Tonight we were joined by another couple (very good friends--Jean and Joel) who we have known for many years. They had suggested this new restaurant, Harvest, which is located in the Glen Eagle Shopping Center just South (on Rte 202) of the intersection of Rtes 1&202 and we were eager to try it with them. Upon arrival, I thought we might have to wait a while because the place was really “hopping” and we were asked to go to the bar area. The bar area is fairly large and I figured we were in for a long wait for a table, even though we had a 7:30 reservation. Much to my surprise we were seated almost immediately and had to take our drinks from the bar to the table.
Once seated, we were greeted fairly quickly by a very gregarious waiter, Eric. Eric went through the menu and specials with us and told us that the main concept of the place is to use all local purveyors and farms and that everything is very fresh as a result. He also told us that almost all of the entrees are less than 500 calories unless marked otherwise.
My review tonight will be in a bit different order where I review each appetizer first because three of us ordered the same nightly special. I began with an Iceberg salad which is described on the menu as diced Tomatoes, prosciutto bacon & organic buttermilk blue cheese dressing ($8). This salad was tasty enough although I thought the dressing lacked that good blue cheese taste that I would have expected. The prosciutto bacon helped to offset this nicely though.
One of my companions chose as her appetizer the boneless wings($9). These were nicely served on long thin skewers. These were described on the menu as grilled Mexican spiced, carrots, celery with gorgonzola vinaigrette. I did sample the wings and agreed with my companion that they were very good and had a nice flavor.
One of my other companions ordered the Baby Spinach Salad ($10). This was the larger size of the nightly special salad that was available. My companion indicated that the greens were nice and fresh and seemed to enjoy this as an appetizer.
My other companion chose the Winter Salad ($10) which was the larger size as well. This salad was described on the menu as frisee, arugula, winter Anjou pears, cranberry chevre, toasted Pecans & pomegranate cranberry vinaigrette. This salad looked well prepared and gave a nice appearance and my companion indicated it was very good.
Before getting to the main course, I would be remised if I did not mention that there is no form of bread or butter that comes with anything in following with the theme of lower calorie food.
Our party did have additional drinks including a Grey Goose Cosmo ($10), a glass of Canyon Oaks Chardonnay($7) and a Coors Light ($4) before the main course was served.
As aforementioned, three of us ordered the same entrée which was the Pan Seared Grouper ($25). Now as I have stated in earlier reviews, I am not keen on ordering “specials” because it’s like going into a fight unarmed! The price can be any amount they want it to be because most people will never ask.
The grouper was nicely prepared and came in a lemon sauce over risotto accompanied by green beans. The grouper is a meaty fish and was very moist. The risotto was done to perfection and delicious. It was interesting because I felt as though the lemon sauce that the fish was prepared with overpowered the dish so I asked my two companions their opinions since we had the same meal. One of my two companions tended to agree with me while the other thought it was fine. Since we were even discussing this I would tend to believe that the sauce was not as much of an enhancement to the entrée as the chef might have desired. The green beans were a nice accompaniment and done nicely albeit I thought the lemon sauce did them no justice.
My other companion ordered the halibut from the regular menu. This is described on the menu as Alaskan Halibut oven roasted with buckwheat soba noodles, asian vegetables and a ginger scallion broth ($23). I sampled a piece of the halibut and concurred with my companion that it was very good. The halibut is a bit more flaky of a fish than the grouper, but it was served nicely and my companion seemed to really enjoy it.
Harvest is like a few other restaurants in having desserts already made and offering to the table in small glasses. Each of these desserts is under 500 calories as well and is offered for $3.
I chose the Smores dessert which was excellent. The dessert was a nice size and had some chocolate mousse and mini marshmallows in it along with crushed graham crackers in the bottom and a small graham cracker on top. I was quite pleased.
One of my companions ordered the Key Lime Pie dessert which she felt was very good as well. She indicated that this dessert was flavorful and had a wonderful consistency. One of my other companions had the chocolate mousse which she also indicated was very delectable. These desserts were bigger than other places mini offerings, but could have more calories so that becomes the trade off.
This restaurant is part of the Magrogan group of restaurants which includes Doc Magrogan’s and Kildare’s. This concept is similar to what Seasons 52 is doing and I have already reviewed that place. This is a tough restaurant for a true “Foodie” to review because portion size and cooking nuances dictate the goal of the restaurant which may not appeal to “Foodies”. Also, I want to add that this place is done very well and has a beautiful ambiance, but again that isn’t what I rate on.
I did think that the portion size of the entrees was small for the price. While the food was very good, this enters into deciding how much value there was for the price paid. Dinner for 4 without tax and tip was $180.
3.5 Brownies
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