HalibutCheeks

Planned on heading to the Depot for a nice dinner durning Restaurant week. However, contrary to the times posted on their website, they are only server food until 8pm on Tuesday Nights. Trying to salvage the night we headed over to the Brew Works for a “safe” meal.
In retrospect it was a bad move. An hour later and $60 less rich, we left VERY disapointed. Okay, so the brew works was never really known for its cullenary magic, but they have had some things that were pretty fine. To name a few; Cheese Soup, Chili, Chicken BBQ Sandwich, Kobe Burger, etc. However, their dinners and salads are really poor. Started with Chili. That was actually very good. The spinach dip just doesn’t move me. First off it is served with chips, second it is weak. The special Ravioli in the vodka sauce would have lost a battle to canned Chef Boyardee. It was truely bad. The buffalo chicken salad was also really week. Poor choice on my part, but I was expecting something slightly better than low grade chicken fingers drenched in overly spicy and not so tasty sauce. The salad was straight from a bag of mixed iceberg, carrot shreads, and cabbage. Just not so good.
Okay maybe they can turn it around with desert, right? No. Definitly not. It sounded great, but wasn’t. Apple Crisp, but they ran out of Ice Cream. Even if they would have had the ice cream it would have been poor. The Cranberry Apple Bread Pudding seemed like a sure win. Once again, no. It was semi dry and flavorless.
Stick to the sandwiches and the beers. The kobe burger is great even for $15.

Why is it that Hellertown seems so ripe for a good restaurant, yet it never produces any (new ones). The other night while leaving my Old Faithful, Ricardo’s Tavern House, I noticed some people leaving what looked to be a new little restaurant. To my pleasant suprise it appears that Hellertown has a new Bistro. Yes, a Bistro in Hellertown… How exciting, right?
Well, tonight we had the bright idea of heading to another old faithful, The Limeport Inn… It then clicked that we should instead try the new Bistro.

If it is called Bistro, it has to be good, right?

So we made the short drive to Hellertown delighted to find that the place was open till 9:30. We went in to join the almost full house. Folks appeared to be eating and enjoying themselves. I noticed a small plate of nice big scallops being delivered to a table as we walked in. I couldn’t get a read if they were the appitizer or a main course, but they looked good, granted they were just scallops with no sides or anything else.

Upon being seated at our cute little wobbly table we were delivered a Wine/Beer list. I did not partake, but the list wasn’t too bad. Several wines from South America and a few interesting beers stood out. Prices were a little high in my opinion.

Skipping the adult beverages, we moved onto the menu. It is a very limited menu. I can probably remember most of it. The first eye catcher was “Bread sticks wrapped in Bacon”. I’m not sure what pops into you mind’s eye when you read that, but I was all over the charts trying to figure out what it could be. I was sort of picturing Pizza Hut sized bread sticks wrapped in bacon.

On to the dinners there were things like the following:

Eggplant Parm (Baked and non breaded) $13 or $14
Spagetti and Meatballs
Fillet Mignon Marinated in EV Olive Oil $22
Sugared Diver Sea Scallops over carmalized onions
Burger
Panini
There may have been a few others plus the other appitizers.

They had a few salads listed. They bragged up their house dressing based on Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Baslamic Vinigarette.

It was time to order so I went with the Fillet as it sounded like the took some pride in it.

My companion decided to go with the Panini which consided of their home made bread, ham, and fresh mozzerella. It came with Fries.

My fillet didn’t come with anything. I ordered the half house (chopped) salad with it. Thinking I might enjoy their delightful sounding dressing.

We also ordered the bread sticks wrapped in bacon. Why not.

So the bread sticks show up. The are basically smaller than a pencil with a 1 inch piece of bacon wrapped around it. There were a few of them, but for $8, you are clearly not the winner with this offering. Granted, it is bacon, so it is good. However, I would not order it again. For that price, give me scallops, water chestnuts, or something more than tiny italian bread sticks.

Oh, rewind for a second… They did bring out a plate of some quality aged Gouda cheese. It was dry, crystally, and amazingly delicious. In retrospect, it was the best part of the visit to the place.

Out comes my salad. It is in a bowl and looks interesting. It was nicely chopped up. Iceberg, chopped tomato, basil (dried flakes), oragino, and the dressing. How was it you ask? Well imagine taking the fixings off of a Lee’s Hoagie and throwing them in a bowl and chopping them up. Then top them with some more olive oil, vinigar, and sea salt. Yeah, it wasn’t that good. In fact not good at all.

Next came the main courses. The Fillet came out on a peice of their homemade bread. That was it, a piece of meat, on a piece of bread. Nothing else. Oh, oops they did bring out a little bowl of Onions, Cherry tomatos, and bell peppers, sauteed together in their featured EVOO and Sea salt.

The steak was cooked perfectly to Medium as I requested it. It was tender and nice looking. I cut into it, a little disapointed that it didn’t come with anything else, but eager to eat a good piece of meat. It was VERY salty and not very tasty. I cut agian thinking it may have just been the end peice. It wasn’t. It was very Sea Salty. I then ripped into the bread. The bread was just short of wonderful, however, it was a tad bit SALTY. You guessed it, Sea Salty! On to the vegitables. They had tons of flavor, but once again they were every salty. It was clearly sea salt. I wanted to like it folks. I really did. I like things semi salty, but in this case I felt like was eating food that they just pulled out of the ocean at the Jersey Shore. Too much Sea Salt!!!!!!!
I was allowed to try some of the panini. The panini looked great. It was on their specail homemade bread over flowing with finely shaved ham and lots of melted fresh mozzerella (or however you spell it). There was just one problem.
Any guesses?

Yeah, it was too salty. Loaded with Sea Salt!!

I could deal with it being too salty. However, I really wanted to let them know. Being a chef myself, I know how easy it is to over do sea salt. It is pretty darn easy. Espeically if you are used to normal salt. When they asked me how it was I told the server it was WAY too salty. Specifically Sea Salty. He looked at my meat and noticed the salt all over it. He came back and told us that he told the chef, but that the chef just looked at him in disbeleif (like who would question his cheffiness). I guess if you are good enough to teach cooking school, you should not be questioned and you can not over do things.

So basically we got no “sorrys”, or we’ll do it better next time, etc… Instead we just had a server who agreed that things just didn’t seem right.

Deserts looked really good, but the prices were just too much to gamble.

However, if you are tempted to try this place, maybe just go there for desert to try it out.

Maybe I just got a bad batch of food. However, what really puts a bad taste in my mouth is my ignored complaint. If I were a new resturanteer in this town, I would be out to every table asking how the food was and getting feedback. Sure you can’t please everyone, but if other folks have had half as bad a dine as I did, then this place will not last very long… Then again, I could be wrong considering Brave Heart is still there.

Anyway, maybe they change their menu on a weekly basis?

I’d love to read some other reviews as people give this place a go. Please post. If I read some good ones, I’ll give it a try again. However, for the $60, I would have much rather gone to Ricardo’s, Dimaos, Matey’s, or even the dreaded diner (which has gotten much better in the last month).

I think I have had almost everything on the menu at this place. At first I didn’t like this place becaue I went expecting typical Mexican food or Tex Mex and was always let down.

I finally wised up and asked the bar maid what to get. She suggested the “Steak Fajita Enchilada”. This thing is down right deadly and amazing. It also isn’t on the menu, but they seem to always make it for me.

The second dish I was led to try was the Steak Madrid. This is hands down my favorite dish. I am not alone, as every person that tastes this dish comes back and orders it. Steak Madrid starts off with what appears to be a marinated black diamond steak. It is chopped up and thrown into a huge dish of rice and mushrooms. The mushrooms are wonderfully flavored. The flavor comes from a Madeira wine and cheese sauce. It is probably deadly, but it tastes so good. The dish comes with some flour tortillias to make little wraps.
I personally like taking some of their red “salsa” and throwing it into the dish. It adds to the already amazing flavor.

Another favorite is the Red Sangria. It is not your typical Sangria. It is Hellertownian Sangria. I think it is just Red wine and soda with fresh fruit in it. Regardless, it goes really well with the food.

A new discovery for me is the wings. They have some really good wings. Garlic Parm and sweet chili garlic are really darn good.

The seafood nachos are another delight. Lump crab, shrimp, and scallops, on nachos topped with a cheese sauce.

Along the same lines, they have a White Seafood Pizza that is just amazing. Shrimp, Crab, and Scallops in a Cheesey white sauce. Very good, and very rich.

I have never had dessert here as I am usually too stuffed. I am learning to ask for a box early on in my dinner, but I find that even if I put it in the box, I still tend to open the box and continue eating.

I have had some other specials at this place that have been great. I remember a fish cake or something of the sort that was really good.

The ultimate burrito is worth mention. It is huge. Steak, Chicken, and Scallops stuffed into a flour tortilla.

If you order anything else, please be aware that it probably wont be what you are expecting. You might love it, you might not. I don’t personally care for the tacos or corn enchiladas. I don’t like the steaks. Not a big fan of their Mole or Gauc. The burgers and cheese steaks are good.

I have also had a few week nights when I haven’t been overly thrilled with my choice dishes. I suspect it is a different chef in the back. Make sure Ricardo is cooking the night you go.

Give it a try. I think you will like it. If you are local and haven’t been here, now is the time to go. It is much more reasonable than any of the new places going up in region.

Enjoy and write a review if you try it. We all have different tastes, expectations, and experiences.

This place is great. They have great dishes. We ate at several places in Jackson Hole. The “finer” places just aren’t worth the prices. El Abuelito on the other hand is totally worth. We actually went back again.

Get one of their chicken dishes with either the Chipotle Sauce or the Mole Sauce. Both are really, really good, but the chipotle is a must. I personally liked mixing the sauces.

All of the dishes come with flour torillias so you can make your own delicious wraps. The service is top notch. They were bringing stuff out so fast after we asked for it, that it seemed magical.

The drinks are insane. The large margerita is as big as my head. My head is pretty big. It would be a trick to put two of these down.

Go here if you are in the area.

Driggs, ID has a few good Mexican joints as well.

Let’s start with a Disclaimer: I am a white guy who grew up eating very bland foods. I didn’t touch Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc until probably my 20’s.
I know eat everything and I love flavor. I like spices, but only if it is within reason. I have had curry dishes that werejust too hot to enjoy.

So with that out and clear my first indian food was probably at some place in NYC. Somewhere around 41st and 3rd. I fell in love with butter chicken and Tikka Masala.

Some of the indian folks I worked with took me to the Desi Village one day for lunch. It was the lunch buffet. I was hooked. This place is fantastic. It is huge, so you can always get a seat right away. The food isn’t too spicy, but it is very flavorful. Sometimes they’ll put something out that is hot. I have had a few of my fellow “white folks” find their food too hot, but I think they are just wussy.

I am trying to learn how to go here from lunch and not need a nap or require strech pants after I leave. I could eat all their naan if not careful.

Their Mushroom Muttar is one of the best I have ever had. The tikka masala is delightful. Their goat and lamb curries are execelent. Even their salad selection and sauces are really great. This place goes all out every day.

This is one of the best, if not the best, Indian Buffet I have been to thus far. If you are reading this review and know of a better one, please direct me.

The Tandoor Palace up in Tannersville is good. Nawab in Bethlehem is also good. Neither of them compare to Desi Village.

Some motel off of the Newburgh exit (of the NY Thru way) has some very nice Indian Food as well.

I forgot about service. Yes, service at a buffet. I don’t know how these guys do it, but my water glass never even gets low. I drink a ton of water and it is like they are hovering around monitoring your glass level. They take your plates and refill your drinks at light speed.

It takes a really good meal to make me want to give it a 5 star rating. This place earned it. Even at semi high prices, this place is worth every cent.
I found this place by accident. I was planning to eat somewhere way far north along the Delaware, however due to all the flooding most of the places were closed from the Indian Rock all the way down to New Hope. Upon arriving in New Hope we walked around checking out menus and sizing each place up. Marsha Brown’s is in a big old church. It is almost a bit freaky from the outside. We had looked at the menu and decided to see what else was going on. We went all over New Hope and then even walked over to Lambertville, NJ. Lucky for us the hour was getting late and we were turned away from the Lamberville Station. We quickly went back across the bridge and decided to go into Marsha Browns.
Upon entering, I was pleased to see how nice and (not weird) it was. There was a raw bar and few tanks filled with lobsters on the first floor. The host took us upstairs into the actual church section where the pews and alter previously were located. We were seated on or near the alter. It was slightly uncomfortable, but very cool at the same time.
Instead of paintings of Jesus and what not, there were some crazy paintings of Lions and other cool stuff. The church must have been and old Lutheran Church or something, because the place was huge. High ceilings and interesting decorations.
Getting to the food… okay well frist the wine. They had an interesting wine list. I was caught by the name of one of the wines; “Conundrum”. It is a white wine from CA that is a blend. However, it isn’t a cheap blend, but instead a high end blend. I got a glass and it is one of my new favorites to pair with spicy seafood. It goes really well with bbq and creole. Try this wine if you ever see it.
Okay, the food: The menu was tricky. It was all Creole food. “Cajun” in PA is usually pretty scary. In PA Cajun means smothered in spicy spices. Most people don’t know what Creole is. Having been to New Orleans a few times I have ‘tasted the light’. Their version of cajun and Creole is so good. Not too spicy, but just loaded with flavor. Pair that with amazing sauces and southren charm (not to mention bread puddings!!!).
Anyway, back to PA. Marsha Brown has it down. Her food is spot on, if not better than any NOLA food I have had.
The mussels in a Creole bbq sauce were unreal. I cleaned the plate with my bread to make sure no sauce was left behind. It was amazing. Super amazing.
My main dish was Salmon (farmed: boo, but delecious: yey) and Shrimp. This dish was again in a bbq butter sauce. It was perfect. It was served over romano grits. Yes grits, and they were deligthful.

The other dish was the sea scallops and lobster tail with Crawfish Risotto. This dish was also wonderful. The Risoto was especially good. However, I’d say go with the salmon or something else vs. this dish unless you really love lobster.

I’d drive 50 miles just to go to this place and order mussels and bread with some Conundrum Wine.

The desert tray looked wonderful, but we were stuffed. If you live within two hours of this place give it a try. You could make a pleasant day trip out of it. I’d drive down from New York City to eat here.

We went here for dinner the other night. The place is like a mullet. (Business in the front, Party in the back…)
I say this because the place is a pizza place in the front, but if you walk into the back room it is a very nice restaurant. They have statues and a fireplace along with high valuted ceilings. Very charming. Almost like an old church or something.
To the food: They have a pretty large menu. Most of the Italian Standards.
The prices seemed pretty high to me, but I suppose they aren’t bad for Doylestown.
We had the Lasagna and Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce. Both were very large. Both we good. Not overly memorable, but good. The vodka sause was very nice. It was a tad sweet, creamy, and flavored just right.
They have a nice wine and beer selection as well as music.
They have monthly (or maybe even more often) beer tastings. And on a different night they have wine tastings. I imagine that this is a big hit for them. It sounds fun.
It is hard to give this place a better rating when you have Luberto’s just a little further away in Dublin. However, this place is the place to go to if you don’t want to drive, or if you want alcohol with your meal.
Everything is ala cart at Vila Capri which makes it even more expensive.

I hope someone local pumps some cash into this place to get it rolling again.
This was the best place to eat outside.
What can beat sitting at the springs and feeding the trout while you eat?

Once upon a time the food was amazing too. The last 5 years or so it was a bit hit or miss

Maybe it will come back from the dead better than ever. If someone opened this place with consistently okay food, it would do well. People just like to be there.

Drive by this place all the time. Finally decided to check it out. Was hoping for some exciting fish and seafood. Instead found out that they have just your standard seafoods with the exception of Paella (or however you spell it). I am not a raw bar person, so I can’t tell you much about how that might be.
If you go to this place you might want to consider just going for beer and appitizers. They make Guacamole right at your table and it is pretty darn good. (Mama Mexico in NYC still has them beat though.)
Went with the seafood Paella. It was okay. It had a nice safaron taste, as it should, but the seafood in it was very bland. Maybe that is how it always is, but it would have been nice if it was flavored a tad bit more.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a neat place. It has a cool vibe and the service was second to none. Go on your business account, but maybe head somewhere else when you are on your own dime.
I’d much rather head a few miles away to the Limeport Inn. (of course it is a completely different experience, but the food is worth the price.)
Anyway, I am pretty harsh on most places if they deserve it. This place is okay. You might even love it. However, if you are looking for fish dishes, head to the Bonefish Grill.

Living very close to this place I had such high hopes for it when it was opening a couple of years ago.
My friend and I went in and sat at the bar. We were pleased that someone brought some fine beers to Hellertown.
We ordered some starters. I don’t remember what at this point, but they were all bad. Not just bad, but horrible.
We moved on to the entrees. They were also very bad. I don’t remember what I ordered, but we both stronly disliked our meals. In addition the prices were just too high for the quality.
Went back several months later. A chef from the Melt had supposedly come over. Had some duck. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t worth the price. (It was over cooked).
Okay, so after many more months I thought I would stop in again and see how things have changed… considering some of the good reviews on this site.

Well folks, I have news for you. The beer is still great. And the food is still dreadful and over priced. I don’t know how the entrees are as I just settled for the Chicken sandwich and fries. (How can your screw that up, right?). Well it was pretty bad. With toppings… Mushrooms, Cheese and bacon it was $10. The chicken was tasteless. It was untrimmed and tough. It seemed like they steamed it.
I love to eat and I didn’t even eat half of the sandwich. Oh yeah, the fries are pretty bland as well.
Can I suggest that you please tenderize and/or marinate your chicken as well as trim it. It will go a long way.
I really want to come back, have a good beer or two and eat something that doesn’t make me want to scream.
Next time (if I get brave enough) maybe I’ll try the burger. You can’t screw up a burger, can you?

Folks, if you are considering this place give it a try, but if your luck is like mine, the next time you might want to try Ricardo’s Tavern House about 30 yards down the road. It is much cheaper and most of the food is great. Try their Steak Madrid, Fajita Enchilata, Cheese steak enchilata, etc. Look it isn’t Mexican as some would like, it is Hellertownican food… but it is good and priced very nicely.