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.

Proximity Cafe

(menu)

I owned a Keurig for a few months and recently decided to trade it in for a french press.  I sold the Keurig on Craigslist and realized that the press I want is currently out of stock.  That was over a week ago and my point is that it has been at least that long since I've had a good cup of coffee.  So, I was out yesterday morning and remembered that I saw a 'now open' sign on Proximity Cafe which is on the corner of E High St and Moser Rd, kind of over near the hospital.  I wouldn't normally review a place I had just stopped at for a drink, but it's a coffee shop and I was getting coffee, so what the heck.

Part of my thought process that morning was, "Where can I get a good cup of coffee to go in Pottstown?"  I couldn't think of a place.  Whether you like the company or not, Starbucks makes good coffee and there isn't one of those...takeout coffee from a diner is questionable and Dunkin' Donuts is not what I was looking for.  I honestly had no idea what Proximity was going to offer but it was worth a shot considering the alternatives.  There was also a 'drive-thru'; how convenient.

I pulled onto Moser Rd where there is an entrance to the parking lot, but no visible sign of this 'drive-thru'.  I kept going and made a right around the building into the alley where I found the 'drive-thu', but I was at the wrong end of it.  I kept going around the block which ended up being quite a detour, but I was determined.  For the record, the entrance is on High Street, before the building if you're headed toward Sanatoga / Limerick.

I pulled in after locating the entrance and on the wall above the speaker is an abbreviated version of their menu.  Just coffee drinks.  There was a drink listed called the Montana which is a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso.  That sounded pretty awesome and maybe that extra shot would make up for all the dumb tea I'd been drinking at home.  They use Tall, Grande and Magnum for their sizes which I absolutely despise.  Tell me how freaking big they are, not their useless, fancy names.  In any case, I ordered a large and I believe I got a Magnum.  I was charged $3.50.  

I pulled up to the window and was greeted by a friendly barista who took my money, made change and brought my coffee quickly.  It's a funny window and she had to kind of stoop to reach through, but she did it with a smile.  There was no place to leave a tip at the window and I'm not even sure of the standard for a coffee with espresso anyway.  

I was on a conference call for work, so I actually pulled into the parking lot to park and listen.  It also allowed me to take pictures safely.  The coffee was a little on the acidic side, but roasty and strong.  It looks like they have a variety of coffees if you want.  I assume what I got must have been the house blend.  It was definitely higher quality and strength coffee and just what I was looking for.  The packaging is simple and unbranded, maybe to keep costs low.  

While on my call I looked up the rest of the menu for Proximity and read some other reviews.  It turns out this place has breakfast and lunch and live music and they have a philosophy and believe in building a strong community.  Read their mission.  It's not specific, but it sounds genuine to me.  I can't wait to go back and spend a little more time there, meet the employees, have a breakfast sandwich and use the free wifi.  

Parma Pizza

(menu)

#14 had to be done.  When you move people send you all kinds of stupid coupons in the mail hoping to gain you as their newest customer.  Most of these I went through and recycled.  Others I set aside only to let them expire before they could be used.  This one was special though.  It was for a whole free pizza.  You don't see that every day and the expiration date was fast approaching.  I called Parma Pizza on my way home one Wednesday evening.  I waited until I was about 25 minutes out and ordered a pepperoni pizza.  The coupon was only for a cheese pizza, but I explained this and they took my order right away.

Then she said it would be an hour.  I almost argued with her because that seemed crazy.  "An hour?!"..."Yup."  So, you can't argue with an honest estimate of time and it was a free pizza after all.  What did I expect, special treatment?  Good thing my favorite bar was on the way.  I could kill the extra 35 minutes or so.

When I got to the restaurant to pick up my pizza I was waited on pretty quickly.  My pizza was sitting out, in the box but hadn't been cut yet.  I guess an hour was perfect timing.  They sliced it up and charged me less than $3 for my pepperoni and I was off.  The worst part about picking up a pizza is having to smell it the whole way home so I put it way in the back of the Prius so I wouldn't be tempted to pick on it before I could get a good picture.

Somehow the pepperonis were all askew when I opened the box.  It remained flat the entire time I had it so maybe that happened when they put it in the box.  It's fixable though and I've seen a lot worse.  The cheese was still in place.  I straightened the pepperoni and dug in.  This is everything I have wanted in a pizza plus a whole lot of extra grease.  It was tasty grease though.  The flavor of the pizza was definitely affected by the pepperoni and its accompanying grease.  The amounts of cheese and sauce were perfect in my estimate.  The dough was well done and a little crispy the way I like it, but with a chewy center on the outside.

This is probably the best pizza I have had in a while.  I didn't even try to mop off the grease.  I will return to Parma Pizza as a paying customer one day soon and I will be sure to plan on a little extra time for my order.  No wonder they're so busy.  (Best 'welcome to the neighborhood' coupon ever!)

Sakura Asian Cuisine

(menu)

Lucky #13 brings us to a BYOB in the strip mall kind of behind Friendly's.  It's one of those spots that you would forget was over there if there wasn't some great raw fish just waiting to be eaten.  Sakura is a BYOB sushi place with modern decor.  I've been there before and the dining room is usually pretty empty.  I believe they do a good amount of takeout business as well.  Normally we just get sushi and sashimi here.  This time we decided to mix it up a little.  We ordered the Sashimi Deluxe and one of the entrees, Teriyaki Steak.

The Sashimi Deluxe comes with rice and soup or salad and the Steak came with soup and salad.  Sakura gives you the option of white or brown rice.  I've had both and they're both nice and sticky and a little bland, the way a side of rice at a sushi place should be.  I ordered the miso soup which was pretty standard, cloudy and sweet.  This one had a lot of green onions though, maybe a few too many, but it was a good soup.  Steve ordered the hot and sour soup.  The salad came out.  It looked like a nice, fresh side salad with ginger dressing, but we never touched it.  Too much other food to try.

The sashimi came out first.  The presentation was nice, but pretty basic.  I have seen them do some nice arrangements that look like flowers and landscapes, but maybe you have to get the bigger order of sashimi for that.  The pieces were yellowtail, tuna, salmon, striped bass and red snapper.  Typical selections for a sampler like this, maybe next time I'll pick something crazy out.  The fish was fresh.  The wasabi didn't break up as much in the soy sauce.  I don't have extensive knowledge of what's authentic or not, etc. It just seemed to me that it was a little more like play-doh than usual.

The Beef Teriyaki came out on a sizzling platter on a bed of carrots that were somewhere between shredded and julienned.  It was accompanied by some broccoli, more carrots and zucchini.  We ordered the steak medium rare and that's the way it came out.  It looked like it was cooked as one piece and then sliced and coated with sauce. and sesame seeds.  The flavor of the teriyaki was a little sweet and it was thick.  The meat was great, but a little difficult to eat with chopsticks.  We could have been less stubborn and asked for a knife, but what fun is that?  The veggies were nice and al dente.  My only complaint is that the sauce was only on the steak and underlying carrots and not on the veg.  Half the reason to have broccoli in a teriyaki is that those little flowers soak up all the sauce and make for an awesome bite.  Easy to ask for extra sauce next time or sauce on the side.

The service was good.  The waitress was not familiar and she mentioned that she hadn't tried the hot and sour soup yet so I gather she was somewhat new.  She said she was working her way through the menu and I think that's a great idea for any server so they can get to know the menu and it also implies that she enjoys the food.  Although the place is usually empty I think the service and ambiance are good and it;s a great spot to go to before a movie up the road.



  

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.

Mannino's Pizzeria & Eatery

(menu)

#11. This is turning into a takeout tour. So, in this area there are several restaurants that are shaped like cups, like soda cups. From a little looking up, it sounds like they were built in the 1940s as outlets for a local dairy to sell milk and ice cream. There are two others in the area. One of them is on Charlotte Street in the North End of Pottstown and it is operating currently as Mannino's. I ordered a small Vegetarian Stromboli over the phone. The guy that took my order asked me to hold a couple times. I understand he was new. Nothing bad, but it was a little confusing. I ordered sauce on the side. He assured me that all strombolis come with a side of sauce.

The inside of the restaurant had some sit downs tables and a counter up front where I went to pick up my order. It was clean and the man who brought my order was nice. They had a wall of fridges filled with takeout beer. Nothing very exciting, but a couple selections that could be considered craft beer. They were all labeled on the wall above the fridges with prices.

My stromboli was affordable and I was considering measuring it, but I was really hungry. I'm going to call it 10 - 12 inches. The side of sauce was a nice size. Usually you get those tiny cups. This was more substantial. I like lots of extra sauce.



Upon internal inspection there were lots of veggies including broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms & peppers. The flavor was really excellent. There was a lot of mozzarella cheese but that didn't mask the fresh flavors of the veg, especially the bitter flavor of the dark green broccoli and spinach. The broccoli was still firm too which added texture.

Maybe a half-eaten piece of stromboli isn't the most appetizing image so I apologize, but I thought this picture showed the veggies the best. I really enjoyed this stromboli and I'm ashamed to admit how much of it I ate. I will tell you that both ends were mostly bread, but I'm not sure if there is a way to make a stromboli without that happening. Looking at the menu and thinking of the upcoming colder season, I think I will be making use of their delivery services soon. Yum...

Tornetta's Pizzeria

(menu)

#10: Double digits, more takeout.  I stopped by Tornetta's on my way home one afternoon.  I have been to Tornetta's plenty of times and they were also my go to delivery place when I lived in Gilbertsville.  Maybe it's cheating to get takeout from a place I'm so familiar with, but I did say every place in Pottstown.

I suppose it's a little gluttonous to order a pizza all by yourself, even if they don't know you're going to eat it in one sitting.  You do get more pizza per dollar with the larger sizes, but I went with a small pepperoni pizza for my conscience.  I even threw in a house salad to convince myself further.  I ordered over the phone and they said it would be 20 minutes.  It was a little more than 20, but close.

The salads at Tornetta's are pretty excellent.  Better than you would expect from a pizza place.  Their House Misto salad is a mix of romaine and iceberg lettuces and comes topped with cucumber, tomato, red pepper, red onion and sweet peppers.  I'm not a big fan of sweet pepper, but I appreciate that this is not your typical container of iceberg with a couple shaved carrots on top.  The ingredients are fresh and the dressing was good - ranch in this case.  The description of the salad says it contains olives but I honestly don't remember there being any in there.  

I have seen Tornetta's do a better job on the pizza.  It was cooked well, but it looked like someone picked up the box sideways and let the ingredients slide off a little.  The pepperoni was bunched up together leaving sections without any.  I rearranged the pepperoni and ate the pizza.  I like the sauce on their pizza, it isn't too sweet.  The pepperoni was decent, but nothing special.

Overall this was not Tornetta's best performance, but based on past experience I will definitely be back.  I think they make the best buffalo chicken around which you can get on a sandwich, on a pizza or in a stromboli.  I'm getting hungry thinking about it.  Their takeout beer selection is excellent with standard brands and a selection of craft beers that is impressive for the size of the place.  For Eat In you can order single beers, but most craft beers have to be purchased by the six-pack or in the large bomber bottles.  Their history of delivery service has been consistently good.  Not the most glowing review for today, but they are definitely on my recommended list.