is rather expensive for what we had and overall not worthy of a great rating as a result.  Fellow foodie Lucas will have to work his way up to the varsity review team for us to consider subsequent restaurants!

2 Brownies

Lunch 12/10/10— Seasons 52 160 N. Gulph Rd. King of Prussia, PA

Today’s lunch was with a business associate at Seasons 52 in King of Prussia.  This location is site of the old Bennigans restaurant and is not connected into the mall albeit you must enter the mall parking area initially when driving into this restaurant.

Seasons 52 is a fresh new chain from Florida with an interesting notion that people want to and will eat healthy if given the opportunity to do so.  The menu is changed every season—hence the name.   Every entrée on the menu is 475 calories or less and does not sacrifice portion size or taste to do so!

I started my meal with a cup of the Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo soup.  This soup ($3.95) was simply outstanding with a lot of flavor and it was loaded with chicken and shrimp!   I chose as my entrée the Grilled Steak and Cremini mushroom flatbread pizza ($8.95).  This also has fresh spinach and Wisconsin blue cheese on it and is quite tasty.  It is a very thin pizza for the Italian pizza lovers out there!   Every bite of this flatbread was delicious and it is served uniquely on a thin paddle board. 

My business associate chose a special on the menu which was the Western Buffalo Burger ($9.50).  She indicated this was quite good and done to the right temperature.  This was served with a remoulade sauce on the side.  The burger was also complemented with a very nice small salad which had multi-colored tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Once you have finished your main courses, the server will bring out a tray with “mini indulgences”.  These are their desserts and served in a mini type of shot glass.  I chose the pecan pie dessert and my associate chose the rocky road.  I have had both desserts in the past and believe these are the two best.  The pecan pie desert is 320 calories so you get a great hint and flavor of pecan pie without the usual accompanying calories!  All mini indulgence desserts are $2.50 and well worth the price. 

This restaurant is doing something right because our reservation (highly recommended) was for 1:30 in the afternoon and the restaurant was absolutely jammed.  The hostess was informing people that the wait would be 45 minutes at that time!!  If you want to eat here on a weekend, make reservations a week ahead!!

Lunch for the two of us before tax and tip was $32.

4.5 Brownies

Dinner 12/8/10— The Pub at Wegmans 50 Foundry Way Uptown Worthington Shopping Center Malvern, PA

Tonight’s dinner is one where some may choose not to dine because it is in a supermarket.  However, for many of you who have been to Wegmans, you know this is not your father’s oldsmobile!!

Wegmans is a clean, bright and beautiful place and is far from the traditional supermarket venue that many of us grew up with.  The Pub at Wegmans is an innovative way for a supermarket to launch its personal attack on the stupid, archaic Liquor Control Board (LCB) in Pennsylvania.  Wegmans has challenged the LCB and finally won the rights to be able to sell beer and wine in some of its locations.  The Pub not only offers beer and wine, but a fully stocked bar as well.

Now many “Foodies” may not like Wegmans because they have stepped into the 21^st century of eating and actual disclose caloric content on its menu--  I say bravo to them because subconsciously it may steer one a bit in making a better choice. 

Tonight, I opted for the San Marzano Margherita Naan Pizza as an appetizer ($6.49).  This pizza is described as having San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil and basil (670 calories).  This pizza is fairly small and that is why I chose it as an appetizer; however, would be perfect as a main course with a small complementary salad.  This pizza is as good as any pizza this “Foodie” has tried in a long time!  You must like the chunky style San Marzano tomato to appreciate this pizza—the mozzarella is a fresh mozzarella and not the shredded variety.  Again, this was simply outstanding!

Not wanting to pound the 900 calorie cheeseburger on top of this pizza, I chose a more sensible Vietnamese Black Tiger Shrimp dish in the bouillabaisse sauce ($9.99).  This dish is a modest 330 calories and is served with a choice of salad or winter vegetable medley.  I chose the vegetables which included the likes of zucchini, red pepper and yellow squash.  This medley was sautéed in olive oil and my only criticism of the dish would be that there was a bit too much olive oil with it.  The only other slight negative about the delicious shrimp dish would be my usual pet peeve of the shrimp being served with the tails on.  There were 6 generous sized shrimp. 

My dining partner chose the Atlantic Farm-raised salmon served with a side of horseradish sauce ($9.99).  The salmon looked a bit dry, but looks can be deceiving because upon tasting it, I discovered it was moist and done to perfection.  My companion chose the salad rather than the vegetables and the salmon was positioned nicely on the plate surrounded by the salad.  This meal was 470 calories. 

As aforementioned, this is no ordinary food market because my companion enjoyed a glass of Chardonay with the meal.

Dinner before tax was around $32.00.  The nice thing about Wegmans is that while they provide excellent service, you cannot tip them!!  That’s right, no tip for the waitress/waiter service due to the fact that they are store employees and make the same hourly type of rate as the other employees.

This is a definite find and there are coupons available (wish we would have known!) in their takeout menus which are available as you walk in!  Coupon is good for $5 off the purchase of $15 or more before month end!

4.5 Brownies

Dinner 12/7/10— The Bistro at Our Town Swedesford Road and Rte 100 Exton, PA

Remember my pre-dinner story from last week regarding The Bistro at Our Town?  Well, since I am a true “Foodie”, I always store a restaurant in the back of my mind as  a “go-to” place down the line—I just didn’t think “down the line” would be a few days later. 

We were actually going to try a new place in West Chester tonight called Pistachio’s, but the place was overly crowded and looked like it would take a while to get served; thus, we decided to go back to The Bistro.

Tonight we arrived at the restaurant around 6:35 remembering that they are reservation only after 7:00.  When we got there, there was only one other table occupied in this restaurant that seats about 75.  The restaurant is in the Giant Shopping Center in Exton. 

The restaurant is very unique in its appearance and has strings of Christmas style white lights going across it.  Overall, the ambiance is pleasant enough and as I have often said, I’m there strictly to sample the food!

Since I had seen the portions the week before, I talked my dining companion into splitting an order of the jumbo lump crab macaroni and cheese ($16.50).  We complemented this with a Caesar Salad ($10) beforehand which was described as a Sicilian style Caesar. 

While we were waiting, we were treated to a few pieces of pita style bread with grated parmesan cheese and basil on it.  This was served in a unique, but interesting style on a long paddle thin paddle board.  A few minutes later the Caesar salad arrived served in a very nice sized bowl.  My dinner companion and I barely made a dent in the salad!  This was a delicious Caesar (one of the best this Foodie has ever had) with a delectable dressing.  My only recommendation to the restaurant would be to make the croutons a bit smaller—they are almost whole pieces of bread!  I must say also that I am not an anchovy lover, but the anchovies are spread well throughout and aren’t a nuisance in any way. 

The main course was equally good.  The crab mac n cheese was tasty and had a nice crust on top consisting of cheese and crabmeat.  Again, this place is a “Foodie” paradise with its portions!  We did not come close to finishing this dish either and took both the salad and the main course home.  This mac n cheese though is a homerun!

The only disappointing part of the menu is that they only had one dessert—tonight it was a blueberry cobbler.  Since I was rather full and we were in a hurry, I opted for a portion to go.  I was a bit surprised when I got the check and the cobbler was $10.25.  The cobbler came in a large portion also, but was rather disappointing taste-wise in comparison to our salad and entrée. 

Dinner was about $39 before tip.  As stated previously, if you choose to dine here after 7:00, it is reservation only!  The concept of this place is they cook everything fresh to order that day and do not use freezers or microwaves.

I am eager to try other foods on the menu in subsequent visits and also believe that you can easily feed a family of 4 here by taking out with one salad and one entrée!

4.5 Brownies

The-Bistro-at-Our-Town-Exton

Lunch 12/7/10— Famous Fourth Street Delicatessen 38 South 19th Street Philadelphia

Lunch today is another place that I dine at fairly regularly.  This is Famous Fourth Street Deli on 19^th Street—the original Fourth Street Deli has been a staple for years in the South Street area of the city.  This location opened on 19^th Street about two years ago. 

Famous is a deli known for its large portions and oversized sandwiches and definitely is a “Foodie’s” dream type of place!  While the prices on Famous’ menu seem high, the sandwiches and platters can all be split and make the place fairly economical as a result.

Today, I chose the chicken soup as an appetizer.  The soup is served in a very large bowl and is easily capable of feeding 2 in the portion ($6.75).  The chicken soup I ordered was served with bow tie noodles and rice with nice pieces of carrots and an ample amount of chicken.  Unlike some deli’s which do not put chicken actually in the chicken soup, it is not a problem here.  As my main course, in honor of the Jewish holiday this week (Channukah), I ordered the half order of potato pancakes ($4.25).  The pancakes come with sour cream and apple sauce albeit I am strictly a sour cream guy.  Both the soup and potato pancakes were done extremely well and were quite delicious.  One other luxury at Famous is that they have Dr. Browns’ soda.  Even though I am not a soda drinker, I will indulge every once in a while if the place carries Dr Brown’s diet black cherry (yes even the Fat Foodie can save some calories!). 

My dining companion ordered a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel ($6.00).  This sandwich was tasty as well although the egg was done too well and should have been cooked about 30 seconds less.  This is one of the few sandwiches in the place that a normal eater has a chance of finishing on their own.

For anyone planning to try Famous, they have 2 sizes of sandwiches (regular and zaftig).  Do not order zaftig even if you are splitting because it is too much food even for “Foodies” to handle! 

Upon completion of your meal you can choose from Famous’ unbelievable array of desserts, but again, if you order a piece of cake, you will need 4 to 6 people to help you finish it.  My recommended cake choice here is the chocolate blackout cake.  For the record, I did not choose a dessert with this meal!

Upon receiving your check, you will get a waxed paper bag with a chocolate chip cookie for each member of your dining party.  The cookies are usually served warm and are very fresh.

Lunch for 2 before tax and tip was around $22.50.

4 Brownies

Dinner 12/6— Carlino’s Italian Market

Tonight’s dinner is a quick one due to my companion’s schedule.  Carlino’s Market is located at 128 W. Market Street in West Chester, PA.   For many of us “Foodies”, we go back to the days when Carlino’s only had one location in Ardmore.  This market is drastically bigger than Ardmore and has probably about ten tables along with a side bar that they call their coffee bar.  They are open in the evenings until 7:00 so one is still able to get something from the Market to sit and enjoy it if eaten early enough.

The nice thing about Carlino’s is the selection.  They literally have everything!  I wasn’t necessarily in the mood for Italian this evening since we had it several times in the last few days, but this is not a problem at Carlino’s.  I chose to have a sandwich freshly made from the deli area of the market.  My sandwich was roast beef, turkey and provolone cheese with tomato on white bread.  I did opt for some brown mustard along with a little bit of mayonnaise.  This sandwich was a nice size and tasted very good.  The sandwich was $6.99.  The roast beef was done perfectly and had the nice pink color leaning towards rare that many of us look for in our Jewish deli’s when ordering. 

My dining companion chose to have a small personal plain cheese pizza made for him.  I did have a taste and it was done to perfection in the Carlino’s brick style oven.  This is a true thin crusted Italian pizza with a lot of flavor!   The pizza had an abundance of cheese (almost too much) and is well priced at $5.95.

The beauty about a place like Carlino’s is that they have something to fit almost any palate at reasonable prices.  The dining area is a bit cluttered with the tables and it could be a few degrees warmer because we visited on a thirty degree night and felt it when eating.

Our meal with 2 beverages was $15.99—no tip since you are serving yourself!  This is a nice budget busting place for dinner and is one to consider when in the West Chester area.

4 Brownies

Lunch 12/6/10— DuJour 2001 Market Street (Commerce Square Bldg) Philadelphia

Today’s lunch at DuJour is very close to my office and is within walking distance.  All of the employees in DuJour are always friendly and aim to please and is a rarity to find with most restaurants any more in Center City.  The manager (Anthony) goes out of his way to greet you and make sure the meal is to your liking.

DuJour also spent some money in the location because the ambiance is fairly trendy and makes you feel quite comfortable while eating in the restaurant. 

Today, I ordered a cup of the Turkey Vegetable Orzo soup ($4.95).  DuJour’s cup is larger than many bowls of soup that exist in the market.  The soup was extremely good and properly seasoned.  There was an abundance of turkey, vegetables and orzo.  For my main course I ordered a side Caesar salad--  this is a nice buy at $3.50 and is a very acceptable portion even for a “Foodie” like me!  Yes folks, once in a while even a true “Foodie” should mix in a nice salad!!  The DuJour Caesar salad comes with small chopped plum tomatoes throughout  the salad and nicely shaved locatelli cheese with an accompanying piece of grilled flatbread.  The flatbread has a little bit of cheese on it as well and is a perfect complement to the salad because the finely chopped tomatoes become easier to eat when using the flatbread to push them on to the fork!  This salad is quite good and a nice mix with the soup.

My companion ordered the Turkey Burger ($10.50) which was described on the menu as White Meat Turkey, brie cheese, mushrooms, ranch dressing, lettuce, tomato and onion.  This burger was extremely juicy as turkey goes and the portabella mushrooms were done perfectly as well.  I am not certain what type of roll DuJour serves this on since she opted to forego the roll today.  Rather than the ranch dressing, she chose the DuJour mayonnaise which looks more like a remoulade type of sauce than mayonnaise.   The burger was served with hand cut fries which were homemade—there was a generous portion of fries and too many to finish!

Feeling like I was a good boy for lunch, I did opt for a DuJour homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert.  The cookie was very fresh and I ordered it cold rather than having it heated the way they normally would serve it.  The cookie is very nicely sized and overall quite delicious ($1.95).

Lunch for 2 was $26 before tip.

4 Brownies

Dinner 12/5— The Hunt Room in the Desmond Hotel Malvern, PA

Tonight we tried to go more casual and originally went to the new PJ Whelihan’s in Downingtown, but with Sunday football on every tv this was not a good idea because they were packed like a typical sports bar should be on an NFL Sunday.  We’ll try that place at some point again.

We then decided to go to The  Hunt Room in the Desmond Hotel.  This is just off of the 29 exit of 202 in Malvern/Great Valley.  I reserved a table with my Iphone app (1000 points for this reservation). 

If you dine in the Hunt Room before 6:30 any evening, their Prix Fixe menu is $25.00 per person for a complete dinner and goes up to a modest $29.00 after 6:30—there are some upcharges with this menu, but still quite a few items with this pricing. 

I started with a cup of the French Onion Soup.  This soup was tasty, but the consistency of the cheese was a bit more liquid-like than what one might normally expect.  Despite the aforementioned cheese concern, the soup was still good.   While waiting, the Desmond gives a nice bread basket with various rolls as well as crackers.  The Desmond also adds a nice touch by giving a plate of bruschetta which had six small pieces of bread, but very delectable.  For my main course, I had the Braised Short Ribs of Beef with horseradish mashed potatoes.  The ribs are served without the bones and also come with the root vegetables (carrots and celery).  The Desmond also gives a green with the plate (tonight it was broccoli rabe).  The short ribs were done nicely and are served in a brown sauce and almost tender enough to use just a fork to cut them.  The mashed potatoes are a nice add and tasty, but the broccoli rabe was over-seasoned and not well prepared.    Dessert is included with the meal and I decided to go with an upcharge (only $2.00 more) for the carrot cake.  The slice of cake was exceedingly large, but was average with respect to its taste.  The dessert of choice at the Desmond is the homemade bread pudding with warm vanilla sauce, but I have had this many times and wanted to try a piece of cake for the purposes of this review.

My first companion had the French onion soup also and felt similar to me about its consistency.  This meal also came with a nice garden salad which was very fresh and chilled properly.  She then opted for the Herb and Honey Glazed Salmon.  This is described as seared and then baked with lemon beurre blanc.   This was very good and extremely tender.  The potato she ordered is the Desmond Dauphinoise which is like a casserole of potato au gratin.  The potatoes were done nicely.  She also had the broccoli rabe and felt similar to the way I did about this item.

My other companion had a Caesar salad first which he was very happy with—the dressing was very creamy and delivered a nice taste.  His main course was the Long Island Duckling which is described on the menu as a crispy half of duck seasoned, roasted and served with fresh orange and sauce bigarade.  This meal is a $3.00 upcharge.  The duck was tasty and I was impressed with the portion size of the entrée.  His meal also included the horseradish mashed potatoes (which he liked) and the broccoli rabe (which he shared my opinion about as well).  For dessert, he opted for the fresh fruit cup with raspberry sorbet.  This was a nice close to his meal and a better dessert choice than mine.

Overall our meal was $85 before tip.  This is quality food in a hotel setting, but one in which delivers a consistently good product.  Let me just say, for any of you “Foodies” out there, you will never be hungry after a meal at the Desmond!!  This is a lot of food for the money!

4 Brownies!!  

Dinner 12/4— Olive Garden (Collegeville, PA)

Reviewing chain restaurants can be a bit more difficult since they are somewhat thought of to be a lesser type of place than an independent.  Many food critics would tell you they will not review chains, but as I eat it, I will review it!!

The Olive Garden restaurant in Collegeville is located in the new Wegman’s Shopping Center just off of the Collegeville exit of 422. 

Not atypical for any Olive Garden restaurant on a Saturday evening, we arrived and were told that it would be 45 minutes to an hour.  Normally if I am really famished (hard to believe if you look at me!), I won’t wait, but in looking at the number of people waiting, I thought their time estimate was overly conservative and I was proven correct when we were seated after 30 minutes. 

I was excited to eat at Olive Garden because I have found their meals to be fairly consistent over the years and believe they usually are good value. 

My meal started with Pasta Fagioli soup--  this is a hearty, meaty soup that often reminds me of chili.  Olive Garden has offered this soup for years and is quite frankly a staple of the franchise for me.  The soup was served perfectly and upon completion you are always asked if you would like more—while I easily could have a second bowl, it would be too much even for this Foodie with a pasta meal coming. 

A secret to ordering from the menu at Olive Garden is to pick any dish from the dinner menu and find out if there is a luncheon portion of this—if there is, you can get an ample order while saving a few shekels!  In this case, my Chicken Alfredo went from $13.75 down to $9.95 and the portion was outstanding!  The pasta was done to perfection with just the right amount of sauce and the chicken was tender and juicy.  I splurged on a drink with the meal rather than my customary ice tea.  I had the Bella Limonata which was sweet lemonade, pomegranate and pineapple juices with fresh sliced fruit.  This drink at $2.95 is a nice portion for the money!

My companions were equally satisfied.  One had the Stuffed Chicken Marsala ($15.25) which is described as oven-roasted chicken breast stuffed with Italian cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, topped with mushrooms and a creamy marsala sauce—this was also served with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes.  Having sampled this, it was delicious! 

My other companion ordered the Five Cheese Ziti al Forno ($11.50)—this was just a huge mound of never ending pasta; thus, he took some home with him.  I sampled this as well and concurred with his opinion that the pasta was done to perfection!

Both of my companions had the Olive Garden never ending salad bowl as their appetizers which is included in the meal price similar to the aforementioned soup.  We also enjoyed the bread sticks which are another staple of the chain.

This was a lot of food for a good value!  Total before tip and tax was $44.50.

4 Brownies

Lunch 12/4— Alex’s Pizzeria Philadelphia, PA

Normally after a decent sized breakfast, I will not eat lunch on Saturdays, but today feeling especially hungry, I abandoned that usual behavior and decided on my way out of the Philadelphia area to stop at one of our old favorite places--  Alex’s Pizzeria located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia at 400 Leverington Ave. 

Alex’s has been around for over 50 years and is a place I remember my parents taking us to numerous times growing up when pizza was not as popular as it is today.  Alex’s is the first place I remember having pizza as a kid!

I think sometimes we remember things as a kid being better and those memories should be left and not challenged!

I ordered a small plain pizza and paid about $8.50 for it—pizza was probably medium sized by most shops’ standards because it was either 12 or 14 inch. 

So I was excited to try a slice as soon as I got into the car with it (there is no place to dine in at Alex’s)—what a disappointment!!  Alex’s is one of the innovators in the pizza game of putting the sauce on the top of the pie rather than under the cheese and quite frankly if I would have closed my eyes to taste the pizza, I would have questioned whether there was any cheese on it.  The sauce was overly tangy and lacked any true characteristic that would make it memorable.   The crust was extremely hard and paled in comparison to other good Italian pizzas! 

This Foodie only ate two and a half small slices out of 8 and actually committed a Foodie cardinal sin of stopping to throw the rest of the pizza away!

Alex’s will go down in the memory bank along with many other places from my youth, but it will be hard to hold them with the same reverence that I once did in my formative years of becoming a Foodie!!

1 Brownie

Saturday 12/4 Breakfast— Market Street Grill West Chester, PA

Saturday 12/4 Breakfast—  Market Street Grill

As you can tell by now, we go through stretches of eating out a lot!  As I have been battling a foot and ankle issue, it has led me to dine out more during this period than usual since it is harder to stand on my feet for long periods to make meals in the kitchen.  Hopefully this will change a bit in the new year!

Today’s breakfast is at one of our more favored breakfast places--  Market Street Grill  located at 6 West Market Street in West Chester.  Market Street Grill has the traditional feeling of a diner in a non-diner setting.  When you walk into the restaurant the place is usually bustling with hungry diners and very enthusiastic young servers. 

The breakfast menu (breakfast served all day) features traditional breakfast items as well as some interesting items such as Brown Sugar Swirl Stuffed French Toast with Caramelized Bananas, Cream Cheese and Walnuts, Brisket Hash or the French Toast served with blueberry stilton. 

Today, I chose one of my favorite sandwiches which is not actually on the menu, but they will make regardless.  This is a pepper and egg sandwich—this however is the Cadillac of pepper and egg sandwiches because they will make to order so I get this with cheddar cheese and fried onions on a Kaiser roll.  The roll is not a true Kaiser it is more of egg roll somewhere between an egg Challah type roll and a brioche roll.  In any event it holds the sandwich nicely together.  Today’s sandwich did not disappoint and I will also say that Market Street is one of the only places that will make this sandwich with a choice of how you want your eggs—most places prefer only to do this sandwich with scrambled eggs because eggs over medium get tricky to keep from breaking on the roll.  This sandwich was priced today at $7.  I say this last line because every time I go to Market Street the sandwich is priced differently since not on the menu and I may just have to ask the owner one of these times how much it should actually be!  I will say it is still a nice value at $7 and is served with a generous portion of hash brown potatoes. 

My dining partner had 2 scrambled eggs with bacon and hash browns along with white toast ($5.50). 

Overall today was the usual outstanding performance expected from Market Street Grill and is always a winner when we dine here. 

4.5 Brownies   

Dinner-- Friday 12/3

So after going to one place and having to leave, needless to say we were a bit hungry since it was now around 8:00 or so on Friday evening.  I immediately went to my trusty Iphone and used my open table app to find a place where we would now have a reservation.  I booked an 8:30 for a new place in Berwyn called Alfredo.   Alfredo is located at 668 Lancaster Ave.

We arrived and were seated immediately.  The restaurant is handsomely appointed and looks like some money was spent on the interior.  There is no bar and it is a byob place.  Our server was young and eager to please.  We ordered rather quickly and things seemed to be looking up.

The appetizers arrived in a reasonable period of time-- I along with one of my dining companions ordered the bruschetta.  This was a nice appetizer and had four nice sized pieces of bread in each order.    The bruschetta was nicely prepared and a good buy at $5.00.  My other companion ordered the caprese appetizer.  This appetizer was too pricey for $9.00 when there were only 3 slices of tomato and 3 slices of mozzarella.  The quality of this appetizer was lacking because the tomato and mozzarella were both a bit hard and there was not enough balsamic vinegar with the serving.

In addition to the appetizers we were served what I would describe as a mini half loaf of Italian Bread.  The bread was not as fresh as it should have been and there were 5 small slices in the serving.  Again, a disappointment if you are trying to make it as a new Italian restaurant in an area with many great ones.

My main course did not live up to the hope I had after my appetizer.  I ordered the Vitello Riviera which is described as veal medallions with shrimp, crabmeat and white wine sauce.  This also was served with a side offering of spinach and white potatoes.  The veal was fairly tender and tasty, but as a real "foodie", I have always despised a dish in which the shrimp come with the tails on and I must take the time to dissect the tails from the meal.  Also, there was not much crabmeat.  The dish while tasty did not flow well with the textures of the three components fighting each other.  I will say that the spinach was done very well in a bit of garlic and the potatoes were cooked nicely although overly salted.  The platter was an okay value at $19.

My first companion ordered Penne Alla Vodka which was described as prosciutto, cream, tomato and vodka.  This dish was highly disappointing.  The prosciutto was too crunchy as described by my companion and my impression upon tasting was that there was not nearly enough sauce for the portion of pasta and the pasta seemed dry.  I make a Vodka sauce which I borrowed from the Barefoot Contessa which is light years better and will share some day when I make it again.  This dinner was $16, but disappointing.

My other companion had The Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina.  This was described as hand rolled, house made gnocchi with fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce.  When I read the aforementioned description on the menu, I almost ordered this, but after tasting it, I am glad I did not.  Again, I thought there was not enough sauce and while the gnocchi were tender, they were not the homemade variety I was hoping for. The best gnocchi I have ever had and still search again for since the restaurant is no longer there were the gnocchi from Felicia's at 11th and Ellsworth in South Philadelphia.  This dish paled in comparison and was a bit over priced at $17.

We were eager to try dessert since the menu described desserts as "a selection of house made desserts from our pastry chef."  One of my companions had the caramel flan-- this was tasty, but nothing to make it memorable.  I had the bread pudding which was a nice sized piece, but lacked a finishing sauce to make it one that you would come back for.  The bread pudding was not as good as my own homemade one and certainly not near the top of the food chain in bread puddings (this honor goes to the Desmond Hotel).   Both desserts cost $6 each.

Before tip, our meal was about $87 for 3 people and I would tell you that I would debate trying them again.  Now in all fairness, this is a recently opened restaurant so they probably do deserve a second chance, but in an area with many excellent Italian eateries, other people may not choose to do so.

Overall 2.5 brownies out of 5!!

Pre-Dinner Friday 12/3

What an experience tonight!  Today, Groupon had a coupon for a place called The Bistro at Our Town which is located in Exton in the Giant Shopping Center at Swedesford Road and Rte 100.  Normally I buy Groupon coupons for local restaurants in my area, but for whatever reason I forgot today to do so and when we were deciding on a place to eat dinner, the place had stuck in the back of my mind.

We arrived at the restaurant around 7:40 and had to wait more than a few moments for someone to come up to seat us.  We did notice friends of ours eating with another couple and figured the place had to be good because I would put my friend Terry as an honorary "Foodie".

When the young lady came up to seat us (not sure she was a designated hostess in a restaurant this small) she immediately asked if we had a reservation.  Again, I thought this was odd in a restaurant in a strip center as well as the fact that there were several open tables.  We responded that we did not and she proceeded to seat us, but cautioned us that they were out of penne pasta and chicken at that point.  Albeit a little strange for a Friday night, when looking over the menu there seemed to be enough on there that this would not affect our choices.

After too long of a wait, the waitress arrived to take our drink order.  After she came back with drinks, we told her we were ready to order.  She said, "Before you order, let me tell you what we're out of."

I responded, "The hostess already told us you're out of penne pasta and chicken."

She then said, "We are also out of all pork, veal, pizzas, macaroni and cheeses (which is what we were going to order--seems they have 5 or 6 gourmet types of mac and cheese), and most things to go on salads.

Not trying to be a smart ass in any way, I said, "Why don't you tell us what you still do have."

This seemed very difficult for her to understand that she had just eliminated probably 80% of the menu and we were trying to decide if there was truly anything left to eat.

I finally just said, "We'll try you guys on a different night."

The hostess came back over and apologized and explained that they buy everything fresh for each day of operation and they have no freezers and they are a cook to order restaurant; thus, the real need for reservations especially after 7:00.

Not sure I really still understand the logic, but we will probably give them another shot at some point since they are local and independent which is of vital importance in a small community.

I also did follow up with honorary "Foodie" Terry who indicated his dinner was phenomenal.  He had the crabmeat mac n cheese and said there had to be a pound of crabmeat on the dish.  We did see the order and it would be large enough to split for non-Foodies, but not real Foodies like us!!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Lunch 12/3/10—

I am trying a new place for me in center city Philadelphia inside the Philadelphia Marketplace Design Center on the 4^th floor. The only negative about the location is that the building is extremely large and it was quite a walk from the front door on Market Street to the actual restaurant.

This restaurant is called Bistro St. Tropez. I was attracted to the restaurant because I had purchased a $50 certificate for the restaurant for $25 from Open Table Spotlight. Our reservation was for 12:00 and we were seated promptly. The ambiance of the restaurant was a bit eclectic and I wasn’t sure what type of statement they were trying for with the décor, but as I said previously, I am a “foodie” and more concerned about that.

I ordered a cup of asparagus soup which was $4.95. The cup was a bit small for the price, but it did come with 2 small homemade rolls which were outstanding. The asparagus soup was nicely pureed and quite tasty. I had the Filet Tip sandwich which was served with wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, truffle oil and melted brie on a toasted sesame seed roll. I’m not one who usually likes the roll toasted, but it was not overly toasted and actually supported the sandwich nicely. My only thought about the sandwich is that the brie cheese is a bit out of place on this sandwich and would have most likely tasted better with a cheddar, but the brie was the cheese that came with the sandwich. Overall the sandwich was very good and a decent buy at $10.25.

My luncheon companions had the following: Lobster Bisque soup (very tasty, but overly priced at $7.95 for the same portion of soup as the asparagus) followed b y a Turkey Burger. The Turkey Burger was done to perfection and was served on the same type of roll that my sandwich was served on. The Turkey Burger ($9) was served with mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese. Both sandwiches came with homemade chips which were average due to some of them not being very fresh. My other companion had a cheeseburger with the same type of roll. He ordered brie cheese with his and also had the chips as well along with a a very tiny salad with Caesar dressing. I should say all 3 sandwiches had the tiny salad served with them.

Although we were fairly content at this point, we did order one dessert because I wanted to make sure we were definitely over the $50 mark since I had to spend at least that amount for my certificate.

I ordered the Tart Tatin ($7.50) which was a warmed French apple tart with Bassett’s vanilla ice cream. This dessert was tasty although the tart itself was not warmed as described. A tad bit pricey in my opinion for the size of the dessert.
Our bill with tax was just over $60 so if you do the math and consider I spent $25 for the coupon, our lunch was essentially $35 plus tip. I of course always tip on the higher amount and left our waitress a $12 tip on the check so overall cost of the lunch was $47 for 3 people in Center City.
Overall, I would give this restaurant a 3 brownie rating!!