Falls Taproom

3749 Midvale Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19129
(215) 849-1222
Website

On my way back from a Valley Forge bike ride, I tried to grab a beer at In Riva, but they were closed until 5. Side note - if I own a place, and the staff is all there, I have a great Thursday afternoon, and two customers want to sit on the porch and have a beer, we are never going to be closed. I understand that the employees need to prep between shifts, I have significant restaurant experience, but I also would never turn people away who are trying to give me money. So we pedaled up the block (thanks to Yelp!) and hit the Falls Taproom. I am glad we did.

The Falls Taproom has a pretty classy menu, full of tempting menu items. As I still had to ride another four miles home, I didn't want anything too heavy.

The smoked gouda triangles were not an option, but rather a necessity. I am slightly obsessed with gouda, and have never had it in deep fried form. This was hands-down the best fried cheese I have ever had. Smoky, gooey, and rich, the pale ale marinade and panko crumbs were the perfect complements to the indulgent cheese.

Served with a fresh, tangy marinara sauce, they were surprisingly not as heavy as you would imagine.

I also gave the Mediterranean plate a try. While it may not look like much, this was a delicious and fresh (and reasonably priced) appetizer that blew away the other version I recently tasted in Manayunk. Roasted peppers, hummus, olives, goat cheese, and some warm pita bread made for a fresh and light snack.

The hummus is made fresh in-house daily (as well it should be) and the roasted peppers were still steaming from their flame kiss moments earlier. This fresh preparation was precisely what I was in the mood for after the haul out to Valley Forge.

All in all, the Falls Taproom is a great spot for a casual snack and a beer or two. The service is good, the food is great, and the beer selection is perfect.

The Tomato Bistro

102 Rector Street
Philadelphia (Manayunk), PA 19127
(215) 483-2233
Website

I have a lot of love for The Couch Tomato Cafe, so I was interested to try their newish addition, the more upscale Tomato Bistro.

Its kind of confusing to figure out where to go. There are also a couple of tables outside reserved just for bistro customers.

The menu looked pretty good, with pizza, sliders, and small plates.

They brought out complimentary tomato soup and garlic bread, which was delicious. Unfortunately it was by far the best item of the meal. I was constantly bombarded by an overly assertive server blatantly trying to up-sell just about everything. We were also the only other people in the place for the first half of the meal. It was early (about 6), but this led to more uncomfortable interactions with the pusher. Another questionable practice is making customers give first and last names to get a table. I would simply have withheld, but my dining partner gave theirs. For a walk in meal, in an empty restaurant, first AND last name is overkill. Let's face it, it's NEVER necessary.

The chicken and waffles had potential, but they were lacking a critical component, fried chicken. They contained lager braised chicken, apple butter, bacon and maple syrup on a Belgian waffle. There was also some wilted greens on top. This would have been pretty good as a sandwich, and if there were some type of crunch, a la fried chicken. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't quite right.

After the chicken and waffles, things went downhill. The Mediterranean plate sounded great, but was pretty awful. Which is kind of hard to pull off. The olives were fine, the grilled vegetables, however, tasted pickled and grilled. They were mushy and acidic, I was not a fan. the caper berries (with stems below) were a new one for me, and were pleasantly delicious. They were like a cross between an olive and a fig. The hummus was bland, the cucumber salad was terrible (old soft cucumber and WAY too heavy on the Greek oregano), and the ricotta salatta (or feta?) was inedible. It was supposed to have orange zest in it, but there was so much zest that it tasted like what I imagine Orange Glo would taste like. Me not finishing cheese is unheard of – I could not shake the chemical taste, and left it alone. Also, the house foccaia, which has always been terrific down stairs, was too sparingly dealt, and less than fresh.

The sliders were the last order of business. Now, I know that sliders suck. I am pretty sure it is common knowledge (think to yourself the last time you had a truly good slider, ever?) but I wanted to give them a chance.

The lamb slider was adorned with cucumber and tzatziki. Despite what looks like an abundance of sauce in the first picture, this was quite dry. Possibly because the meat to wheat ratio was way askew. Typical of sliders. This entire offering dripped of mediocrity.

The Kobe beef slider was another let down.

The meat was over cooked, in stark contrast to the medium rare lamb on the last mini burger. Much like the lamb, it looked really good from the side, but the cut away showed its true nature. There was not even a hint of truffle on this one, and the "fondue" served with it was not enough to make the dry bites enjoyable. Look at the bread!

The house made potato chips served with the sliders were pretty good, along with the balsamic drizzle, but unfortunately were not enough to make up for the variety of mishaps.

I wished this place was as good as their pizza shop downstairs, but I would never venture back up those stairs, given the choice between the two.

Henry James Saloon

577 Jamestown Street
Philadelphia (Roxborough), PA
(215) 483-8460
Website

I was referred to the Henry James (Hank Jim) Saloon by a reader, and so I made a plan to hit it on my way out of town last week. Nothing like a cheesesteak and a beer for a quality lunch to start vacation.

This place is located right by the famous Dalessandro's cheesesteak shop in Roxborough.

They have everything you could want in a dive bar with food – menus on the place mats and a variety of comfort foods ubiquitous to the Philadelphia suburbs (yea you heard me Manyunk/Roxborough).

I somehow inadvertently ordered cheese fries by "accident", which turned out to be beer battered (they call them Brew City Fries), salty, crispy, and served with white cheddar-jack sauce. Delicious.

The "Pud Steak" was, for all intents and purposes, a deluxe cheesesteak. This one boasted a half pound of rib eye, provolone, fried onions, house roasted long hots, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. The hot sauce was barely there, but the rest was spot on. The meat was tender and well seasoned, the long hots added a bit of kick, and the prov kept every bite cheesy.

I also had to give the namesake "Hank Jim" sandwich a try. This one is served on a toasted "football" shaped roll, complete with chicken fingers, pepperoni, sauteed spinach, sweet peppers, and smothered in provolone.

My one gripe is that all of the cheese was stuck on top, whereas I would greatly prefer it to be interspersed with the rest of the components. That aside, this sandwich was delicious. The chicken fingers acted as extra crispy cutlets on a smaller scale. With sweet peppers and pepperoni adding some spice and tang, the crispy bread held it all together. Everything was pretty damn good.

A couple of Guinness's rounded out this meal. There was nothing not to like about this place, and it makes me wish we had more places in Philadelphia proper to enjoy GOOD classic bar food (Nick's Roast Beef being the pinnacle) mixed with the neighborhood watering hole feel. One of my favorite parts of the suburbs is the ability to drink some cheap domestic beer, eat dinner while watching sports, and not leave owing fine dining amounts of money. Henry James fits the bill.

Guest Post: Lucky’s Last Chance

4421 Main St
Philadelphia, PA 19127
(215) 509-6005
Website

Editors note: We have a guest post today from local eater Esther Fox.

If there were three things that I could eat for the rest of my life, they would be burgers, mac & cheese, and bacon. Not necessarily in that order. However, if you decided to throw all three of those delicious things on a bun and serve it up with an equally satisfying beer, I would be in heaven. Sweet, juicy, greasy, alcoholic heaven.

Insert Lucky’s Last Chance in Manayunk.

My husband, Mr. Fox, and I decided that, since we had actually never set foot in Manayunk before (which is a shame, since we’re both from Philly), we would try something new. We both had a burger craving, and decided on Lucky’s Last Chance, upon reading some favorable reviews on the internets. They were apparently well-known for their “creative” (as one person on Foursquare described it) burgers, hot dogs, and craft beer. And since you know I love a good burger and a good brew, we were on it like white on rice.

Upon walking in to Lucky’s, you have the choice to go upstairs to their nightclub (which opens at 10pm) or a door on the right led you to the bar. For a Friday night in Manayunk, it was surprisingly uncrowded, and we got a decent table toward the back. Their bar area is somewhat small, compared to other bars, but it definitely had that neighborhood bar feel to it. We were immediately greeted by the bartender and presented with a beer list and food menu.

And that’s when I saw it.

The “Mak Attack”.

“Our best seller: burger topped with cheese, then a heaping pile of mac & cheese, and then more cheese. Simple, comforting, cheesy goodness”.

It was at that moment I knew it had to be mine. As I mentioned before, I have a penchant for a good burger and some fine mac & cheese. Put them together and, ding ding, we have a winner!

Lucky’s burgers come in two sizes: standard and junior. A standard size is two 1/4lb hand-pressed patties, whereas a junior is just one 1/4lb patty. I opted for the standard, since I didn’t really know what to expect. They offer a few standard toppings for free (mustard, relish, and raw onions), as well as a few upcharged toppings like sauerkraut ($.50), cheese ($.50), jalapeños ($.50), chili ($1), and bacon ($1). I opted to add bacon to my burger, simply because, well, it’s bacon. Bacon makes everything better.

Keeping with the mac & cheese theme, Mr. Fox ordered the Scorpion Dog, which is a hot dog with jalapeños and mac & cheese on it. We also got an order of their garlic butter fries, which are crinkle cut and drenched in garlic butter and fresh grated parmesan cheese. I mean, how could you go wrong with that?

To go with our insanely unhealthy main course, we got some fantastic beer, just to round out the meal. I got a Port Brewing Co Anniversary Strong Pale Ale, which they had on draft, and Mr. Fox got the local Weyerbacher Merry Monks, a Belgian style golden ale. They were each served in proper glasses, which is surprising since most places we go serve their draft and bottles in the same substandard glasses. So it was refreshing, in all senses of the word.

Our food came, and, wow. I couldn’t help but gaze at the gigantic meaty cheesy mass of deliciousness in front of me. When you get to know me, you’ll realize that I base a lot of my burger reviews on the taste of the meat and the quality of the bun it comes on. The Mak Attack certainly did not disappoint. Placed in front of me were two perfectly medium patties smothered in a white cheddar-based mac & cheese, with crispy smoked bacon. And the bacon was perfectly placed in little crispy bits all over the burger. If it’s one thing that annoys me about restaurant burgers, it’s when they take whole slices of bacon and place them in an “x” on top of the patty, therefore making you get whole bites without bacon-y goodness. This is not proper placement people! You need to break it up and cover the whole burger for optimal bacon/meat consumption.

But I digress.

Normally, I will scoff at a burger if I don’t have to cut it in half. If there’s no point in cutting it in half, that means there aren’t enough toppings on it to make it worth my while, or the patties aren’t big enough. However, this monster of a burger had to be cut in half. There was no possible way for me to eat it without everything falling off. The bun that it came on was a surprise to me, as it appeared to be freshly baked, with a dusting of flour on top. Not too soft, but not too crusty either. It looked like one of those artisan buns you can buy at a fancy bakery, and believe me, it tasted like it as well! Lucky’s must brush them with butter and then throw them on the grill, because each bite yielded a buttery pop of flavor that was tasty, yet not overpowering. That, combined with the perfectly seasoned not-uniform patties (truly hand-pressed if they’re not uniform in size), smoky bacon and sharp bite of the white cheddar in the mac & cheese, made this beautiful disaster of a burger a winner in my book. Not only for the deliciousness, but also because I didn’t have a pile of grease left on my plate when I was finished. The burger was juicy, but it was not greasy. That alone gets an A+.

The other winner of the meal was the garlic butter fries. As I mentioned previously, they were crinkle cut. And I know what you’re thinking, because I too have a dislike for crinkle cut french fries. They have a tendency to not retain crispness, and therefore, by the time you’re at the bottom of your basket of fries, you have a limp salty mess. Lucky’s garlic butter fries exceeded my expectations. The fries stayed crispy until they were completely devoured, which says a lot since they were doused in a delicious house-made garlic butter sauce. The addition of the fresh shredded parmesan cheese gave them a flavor that just worked. My only true complaint about the fries was that they didn’t toss them with the cheese before serving them, as they tossed them with the garlic butter. Since the cheese was only on top, the fries on the bottom of the basket missed out on the parmesan. But that was certainly not a deal breaker!

As I mentioned before, Mr. Fox ordered the Scorpion Dog. While he cannot sum up his hot dog experience in a coherent paragraph, I can translate some of his thoughts. The bun was toasted to perfection in the same way that my burger bun was toasted, and sliced like a New England style hot dog bun (across the top instead of along the side). While there were jalapeños on top of the hot dog, they did not overpower the overall flavor, and were quite mild. We’re guessing they removed the seeds, and that was why it wasn’t terribly spicy. Finally, le pièce de résistance was the mac & cheese. I believe the word that Mr. Fox used was “transcendence.” I will just take him at his word. And unfortunately, he devoured the darn thing before I could snap a photo of it.

Overall, our experience at Lucky’s Last Chance was definitely a satisfying one. The service was great for a bar, and the food was delicious. I don’t think I would change anything, aside from what I mentioned about the fries. It’s a great place to get together with a few friends for a beer and some good pub food, with a great atmosphere. And of course the amazing burgers. If you’re in Manayunk for the evening, definitely give them a try. You certainly won’t be sorry!