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!!
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