Bonefish Grill

4889 West Chester Pike
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 355-1784
Website

I was recently asked to check out the new menu at Bonefish Grill (on the house), so I decided to oblige. They have a seasonal rotation of menus and this one was well worth the trip. I will start off by saying that while they probably deserve 4 cheesesteaks, I have a hard time assigning that rating to a national chain...

I started with a Moscow Mule that was served with crystallized ginger. It had the ginger bite, and the candied ginger was an interesting touch.

They then brought out their house bread with herbed oil. This one hit the mark. I am usually not a chain restaurant person, but sometimes you have to love knowing just what you will get. I ate all of this bread, and then asked for more.

The most famous (arguably) appetizer is the "bang bang" shrimp. When I told friends I was going here, this was the unanimous "must try", They are lightly battered, fried, and served in a creamy spicy sauce. I found these quite addictive.

The creamy sauce did not make the crust into mush, maybe it was because I ate them in about four minutes. But I could see coming here to get a beer and at the same time CRUSH some of their bang bang shrimp.

Just enough sweet and spicy chili sauce to keep it interesting and they hide some romaine under there too, which makes me feel like I'm really just eating a salad. A healthy bowl of smothered and covered fried shrimp over ribbons of lettuce drenched in that incredible sauce.

Even though I had already eaten quite a bit of food, the entrees were now on their way.

Next up were the Blackened Baja Fish Tacos- Alaskan Cod with three warm tortillas, mango salsa, lime crema and shredded lettuce.

The cod itself was nicely blackened, I liked the sweet mango salasa and the lime crema. It was a lot of food but obviously I powered through. The tacos were pretty well balanced and had a good combination of flavor.

Fries were good but nothing out of the ordinary. Like I needed fries anyway...

The Chilean seabass topped with lump crab, truffle mac and cheese, and crab fried rice were my next victims. The fish was again, nicely cooked, with a crunchy crust, and the lemon and herb sauce went well with the flaky white meat.

The fish was cooked exceptionally well and despite the look of it, the lemon butter drizzle was quite light and rather delicious.

Crab fried rice was an interesting approach, and for an extra $4.50 it totally was worth the upgrade.

The truffle mac was another up-sale that I couldn't deny and you could probably get a day's worth of calories out of one order. I still ate the whole thing. Creamy and rich, this had just the right smack of truffle essence. It's definitely not for anyone watching their waistline. But I'm not watching mine.

I was pleasantly surprised at the food, as I didn't have any expectations coming in. Everything worked well, and was hot an timely. For a chain experience at this price point, I don't think I have had better and if my parents want to take me back, I would not argue. At all.

Double Edge Sports Grille

4803 West Chester Pike
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 356-7666
Website

Never mind the blurry picture, the Double Edge is a great spot to grab wings and a beer. Especially in the bar desert that is Newtown Square. Sure, it's in a strip mall next to my grocery store, but hey, maybe I needed some ice cream afterward. Don't judge.

They have wing night on Wednesday's, with $.50 wings and $4 craft brew special. I obviously had to give the wings a try. And a beer or two . . . not to mention it happened to break into bingo night, which added some extra stay-after-dinner-for-a-few-more-drinks flair.

The brown sugar diablo was first on the agenda. I liked the traditional sweet with heat approach. Not too spicy, but overall a solid wing. I asked for them "well done" and they were rendered and crisped appropriately. I love when I can split my orders and get all the flavors I could want.

The cajun dry rub wing was even better. Dry rubs tend to produce a crispier end product, because of the lack of sauce. I would hope you already knew that. I have been on a bit of a dry-rub kick recently, and these were no exception. Full of flavor and long on crunch, they were definitely a well executed fried wing.

The porchetta sandwich was said to be a crowd pleaser by the bartender. I couldn't disagree. Tender Italian style pork, sharp provolone, bitter broccoli rabe, and a fresh seeded roll.

The pork was juicy, tender, and had a nice salty pork flavor. The texture was not the dried out, then re-hydrated type you often get at places that let their swine sit too long. A lot of the folks were eating pork, so it stands to reason you are getting a fresh serving. The only weird part was the gravy. I was thinking it would be an au jus, but it was a thick, roux based version, not what I would generally associate with porchetta. It didn't even need it.

The fries, although frozen and much larger than I would generally prefer, were fried quite well. The batter helped them maintain their crunch, the salty seasoning kept me coming back for more. Not a bad sports bar by any means, the fact that there are not a lot of options in the immediate area made it that much better.

Luigi and Giovanni's

Catering & Specialty Foods
3601 Chapel Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 353-2080
Website

Newtown Square has Cut Above as their hoagie mecca. I love that place. But I was recently tipped off to a little joint I never even knew existed, a couple hundred yards from Cut Above Deli. It's part DiBruno, part Whole Foods, and part Cut Above.

They offer packaged meats (for cooking or eating) as well as three meat counters- one for the fancy stuff, one for the raw stuff (butcher), and one for hoagies and lunch meat. Amazing.

They have a wide selection of awesome rolls.

And here is the deli counter. Notice the fresh strombolis sitting on top? I certainly did.

I decided to start with the Italian, as that is a great barometer of how good a deli is.

If you look at the insides of this seeded roll, you will see a variation on the DelCo meat wrap, ham and salami wrapped with sharp provolone, tucked on top of hot and sweet peppers, onions, tomato, and lettuce. This is a damn good hoagie. Everything is in balance, just enough meat, multiple threads of cheese woven throughout, and plenty of veggies so you can pretend it's somewhat healthy (it's not). The roll was crispy and chewy, and the meat was freshly sliced. It was also about $6.50. So that's tough to beat.

The stromboli was impossible to resist, so I ordered one as well.

The paper thin bread was tightly wound around the spicy pepperoni and provolone. This was ridiculously good. I am always a sucker for a boli though, as it's the easy take and eat in the car option when you can't wait to get home. Basically a high-end hot pocket. And I am totally okay with that. If you are in the area, it's worth checking out Luigi and Giovanni's for certain. Not to mention the various square pies, pre-made Italian foods, and the incredible meat and cheese selection.

If you're having a get together and don't feel like cooking a damn thing, hit them up and you won't be disappointed.

Cut Above Deli

3523 West Chester Pike
Newtown Square, Pa 19073
(610) 353-4543
Website

Newtown Square and the surrounding area have a lot of little unexplored territories that I will be trying to frequent in the future. Cut Above comes highly recommended, but since they don't have seating for lunch, I actually ate lunch at the bar next door. On my way back to the city, I casually grabbed a two foot hoagie to snack on.

They slice all of the meats and cheeses fresh and use Sarcone's rolls.

The prepared foods section was mighty tempting, maybe next trip.

There is a lot to be said for so much hoagie under $20.

The top was well seasoned, and the tomatoes were fresh and as ripe as can be expected in this region in January. I really love when deli meat is sliced paper thin, and they did not disappoint.

There was a solid amount of meat and cheese on this thing, which made it easy to eat, and quite delicious.

A good old Italian hoagie is one of the most complete food groups around. Meat, dairy, vegetables, grains, oil. This hoagie was no slouch. Will definitely be back for more...