Ye Olde Ale House

405 Germantown Pike
Lafayette Hill, PA ‎ 19444
(610) 825-2469 ‎

Roast beef and gravy is one of the most comforting of all the comfort foods. Though the best in Philly has already been tackled (I know that's a dirty word for us Birds fans right now) here, I was alerted to a suburban joint that might be a contender. Either way, I am always down for some beef.

Ye Olde Ale House is wood finished, and dated inside. Exactly what I like in a bar.

They also have some of the better wings I have eaten recently. And I have been eating more good wings than ever before in my life. These things are lightly breaded, have a nice spicy sauce, and retain their crispy texture.

I was not there just for wings, however, I had a great purpose on my visit. One that included peppery gravy and horseradish.

I asked for the more rare beef, and the "outs" which includes the seasoned, crispy outside. Hell. The beef was incredibly tender, the fatty outside was so crispy it was basically a cracklin. I was blown away.

Look at the crispy exterior on these things. I've never seen anything like it at a beef-and-beer type place.

I also tried the roast pork. This one I can't really recommend. The beef was sooo good, and the pork was sooo unremarkable. It was under seasoned, and dry. The gravy was bland. All over a big pass for me. That being said, the beef and wings were especially delicious, and I am already craving that crispy beef end. It will not be long before I am back in the company of beef fat, where I belong.

Nick's Roast Beef Bar & Grille

16 S. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 928-9411
Website

Nope, not THAT Nick's Roast Beef. In a confusing twist, this Old City haunt is not associated with its similarly named South Philadelphia brethren.

Located on south Second Street, most people would not even notice the dated facade amongst the doushery that is Old City.

I knew that I needed to try the roast beef, but I could not stop there. I also took a stab at the roast pork.

AND some fries, with both gravy and cheese dipping sauces.

The fries were fantastic. Fresh cut, salty, crispy, and with a clean flavor, likely due to good frying oil. The cheese sauce was fine, but the "gravy" was pretty much terrible. Grey, bland, and unremarkable. It tasted like some beef bouillon mixed with Wondra.

The roast pork and roast beef were up next.

The pork came with provolone and a side of au jus. It also had a side of pickles, hot peppers, and horseradish. This was a mighty nice roast pork sandwich. The meat was tender, moist, and just salty enough. The dip worked in its favor by preventing the bread from getting too soggy. I would definitely get this one again if I ever found myself in this area (and for some unthinkable reason wasn't at Khyber), and looking for some cheap meat eats.

The beef didn't fare quite as well. It wasn't bad, it was just less flavorful than the pork, and a bit too dry. I was longing for the rich velvety gravy of the REAL Nick's, and so maybe my comparison of a decent sandwich to the holy grail of non-cheesesteak beef sandwiches was a bit unfair.

All in all, it's not a bad spot by any means. It beats the hell out of the typical food/bars/crowd you find in this neighborhood. Just get the pork and some fries.

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...