Cutillo's Restaurant

(menu)

I've been to Cutillo's about a million times.  I actually lived in one of their weekly rental apartments for 6 long strange months in about 2008.  They have a fine dining/white tablecloth dining room that's 2 floors with a nice view of the creek and their landscaped gardens.  They also have a bar with more casual seating and they have outdoor seating which I haven't ever sat at.

Steve and I decided to go to Cutillo's one night.  We usually like to sit at the bar, but when I showed up the bar was very full and loud.  It looked like they were having a business mixer or something so we decided to sit in the dining room instead.

The dining room is still nice.  It's kind of traditional looking.  A great setting for a meal with your parents or grandparents, maybe a nice romantic evening when they have the harpist.  They had a fake flower in a vase on the table with light aimed at it.  Looks nice, but it was fake.

The beer list was not very extensive.  Really just the basics, one or two crafty type beers.  I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Our dinners came with a choice of salad so I ordered the garden salad with blue cheese dressing and Steve got the Caesar Salad.

The salads came out with a small basket of warm rolls.  I try to avoid bread, but if it comes out uninvited, I'm not going to turn it away.  The butter was in those little, gold, paper wrappers.  The wrappers are terribly annoying.  Your hands get all buttery when you open them and they can rip when you try to get butter onto your knife.  Why not bring out a plate with some unwrapped butter?  The bread was very good, it had a little bit of a raw taste inside, but I didn't mind it.

The waitress offered fresh grated parmesan for our salads and Steve took her up on the offer.  The croutons on both salads were very light and airy.  They must have been made from a less dense bread. Not a big winner for either of us, but just a matter of opinion. The Caesar was pretty standard, not especially exciting and the garden salad was good with romaine lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.  The blue cheese dressing was pretty good with lots of small pieces of cheese.

I ordered a special. It was a salmon dish.  The specials came with a complimentary dessert, creme brulee.  It was a nice feature for the price, but didn't influence my decision.  The way the dish was plated was a real turnoff.  Everything was sort of shifted to the right side.  It was like they forgot to put something on the left side or like the person plating paid zero attention.  I know plating does not effect the taste of the food, but it felt wrong, especially in a white tablecloth restaurant.  The salmon was cooked well with capers, tomatoes and artichoke hearts in a white wine sauce.  The potatoes and green beans were standard.

Steve ordered the broiled sea scallops.  The plating of his meal was similarly unappetizing.  The scallops were just kind of dropped on the plate.  There was nothing outstanding about the scallops either.  They weren't over or under cooked, but they didn't have a perfect sear on them or anything.  The white wine, lemon butter, lobster cream sauce was unimpressive. Tasted a little like a seafood bisque.  Not delicate, just one, flat seafood flavor.

Like I said, I'm not a big dessert eater, but the creme brulee was well torched, nice and crispy on top.  It was a little too sweet - even more than usual I think.  Nice presentation here though.

I was kind of disappointed with Cutillo's.  The service was good and the view is nice, but the food - the most important part - left some things to be desired.  I'm not going to rush back there for the next special occasion.

China Bar

I didn't ask for a menu and I can't find one online so I will add it here sometime in the future.

I've seen this place lots of times in my travels but I had never been there until this past Thursday night.  Steve and I ventured out and drove past it a couple times before actually getting there.  We parked on the left side of the building and walked in.  You walk into the dining room and the bar is in another room further in. It was a little dark and no one greeted us.  We decided to head into the bar.  The place is a little shabby, but clean.  Not modernized or anything, I wouldn't take a date here until after we were already drunk.

We sat at the bar and were greeted by the bartender who I believe may have been the owner as well.  I saw quickly that only the standard beers were on tap: Bud, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, Yuengling, some kind of line up like that so I asked about bottled beers.  There was a takeout cooler on the other side of the bar and we were directed there to peruse the selection.  Steve made the trip over (I was not so optimistic) and he reported back that there was nothing more interesting than an entire shelf of 4Loco.  Wasn't that stuff banned?  I asked for white wine and the bartender said they had White Zinfandel.  Then he found a bottle of Moscato.  Neither is my cup of tea so I ordered a Stoli and club with a splash of cranberry.  Steve got a Lager.  For the record, the beer prices were pretty good with $2 mugs and $3 pints.  We were carded and the bartender used our first names when returning our cards and followed up to make sure my drink was made properly too.

We asked for food menus and they were pretty standard for a chinese place.  They have lunch specials that looked ridiculously cheap.  That's worth a look on another day.  They have all the regulars, soups and egg rolls, chicken, shrimp and beef with different sauces and veggies, bean curd and steamed options and then a back page with specialties.  Steve didn't want to go with the standard so he ordered Braised Duck with Lychee.  I ordered Beef with Spicy Garlic Sauce.  We both got Wonton Soup and an Egg Roll. The additions were a good deal at only $1.99/person.

I think it at least twice as long to get the food than it should have.  Our bartender may have been cooking it as well as getting our drinks.  There were two other guys at the bar though and it turns out they were quite good conversationalists and both had some opinions about the current state, past and future of Pottstown.  I love chitchat about Pottstown - certainly everyone has something to say.  I was sad to learn in this conversation that the bar closest to my house, Brian's, was shut down last weekend.  Too bad I didn't get to try their food yet, I hear they had goat.

Our food did eventually come out.  It was preceded by a bowl of straggly, fried Chinese noodles.  You can almost see them in the upper left hand corner of this picture.  They were super tasty.  Both Steve and I could see ordering just those after a couple of drinks.  We were also given a sweet sauce - my guess is duck sauce and a spicy mustard, one that would certainly clear your sinuses.  The bowl of soup was a nice size.  It was flavorful enough, a pretty standard Wonton.  The pork inside was maybe a little dry.  The egg roll was fried crispy with a thick shell and it was good with both sauces.

The duck came out with lots of lychee which was the reason Steve ordered it in the first place.  There were maraschino cherries too which I wasn't personally excited about.  The dish overall was very sweet, too sweet even to kill with the plate of white rice.  The duck was cooked so much that it was almost impossible to cut.  It was dry like when you overfry wings to the point that you can chew through the bone.  It was so unnatural I wondered if maybe the duck had been freezer burned and that's how it got so dry.

The beef and garlic sauce had a surprising variety of vegetables including broccoli, carrots, celery, asparagus & string beans.  I can't say for sure if they were fresh because of the sauce, but they were nice and firm.  The beef was typical of American Chinese Food, sliced thin and tender in that odd way.  The sauce was a little thick for my taste, but spicy which is what I was looking for.

So, my curiosity has been satisfied.  I know what China Bar is all about now.  The service was friendly and personal even if it was a bit slow.  I recommend sticking with the standard offerings on the menu and not ordering something from the 'specialties' menu.  If you're looking for a snack, the egg roll was good and those little Chinese noodles were totally awesome.  I may swing in there again for the nice conversation.

Pub 990

(menu) 

I've been waiting years for #12 to reopen.  The former Jack Cassidy's Irish Pub has been closed since the end of 2011 when they had a fire that shut down the business.  There were constant rumors of ownership change and updates on renovations and repairs since 2011, some true and not so true.  They finally opened again on June 9, 2014 with the new name, Pub 990.  The bar seems to be much like I remember it from when it was Cassidy's.  They have lots of TVs so there is one in view no matter where you sit at the bar.  There are tables as well.  I think they will get a nice crowd when football season starts up in September.

We sat at the bar and were happy to find a couple craft beer selections.  They definitely don't specialize in craft beer, but they are trying to have something for everyone.  We ordered Troegs Perpetual IPA and the pumpkin ale from River Horse Brewing, Hipp-O-Lantern.  They also had the IPL from Magic Hat on draft which one could argue is or isn't craft beer, but the bartender made an  effort to explain what type of beer it was.  I appreciate that.

Steve ordered the Prime Rib Sandwich.  I was worried because Steve's not one for excess fat and connective tissue that I sometimes see in a prime rib sandwich, but good for him for taking risks.  One thing I liked about the menu was the option of choosing one side with most items.  I'm not much of a french fry girl and I hate asking to sub a side salad all the time.  The sides included fries, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, veg, applesauce, coleslaw or salad.  Steve chose rice pilaf - another risky choice in my eyes, but why not?

Sometimes risk-taking pays off and this was one of those times.  The sandwich was good.  I found it a little greasy, but the flavor and au jus were solid and the steak was tender without too much fat.  Maybe it could have used a little salt.  The rice pilaf came out and looked a lot like plain rice, maybe a little brown in color.  I should learn not to judge.  I remember there was a radio show I heard where they were talking about the different styles of pilaf in different cultures - they don't all have peas and carrots cut into neat little squares.  I guess this is the Pottstown version of pilaf.  On a closer look I could see there were some onions and maybe celery that blended in with the color of the rice.  The rice was pretty good.  After a couple bites there was a nice spiciness that grew.  I still think it's a peculiar side for a prime rib sandwich, but I love that there were options.

I chose the Cuban which I ordered as a panini.  I could have gotten it as a wrap as well.  The Cuban was listed as being prepared with spicy mustard.  I usually see Cubans with yellow mustard, but if Steve could take chances so could I.  I ordered coleslaw as my side.  The panini was good.  There was plenty of meat and the bread was nicely toasted from the press and not greasy at all.  I still think I prefer yellow mustard to accompany the pickles in a cuban, but the spicy was acceptable too.  I really loved the coleslaw.  It was a little on the creamy side and a little sweet.  It didn't have that sweet/sour pickled flavor that some coleslaws have, but a different sweetness.  I would definitely order that again, even with the other sides as choices.

So, verdict is that it's a bar, with bar food, but the bar food was good.  The service left a little to be desired.  We were there for a late lunch so it was that odd time when there isn't much of a crowd, but maybe the service is still slow.  There were two girls and a guy behind the bar.  The guy took our initial orders, but didn't stay real close.  I assumed that the ladies behind the bar should have been taking care of us as well, but the service from them was slow and it took me a while to get my check and cash out.  I'll definitely go back to catch a game sometime and I hope the service is a little better next time.

Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse

(menu)

For #5 on the tour I visited Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse.  There are a few places in Pottstown where I consider myself a regular so I feel like I should disclose that Fujiyama is one of them.  Maybe that makes me biased, I'm not sure.  I do know that my visit and my account of it are probably colored by many past visits.

Fujiyama offers sushi and hibachi among other things.  They have a small downstairs bar, a sushi bar with several tables in the back, several hibachi tables on the first and second floor and a second floor bar that is larger, has more tables, a deck with tables and a stage for music.  I got to Fujiyama around 6:00pm on a Friday night and I sat at the upstairs bar.  The bar is new in the past year and the deck has a nice view where you can watch the sunset.

Dave is the bartender at the upstairs bar.  The bar is usually open Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.  Dave is very nice, but not who you would expect to see behind the bar at a sushi restaurant.  He will talk sports with anyone, especially local high school sports.  His local cable show on the subject makes him somewhat of a local celebrity.

I ordered a Pinot Grigio as usual.  Their wine selection is maybe sub par.  The wine isn't terrible, but don't go there looking for a selection.  They also do not carry any craft beer although I know there is an effort to change that.  They have Sapporo on tap and at least one other Japanese beer in bottles.  They do have a full liquor selection as well.

They have recently added a bar menu that has a different variety of selections from the regular menu. I ordered #4 on the Sushi Specials.  12 piece sashimi, miso soup and white rice.  I requested a substitution of the vegetables they serve with the hibachi dishes for the white rice, but I failed to notice if there was an upcharge for my change.  I will pay better attention next time.

These are photos of the same sashimi with the two sides I ordered.  The wait was a little long and the veg and sashimi came out without the soup.  Once I mentioned it they corrected the mistake quickly.

It's a pretty basic meal.  The sashimi at Fujiyama is always right on.  It's a typical selection of tuna, salmon, white tuna and striped bass.  I assume that these selections have the highest turnover vs other things on the a la carte sashimi menu since they are included in the specials.  Regardless, they have been fresh every time I've ordered them.  Good texture, nice and cold.  I think the striped bass sometime has connective tissue which makes it hard to bite apart, but I think that's the nature of the fish and not anything lacking in the knife skills.

The hibachi veg is one of my favorites.  There is something about the sauce they put on them that I love.  I guess nowadays we call it 'umami'.  I call it awesome and mouth-watering.  The vegetables were cooked perfectly as well.  Firm, a little crunchy.  I always think overcooked vegetables are a crime so this is one of my favorite sides - no doubt the vegetables were fresh.

I am not a connoisseur of miso soup, but this one is pretty good in my opinion.  Sweet, cloudy and a little grainy like you'd expect.  They add some small cubes of firm tofu and greens.  I believe the 'greens' in their soup is seaweed and it has a great, firm texture and a slightly bitter taste like you would get out of other dark green vegetables.

There was live music when I was in.  On that particular night it was Ryan Conroy, playing acoustic guitar and singing.  It was great dinner music for sitting at the bar and hanging out.  Not too loud or heavy.

Definitely check it out.  If you're into the live music you can find their schedule online or on Facebook.

The Brick House

Random Sunday night stop for food in Pottstown brought us to The Brick House with no cell phone to take pictures.  I will return someday and write another post with better supporting graphics, but here goes stop number 4 on the greatest food tour on earth.

I have to say I did not have high hopes.  From previous experience I think The Brick House is a place to go at night when you're already drunk and wherever you are is closing.  I love the fact that the building used to be a bank.  It reminds me of the Union National, now Univest building in my childhood hometown of Souderton.  Tall ceilings with big windows, marble and stone everywhere.  I remember the high heels of the bankers clacking on the floor and echoing throughout the bank when they had to cross the lobby.  That's the major issue I have with The Brick House, the echo.  During the day everything echoes and at night the sounds of the DJ are overwhelmingly muddled and loud.  They do however keep threatening to improve their craft beer list and the sign outside the door inviting us to check out their new beers was too much to resist.  That and Sly Fox was already closed for the night.

This was a new visit though and I was determined to have an open mind.  This time around I didn't notice the noise at all.  It was a little after 8pm and pretty empty.  We sat at the bar and I asked for a beer list.  I am sad to report that the list has not improved.  I'm not sure what they were getting at with the sign outside, but the beer selection was mediocre at best.  There was a Nitro Milk Stout on the bottle list which I assume was Left Hand Milk Stout, but they were out of that.  I ordered a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and Steve decided to order a Victory Donnybrook Stout on nitro which they were nice enough to give us a sample of.

For dinner I ordered the Crusted Sirloin, which is an 8oz sirloin with blue cheese crumbles.  I was happy for the small steak portion because leftover steak is never as good as the original.  It comes with a salad and potato and veg.  There was a choice of salad, Caesar or garden. I went with the Caesar. They also give a choice of potato: baked potato, french fries, mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries.  I skipped the potato and went with a double order of veg.  Steve ordered the prime rib special and a baked potato and Caesar salad.

The salads came out and the dressing was drizzled on top instead of being tossed with the salad like I would want a Caesar salad to be.  Despite this, the salad was quite good. A regular Caesar with croutons.

Our steaks came out in a reasonable amount of time and they were actually well cooked.  Both steaks were medium rare as ordered.  I think getting the right temp on a steak is at least half the battle.  My steak was a little peppery, but maybe that's why they called it crusted.  It wasn't too much for me, but maybe for someone who is sensitive.

The baked potato was shared. Steve ate the inside and I ate the skin.  (Can you believe he doesn't eat the best part of the potato?)  The potato was cooked through and there was a little crispiness and salt on the skin.  Not a masterpiece, but a well cooked potato - passes my test.  The other side was the vegetable of the day so I assume it varies.  That Sunday it was squash.  I was happy that the squash seemed fresh and not frozen.  The pieces of squash were unevenly cooked though.  Some of the pieces were obviously from larger sections or from larger squash all together and some of those had seeds that were larger than I'd want to eat.  The smaller, more dense pieces were undercooked.  I applaud the use of fresh produce, but the knife skills and thought in preparation were lacking.  

Overall I would go back and order a steak.  If I was going to be there often I would try to influence the beer list.  Maybe on a slow Sunday after most of the dinner customers have gone the veg goes downhill.  I would definitely give them another chance and as far as I know it is also still an acceptable place to go late night after you're already drunk.