AmblerGirl's Profile
Birthday Cake
My favorite birthday cake is from confection perfection in richboro. Chocolate cake with raspberry filling and dark chocolate ganache. They offer a variety of flavored but the chocolate raspberry is so good I have not tried anything else. I also like the cakes from sam's italian market in willow grove. They have a fantastic cannoli cake as well as a great death by chocolate cake which is layered with chocolate mousse.
Homemade Delights- new bakery in Ambler
Homemade Delights is a new bakery in Ambler that had their soft opening this weekend. It's on a small side street (next to Cone Heads) and can easily be missed. I showed up early and was hit with an amazing smell as soon as I walked in since they were still doing their baking. The selection was somewhat limited since its was their soft opening but they had a display case of various cakes. I picked up a brownie chocolate chip cheese cake, they also had strawberry shortcake, lemon chiffon, a pretty white cake decorated like a flower. They also had a good selection of smaller treats. I picked up cinnamon rolls, snickers cupcakes, chocolate eclairs, tasty cake bars, bitter cookies. They had a number of other treats like mint brownies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, etc. New things kept coming out of the kitchen in the back they also sell bread, home made and from corpolese. The owner was very sweet. Prices are very reasonable. The cinnamon rolls are home made and delicious. Everything has a home made look to it. I am very excited and think this is a great and much needed addition to our town. I cannot wait to go back and try more!
Best Pizza in Fort Washington/Ambler/Springhouse/Dresher
I'll second Arpeggio and Massa. Arpeggio is my favorite, they also offer a whole wheat crust option which is great. I'll also add Il Gioradino in Springhouse to the mix.
Alot of people love pizza at Fireside as well. I like it (dont love it) but its another one you may want to try.
Trevi and Olce are on my list to try, I have heard great things about both.
Is Kildare's coming to Ambler?
I heard the same rumor. I also heard an oyster bar/seafood house is taking the space. Although I am excited for new options, I will miss the Shanachie.
Places to go on St Pattys Day (Food/drink)
I second the Shanachie! Its such a fun place on St. Patrick's Day, with really good irish food and live music. I'm so sad this will be their last year.
Poconos
We had a great lunch at Hotel Jonas. The atmosphere is your old school hotel bar, but the service was really friendly and the food delicious and homemade. My husband had a prime rib sandwich with garlic horseradish mayo andmarinate marinated chicken sandwich, both on these amazing soft rolls. And my sandwich came with potatoes cooked in bacon and rosemary, you can't go wrong with that! We definitely plan to go back during our next trip!
Poconos
Thanks to chow hound for the recommendation for Charlie Weavers! We are vacationing in the poconos this week and were looking for something new. We would never have ordinarily tried this place but had dinner there raise of the great recommendations on these boards. It does look like an old trailer on the outside and grandma's living room on the inside. But the food was amazing! We got the saint Louis style ribs and they were by far the bet ribs we ever had try we're smoked to perfection. We also got a filet which was cooked perfectly. Even my daughters chicken finger and fries platter was good, with hand cut fries. And their salted carmel pound cake was one of te best desserts I had in a long time. The service was really nice, a young and friendly staff, one waitress said she was proud to serve the food because everything is handmade. You could tell. One of the best tasting meals I had in a long time, in some of the worst atmosphere :). But we will definitely go back!
Mad Mex-Never Again
I went to mad mex during the week with some colleagues and actually liked it. We were not looking for a rel dining experience and were going to go to Baja Fresh for a quick lunch and figured we'd give it a try. They had a two course lunch menu for nine dollars which I thought was reasonable. I had a carne asada burrito and a house salad. It was all decent, not great but good enough for a quick work lunch. Mind you, I am comparing it to the other fast Mexican options in the area, like Baja Fresh, Chipotle and Quodoba. I think if you look at it from that perspective it's fine, we do have too few sit down casual lunch spots in that area. That said, it's not even on the same playing field as Cantina Feliz, El Sarape, Tamarindos or some of the "real"Mexican restaurants in the area.
Dear Philly, Here I Come With A 1 Year Old
We take our daughter to the please touch museum often. I agree there is nothing for lunch in the area so we always take a short drive to the fair mount/ art museum area. A favorite is the Belgian Cafe on Green Street. It does not at first seem like a kid friendly place but the place is always full of families with kids and our daughter always gets fantastic treatment from the staff. They have good food (really good burgers, Belgian style fries and mussels) and a good brunch menu. They do not have a kids menu but when my daughter was one she was crazy for their sweet potato hummus. Also in Fairmount is Jacks's Firehouse. They have a kids menu and their staff is also great. Fairmount is also a pretty area to stroll around on a nice afternoon.
ISO Foodie Bed and Breakfast
We had a wonderful experience at Antrim House in Taneytown MD. They had a wonderful breakfast which was actually served by a full waitstaff. And they have a full restaurant on site (with an amazing wine cellar) and a full dinner service which really added to the experience.
Baptism Luncheon Locations near Montgomeryville PA
We had my daughter's baptism lunch at From the Boot in Ambler. They did a fantastic job. We had the whole downstairs to ourselves. Everyone raved about the food and service. Plus the prices were very reasonable. I recommend them very highly.
Distrito for brunch?
Thanks CW. We had brunch at Distrito yesterday and it was fantastic. My husband and I both ordered from the twenty dollar two course menu. I had this refreshing salad with pomegranate, orange, jicama and a lemon sorbet and mahi mahi tacos. Both done well and very light, though I agree the portions were small. My husband had chicken tortilla soup and hanger steak. Again, both delicious. My daughter had tres leches French toast. We all shared a tres leches cake for dessert , I love tres leches cake and order it often, this was the best I have had. Service was fantastic, our services notices my daughter wanted the fruit from my sangria so she got her her own apple and strawberries to mix with her mango juice to make her own sangria. It was very thoughtful and to me showed a great customer focus. The atmosphere was fun too. We sat upstairs, the downstairs seemed closed. I only wish they had a miriachi band!! But overall a great meal, we definitely plan to go back!
Valentines dinner with a two year old
I know I am looking at an impossible task here. Not only do I want to find a good restaurantrant for dinner the Saturday before valentines day, I also want to do it with a two year old in tow. I am looking for a nice casual place for a valentines celebration dinner early Saturday night. Somewhere special, but of course nothing to nice because we'll have our toddler daughter with us. We plan to go early before the dinner crowds start filling in the restaurants. We are in ambler but can be somewhat flexible with location. Any suggestions on where we can have a nice night?
Distrito for brunch?
I want to take my husband and two year old daughter out for a special brunch in the city on Sunday, as our own little family celebration of Valentines Day. My daughter is fantastic in restaurants so we do not need to go to just "family" restaurants but, she is just two so I can't go too high end! I was looking into Tinto but it seemed a bit to "nice" for a two year old. Distrito looked good, their brunch menu looks great (and very reasonably priced), and it seemed to strike the casual/nice balance that I am looking for with a toddler. The tres leches french toast looks great And i have a GRG gift card to boot! normally love Garces restaurants and would not hesitate to go, but I have seen some mixed reviews. Any thoughts on brunch at Distrito?
Loud, obnoxious patrons
My husband has a naturally loud voice and once you throw in some alcohol, it's ridiculously loud. That can get really embarrassing in a restaurants. Loud restaurants can drown out his volume but more quiet higher end restaurants make his voice just echo. I always try to tone it down by hushing him or saying "volume". Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't but it's so annoying. No one has ever spoken to us but I definitely get lots of puppy dog looks!
Ambler Donut Company???!!
The hthing I like about Ambler Donuts is that thy experiment with flavors so there is always something new to try. The French toast donut is a good example. Also they have red velvet, blueberry pie, peanut butter cup, pumpkin pie, all fun flavors. They also have good cupcakes. But if you are a cream donut fan, I think YumYum has the best cream donut, better than Ambler Donuts.
Which two Jose Garces restaurants should I choose?
I second Amada and Garces Trading Company. I am not sure if they still do it but a few years back Amada hosted flamenco nights which were to fun. Both Restaurants offer a tastin menu which I would recommend. I am sure the chef can accommodate your food preferences. Garces Trading Co is more casual and they have a reasonable wine list and an attached wine shop.
Humiliating experience at Dettera
Based on my discussion with the owner, he truly does seem to have positive intent. Hopefully that will translate onto his staff. This service issue seems to be a broad issue there (not just related to my experience) so I hope there is a positive change in general. They seem to have already lost a lot of customers due to their service issues. I hope the staff takes this seriously as a broad issue and not think this is about just one "complainer". It really boils down to the staff. The owner offered to treat me to dinner to make up for it and I will likely go back again as well. I do think they have a potential to be a truly great restaurant, their food and atmosphere is great. They just need to stop turning off people with service.
Kinnaree in Horsham, PA
Sounds great! I am so excited for Thai in the area. We usually go to Thai orchid and it's decent but this place sounds so good! We have been introducing my toddler to new cuisines and she has really been into thai lately!
Dinner within walking distance of the Keswick in Glenside
Athena is a Greek byo and our go to spot in the area. It has decent food and reasonable prices. I herd good things about Trevi but have never been there. I really like GG Brewers for an after show drink, it's a teeny tiny family owned brew pub and they serve local wine too
Humiliating experience at Dettera
Here is an update. I contacted Detterra through their website and within a few hours was contacted by the owner. We had a nice conversation, he was extremely professional and gracious and took a real interest in the issue. He said he was still looking into the service issues on his side but wanted to contact me immeadiately to let me know he was working on it. I was really impressed with the response.
I am really glad that he responded the way he did. I have been going to Detterra frequently since they opened (I was even there for their soft opening). I know others have had issues with the service over the years but I had been really happy with the service, and often defended them on these boards. That is why the issue on Saturday night was especially disappointing to me. I am really hoping it was a glitch. Based on everyone's resopnses, it looks like they may have these service issues frequently. When people are treated in that manner, they often do not speak up or complain but instead simply choose not to return. I am a huge supporter of Ambler restaurants and I want them to succeed, I genuinely hope they get these issues fixed, before they turn off too many customers. The owner seemed sincere about it, hopefully that will translate onto his staff. It really is a gorgeous restaurant with great food.
Humiliating experience at Dettera
I did contact Dettera through their website and will let you know if I get a response. I am not sure who monitors the website communications but , truffles, to your point it may just be the managers. If the response is not satisfactory I may have to contact the owner
Humiliating experience at Dettera
When we arrived, we sat at the bar. We noticed a number of open booths downstairs so my friend approached the hostess to see if we could sit at one of the booths. While the bar is lovely, we thought a booth would be more conducive to conversation. If she said no, we would have happily stayed at the bar. We were not persistent, we only approached her once. She said she would see what she could do and came back with an offer to seat us upstairs. I was a bit surprised but noticed a number of empty tables both upstairs and downstairs. Even though it was restaurant week, it was fairly late so most diners were finishing up. I do think the atmosphere and food are good, and have posted many positive reviews and recommendations on these boards. It pained me to be treated like that in a place that I frequent and have actively supported.
Mad Mex-Never Again
Glad you posted this. We drove by the other day and the thought popped in my head that we should try it. I think I must have seen the same local review. I will cross it off the list!
Humiliating experience at Dettera
I went out with three girlfriends to Ambler restaurant week last night. We had an absolutely amazing and fantastic dinner at Massa and were not yet ready to end our night so we walked over to Dettera for a few drinks. When we arrived, we sat at the bar and asked the hostess if we could sit and have our drinks at one of the open downstairs booths. She said that she could instead seat us at a table upstairs. I completely understand that some restaurants have a policy to only seat people ordering meals at a table, so we were very clear to the hostess that we were just getting drinks. When we were seated there were a number of open tables so we figured that is why it was no big deal . When the waiter arrived at our table, we made it clear again that we were just ordering drinks. He said it was no problem at all. We placed our drink order, and kept a menu at the table because we planned to order a few more drinks and perhaps an appettizer later. Honestly, the prices on the wine list and drink menu are really high so we could have easily wound up spending more than some people who order just food. Anyway, after a fairly long wait our drinks do not arrive but a gentleman in a suit came to our table, I am assuming he was the manager. He bent down and told me we needed to leave because only customers ordering food were allowed to sit at tables. I explained to him that we understood that policy, but communicated to his staff each step of the way that our intention was to order drinks, so did not understand why he was bringing this up now and in this matter. His response was that it was their policy and we needed to leave. Immeadiiately. No apology for the miscommunication andconfusion from the staff, no offer to move our drink order to the bar, just a demand to leave. He stood there and stared at our table as we put on our jackets, it felt as if we were being escorted out of the restaurant. Every single other customer in the restaurant was staring at us at this poit, whispering about what was going on. We are four middle aged professional women, and were all completely humiliated by this.
We go to Deterra often, and I have been a huge supporter of the restaurant on these boards. But as a paying customer, and somewhat regular customer, I have never been treated that way before. Again, I understand the policy of not letting people just ordering drinks sit at a table, but I question the judgement of a manager who would treat us that way. I do not plan to go back.
On a positive note, we left and went to Cafe Maida for fabulous cappuccino and nutella gelato and did not let this incident ruin our otherwise fantastic evening. Our dinner at Massa was so good. Their creme bulee was the best I ever had!
Need a "Plan B" for Chestnut Hill area
I second Mount Airy. Wine Theif and Avenida are also two great spots.
Kid friendly near art museum on Sunday
We have a two year old and our go-to spot in the area is the Belgian Cafe. Great food and beer selection for the grown ups. There are always tons of kids there and the staff is great with kids, when my daughter was still on purees she loved their sweet potato hummus.
Jack's Firehouse is another good kid friendly spot.
Brunch with Santa
We went to the Elmwood Zoo brunch last weekend and it was very nice. Huge brunch buffet with carved beef, omelet station, waffle station, fresh fruit and veggies, mimosas, etc. The Santa is great, they have live reindeer, elves, etc.
Ambler - Kid friendly dinner?
Ditto the suggestions by cwdonald and cava. I'd also add Massa and Cantina Feliz... if you go for lunch or a very early dinner. As the mother of a very crazy two year old, dinner time is rough unless you go super casual. You can add a few nicer restaurants to the mix if you go during off hours.
