Where? Oh, yeah... The Cove. Now I remember.

One nice Saturday evening, we met a friend for dinner over in York County.  Our various locations and activities that day pointed us to a likely area, and Herself recalled a restaurant in just the right place.  The Cove, at 1500 S. George St.

Okay friends, I'm going to be real straightforward here.  I wasn't impressed, and that's going to show here.  Also, I intentionally sat on this review for a while, rather than jump in with both big feet.  Well, here it is a week later, and I recalled I had something I should be writing about.  Didn't we go out to eat last weekend?  What was that place?  Oh yeah....

That's when I figured out the most striking impression The Cove left on me.  It's just plain forgettable.  The place was packed, the location good, the decor not bad, the whiskey selection quite good, and the food...... utterly forgettable.

The Cove has two identities in one location.  To the one side, a big bar and dining room. Lot's of TV's with sportsball playing, and a busy Saturday rush going on.  On the other side, a 'Whiskey' bar, with more tables and a small bar well stocked with spirits from around the wold.  Smoking is allowed in the whiskey bar, as well.

The main dining room was fully involved, and wait staff pointed out the whiskey bar, telling us there were lots of empty table there.   Hmm.... whisky, cigars, and the same menu?  Yeah, we can do that!  I just 'happened' to have a few hand-rolled Cuban seed cigars with me.... ahem. (Hain's Cigar shop in Downtown York, 7th oldest tobbacco shop in the United States.)

To the Whiskey Bar!   Yeah.... Jim Morrison and the Doors were playing a concert in my head at that point, like a sound track to a disaster film.

Our friend arrived as we took a table (Near the Skeeball machine, which cost Herself all the dollars ($3.00! I spent only $3.00 dollars, because SKEEBALL!)  Perusing the Whiskey selection, we each chose something new to try.  'New' was easy, as the bar stocks things I've never heard of, let alone tried.  The bartender at the time seemed to be filling in, and had no whiskey experience (None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That in itself was a little frustrating). Luckily, we'uns DID have just enough knowledge to each order something interesting.

The whiskey shots on our check ranged from $8 to $15, which makes every bottle worth about a Squillion dollars.... and neatly explains why I do my whiskey drinking at home.  They had a handful of the Trendy Japanese imported whiskies as well, but I just couldn't see paying $28 for a shot of booze beyond my ability to appreciate (I top out at the $80 a bottle price range with my palate). I will interject here and say as a novelty the whiskey and beer selection here is good. I had a Woodford Reserve Brandy Barrel Aged Whiskey, and it was delightful. A hint sweeter and very mellow, and Southern Tier Creme Brulee Beer, which is a personal favorite.(But costs a bloody fortune)

Food:   We ordered a selection of Appies to share.  Cheesesteak Egg-rolls, Lobster Mac-N-Cheese, and crab dip in a bread bowl.  My impressions follow, and Herself can do her own thing.

• Cheesesteak egg-rolls.  Exactly what they sound like. Meat and cheese rolled in a wonton, and deep fried.  Served with some kind of forgettable sauce.  Kind of greasy, and kind of bland, but exactly as advertised I suppose.   If I was on the far end of a boozy night, they'd go down pretty well.
• Lobster Mac-N-Cheese.   Yeah.... I guess that's what it was.  It had Lobster in it, and some kind of cheese sauce, and Orzo as the pasta.  Frankly, it looked and tasted like an expensive bowl of bland... or maybe blah.... or maybe 'Meh'.   I had a few forkfuls, and that was enough.
  
• Crab dip in a bread bowl.  Classic appetizer fare, and with good reason.  The Cove's offering was decent, and probably counted as the best thing I had that evening (after the whiskey and cigar, that is).

Dinner?  Once again, herself can talk about hers.  I honestly can't recall what she had (because we shared! LOL).   As for me..... I screwed up.

The Cove has a 'novelty' sammich on the menu, and Herself was insistent that I order it.  She wanted to see it, and maybe try a bite.  After a suitable period of whining and cajoling, I gave in and ordered the 'Skull and Crossbones'. (I am laughing through his whole review because it really was forgettable for him. We shared the burger and split the appetizers between the three of us. I honestly can't stop giggling. The food here was really lack luster. I can say there were at least real lobster chunks in the lobster mac, but it was made with orzo which is a stupid pasta choice for a hearty sauce, IMHO (and honestly that is what a review is, my opinion) 😉. The most impressive thing was the crab dip in the breadbowl. One of the better crab dips I have had.)

Lesson learned..... NEVER order the novelty sammich.  Never order the bar's 'I Dare Ya!' item from the menu.  It's never good, and exists only so someone can say "Bet you can't eat that!" to someone else.

The Skull and Crossbones is a burger, stuck between grilled cheese sandwiches.  One grilled cheese had bacon in it, and the other had tomatoes in it.  There was a variety of cheese as well.  It was stacked on a plate, with a heap of crispy coated fried as a side. It also had fried onions on it, and we actually shared it for dinner along with the appetizers.

Looking at the thing, we discussed how nice it would be to have a 'grilled cheese sampler' platter with maybe four half-sammiches, all of different kinds of grilled cheese.   It says something when your dinner mostly makes you think of something else you'd rather be eating.

What I came away with, after an evening at The Cove:   It's a bar.  It's a restaurant. It's a whiskey and cigar place.  It's all those things, in a good location for York (parking there is stupid when they are busy, so keep that in mind), and not a bad place to drop in for a drink and a meal. 

As long as you aren't looking for something good enough you'll remember it the next day.

Oh yeah... parking there is pretty poor.  I had to leave a note on my car, with my cell number, in case someone needed my car moved to get out.  I expect they do the bets they can, with what they have.


How The Cove in York, PA Forks up?
2 Forks for flavor.
3 Forks for atmosphere.
2.5 Forks for location.  1.75 Forks for your value.
2.5 Forks for service.
2.35 Forks overall.

The whiskey and beer selection gets a 5 for variety and a 2 for value. 

Close Encounters of the Food Kind and Farewell to RD's

Last night began a little strangely for us. On the way home from work we saved an injured red-tailed hawk from the side of the highway and rushed him to a rehabber (Raven Ridge ...go forth, donate. They are a super worthy cause!). 

Himself and I were then very late to get the little one to the meet-up point so she could spend the weekend with her Dad, and then she decided she didn't want to go. So whatever. 

We found ourselves and both the children needing fed for dinner and it was later then usual, so himself decreed, "Everyone in the car. We're going for dinner." He gave us two options, and after a mildly (never to be discussed again...lol) unfortunate birthday incident at the other establishment, it was decided we should head to RD's.

We were excited! We'd never eaten there on a Friday evening, but had frequently seen the wonders they post on their very active Facebook account. So we arrived around 5:30pm and were seated in the back dining room. It's less "diner" than the front room. Beautifully painted in warm tones, with great decor. We were near the kitchen, which is actually something I like. I enjoy the hustle and bustle.

We were seated and Tracie, our lovely waitress, went off to get our drinks. Loe and behold, a handsome gentleman comes out of the kitchen and said, "Dragons Gotta Eat Too, right?" Himself and I had a moment of confusion, and then a little stunned disbelief, and muttered a weak, "Yeah, that's us" (insert our awkward chuckle here). The owner/chef had recognized us, and we were a bit unsure how to proceed. Good thing he wasn't unsure, and is such a nice guy. He shook Himself's hand and told us about how he reads all the blogs since we reviewed them, and he likes our style. We briefly talked about how we appreciate that. Himself mentioned we are sad to hear he is selling the restaurant, as RD's has become one of our local Go-To's. RD explained he has some other work he has been doing and running a restaurant really takes a lot of time. He also said he would really miss the regulars. He then went back to his kitchen duties.

Yes friends, RD is selling the restaurant.  He and the great dining experience he has built will be sorely missed.  Let's face it... owning a small restaurant and being the head chef (and everything else right down to busboy) is not simply a job.  It begins to take over one's life.  I suspect RD is a man with priorities, and family tops his list.

"Are they going to treat us weird now?" I whispered to Himself.
"I hope not," he replied.

We carried on, not sure at first how to act. Our waitress was on her game, and Himself teased her, "We aren't reviewing tonight. Just treat us like normal people." She laughed, and said, "I am."

I believed her. I watched as this waitress hugged customer's children that came in, held an elderly ladies coat, and you could see in her the love of her job and this place. We spoke to her briefly at the end of the meal, and asked, "How much longer until RD's closes?" With tears in her eyes she said March 5th. She told us, she is hoping the potential new owners keep the staff, because they knows the regulars, and because this place really is like family.

I have seen this before when we popped in for a weeknight meal, or even breakfast. The waitstaff is on the ball, and obviously love what they do. They have people's drinks waiting for them at the table as soon as they see them pull into the parking lot, and they know their preferred salad dressing, or how they like the steak. Having been a server at one point myself, I can tell you, this is a skill.

Moving on to the food because that is what you came to read about... yes Himself lied to the waitress, we are always reviewing. 😉

Three of us had meals from the Friday special menu, and the teen had chicken fingers and fries. The littlest one had plank cooked salmon with sides of mushrooms and mac and cheese. Himself had the Tenderloin Tips and Crab Cake Dinner with Mac and Cheese and some of RD's baked beans (Those freaking beans are so damn good!) I had the Mushroom Ravioli with Chicken in Marsala Wine Sauce. I'll speak about my own dinner and let Himself wax poetic about his. (lol...I will)

Every Friday evening, RD has a special dinner menu.  For the most part, it's fine dining and looks like a Chef stretching himself to make the best.  On the other hand, it has things like Wings and Mac-n-Cheese on it.... because Dammit, they taste good!

To our shame, we never made it down there for the Friday specials, given our family schedule.  The sudden change this past Friday gave us the opportunity, and I made a bee-line for the place.  I mean.... I mean...... here's a blurb on their Friday menu from Facebook:
Venison loin medallions with cranberry and candied onion pan sauce...
Stuffed Cornish game hen with braised apple gravy...
Hickory plank roasted Atlantic salmon....
Yellow fin tuna di aman with sesame cucumber salad, Wasabi and ginger soy drizzle...
18 Oz marinated ribeye...
Stuffed mushrooms and more! Seeya tonight
Who could not get excited at that?  And More!

All of our meals except Da Boy's came with salad bar, and we each enjoyed a bowl of super fresh mixed greens with fixings of our choice.  I'm not a huge salad eater..... okay..... I'm a fat boy and I do eat salad occasionally, but you know what I mean.  That said, I get excited by a salad bar that exhibits FRESH produce and RD always hits that mark.

I chose a surf and turf offering from the 'And More!' section of the Friday specials.  Steak tips and Crab cake, with Mac-n-Cheese and BBQ baked beans as sides.

Now, people who revel in the perfectly matched meal will sniff at my choices.  On the other hand, folks who like flavor and good food will be saying "Hell yeah!".

Since my dinner was more like four unconnected dishes on one plate, that's how I'm going to write about it. 'Surf and Turf' is already a compromise on plating a meal, so why not just blow it out of the water altogether?

 The steak tips; Star of the show. To get right to the point, these little blobs of beef were as good as any New York Strip I've ever pulled off my own grill. Fork tender, just this side of moo'ing, and full of flavor.

The co-star; The crab cake, was mostly crab meat, sweet, slightly spiced, and an excellent offering of a surprisingly hard menu item to get right. The home made tarter sauce complimented the flavor instead of overpowering it, and that's a darn nice match.

In a supporting role, the BBQ beans.  I've tried to match RD's beans at home, and I've come close.  Only close, but not yet as good.  They make a bloody fine meal on their own, exploding with flavor and appearance (to a bean liker like me).

The other supporting cast member, Mac-N-Cheese.  It was creamy, smooth, and nicely flavored. For myself, I like to load my Mac-N-Cheese with flavor..... garlic, sauteed onions, spices, multiple cheeses, etc.  RD's version isn't like that, but a much milder and quite satisfying comfort-food Mac-N-Cheese.

I'm an admitted pasta snob, and I've have never made a secret of that. I find often restaurants either over cook pasta into mush (the worst!) or don't quite make it al dente, an Italian phrase meaning "to the tooth".  It represents pasta that is still firm, but not crunchy or raw. 

Ravioli is a hard one to get just right. The pasta in a ravioli has varying thickness and you have to be able to warm the filling without killing the pasta. Mine was perfect! The ravioli maintained their texture and was warmed through. The chicken was delicious, moist and flavorful. The sauce... I grew up on my Dad's Marsala sauce so restaurants have a high standard to meet. RD's darned well met it. Their Marsala was creamy and I could taste the wine. I could also taste the fresh garlic and herbs in it. I added a little more salt and pepper table side, but that is a preference thing. 

That is something I have definitely noticed RD's does right... Sauces. With any of their fish dishes, homemade tartar is always offered. House made Blue cheese dressing graces the salad bar, and the variety of wing sauces, all nailed! If they have them and you can get there (Before March 5th, sigh), try the Mustard BBQ wings. Sooo good!

After last night we agreed to head to RD's every Friday night from now until they close and one last breakfast on the 5th. For 4 years RD's has been a treat to the palate on the Southern End, and it's VERY, VERY sad to see them go. I personally will never forget our first visit, on our way out of town on a romantic trip to Virginia. They became our favorite breakfast local place in two bites.

"How lucky am I that I have known someone that it is hard to say good-bye to." -AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

 We are going to sorely miss RD and his fine, FINE food.  The man has the soul of a great chef, and we hope to cross paths with his masterful work again.

Whoever buys that place will have both a turn-key restaurant with a solid clientele in place, and some seriously large boots to fill.  I hope they are up to it.

How we grade....

Hello Readery Readers,

I had someone ask me; How a fancy restaurant can get a 3.7 but a homey little bar could walk away with a 3.9? 

When we do the grading we rate a particular location based on our experiences at other similar locations. So the questions we pose; Does it meet our expectations for this type of establishment? How is the service? What could they do different or better? Does the food taste good? 

Here is the scenario I offer you, I have eaten like a Queen at a seaside shack in New Hampshire, and I have been made sick to my stomach at a 4 star restaurant. Taste is subjective and it is personal. We try to pin down the things that get our attention. We also try to go a little outside our comfort zone occasionally.

Do we make errors? Sure! 72$ worth of pasta anyone?! We are learning on this adventure too! We understand an establishment can just have a bad day, and we try to note that. Waitress mentions a new chef? We take note.

We are so thankful to those that take the time to read and chime in. This blog is such a fun project for Himself and I, so to our readers (all 3 of you! 😄) thanks for coming along for the ride. Next week we are adventuring to York county to see what nummies we can chase up.

In good taste,
Herself

Forks for flavor (fairly self-explanatory, does it taste good, this is an average of both of our meals, appetizers)

Forks for atmosphere (are their bugs inside, is the decor nice, are the seats comfortable)

Forks for location  (Is there plenty of parking? Were there dead hookers outside? We try not to punish for distance)

Forks for service (Was the wait staff/ hosts pleasant? Did they anticipate our needs? Were they attentive?)

Forks overall (add them all up, divide by 4)

We are thinking of adding forks for your value. Let's face it, money can be tight and if I know I can eat out at a reasonable price for good food? I want that!

Gettin Froggy at the Frogtown.... Cafe, that is.

Ya know something that's kinda cool?  Having a bar close to home.  Someplace one can reach in a few minutes by car, or better yet a few minutes by walking.  A bar.... a pub.... a watering hole....  and suddenly the theme music from 'Cheers' is running through my head.

I have friends in town who live near Brendee's Irish Pub.  They call it the Winchester, and yes, everyone there knows their names.  I have other friends who live a short walk from Stubbies, and that's their 'Home Bar'.  The place evenings begin.  The joint where they can slip away for a quiet beer and burger, or a noisy football Sunday.

For us, that place is The Froggy.  The real name is the Frogtown Cafe, located in Pequea on Marticville Road (324 to yous city peoples).   No, they don't have a web site.  They are on Facebook, but that's about it. They don't need to advertise. Every local knows the Frogtown Cafe, and they've all been there. The funny thing is, we seldom make it the mile or so it takes us to reach the Froggy.  It's always an option, but life seems to take us other directions.

Every 'Home Bar' has a feel to it.  It's more than just the bar itself, or the somewhat mandatory pool table, or the usually predictable menu.  It's the ambiance. It's the things hanging on the walls, all having a story attached. It's the old guy sitting on the stool at the end of the bar from 4:41pm to 8:16pm every.... single...... day...... they are open.  It's the waitress who gives everyone a hard time and they love every bit of it.  It's the FEEL of the place.   Every Home Bar has it's own feel, and regulars slip into it like relaxing in a favorite worn at the end of a hard day.

Yeah, this is a foodie blog, and we'll talk about the food at The Froggy.... yet the concept of a Home Bar is at least as important.  You can get great food at home, or in a decent restaurant. You can buy just about any beer brewed world wide, and drink it while sitting on your own sofa, watching your team, on your TV, in your underwear if you want..... but nothing in this life is the same as pulling up a barstool and having *your* bartender pull you *your* favorite draft beer at *your* home bar.

Okay, now we've beat that topic to death, lets look at The Froggy foodwise.

Herself and I dropped in for an early dinner, just before five.  We are pretty clear on the time, as their pizza oven isn't officially up to temp till 5pm, and we just missed having Stromboli for dinner as a result.   To make up for it, we took a big regular Boli home to nosh on through the later evening. Good stuff it was, too!

Neither of us had eaten all day, short of a quick nibble. It was a work Saturday and we had both been just too busy to do more than grab a cracker on the go.  Let me make this perfectly clear..... we were a bit peckish.

Drinks:  Standard bar fare.  Twisted half and half Teas for Herself, and a couple Sam Adams Winter Lager drafts for me.

Starters, we had two Appies.  Herself's favorite bar food: Jalapeno Poppers.  She can describe them, since I wasn't brave enough to grab one away from Queen Voraciousness (I love poppers! First off they are cheesy and fried and spicy! Everything I want when I am slogging down a beer).  Instead, I had something called 'loaded Nacho Wontons (5 for $6).  These turned out to be wonton wrappers sealed around pretty much everything you'd expect to find on loaded nachos.  Melted nacho cheese, ground beef, etc. I'm pretty sure these are a Froggy invention, as I've never heard of them before.  Yup... they tasted like loaded nachos, minus the nachos, fried inside a wonton.  Surprise!  

They came plain in a basket.... and lacked one thing they needed;  Sour cream.  On the other hand, our bartender/waitress was happy to bring some, after harassing me a bit with some friendly heckling.  There's just no way not to smile at that.... and we love every minute of it.

Also, a salad for Herself.... but I 'helped' a bit.  Just a plate of greens, with extra salad-like things arranged on to let you know someone tried a little. Not fancy, not real special, but *good*.

Along with the appetizers..... (did I mention the 'peckish' part?), we split a dozen wings.  Garlic Parm they were, and honestly nothing to get excited about.  Not bad, not great, just plain workmanlike wings like we expect every bar to have.  They have a good wing selection, in both regular and boneless, and fried or whatever that other uncultured way there is besides fried (they offered a grilled wing, but not in boneless).

After appies and wings, we each had a meal-like foodthing.  Herself, a burger which she had them morph into some kind of chicken sandwich and...... yeah.... she can tell you about that. It was the Teriyaki Burger made with a grilled chicken breast instead of ground beef. It was a good sandwich, and I had the options of sides. I got the aforementioned salad as my side.

For myself, I had the days special, Korean Short Rib Tacos.  Three of them, for $12.  Now, I was talked into getting these as both Herself and the Bar-tress ganged up and explained that I really wanted to try these.  Who am I to argue?  After many such battles, I've learned that sometimes just letting it go works out pretty well.

The Short Rib Tacos were heavily stuffed with extremely tender slow cooked beef, coated in a tasty sauce, with chopped red cabbage and cilantro on top and drizzled with a tangy sauce. All of this, in warm soft taco tortillas.  As a taco offering, they were darned good.

We then enjoyed a beverage, and people watched while we waited to take home boneless honey BBQ wings for The Boy, and a large Stromboli for us for later..... since it was now after 5pm. (That stromboli at 9pm at night was superb!)

Do we really need to go into long descriptions on the food?  Aside from perhaps her sandwich and my tacos, everything else is really very standard bar food.   You just need to know if it's good bar food, or bad bar food....and this was pretty decent bar food.

The thing about the Frogtown Cafe is, it's not just the local watering hole.  It's also the local-est restaurant, and any given night can find their dining room pretty busy with families and folks getting together.  Friday and Saturday evenings may get a bit noisier with a slightly younger crowd, but it's still 'Just The Froggy'.  They always run daily food specials, drink specials, and have lot's of evenings with live music and things going on (They also have a patio area in the summer, and Trivia nights).

The rafters are covered with hundreds of beer taps, and the walls with eclectic country 'things'.  Pictures and tools mostly, just for something to look at while the foods being made.  The bar has it's own decorations making it clear.... You are at the Froggy.  The lights would make a lighting engineer burst into tears, and front parking is reserved for motorcycles all Summer and every day with good weather.  Smoking is out front, and you better not take a drink out with you.  Smoke inside, or carry a drink out, and you'll hear about it right quick.... but no does it because everyone knows that.

Yeah..... It's a local place.  A home bar.  A country restaurant to grab lunch or dinner. A place with some happy noise and cold beer to meet friends.  The bartenders and waitresses are friendly, snarky, know the regulars, and do a good job. The food ranges from pretty decent up to occasional flashes of excellence, but is almost never bad.  Families are welcome, and there is always a friendly smile for strangers dropping in.  God knows there's fancier places. Places with more inventive food, a bigger beer selection, and even tablecloths.   Yeah, there are other places... but there is only one Froggy.  Just like every Home Bar is the only one like it, no matter how far you wander.

As himself waxes poetic about down-home bars, I realized some things sitting in The Frogtown. First: It's an eclectic crowd. Guys in work-shirts, boots, and camo. Young-ish couples out on dates, with the ladies dressed in their jeans and high heels, and then a family of 8. Couples in their 60's meeting for their weekly dinner group (they hugged their waitress and asked her how her kids are). Definitely all local people. The dynamics in there interested me a lot. 

The next thing I noticed is they are pricey. I think they can be, as there is nothing else without driving 5 miles in any direction. The fnal thing (and maybe the most important to a foodie) was the food. Was it gourmet fare? No, but it's decent wholesome food they put some thought into. There were definitely some flavour combinations that had potential. My teriyaki was salty, and needed cut somehow... but the sweet chili mayo on the sandwich was an inspired touch. The Korean short ribs tacos? Nice, but they needed something to go that extra step to make them Wow! These are the little things I look for when reviewing a place, that little something extra that makes it. The Frogtown is good at what it is. A small town place, feeding the local palate with comfort food they enjoy. 

Overall I give The Frogtown's:
3.0 out of 5 forks for flavor
3.5 out of 5 forks for atmosphere
4.75 out of 5 forks for location  (this number is probably much lower for anyone else, but honestly, we could walk. 😉)
4.5 out of 5 forks for service
3.9375  forks overall 

Quentin Tavern... They honestly get it!

On a fine Winter's Saturday, we had reason to be in Mt. Gretna.  Freedom found us there early that afternoon with no plans and pretty fair appetites.  Herself being a Googler Goddess, she quickly got us a destination (I will give away my magic secrets here, I knew we had to be in the area, so the night before I Googled some nearby options. This one was best suited to us, since we had the teen).  We set our heading towards The Quentin Tavern  on Main street in Quentin, only a few minutes from Mt. Gretna and Lebanon.

The Tavern is a place with history.  Lot's of history.  Oodles of history.  I'm certain it's wonderfully interesting history too.   Maybe a history blog will write about the history, and all that. We are here to talk about the food, and OOOoooooo..... what good food IT IS!

The place has several dining rooms, a really comfortable looking bar area, and according to the website a deck area and live music during the Summer months.  All in all a pretty well rounded country bar and restaurant.  It's got a nice eclectic decor, pleasant lighting from the antique windows, and some really good staff.   Seriously good staff, who treated us like valued customers.

Look, we were at an out of the way Tavern out in the sticks, stopping for lunch.  How were we to know what we'd walked into?

We ordered lunch.  Boy child went for his staple fodder, ribs.  Herself, a burger (which I admit not paying attention to at the time), and Meself.... also a burger. I ordered an appy of onion rings for herself and I to share (Boy don't do no onjins). Burgers and ribs... country tavern.... lunch..... beer....... you get the picture.  

Starters, the Great Lakes Porter they had on tap went wonderfully well with the excellent onion rings that showed up at our table.  They were home made, very crispy, nicely seasoned..... and a clue that something good was coming our way.  The rings were accompanied with a big dish of home made marinara sauce, and a smaller dish of buttermilk ranch dressing, both very tasty indeed. It was while eating these lovely onion rings that we realized this was no ordinary country tavern, and we needed to get serious about paying attention to the food.

As usual, Herself can describe her own food very nicely, thank you.  I'll say this... the sweet potato fries she got with that burger were exceptionally good.  Crunchy, well seasoned, just perfect. 

I had the Twisted Burger. A 1/2 lb American Kobe Beef Burger with Swiss Cheese, and sauteed onions on a Pretzel Roll. It came with a pickle and chips on the menu but I upgraded to Sweet Potato Fries. 

The burger was VERY juicy, a little under seasoned, but I suspect they were counting on the beef to hold up on it's own, and it does. The onions were perfect and sweet. The cheese was excellent, true sharp full-flavored Swiss.

The boys ribs looked good (We all gasped when they carried out his plate, the rack of ribs was HUGE!).  The crunchy coated fries he got with the ribs looked good (I hate fries with crunchy coat. I suspect I am the underdog in my family on this count though. He also had applesauce that he said was really good).  LOOKED good is all we can say, since he hoovered up an entire rack of baby-backs before we knew it.  I'm pretty sure he gnawed the bones clean too.  He declared them 'Okay'.  Boy is not an overflowing font of conversation most days.

My burger was the daily special, and it sounded good enough I didn't pay much attention to the menu. That was a mistake, repaired once we realized the quality of chef-ing we'd wandered into.  Finishing our burgers and realizing exactly what we'd just enjoyed so unwittingly, we asked for a menu back so we could give it the reading it deserved.


Okay.... my burger:  'Luck of the Irish'.  Half a pound of American Kobe beef, Guinness glazed onions, and melted Swiss on a  Brioche roll with lettuce and tomatoes.  Oh, chips and a pickle, of course.

One bite in, and everything came to a crashing halt.  It was like walking into an art supply store and finding MoMA had set up a branch museum next to the magazine rack  The burger was nearly burger perfection. Superb beef flavor, supported but not trounced by seasoning, with the onions and cheese singing counterpoint.  It was a burger that someone had put thought and talent into, not slapped together to be 'competitive' (which means average).

As we both realized just how good these Kobe burgers were, that's when we asked for a menu back. Reading through, it became clear it had been written by people with (1) A love of good food, and (2) A wicked sense of humor.  The entire thing is one long slather of puns and jokes, which somehow still manages to make a diners mouth water as each dish is described.  Asking our waitress, we were told the head chefs had written the menu.  Ahhh...... that explains much.  It seems someone(s) there has a vision, and the talent to make it happen.

"French Pickler: Thin sliced corned beef rolled with French's yellow mustard, red onions, whole dill pickle and swiss cheese. Lightly pressed in the panini machine. Sure to tickle your taste buds. 8.95"

" Comfortably Stung Shrimp 8 jumbo shrimp, tossed with sautéed onions and bell peppers in a slightly spicy Southern Comfort cream sauce, tossed with penne pasta. Small 14.95 | Large 17.95"

It's a bit of a ride from the house, but there's no way in hell not to go back.  They have a menu that demands being explored, one great tasting meal at a time.

This restaurant, although a drive from home, was a huge win! It seems like food crafted by people that like food, not by business people that want to fill seats and move the masses along. The service was fantastic as well! 

Overall I give Quentin Tavern:
4.50 out of 5 forks for flavor
4.00 out of 5 forks for atmosphere
4.25 out of 5 forks for location
4.50 out of 5 forks for service
4.3125  forks overall

Funck's Restaurant; Potential unrealized?

"Dad, you have to try this place we found!"

'This place' turned out to be Funck's Restaurant on 23 in Leola.  They've got a few locations sprinkled around the East side of the state, but this article is about the Leola offering.
We met there with #1 Son and #1 DIL for lunch around 12-ish on a Sunday.  The restaurant side of the business was fairly busy, as there is a Mega-Churchapalooza right down the road. 

I say 'Restaurant side' as Funck's boasts QUITE a bar operation.With long bars back to back inside and (sort of) outside, enough beers on tap to stun Homer Simpson (DOH!), and a really interesting patio set-up for Summer operation. 

The place is clearly running with a dual personality. On the one hand, a full service up-scale-ish restaurant suitable for everything from a quick lunch break to full blown major family celebrations. On the other hand, an interesting and up-scale-ish bar operation with enough cool features to make it a destination.

Decor is comfortable and unchallenging.  It seems designed to make customers aware they are in a nice place, and can expect an excellent dining experience.  On this front, the decor promises a bit more than reality provides, but it's still.... nice.

The bar?  We were there for lunch, not for a night of carousing, more's the pity.  The bar area on the inside is, well, 'comfortable' is a good word here too.  Exceptionally well stocked, shiny (so shiny!), and well appointed, it has the looks of a perfect meet-up place. The outside bar, just as nice, is set up with walls made of glass garage doors.  These can roll up (Five of them I counted!) to open the whole outside bar to the.... outside.

Once opened up, the outside bar opens onto the patio, which has numerous fire features and a suitable stone wall and iron work fence separating it from the world.

The beer.  Yeah.  About that.  The beer list is a single spaced page, BOTH sides. I suppose to fully enjoy it, one needs to be a beer expert and speak multiple languages.  There are One Hundred Fifty (150! It was crazy!) taps on the wall, in multiple layers.  I'm told most are attached to quarter kegs stored in a large cooler room centered between the inside/outside bars.

Me? I chose a Horny Goat Milk Stout, as something I at least was acquainted with.  The beer menu is daunting, even frightening (too intimidating for me! Seriously, I get that it makes it a "destination" to ooh and ahh over the beer, but I am not enough of a beer lover to let this override the basic flaws.).  Yeah, I'll be going back to just to play 'beer explorer', as long I have someone else to drive.  There is another viewpoint to such a wide ranging tap list though, presented by someone I know.  "What's the most popular beer?  I'll have that", reasoning with that many choices on tap, many are probably sitting so long they go stale.  I can't say if it works like that, but I'll happily experiment and report back.

The service.   For our visit, decent.  Our waitress was chipper, friendly, and on the spot. We didn't wait long for anything, food came quickly, and drinks didn't go wanting.  She did a good job and is one of the brighter points of our experience there. (Definitely very good service.)

The food... okay, here we go.  Overall, it was... underwhelming. (😞)  It was, at best, okay. Frankly, the salad was the high point in terms of freshness and flavor.

I had the fried chicken, which Funcks is famous for.  You know this because they tell you right on the menu it's a favorite.  It came with fries. Yay.  As fried chicken goes, it was okay. Nicely cooked, with the meat still moist and the coating crunchy.  What it lacked was flavor. It was light on just plain seasoning (Salt and Pepper), and there was NO hint of any attempt to make it special.    Popeye's chicken has no competition here.  Neither does the Colonel... or even Musser's grocery store.

The fries, the same all around.  Nothing special. No seasoning to speak of. Average Meh fries. We make better at home whenever we get a taste for french fries.

Herself can describe her meal, but I tasted it... and it's not something I'd consider ordering myself.  In fact, if someone offered it to me for free, I'd pass it up in hopes of getting something better later.

My meal... *sigh* okay I had the ricotta gnocchi with a tomato basil sauce, with mozzarella and shaved Parmesan. Sounds amazing doesn't it? Yeah, well no. What came out was soggy, mushy cold food. In a previous post I had mentioned I hate it when a restaurant makes a ton of something and then plops it onto a plate and then reheats it? That was what this was 100%. The gnocchi had been sitting in the sauce so long that it had a sauce ring half way into the gnocchi. Unfortunately they even forgot the heating up part! The mozzarella balls in the dish were not even partially melted. It was very disappointing. On the upside, the sauce tasted like Ragu's Garden Style which is my favorite jarred sauce. 

#1 son had a Reuben sandwich, which came with steamed veggies from the nursing home, and onion rings.  I tasted an onion ring, and it was pretty good.  I passed up on tasting the sandwich, and passed even harder when Son found someone's hair layered into the sandwich.

Discussing the meal afterwards with herself, and mulling the overall lack of flair and flavor, we came to a conclusion.  Funck's seems to be cooking to the area.  By that we mean they are seeking average, and cooking to a perceived Pennsy Dutch plain cooking palate. No challenges, no unusual flavors, and in fact little enough flavor period.  Just plain cooking to match the expectations of plain everyday people.  This isn't a bad thing, if average is the goal.

Looking on the website I will share this quote;
 

"Our staff at Funck's  prepares every dish with care to ensure our customers enjoy the best dining experience possible. Casual, everyday style food made from fresh, natural ingredients from local farms makes our menu reminiscent of Mom's home cooking."  

I did not see this in our dining experience there. They served, cold bland food without much care. If you want to ask high mid-range prices, you need to meet that quality expectation. Did we complain and make a fuss to our server? No. It wasn't worth it. What they would have done is pop mine into a microwave (again), making it soggier with hot spots. #1 son's they may have apologized and offered him new food, or took a few dollars off the bill. Either way it would not have fixed the basic issue... a need for basic seasoning, and a little care with the food.

(Insert here long story about running a repair shop and striving to be above average, if not the best)  (Delete long boring story about blah blah blah). (I loved this story dear!)

Look.... Funck's has a good location, a great layout, and a concept that has ALL the promise for great dining. They also have a spectacular bar and could easily be the hottest spot in the county (Especially if they get some decent live music, better than I hear they've been booking).  With all that going for it, they aimed smack dab at 'mediocre' when it comes to cuisine.  Honestly?  I've eaten tastier food at roadside stands on the way to Delaware beaches.

We'll give them a second chance, come Summer when we can enjoy that great looking patio and outdoor fireplace.  The beer selection is enough of a reason to do that, and we can hope for someone there to get inspired regarding the food.    Flavor.... ya know?  It's a good thing!  Here's hoping Funck's finds some.

Overall I give Funck's:
1.25 out of 5 forks for flavor
4.50 out of 5 forks for atmosphere
4.75 out of 5 forks for location
4.0 out of 5 forks for service
3.625  forks overall **
**We discussed this grading before we posted it, and we need to be fair. Due to the food quality I wanted to score them down. BUT, the location, service and atmosphere were wins, so to be fair they got an honest calculation like everyone else.