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.

Ye Old Coventry Pub

1440 S Hanover St.
Pottstown, PA 19465
(610) 323-5790
Website

There are a LOT of beef and beer type places in the Philly area, especially the burbs. I was on a weekend drive and happened to stop by a place I had heard was one of the good ones, and decided to grab a Sunday lunch and beer.

In a place like this, a cheap domestic just seems right.

The best part is always watching the meat master at work. This was no exception. He painstakingly sliced and dipped each piece of beef off of what can only be described as a quarter cow. It was one of the largest pieces of beef I have seen in this type of setting. I was worried that might lead to tough meat, but was happy to be wrong.

As usual, they were served on a kaiser roll.

The beef was perfectly medium, and meltingly tender. You can see the au jus on the bread just helping lube things up so they can slide down. Double slices of prov were a welcome sight.

If you look through the beef crevice, you will see the layers of uniformly hand sliced meat. Just enough salt and juice to keep it moist and flavorful.

They certainly don't skimp either.

The fries were blah, but I was not here to eat fries (though now that I think of it, I should have gone for gravy fries on the side).

While this place isn't something I would leave the city looking for (it's about an hour away), it certainly adds to the charm and allure of the western suburbs. Now if only there was a way around having to take the Schuylkill expressway and 422 to get there.

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...

Salumeria

Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Reading Terminal tends to get crowded. Really crowded. But as touristy as it may be, it has a spectacular selection of delicious foods. They even have one of the lightest, freshest hoagies around. Well Salumeria does, to be exact.


One side of the stand sells imported cheeses, olives, oils, and meats. The other side serves delicious made-to-order hoagies.


The first thing you will be asked is if you want house spread. Unless you are allergic to deliciousness (or dijon mustard), get it. You will then get your choice of a gamut of toppings. They brush the bottom of the bread with a healthy dose of their house Dijon Vinaigrette, add the lettuce first, and then start with the cheese. You have to ask for sharp prov ($.50 extra) and it's well worth it. They give you a thick layer of cheese to complement the meats they pre-slice that get slapped on from wax paper. Nothing too crazy, your usual ham, salami, and mortadella. The cold cuts are delicious and high quality (they should be, this place sells imported meats!).


You can get the usual: lettuce (on the bottom), tomato, onion; but they also offer pepper spread, roasted peppers, and artichokes. The artichokes and pepper spread are awesome on the Italian. I feel roasted peppers are kind of played out, but I just can't help myself when they are free. I would rather get them and pull them off if they are too much than pass up a free topping! They also throw on a sprinkle of Parmesan. Delicious.


One of the best parts about this sandwich is the bread. It is slightly crisp outside, but very light and airy. You can eat a whole sandwich and not feel like you are going to fall asleep. One of the others is the freshness of the ingredients. It's like a light salad on top of your salty, sharp Italian. I also get the same sandwich with turkey. It's a more healthy option, that retains all of the pluses of the Italian. They have my vote for best hoagie at RTM.




A hoagie artist at work.