The Classic Diner (West Chester)

16 E Gay Street
West Chester, PA 19380
(484) 947-0809
Website

Of all of the greasy meals and foods I love, I just don't have all that much love for traditional diners. Mostly, it's because they have shitty coffee. When you couple a basic breakfast platter/sandwich with Folgers, I think to myself, I should've just gone to WAWA. In the same vein, I pretty much hate brunch. It's not the brunch food that I despise, but rather the people who love brunch and the whole circus surrounding it. Also - why is it socially acceptable to drink eight mimosas, or three Bloody Marys AT BRUNCH, but when I order a shot and a beer at breakfast I get the sideways eye? Well, now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about The Classic Diner.

I had eaten bacon from the original Classic Diner in Malvern, but had not actually been there. The bacon is incredible. One day I was cruising around the burbs, butcher shopping, and looking for somewhere to grab food before heading to a party in Pennsport.

Now my love for all things Jewish American knows no bounds. But the Lox and bagel or whitefish and bagel combo takes the throne at breakfast time. Or really anytime. They had one on the menu, and I figured that would be a great starter. It was not cheap at $15, but it was also not small. And Oy Vey, that Lox was worth every penny. Served with a boiled egg topped with Salmon caviar (nice touch), a side salad, capers, caper berries, cukes, red onion, and tomato slices, this was a hell of a platter.

The bagel was nice and chewy, and the tomatoes were in good shape for being so far past season. The crispy cucumber, briny capers, and spicy red onion made every bite the "choose your own adventure" of eating.

These damn boiled eggs were incredibly good. Smooth, silky, with a "pop" of salty liquid in the caviar, I was left thinking about how I was suckered with hard-boiled, deviled eggs for all these years instead of soft boiling the things.

The "classic" eggs Benedict was just that. Fried Canadian bacon (hell yes), a nicely rich yet acidic Hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and a toasted buttery muffin. The potatoes were a thing of beauty. Crispy and salty outside, fluffy and hot inside, they were home-fry perfection. Not to mention, the playful olive placement let you make jokes ranging from anatomy to that emoji with the eyes looking to the side...

Look at the rich yolk, and the crispy edges of the ham. Delicious. You would be hard pressed to find a better rendition, and even I can't hate on the brunch here. Also - it is BYOB, so plan accordingly with a bottle of Yukon Jack and a 40 of Bud Ice if you want to keep it classy.

Bittersweet Kitchen

18 S. Orange Street
Media, PA 19063
(610) 566-1660
Website

There are some great places in "Everybody's Hometown" but the go-to breakfast spot, Seven Stones, has really dropped off in the recent past. Good thing a newcomer stepped up to take the throne. Bittersweet Kitchen has a medium sized menu, casual dining room, and great food. Take, for example, my scratch biscuit with bacon, egg, and cheese. The biscuit was reminiscent of the legendary Red Lobster version, except made from real ingredients and not totally shitty.

The bacon was cooked well, and the egg nicely peppered and folded below. A solid breakfast sandwich all around.

The Huevos Rancheros featured sunny-side up eggs, corn tortillas, house-made beef chili, cheddar, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, avocado crema, and breakfast potatoes. The eggs were perfectly sunny-side up, the ingredients all were fresh, and well proportioned.

One of my favorites was the pickle chips. I ALWAYS love fried pickles, even at breakfast, and these were very well breaded, crispy, and had a nice spicy dipping sauce that I could have used on my biscuit.

Another side, the blackened brussel sprouts with bacon, had a delicious char, plenty of salt, and were tender yet not overcooked. A definite winner, even for breakfast.

My final taste was the sweet potato and black bean chili. I am always a sucker for anything served in a skillet, and although next time I would try the beef version (I already had beef in my Huevos), this was not a bad rendition of veggie chili. The cornbread was delicious, and I used it to mop up the oil left from the sprouts. The coffee is also quite good, which is very important for a breakfast joint. There was not much to complain about here. I think I know where I will be going for the hangover breakfast in the future.

Front Street Fountain

1 W Front Street
Media, PA 19063
(610) 565-4130
Website

Everybody's Hometown has a lot of great little Mom and Pop shops. Front Street Fountain is the perfect place to stop in for a hot dog or burger and some ice cream.

If you have kids, this is the place to go. It is always packed with young ones who are equally excited for a grilled dog as they are for a milkshake. Myself, I was most excited for chili cheese fries.

The fries were perfectly crispy, the cheese perfectly processed, and the chili was salty and chock full of meat. I was a happy camper.

They also layered the toppings quite nicely, making sure they were distributed throughout.

I wanted to give the burgers a try. The bleu onion boasted BBQ sauce, bleu cheese, and an onion ring. When I ordered, I had thought there might be a little more to it than that. I was wrong. I was wishing for some lettuce, tomato, onion, or something. I guess I should have known that the was quite literal. Anyway, from the below picture, I believe you can assess the situation as dry.

This was not a $7.25 burger. Especially when I could go to Freddy's and get a meal for that amount. The patty itself was under-seasoned and overcooked. The bread was overwhelming. The onion ring was nicely fried, but that was certainly not going to save this one. It was reminiscent of something that would be at a church cookout.

I had better luck with the crispy chicken club. The roll was fresh and spongy. The vegetables were crispy, as were the chicken and bacon. It ate more like a meal than the burger, and was a much better value.

The chicken breading was deliciously crunchy, and well fried. I needed extra mayo, but that usually is the case anyway. It wasn't mind blowing, but it was solid enough. Next time, I would recommend sticking to the chicken, dogs, and ice cream.

Clearly it's a family place and the kids all seemed more than happy with their plates so if you find yourself babysitting or on a road trip through Media with your niños, stop on in.

Hai Street Kitchen

32 South 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 964.9465
Website

After many recommendations from a handful of my Center City cube-monkey friends, it was about time I gave this place a try. Known for their enormous sushi-style burritos, it was the perfect healthy meal to grab before getting on a flight to Chicago where I saw far too many hot dogs in my near future.

Simple fresh flavors: items definitely not available in terminal C at PHL.

Everything is prepared to order and there's a selection of house recommendations, but you can also build your own from the expansive selection of Japanese-inspired burrito fillings. I felt like I was at a fancier Chipotle fusion eatery.

The oversize rolls carried pretty well, considering they went from 18th & Market via Septa to the airport, through security, etc. Let's say it was just shy of an hour in transit before the unveiling...

I was short on time and full of hunger, so I couldn't waste any time selecting my own combination of ingredients, so I went with two of the house specialties. First up was the Hai Satay with grilled chicken, spicy peanut sauce, romaine, cucumber, carrot and pickled jicama. It was supposed to come with grilled zucchini, but I totally squashed that. Get it?

AND asked for extra peanut sauce. It was exceedingly fresh, full of flavor and easy to eat without making a mess, which is a recurring problem for me. Especially when I request extra sauce for nearly everything on the planet.

Second up was the Chili Citrus Pork with salsa verde, romaine, carrot, red cabbage and pickled red onion. I was thrown by the salsa verde, so I asked them to skip it and add the gochujang and spicy mayo instead. They were much obliged and catered to my every substitution. They even threw in the extra sides of ginger miso dressing and the spicy mayo at no extra cost. I'm pretty sure the salsa verde would be unwelcome in this combo, so if you do try it that way, let me know how it goes.

The pork was perfectly tender with not one chewy bit. The ingredients melded together so well and maybe it was the time they had to set, but no matter, when I'm craving a big fat burrito I won't mind subbing in the healthier version of a mega seaweed roll every once in a while. Maybe every 4th.

The Classic Diner

352 Lancaster Ave.
Malvern, PA 19355
(610) 725-0515
Website

I don't want to say I'm not a breakfast person, because that would be a lie (a buttery, over-easy fried egg between 2 slices of white with mayo and hot sauce is pretty much the best thing on the planet), but I will say that I'm definitely not a brunch person. I hate going out for late breakfast, standing around for an hour waiting to eat fancy eggs and potatoes and then pay handsomely for something I could have cooked & eaten in 20 minutes for $1 or less. That said, I had a friend visiting from out of town and being the early riser that I am, we were up and ready to head out by 8am on Sunday, so we knew we could beat the mainline crowds at The Classic Diner.

On the way to our seats at the bar (food bar only, no alcoholic bevs here), I was sure to take account of what other diners were having and it was your usual range from eggs benedict to oversized waffles piled high with sugary fruits and syrups. And then I saw a guy with a side of bacon that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was like 6 slices of thick cut, perfectly browned bacon on a regular sized dinner plate and I knew I had to try it.

But then I saw the menu and realized a side of that mouthwatering meat was $6.50. My dining partner wasn't into sharing (the cost, mostly) so I was resigned to saving money and getting 2 eggs over-easy with toast, homefries and bacon built right into the dish for only $11.50, which seemed pretty reasonable to me.

I was glad that I did because it came with 4 hugely thick pieces of deliciously salty slab bacon. I mean, the eggs were fine, the toast was fine, the homefries were good too – especially the smaller ones that crunched nearly all the way through – but like I said earlier, I could do that at home.

My mate was even cheaper than I (we had no idea the 'diner' would be so posh) and seriously ordered a cheese omelet. I mean, there was eggs and a couple of slices of American in there and that's it. I think it cost $7.50 or something. Likely the most basic item on the menu and was in need of some S & P love.

Same well-cooked homefries and toast with a side of jam, not much to say there.

I will also mention that the coffee was pretty delicious, it was fresh ground and not your usual diner-style Folgers or Maxwell House variation. They care about their coffee here.

All in all, it's above my price point, but a nice place for out-of-town visitors, so on my next visit, I'm throwing caution to the wind and going for the full-sized side plate of slab and not sharing it with anyone.

MeltKraft | Valley Shepherd Creamery

(Reading Terminal Market)
12th & Arch St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(267) 639-3309
Website

The Reading Terminal Market has just about every kind of food you might want. So it was no surprise that a cheesemaker has somewhat recently taken residence, and is cranking out some amazing fromage.

They also have a specialty grilled cheese bar.

The most popular sandwiches are prepped, assembly-line style, before a trip to the hot press.

I decided to try one that was toasted, and one that featured their fresh-made mozzarella without toasting.

The "classic mozz" was simple and delicious. Fresh mozzarella, soppresetta, and roasted tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.

There was a significant amount of soft, buttery, salty cheese inside, and the crunchy baguette was a great vessel for delivery.

If I were to make one change, I would probably look for just a bit more acidity, as the rich flavors were definitely there in force. I really liked this simple sandwich, and their house made fresh mozzarella was incredibly good.

The other choice was the "Melter Skelter." This was a non-traditional style grilled cheese with raclette cheese, pickled green tomatoes, crushed BBQ chips, jalapeno, and watercress.

This was no diet sandwich. Between the butter, cheese, and chips, this was a heavy-duty lunch. I could have used some more jalapeno, BBQ chips, and watercress to cut some of the heaviness, but it was definitely a good grilled cheese. As should be expected, the focus is on the cheeses themselves, and they are damn good. Not to mention, they are very generous, with the cheese.

You also get a chance to see them at work, right next to the olive bar (not to be missed).

As we all know, RTM has many offerings and the new Valley Shepherd cheese & grilled sandwich shop is a welcome addition.