ndelson's Profile
What is replacing the Houlihan's in Warrington that was across from TJ Smiths on 611?
I heard an upscale steakhouse. I don't know HOW upscale, but that's what I had heard.
Honey Restaurant- Surrender?
I recently saw another posted about Honey Restaurant in Doylestown, so I figured I’d report on the Surrender tasting menu I had in June. The menu is 16 courses for $65 and is (or at least was) offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Although some of the courses were portioned for each of the three members of our table, I would say that most of the courses were about the size of an average entree. Some were portioned, other we had to actually break up and share, family style.
All in and all, it was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I have ever had. The food, drink, wait staff, atmosphere, and pacing of the meal were all exceptional. The evening really was paced so well-- we were definitely full by the end of it, but a very comfortable full (not stuffed or sick at all). It was really not that formal, but the food was just so great that I can’t recommend the meal highly enough.
Now, the most fun part about the meal was waiting to see what would come next. Our menus weren’t presented to us until the meal’s conclusion. Writing this, I almost feel like I’m giving away a movie spoiler. I can only assume that aside from the “all-season” items we had, anything you get from this menu in the fall would probably be different that what we ate in the summer. Some items are signature dishes to the restaurant, I think, so I guess they may be repeated. Anyhow, here goes. If you don’t want to see what we had, please navigate away from the page now!
Truffle and Smoke Potato Chips: House Cut Potato Chips, Hickory Smoked Sea Salt, Truffled Parmesan Fondue, Chives.
We received a decent size bowl of chips, enough for each of us to have a few. They were delicious and not too “truffled” in that pretentious way that some places use truffle oil. It was an aroma more than anything, and that and the smoked salt were excellent together.
Black Velvet Oysters: Hurricane Harbor on the Half Shells, Champagne-Shallot Mignonette, Guinness Reduction.
These were very good. Nice, clean, oyster with a sweet/sour reduction.
Oyster Po’ Boys: Cornmeal Crusted Oysters on Toasted Baguette with Baby Tomato. Pickled Shallots, Arugula Sprouts, and Saffron-Chile Aioli.
Another delicious, one-bite dish.
Fire and Ice: Chilled King Crab and Valencia Orange Salad, Pickled Green Mango, Toasted Sesame, Spicy Carrot Sorbet.
This was a highlight, and it’s on their regular menu, so you can get it anytime. Nice contrast of texture and temperature. Very unique.
Salmon Tacos: Spice Rubbed Scottish Salmon, Sweet Corn and Charred Poblano Relish, Soft Corn Tortilla, Huitlacoche Crema.
Really tasty taco.
Yellowfin Tuna Ceviche: Ruby Grapefruit, Breakfast Radish, Red Shiso, Grilled Green Tea Noodles.
This was the only course I didn’t love. I thought the radish, noodles, and grapefruit were a little bitter for the tuna. I liked it, just not as much as the other things I ate. In the dish’s defense, the rest of the table really liked it.
Rock Shrimp Tempura: Sour Apple, Peanuts, Sweet Avocado Salsa, Wasabi Caviar:
Perfect bite on a Chinese soup spoon. This was my favorite dish of the night. Texture, flavor, balance was all perfect, in my opinion.
Sesame Crusted Soft Shell Crab: Chilled Buckwheat Noodles, Mousseron Mushrooms, Wakame, Chile Spiked Ponzu, White Miso Emulsion
Busy dish, but the crab was delicious and fried perfectly. This was my first soft shell of the season, so it was a nice surprise.
Seared Scallops: Shredded Brussels Sprouts, Crispy Pork Belly, Marcona Almonds, Truffled Artichoke Butter.
This was another highlight of the meal.
Greek Lamb: Braised Lamb Collar, Melted Onion, Crispy Phyllo, Pea Tendrils, Ouzo and Preserved Lemon Yogurt
This was the heaviest course we had and it was delicious. It was almost like a big greek burrito filled with braised lamb. One of the more straightforward dishes we had, but really excellent.
Duck Toast: Coffee Braised Moulard Buck, Soft Scrambled Duck Egg, Jalapeno Jelly, Manchego Toasts
Yet another really remarkable dish. It was sort of a “build-your-own” toast dish. Really, really good.
Buffalo Sweetbreads: Fried Veal Sweetbreads, Honey-Chipotle BBQ, Rogue River Blue Cheese and Celery Salad
A very nicely cooked, playful sweetbread dish.
Beef and Escargot Skewers: Painted Hills Farm Beef Tenderloin, Burgundy Snails, Confit Mushroom, Applewood Bacon, Sweet Garlic Aioli
Another solid, tasty dish.
Sour Apple and Shiso Sorbet: Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Also good
American Artisanal Cheese Plate: Port-fig Jam, Honey Roasted Walnuts, Bosc Bear, and Buckingham Valley Honey
3 very good cheeses. One was the Rogue River Blue, one was a smoked Goat, and I can’t remember what the third was.
Booze for Dessert: Jameson Whiskey Bread Pudding, Sour Cherries, Guinness Ice Cream, Baileys Glaze
AND
Flan: Honey Caramel Flan, Valencia Orange and Ginger Relish, Lemon Thyme Syrup
I prefer a less sweet dessert, so I actually preferred the flan, but they were both outstanding.
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All in and all, it was a really remarkable meal. For something so well-orchestrated, it was a very causal experience. Assuming they would rotate at least some of the dishes, I would participate in the Surrender menu again in a heartbeat. For $65, it really isn’t all that expensive when you consider the variety and amount of food you are served. I can imagine a high-end restaurant in the city easily charging at least double that price, if not more. I highly recommend anybody in the general vicinity of Doylestown check this meal out.
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Honey Restaurant
42 Shewell Ave, Doylestown, PA 18901
Honey in Doylestown? [moved from Pennsylvania]
I went for the Surrender menu this June with two buddies of mine and it was one of the finest dining experiences I have ever had, period. The food, drink, wait-staff, room, and pace were perfect. I hope they continue to offer that option, as it was truly remarkable.
Honey Restaurant- Surrender?
Some nice info from PhillyBurbs...
http://tinyurl.com/yjmtpku
Honey Restaurant- Surrender?
Right on, thanks. I've enjoyed the food there before, so I'm sure it will be good.
Honey Restaurant- Surrender?
Has anyone checked out the new chef's tasting menu at Honey in Doylestown? There are a few scant details on the "what's new" section of the page and somebody told me it was a 15 or so-course degustation available Monday through Wednesday. It looks to be only $65 per person, which seems like a pretty good deal.
I'd be curious to see if anybody has checked this out!
What should stock taste like?
I've made stock at home a few times with varying degrees of success. I'm a decent enough home cook but stock eludes be a bit. With just about everything I cook, I taste as a go and adjust accordingly. With stock, it IS the ingredient and most cooks I know do not salt their stock. The stock I make doesn't really taste like much (veal-water?) on it's own, at least until I use it in cooking.
Can anyone lend any ideas or tips about stock preparation? Anybody have any flavors or taste notes I should be tasting more as I make stock?
Thanks in advance!
Neil
Sly Fox Brewery
Has anybody every been to the Sly Fox Brewery in Royersford? Do they offer brewery tours and tasting or is it just a restaurant/pub?
I'm looking for the beer version of a winery tour/tasting for a bunch of guys to do this fall and this one happens to be close to the Limerick Outlets so we can have our wives go shopping all day while we hang out and then cart our tipsy butts home at the end of the day!
Thanks in advance!
Need a Great Candy Store
Shrivers on the boardwalk in OCNJ has lots of old-time candy, I think. Make sure you call first.
Ribeye Steaks
Haring Brothers Meat has Ribeyes and just about anything else you could possibly want, including really fresh offal. They're really nice in there, too. They'll stock up veal bones for you for stock if you ask a few days in advance and do custom cuts and other stuff like that. Very old school.
http://www.haringbrothersmeats.com/
Tried the new Ooka tonight in Montgomeryville
Not sure if the menu is the same as Doylestown, but they have a very lightly seared sea bass sushi with a tiny sliver of foie gras on top that is freaking delicious.
Villa Barolo, Warrington
Yes, same chef Lo, same huge menu. He took over the old space that used to be Marabellas at 611 and Bristol.
Villa Barolo, Warrington
We've been recently and the good is generally pretty good. The menu is huge, though, so sometimes it seems like sides, sauces, etc. are recycled. All of the game meats I have had there have been excellent and really nicely cooked. The whole, salt-crust fish is also really, really good. They also have a really rich and delicious tortelini en brodo that we always get.
I feel like an annoying food critic when I say things like this, but I really thing they ought to slim down the menu and refine the best dishes. Little things, like mediocre "banquet-ish" side dishes take away from a perfectly cooked piece of wild boar or opoaca paca.
Overall, Chef Lo does a really nice job with the good there and I recommend Villa Barolo.
ISO: ice cream maker
The KA ice cream attachment is an affordable, solid product. Everything we've made has come out with an excellent texture with the exception of an olive oil ice cream that froze solid, but I'll blame that on my own calculations and not the machine!
Domani Star - Doylestown
I found their ragu bolognese to be excellent...on par with Paganini down the street. We had a very tasty goat cheese and onion tart with balsamic vinegar last time that was very tasty. I remember the service being just fine, but the place was very quiet. We used to live in town so we would just walk over at off-times. I have never been in there while it's crazy.
I would also agree about the salt comment above, but again, all of the pastas I had were tasty.
Owowcow: good new ice cream place in Ottsville
Stopped by last night and was thoroughly impressed. They had a few flavors made with excellent local strawberries, all of which were excellent. They had THREE vanilla ice creams in the case (Madagascar, Indonesia, and Tahitian), all of which had a little card with the flavor notes of each bean. Very cool.
The chocolate-strawberry was outstanding, a little sweet with none of the syrupy fake-strawberry flavor. It was just like great chocolate with chunks of ripe strawberries mixed in that were partially frozen due to their surroundings. Nice.
I had a coconut-almost-chocolate chip flavor that was also really good, but I like the simpler (vanilla and chocolate) flavors the best.
They have little cookie sandwiches called Pudgies which are basically like gourmet chipwiches. They had a few pre-made and I think they'll make you a custom one if you ask.
We'll be making the scenic trek from Doylestown to Owowcow again, as we really enjoyed everything we had. Best of luck to this place!
Butter Cake Recipe?
Well, that's kind of a buzzkill...
Anyhow, the Mayfair Bakery's version is one of the best. My family and I also hit a place in Somers Point, NJ called the Crabcake and Grilled Cheese Co. right on the way into Ocean City which had outstanding butter cake. It's firmer than the kind from Mayfair, but it was excellent. The plain my was my favorite, but they had other flavors, some topped with fruit, others with fluff and peanut butter.
Wegman's has beer!!!!
I didn't have time to really look around, as I was just stopping to pick up lunch, but after a quick skim, the prices all seemed pretty darn reasonable. And you know, for the convenience of having such a great (really, fantastic) selection, I'll pony up the extra dollar with a smile on my face.
Best Sushi places in Bucks County?
Concerto Fusion's original location, Charming Garden, has exceptional sushi.
Although Oishi and Mooeda (same menu, on York Rd in Furlong) have excellent korean food, I'm just lukewarm about the sushi. Though the fish is fresh, the rice is typically cold and under-seasoned for my taste. It almost tastes like regular steamed white rice. They do have some of the best bibimbop and there house spicy soup is a go to for sick days.
Also in newtown, Ota-ya has very good sushi and rolls, especially the spicy tuna rolls with a heap of spicy tartare on top.
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Generally, I avoid cooking it like the plague. No matter what I do, it's just not that good. It is, however, good for me, and I probably ought to cook with it more than chicken thighs or even skin on, bone-in breast.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to improve this sub-par cut? Perhaps a strong, acidic marinade or a high (or low) heat? Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Neil
Center City Pre-Bachelor Party Dinner Suggestions
I apologize if this has been hashed out before, but the search I tried came up pretty dry.
I am planning a bachelor party and I'm having a tough time thinking of a good place for dinner. I'm looking for something somewhat casual, un-stuffy, with great food. A louder place might be better since I'm sure a small bit of alcohol might be involved in the evening.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Grocery Stores - Doylestown Area
I really enjoy Wegmans, and I don't mind paying a little extra for their high quality of product. To be honest, though, you can get just about anything you need at None Such Farms. The have awesome produce, a good meat counter (with the best bacon I've ever had), an good prepared food. Much of the produce and meat is less expensive than other grocery stores. The blackberries are our favorite. We are coming from Patriot's Ridge and it's only about a 7 minute drive.
http://www.nonesuchfarms.com/
costco rebranded shuns? -link inside-
I have a Wasabi Nakiri that is my favorite knife. It might not look as nice as some of my other knives, but dear lord, is this things sharp.
Which Brewpubs Have Good Food?
I like Iron Hill Brewery. They have really good onion soup on the menu.
http://www.ironhillbrewery.com/
Fusion Concerto Morrisville PA
While I also was not thrilled with Concerto Fusion, I do really like the owners' other establishment in Yardley, Charming Garden. For American-Chinese food, it's been my favorite for a while.
DT Philly For New Years Eve
I think you're across the street from Davio's. I've have a few very good meals there. The steaks are pricey, but really good. The also have a few really good pastas on the menu.
What's The One Thing You Can't Eat, even for money.
Passionfruit and Cheetos. Also banana "flavor" (like in Runts candy).
These are the only two things I can think of off hand that I wasn't able to acquire a taste for as I got older.
Dinner suggestions near Southampton or Feasterville.
They do have good sukiyaki there.
I actually really like Maggio's. The owners are great; a very nice family and the pizza, while different, is fantastic. They also have really crazy events in the new bar like karaoke and midget tossing (seriously). It's fun for the whole family.
