Dinner: Craft Ale House, Best Kept Secret in the Suburbs

Living in New York City, it is easy for me to find restaurants that are made with love, that have both quality and quantity. In the suburbs of PA? Not so much. I had always been a fan of Craft Ale House with they first opened, though they only served micro brews then. Upon hearing that they started serving lunch and dinner a while back, I had to go check it out. Could this be my future go-to restaurant when I am in the area? Quite possibly so...

Unpretentious setting, this used to be Limerick Deli. Neighbors with a hardware store, I am sure many have drove past this place without a second thought.

Chalkboard wall with the daily microbrews, and spacious seating at the bar.

If you don't have time to sit for a drink, they have six pack holders you can fill with whatever custom beers you wish. Great if you just want to try different types.

Flying Fish Doggie Style Pale Ale

Buddy's dad ordered this one. He is the type to like lighter flavored beers and  with ABV 5.3%, it still had a nice hoppy flavor without being overbearing. There was a pleasant malt flavor which comes from the addition of Carastan malts.

Price: $4.00

Left Hand Imperial Stout

I  ordered this because (to be honest) of the name and the fact that it was on nitro tap. It had ABV 10.4%, and wow was this thick. The consistency reminscent of Guinness, but the taste- double the flavor. 

Price: $5.50

Stout Mustache!!

Funky Farmhouse Mussels

This was made with Farmhouse ale, leeks, bleu cheese, garlic and spinach. The mussel shells acted like little spoons to get scoops of every component in one big bite. The bleu cheese flavor was not very strong, but still nice to get little bites of cheese in my broth and twice as nice to put on the soft and buttery garlic bread that accompanied it.  

Price: $9.00

Grilled Octopus

This was made with asparagus, and a tomato chutney and garnished with micro greens. A more modest sized appetizer, I ordered it as an entree. The octopus (or as Buddy would call it Oct-op-pose) was tender, and gave easily with each bite. The tomato chutney was a nice acidic alternative to lemons but not overbearing in anyway. The asparagus was fresh and cooked to perfection. Beautiful presentation, perfect size for an appetizer.

Price:$9.00

Buttermilk Tenders

Buddy ordered this one. This was the star of the night. Too modest to call itself tenders, this was more like hardy fried chicken and undoubtedly one of the best of I have ever eaten. The breading was thick crunchy, spicy and bursting with flavor. The chicken was moist and juicy- so much so that some jumped out at me. Though the sauce was delicious, it was almost not necessary. With 7 or 8 pieces per order, this was big enough for 2 people.

Price: $8.00

Roasted Pork Sandwich with Hand Cut Fries

Buddy's dad ordered this one. It was slow roasted with garlic, herbs, beer and provolone cheese. A side of au jus, and hand cut fries. I didn't get a chance to taste the sandwich, but he seemed to really enjoy it. Massive in size, the other half was packaged in a to-go box. The fries? Best ones in PA. Soft with tough and resistant outer skin. A sprinkling of kosher salt and it was the perfect bar snack.

Price: $8.00

F.Y.I

If you can't decide on a beer, they are happy to give you little shot sized tastings. After 4 or 5 shot tasting, they only charge $1.00 for each additional taste. A great (and economical) way for trying different types of beer.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Of course we had to get dessert and this was house made! The "bread" seemed more crepe like with chunks of melted chocolate in its folds. Essentially, a disfigured chocolate crepe.

Price: $5.00

Banoffee pie

The owner's (Gary) wife made this at home. This is basically a banana cream pie, but she calls it a bafonte. Either way- it was delicious. The lighter dessert out of the two, the whipped creams airiness was refreshing on such a hot day. There was a hint of alcohol in it...perhaps Grand Marnier? The bananas perfectly ripened and the the pie crust crumbly.
     * upon speaking with the owner, I found out that this dessert is an English dessert made from bananas, cream, toffee and boiled condensed milk

Price: $5.00

Verdict: New York quality food and drink at PA prices. How can you beat that? The perfect place to come and eat when you want a more relaxed atmosphere then a rowdy bar. I can not wait to come back... a great reason to go to Royersford and visit parents!

Craft Ale House

708 West Ridge Pike
Limerick, PA 19468

www.craftalehouse.com

Sweet Tooth: La Newyorkina

 

Walking around in the heat in on July 4th weekend in New York? Happen to be in the Lower East Side? Stop by the Hester Street Fair and get a popsicle this weekend! ( Listen to me sounding like an advertisement). I have posted about their pops before, and their new flavors are absolute successes.

Pina con Menta

This was absolutely refreshing. The pineapples tang bit back at your tongue, while the mint pieces added fresh earthiness that lingered on your palette. The perfect cool treat while shopping outside.

Price: $1.00 for a mini

Hester Street Fair

Hester at Essex

New York, NY 10002

Sat-Sun 10am-6pm

www.lanewyorkina.com

Dinner: Limerick Diner's Menu Tells Lies

Buddy and I had planned on seeing Toy Story 3 in IMAX 3D (which was AMAZINGGGGG) last Friday, and so we wanted to go to a place to eat on a budget. Seeing how Limerick Diner was re-done and now serving alcohol, we figured to give it a shot.

Ample Parking....high school memories anyone? This was the place to come after school and pig out on their massive omelette's, milkshakes, and pancakes.

An enticing display of petite desserts. You know I was going to come back for some after dinner!

Yeungling on Tap and  a Dirty Martini

First, the drinks took FOREVER to get to the table. Second I suspect.... that they didn't put any alcohol in my drink!! Sure I asked for a dirty martini, but it was definitely all olive juice. After finishing the drink, I didn't feel a nice buzz....I felt like I wanted 7 glasses of water because I just drank pure salt juice. Plus this gave me indigestion. If you do wish for alcohol with your meal, stick with the beer (which came out icy cold) 

Yuegling: $3.50

Olive Juice: $5.50

Vegetable Minestrone

This came with free with Buddy's meal. Overly salty but the vegetables were plentiful and melted in your mouth. The noodle in this were overdone.

Clam Chowder

This came free with my meal. Sure this soup looks like someone vomited in my bowl, but it was still pretty tasty. I'm not sure why I like this soup, there a few clam chunks, and the potatoes are well done, but it has an unusual gummy texture, overly salted and I'm pretty sure it's a couple of days old. Yet for some reason I continue to eat it. 

Corned Beef Sandwich

Buddy ordered this one. The beef was dry, cold and the dressing was purely coleslaw, not even a hint of russian dressing. The best part of the sandwich? The rye bread. He ended up only eating half the sandwich and stealing my dinner instead.

Price: $ 6.75

Chicken Carbonara with Linguine

So I don't know about everyone else out there, but when I think of pasta carbonara, I think linguine, scrambled eggs, pancetta, olive oil, and lotsa fresh cracked pepper. 

On the Limerick diners menu they subbed the pancetta with bacon, and no pepper or olive oil. Im fine with that, its a diner after all. They do say eggs. If you look at the picture, there is clearly hard-boiled eggs in my dish... for the love of all things Italian, why?! Were they too lazy scramble eggs into my pasta? This was very off putting. To top it off they added a massive amount of  tasteless cheese sauce. If I wanted cheese sauce,  would have gotten chicken alfredo. Instead of tiny bits of bacon, they literally took stripes of bacon, cut them in half, and threw it in the pasta. On the plus side, this thing was big enough to feed a village, with 4 large pieces of chicken breast hidden in the folds of the sauce. The chicken was surprisingly moist and perfectly cooked. The pasta was also perfectly cooked al dente- just the way I like it. This monster lasted me 4 separate meals after I brought the leftovers home.

Price: $13.95

Key Lime Pie Cheesecake

Before we left for dinner, I was watching a special on Food Network about cheesecakes. This got me craving one. After finishing my meal, I wanted to top it off with something tart and small. I opted for their key lime pie cheesecake. It had a lemon filling in the center, which was more sweet than tart. I was surprised by how much more cakey than dense this was. It was bordering almost to the point of angel food cake. The custard on top was also sickeningly sweet. I would get something else next time.

Price: $ 3.75

Verdict: Get the beer, not their mixed drinks. Want pasta? go for it, but maybe get one of their more traditional choices than a fancy one.  I would also  stick to my Kosher restaurants for corned beef or pastrami. However this place is still a vast improvement then what it used to be. Would I come back? Of course, there is still about a million things to try on their menu one is bound to be a jackpot. It's Limerick Diner after all!

Limerick Diner

411 W Ridge Pike

Limerick, Pa 19468

Dinner: The Heat Made Me Eat Healthy

I have featured Atlas before, but that is because I have a sneaking suspicion this place may be one of my favorite affordable vegetarian/vegan friendly spots in the city. 

Lentil Soup and Smoked Turkey Panini Combo Special

I went here with Melissa and she ordered this one, it came with a side salad and looks pretty darn tasty. Also- a really great deal!

Price: $6.95

Unchicken Tofu Salad

Since is was a sweltering 85 degrees, my body could not take anything heavy, so I opted for a salad. This was mesclan  greens with carrots, olives, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red onions, 2 scoops of tofu chicken salad and a vinaigrette dressing. Notice how one scoop is a little differently colored than the other? Weird huh? Will it was still delicious. If you have ever had vegan chicken salad, it tastes exactly like the kind you pick up at Whole Foods in their prepared refrigerated section. Chewy, moist and with small chunks of tofu. Enough unchicken for the salad and to make a sandwich.

Price: $6.75

Verdict: Want a satisfing, healthy, and cheap dinner for under 10 dollars? This is the place for you. They also make crepes and have a wide variety of vegan and non vegan cakes, cookies, and desserts. Just a warning, this place is small and offers no air conditioning in the summer.

Atlas Cafe

73 2nd Avenue

New York, NY 10003

http://www.atlascafenyc.com/home.html