Herself and I were in Lititz, having massages.... jet-setting highliners that we are..... BWAHAHAHAHA! Okay... Okay.... she gets them as part of her health plan, and was kind enough to gift me one as well (If you get a chance, go see Sydnie at Therapeutic Massage Works. She's killer with that stuff).
Amongst the jabbering, we asked Sydnie for lunch recommendations, and she suggested The Bulls Head pub, right in downtown Lititz. "They have a great selection of beer on tap!". Well..... we like beer, so that worked for us. It being only a few miles away from the massage parlor, we were walking into the Bulls Head Pub (slash) Sutter Hotel just minutes later.
The Bulls Head Pub and the Sutter hotel are two sides of the same coin. Same building, same owners, and same otherworldly charm.
The pub was crowded and lively, and with good reason. Walking in, it's almost jaw dropping in it's atmosphere. A beautiful bar and pub room, with a very healthy beer selection on tap. Sharing the same pub-fare menu with the hotel dining room, it's like stepping across the ocean to a classic ideal of a British pub. I'm so happy the Brits managed to get past that whole 'Revolution' thing, and feel willing to bring some of their culture back across the pond to our fine State.
We were looking for a bit quieter scene for our lunch, and investigated past the pub to the adjoining hotel lobby, and through another set of doors to a charming vintage style dining room occupying the front corner of the building.
Two entire walls being windows, the dining room is bright and cheerful. Olive walls, bold white trim, and brilliant white table clothes make the whole room just pop. We were actually smiling in anticipation as we were seated, with the atmosphere soaking in.
Taking a corner table, our (Evil Food Temptress) waitress presented us with menus and offered some drink options. Yes.... a large and fascinating menu of beer on tap... certainly that. BUT.... an entire other menu of..... get this..... Whiskey flights! No, I'm quite serious here. The Sutter has a menu of whiskey flights, putting together tastings of some spectacular offerings three at a time for not unreasonable prices.
Now, being on the road that day, we were forced... FORCED I tell you, to decline such a wonderful opportunity. On the other hand, we investigated the hotel room situation, and fully intend to go back for an overnight stay so we can partake of the wonderfullness! Bloody damn right we are going to do exactly that, and soon. Take a room for Saturday night, enjoy a fantastic dinner followed by a night in the pub, and then a lazy Sunday morning with a stunning breakfast. OH....HELL....YES!
Instead, I availed myself of the beer menu, having a Lost Abbey Red Poppy.... which frankly, I didn't care for. The waitress was kind enough to trade it in for an Old Speckled Hen ale, which was perfect with the lunch we were to order.
The menu at The Sutter is especially temping, with a great variety of fare. Appetizers, salads, Pub Grub, and fine dining.... it's all there. Their food menu presentation is on a clipboard, the same as the beer tap menu. This makes wonderful sense for a place that makes rapid changes to the menu based on local availability, as I suspect The Sutter does. It's also quirky, and we like that.
For appies, our evil mistress of a waitress enticed us into trying the Scotch Egg, a favorite of Herself. We also ordered the cheese plate, as good cheese is a weakness of ours.
Now normally, Scotch Egg doesn't do much for me. The Sutter version though, was rather tasty. Not served with the traditional mustard, but an interesting sauce... which I can't quite pin down. Also, drizzled on the plate, a Hella Spicy red sauce that brave souls can dredge their forks through. Assembled together, it made for an excellent Scotch Egg offering.
The cheese tray..... just damn. That was really good. From The Sutter's menu:
Fromager Affinois Brie mild, creamy, buttery flavor, slight sweetness
Midnight Moon aged six months, ivory-colored cheese is dense and smooth with a slight crunch of protein crystals
Caramelized Onion English Cheddar creamy, buttery cheddar is perfectly blended with tangy, caramelized onions
It was plated attractively, and encouraged experimentation. Whole grain mustard, savory crackers, Pita, olives, dried fruit and candied pecans... and Oh-My-God stunning cheeses. Cheeses so good, we asked for their provenance and were told of a specialty food shop just blocks from the restaurant.
At $10, I simply can't see how they make money on that cheese board. It alone may have been the best value I've seen anywhere in a long time.
Naturally, herself and I took turned making combinations of flavors in competition with each other. Some of this, a dab of that, a few dried cranberries.... and Voila! Of course, mine were the best (He said with some pride) Pfft. Whatever. Mine were little works of art. In all seriousness though, it was some amazing cheese. The waitress said that the cheese selection changes weekly and is procured from a specialty food shop down the road. One that we will be reviewing!
For lunch mains, Herself had an interesting grilled cheese and soup combination that she can speak to.
I had the house Tomato Bisque which is everything I want in a tomato bisque. Rich, creamy, with a light tomato tang. Not at all gritty, with a smooth texture. The grilled cheese was good, on sourdough bread, although here a week later, I am having a hard time really recalling it, so it wasn't a showstopper. But man that Bisque....
Me? There was Pub Fare... and that means Fish and Chips.... and our waitress mentioned the Sutter's owners are British and take pride in their pub food..... and Fish and Chips!
Guess what I had for lunch? Yup..... Fish and Chips.
They offer both small and large servings, I gather the difference being the amount of fried fish. Naturally, I had the large, because I'm a fatty foodie and all that.
The fish itself had nice mild flavor, with breading that held together well bite by bite. Slightly greasy from the fryer, but isn't that part of the charm? I half expected a package of food wrapped in newspaper!
Served with crispy fries, tarter sauce, and plenty of good Ketchup... it's a lunch time win.
I suppose we could have had something fancier, but we were out-and-about, not doing a fancy dinner thing. As lunches go, it was really, really good. The fine dining.... yeah, we are going back for that.
As I mentioned earlier, we plan to make a weekend trip of the Sutter, and walking Lititz. Yes, it's only 30-40 minutes from the house, but who cares? It's away.... different..... special.... and worth it. Our reservation is already made!
Did I mention they offer Scotch and Whiskey tasting flights?
How The Sutter Inn Lititz, PA Forks up?
4.75 Forks for flavor.
5 Forks for atmosphere.
3 Forks for location (parking is limited)
4.15 Forks for your value.
4.75 Forks for service.
4.33 Forks overall
We've blogged here before about The Spice Shop on Orange St. in Lancaster.
In this piece, we'd like to report on something new The Spice and Tea Exchange has begun.... and it's something we *really* hope they continue!
We had the good fortune to attend the first ever 'Cooking Demo' The Spice Shop hosted. It was mentioned the event might be held monthly, and that would be 'A Good Thing'.
What it was, put simply, was a shop full of chairs seating folks who are interested in good food. At the front, a local chef who demonstrates some foodalicious goings on.
The evening we were lucky to attend, the chef was Meghan Young, owner and head chef of Characters Pub. She brought with her a saute chef as an assistant, and a whole bunch of spectacular goodies. The theme for the evening.... TACOS!
Not just Tacos.... but TACOS! Seriously upscale offerings using premium ingredients and simple preparation techniques. It's absolutely clear the Chef knows her stuff, loves good food, and also loves to wow her guests with seriously good flavors. (She spoke about her trips to Mexico and training at one of the premier Mexican restaurants in NYC)
Chef Young doesn't seem used to public speaking, but her obvious love of the subject carried her through the entire evening. She began with a dissertation on Tequila, a topic she's apparently quite knowledgeable on. To back up the talk, a quick demo on making a spectacularly good Margarita with mango, cucumber, and Habanero sugar (Available at the shop). Everyone was given a tasting portion, and it was memorable. Herself is quoted as saying "Whoooo.... My Lips are burning!". It really was an exceptional margarita, and the cucumber made an unexpected hit with us. (Himself was kind enough to let me finish his too. It was soo good. The Chef shared with us some great information on the importance of buying decent tequila. That sugar though! Hot stuff! But tasty! )
Moving on, Chef showed us all how to make a traditional Guacamole from scratch (in a molcajete aka big ass mortar and pestle), in minutes. Again, plates of Guac and fresh tortilla chips were prepared for everyone, and again.... outstanding fare. (om nom nom)
Moving on even more, the Chef and her assistant prepared fresh tacos of beer steamed shrimp with Guac and jicama-pineapple salsa (WAY good stuff!!). All prepared from scratch as we watched, with a running monologue on methods and techniques. Yes.... questions were taken and answered. (Turns out I love Jicama! She gave us a ton of cool ideas to use it in different ways. I am excited to make it a part of regular cooking.)
Following this... tacos with duck breast, pico de gallo, and smokey crema.... and a seared tuna taco with wakame-cabbage slaw and wasabi aioli (this was an outstanding taco!). Every last bit prepared from scratch, demonstrated in detail, and shared with all plate by plate.
The cost to attend was only $15 each, and that included $10 in free spices and tea after the event (totally our choices!), and so much 'tasting' that it was roughly a meal (Himself wanted to call it a "light" meal, it was honestly a full meal, but we are chunky and eat too much!). Detailed recipes for everything we tried were also handed out. (It was a really cool way to get to see the way each dish incorporated items from the shelves at Spice and Tea Exchange. It was also an amazing way to try some new foods, that I may not have normally been excited to try. Example, I don't eat a lot of duck or tuna but they were fun prepared this way and I would eat tuna made like this, again! The sesame crust with the tuna was delicious. )
We know there's no way The Spice Shop is making money on this, but it's a sweet way for local foodies to learn from top notch local chefs. At the same time, it's a good introduction to what is perhaps the best spice shop in Lancaster County.
As we were ringing up our 'free' spices and tea, plus the additional we bought, we asked the nice lady to please put us on a list for automatic inclusion in every future event. It's a wonderful flavor filled evening, and an astounding value!
Hello intrepid reader(s). Sorry we have been slacking in posting, but life has a way of flying by. I have been a little overwhelmed lately and not feeling very creative. I am hoping to jump start my brain and my metabolism. I am doing a juice cleanse, so that blog will be in the near future, in the mean time...
We hit Station House Tavern, (1335 Fruitville Pike) on Sunday February 26th. (Holy crap! We really have been slacking at this blog stuff!)
We all stopped at this place after attempting the throngs of people at 'Lancaster City for the Blues and Jazz Festival'. We couldn't get food with less than an hour+ wait in the city, which made my companions growly. Himself's daughter-in-law is a great person, but a very picky eater, and she gets like.. super HANGRY, I likened her to a seething ball of hungry rage. We needed a place and fast! Station House Tavern was on our list of restaurants to review, and it had a menu that appealed to us all... and could seat us quickly!
They have a fairly traditional tavern menu they kind of spiced up. A few of the things really stood out to me, like mac and cheese bites made with Gouda. Oh, and what's this?! Oh No! More novelty burgers! Stay tuned beloved readers because we found a place that does novelty well.
I had the mac daddy burger, a burger topped with mac and cheese bites (and American cheese and bacon). Now, I know you are asking if I didn't learn my lesson from the last novelty burger himself and I shared, and the answer is no. This time I was glad! This was a really tasty burger, and I would head back to this restaurant just for these mac and cheese bites and their amazing drinks menu
As for me (himself), I tried a favorite bar food .... fish and chips. The Station House version involves some.... slightly greasy.... chunks of fried white fish, and a big pile of nicely done coated fries. Very basic fair, and could use some flavor.
On the table we also had a big basket of the same fries, a serving of fairly decent wings, and another burger with stuff on it.
It's a bar. The place serves bar food. Nothing we had was bad, but nothing was spectacular either. Typical average bar with lots of TV's playing sportsball, a bunch of tall bar tables, and a dining area with booths. All in all, I've nothing negative to say. Nothing wildly positive either. The place got busy, and I guess they earn that, but I honestly can't say I'm drawn to go back soon.
How The Station House Tavern in Lancaster, PA Forks up?
2.85 Forks for flavor.
3 Forks for atmosphere.
3 Forks for location.
3.25 Forks for your value.
3 Forks for service.
3.02 Forks overall
The pub was crowded and lively, and with good reason. Walking in, it's almost jaw dropping in it's atmosphere. A beautiful bar and pub room, with a very healthy beer selection on tap. Sharing the same pub-fare menu with the hotel dining room, it's like stepping across the ocean to a classic ideal of a British pub. I'm so happy the Brits managed to get past that whole 'Revolution' thing, and feel willing to bring some of their culture back across the pond to our fine State.
For lunch mains, Herself had an interesting grilled cheese and soup combination that she can speak to. 
