JohnnyKBar's Profile
what should i know about in the telford area?
You're in for a treat, or rather a few.
Vietnam Cafe is wonderful and cheap. Right in Telford near the station.
Maize in Perkasie is excelent for a little more upscale BYO, locally sourced & creative.
Arielle's Country Inn on Allentown rd, just north of you, is good. There's more about it on the board if you search.
Drive over to the other side of Nochamixon for OWowCow ice cream. Stop by on your way to the Ottsville Farmer's market when it starts up, or just pop in for some wonderful small-batch ice cream. Again, locally sourced ingredients and creative flavors.
If you cook, there are some great CSA's in the area that are worth joining. Otherwise, there are plenty of farmstands that sell about everything under the sun. For Pork, Blooming Glen Pork on 113 if fabulous. For grass-fed Beef, you can get some from Hendrick's or (OK, I'm blanking on the name, but it's across from BG Pork). Also Bolton's Turkey Farm has a great little market with their turkey and fresh produce.
Bakers on Broad has great bread & pastries. Well worth stopping in on Saturday morning.
I haven't been able to suss out the divey places quite as well, but the diners are generally well regarded. I'm interested to hear what others have to say.
OK, I thought of one. The Empanadas place in Quakertown. It's next to Pep's Ice Cream on 313. It's walk-up only, but they're fabulous.
BACON!
Blooming Glen's bacon is good, but for a real treat try the pork roast. It's butterflied pork tenderloin wrapped around a core of country or hot sausage, with bacon wrapped around all of it. My mom compared it to a great book that you just never want to finish.
Where to find Concord Grapes -Upper Bux/Montco
Thanks, All. I think I may have missed them again this year (especially with all the rain.)
Where to find Concord Grapes -Upper Bux/Montco
I did see some at the Q-mart, but they were splitting and riddled with fruit flies. Yikes.
Anyone know a good place to get them? I have a cranberry chutney recipe I want to try, subbing the grapes.
Road Food along I-70/I-76 for D.C. to Pittsburgh Trip?
Mon - Fri: 5:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sat - Sun: 5:00 am - 12:00 am
It's been a couple years, but their breakfast was good & plentiful.
Road Food along I-70/I-76 for D.C. to Pittsburgh Trip?
Summit Diner is worth a stop, and it's about half-way. It's just off the Turnpike in Somerset.
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Summit Diner
791 N Center Ave, Somerset, PA 15501
Driving to Perkasie from NYC, where to eat??
The grapefruit has been my go-to item lately. It's just the right mix of light and rich. My 6-year-old has declared them the best ice cream in the world, and my 3-yo is addicted to their "I Hate Chocolate". I think they've spoiled him for any commercial chocolate ice creams.
Driving to Perkasie from NYC, where to eat??
they do both prix fixe and a la carte. We were really torn between the two, but figured we'd hand it over to the chef for the evening. The tasting menu varies a little depending on what's fresh, but that's what you want, right? They really work on getting most of their ingredients from local farms, even when they opened up this winter. It really helps to have so many great local places to get good food.
Driving to Perkasie from NYC, where to eat??
Oh, the Q-mart is great fun, and you can find good food, too. Also, if you're driving all that way, you may want to swing by OWowCow for some ice cream, while you're at it. It's not too far out of the way if you take the scenic route down PA-611 along the Delaware.
Driving to Perkasie from NYC, where to eat??
Curly Girl, get thee to Maize. It's really tasty. Make reservations, since it's only 28 seats. I think they do 3 or 4 seatings on the weekend, but by the time we called, they only had 5 or 9. Even with 9, they never rushed us and the pace was leisurely. We both went with the 5-course tasting menu ($50) and it was delightful. I think they usually post the tasting menu on their website or FB page. If you go on a week-day, they have 3-course tasting menus for $30.
I'm blanking on what we had, but remember the crab-stuffed zucchini blossom and seared scallop. Wow. Anyhow, it's pricy for the area, but it's not pricy for the quality & creativity. It's great that we don't have to drive all the way to Doylestown for a creative & tasty dinner.
Fabulous Burgers at the Summit Diner in Somerset
We usually try to stop in if we're in the area around meal-time on drives from PHL-STL. They're great and very kid-friendly. I usually get the BLT which is just about all I need if I'm in the car all day, but one of these day's I'll have to get a burger.
Bochi's Empanadas Argentinas in Quakertown
The family & I went there when I was looking for Bochi's but couldn't remember where it was. Empanadas are not their focus, and I think they had maybe one kind when we were there. It's El Salvadoran food. I wasn't terribly impressed, but that might have been because I was looking for Bochi's. We were the only people there about 5 on a Saturday afternoon, but another anglo couple came in just before we left.
The food was pretty tasty, though a bit rustic. It's so cheap that I got a couple different things and came close to finishing all of it. One, I think, was a chicken tamale which was tasty, but was a little surprised that the chicken included a joint with a broken bone. Once I got past the idea, the taste was really pretty good.
I would go back, especially to see if the fact it wasn't the place I was looking for affected what I thought of the food. If you go, let us know what you think.
Bochi's Empanadas Argentinas in Quakertown
Teddybare, I first saw it on the PA board, but since Q-town kinda straddles the line, I thought I'd share with the Philly folk.
Bochi's Empanadas Argentinas in Quakertown
If you're in the area, stop in for the spicy chicken and/or sweet corn. Both are wonderful. They're about $1.25 each and two is plenty, but you'll want more.
Bochi's in Quakertown
Finally got to try them last night with the kids (6 & 3). Thought I was ordering Hot Dog empanada, but apparently no one like them, so they've dropped them from the menu. The 6-yo got a regular hot dog and declared it the best she's ever had.
The 3-yo had sweet corn empanada & loved it. Great corn flavor. Less enthusiastic about the Ham & Cheese, & I have to agree. Tasty, but needs more caramelized ham flavor.
Spicy chicken was phenomenal. Really knocks it out of the park. I could have several of those. The spicy beef is also really good, but doesn't quite get to the chicken's level.
All for less than $10, plus a few to take home to the Mrs. This is one place I really hope stays around for a while.
ICE CREAM in SE, PA - where's the best?
OWowCow in Ottsville (Upper Bux by Nockamixon) is awesome small-batch and creative flavors. Their chocolate is from a ganache base, so it really tastes like chocolate. Caramel Cashew is my fave, but they have black currant now, which I dearly want to try. Flavors change all the time, based on what's in season.
Chubby's Dairy Barn is also good in Plumsteadville (I think) It's on 611 closer to Doylestown.
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Dairy Barn
12025 Susquehanna Trl S, Glen Rock, PA 17327
Bochi's in Quakertown
sommrluv, you are a very dangerous person. I really want to try them now. I might actually get my kids to start with a hot dog one and work up to the spicy beef.
Miguel's Restaurant & Lounge - Belfast, PA - Lehigh Valley - Easton area
Cafe del Mar will be sorely missed, especially since it sounds like the place that replaced it isn't worth it. At that price, I can't imagine they'll be around long.
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Cafe del Mar
5881 Sullivan Trail, Nazareth, PA 18064
Where do I buy a whole pig for my freezer? Or whole lamb? Whole cow?
I think I was there about a year ago when I was picking up a pork shoulder. They said that they get the pig from up in the Lehigh Valley. Raising the pigs was more work than it was worth, especially when they could get Berkshire pork from a good farm locally. They had started raising goats by then.
I do love their sausage, though. Bob does a great job.
Where do I buy a whole pig for my freezer? Or whole lamb? Whole cow?
Hendricks doesn't raise pigs anymore, but they've started raising goats, which might be interesting for you. You could probably work something out with them.
I thought I read somewhere that Happy Farm in Kintersville had heritage pigs, but could be wrong. They have plenty of fowl, though, and all pastured.
You may want to check out the cooperative extensions' farm-to-table maps and call around. For really good stuff, you might want to consider heading up into the Lehigh Valley or Berks to get heritage pigs. I haven't heard of anything definitive about a source in the philly burbs.
non ultrapasteurized cream
Rosenberger's quarts are just pasteurized, but I'm not sure you're in their neighborhood. It's getting nigh on impossible to find just pasteurized anymore. You may want to see if there are any direct-to-consumer dairies in your neck of the woods. Even if it isn't raw, it might be minimally processed.
best fish taco in philadelphia
You may just be better off making them yourself. I would love to find a good SD/Baja-style fish taco, but haven't seen hide nor hair of them. The NY Times ran a recipe within the last year or so that was pretty close, though I haven't followed it to the letter yet.
Grass (pasture) Fed Chicken?
So glad you liked it. I love their salumi. Bob does a phenomenal job with it and does both really classical and also innovative ideas. If he's around (which is most of the time) he loves to chat about what he's got aging. He'll walk you around the aging cave and show off a bit. He had a whole leg of lamb curing about a year ago, but I didn't get back in time to see what became of it.
I haven't gotten over to try any of the goat, but might have to. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with it, but there's nothing like diving in.
Potted herbs in Philadelphia
Afternoon sun should give you enough to grow most herbs on a windowsill. They may not thrive as much, but it should be fine. If you are growing basil, getting a packet of seeds and doing sequential plantings through the year, you might be able to do most of what you need. Also, you can get some really good stuff in addition to the normal genovesse, like Thai, Lime, etc. I've been container gardening for a little while and seem to kill the rosemary every year, even bringing it in. One of these days, I'll do it in the ground and hope to have th same luck as Ray.
Oh, mint is something else that will do really well in a pot. Give them some fertilizer from time to time and they'll love you for it.
Bacon - sugar AND nitrate/nitrite free
Not sure about the sugar, but Hendrick's is a good try. Blooming Glen Pork also has nitrate/ite free in their freezer case, but again, don't know about sugar. I think 94Bravo's onto something about the curing process.
Remember, "nitrate-free" products that use celery juice just get the nitrates from the celery. Actually, I think that celery has more nitrates than bacon does, if memory serves me. The reason they're using nitrates/ites in the first place is to keep pathogens from growing.
Potted herbs in Philadelphia
There may still be some at RTM. It's getting late in the season for them, but you'll still get your money's worth before winter steps in to freeze them.
Road trip NJ to western MD via PA on I-78 (Bethlehem, Allentown, Harrisburg)
Definitely stop in at Dietrich's. Well worth the stop and right off at exit 40 on I-78. Not sure how cheap it'll be since so much of their stuff looks so good. I'd stop in more often, but I'm usually passing there just before they open at 7am.
Grass (pasture) Fed Chicken?
If you call ahead, you can also get pork from them. They aren't raising heritage breed pigs right now (they used to have a few), but get them from up in the LV. I got part of Boston Butt from a Berkshire pig to make pulled pork. They offered me the whole shoulder (something like 14 lbs) but ended up taking about 6 1/2 lbs of it. The flavor was incomparable. It's amazing how much more flavorful all the extra intramuscular fat makes the heritage breeds. Bob uses the pig to make some of his sausages, which are also highly recommended.
They do have goats, so you might be able to get some goat from them, too.
Food Network show looking for your favorite outrageous food
Maybe not outrageous, but mighty good. Blooming Glen Pork has country sausage wrapped in butterflied pork tenderloins and covered in overlapping bacon slices. Just a simple roast, but amazingly delicious.
Sept. road food trip to Mass. via blue highways
Good luck with the trip. It sounds like a blast. If you've ever read "Roadfood" by Jane & Michael Stern, they have some good tips for finding food on the blue highways. Things like 1) police cars parked (without their lights on) 2) religious signs prominently displayed (religion often included with the meal, too) and a few others I can't think of now. Not bad advice if you find yourself in a stretch without recommendations.
