Cheer's American Bistro (Dinner)

So here's the continuation from the lunch menu review. The Dinner menu is executed by "Chef Dan" who is the executive Chef for the Double Tree by Hilton. Many of the same characteristics apply such as the daily specials and the seasonal menu changes.

I began with an appetizer of Crab stuffed mushrooms shown above which was lovely. Large chunks of crab permeate the dish with perfect seasoning and plating. A well executed start to any good evening. The flavors are precisely what you'd expect from this dish.

 I moved onto the Chef's special which was an amazing take on chicken & collard greens. Served with succotash and three cheese macaroni, the was a perfectly cooked stuffed chicken breast. The chicken was coated in a lightly seasoned breading and stuffed with collards, served atop a puree of sweet potato. The succotash was thoughtfully seasoned preserving the natural brilliance of the fresh ingredients and the mac was everything you'd expect mac to be! This was an excellent expression of a classic soul food dish reworked for the modern day! 

Now we proceed to pure indulgence! Desert was a Ghirardelli Chocolate Brownie with salted caramel & pretzel ice-cream and bananas foster. It was so good I forgot for a moment that I was reviewing and started eating it before taking a picture for the blog! If I describe it to you you're going to drop everything and go get one so I'll leave this one to your imagination. 

If you're looking for a night cap to finish it all off bartender Dan (not to be confused with Chef Dan) has created a full menu of unique drinks among which is the above shown Cherry Old-fashion with a Cherry infused ice ball.

Again top marks for Cheer's American Bistro both night and day!

Cheer's American Bistro

Located in the award winning Double Tree Hilton hotel at 701 Penn Street in Reading PA, this Double Tree is literal rated #1 in the world in customer service. That distinction applies to their open to the public restaurant as well!

With a casual modern atmosphere you will feel comfortable in blue jeans or a three piece suit. Their menu is progressive with seasonal additions and daily specials giving any regular the anticipation of a secret menu which is quite a lovely touch for a foodie.

With a rotating Chef brigade the aesthetic changes with the meal time. So lets focus on lunch in this blog and then I'll do a follow up for dinner.

So lunch was in a word AMAZING! Ordering from Chef Issac's special menu I enjoyed the above posted, "Pepper Melange Seared Ahi Tuna, Butter Poached Lobster Claws, Hibiscus Foam and Purple Parsnips". In short it was the purest form of jubilation a human being could experience, but this is a foodie blog so I'm not going to be short about it.

The tuna was seared & seasoned absolutely perfectly. Every bite reinforced a smokey herb flavor to be cut by the sweetness of the hibiscus foam. The texture of the lobster claw added boldness and just enough heaviness to the meal to insure that you were not left hungry after it was all said and done and the parsnip provided a palate cleansing without the need for water at any time you might want you re-intensify the amazing culinary experience that can only be described as an homage to creation itself.

As if that wasn't enough my next course was the, "Masa Harina Coated Loin tips w/ Honey powder & Pomegranate Balsamic Glaze, Peruvian Purple Potatoes & Smoked Asparagus with lemon olive oil". Are you kidding me right now!

Pure indulgence in the best possible way! Perfectly seasoned and prepared loin tips but, with an additional texture, a lovely crunchiness do to the masa coating (aka the stuff tortillas are made of). The powdered honey seeks out and binds to the lemon olive oil to deliver a culinary experience that is unmatched & unrivaled in my extensive world travels & dining experiences around the world!

The texture of the Peruvian purple potatoes was also a pleasant surprise, it may look like Ube but this is Ube more mature older brother. If you like potatoes you'll have no choice but to love these.

All in all the Cheer's American Bistro is a strong visit recommendation from me! (A dinner experience blog is coming soon.)

The Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse

A small rustic addition to the larger adjoining restaurant, "Judy's on Cherry".

Walking into the Speckled Hen gives credit to the British Pub theme. Dark hardwoods & red walls give you quite the old world feel. In fact you enter the establishment through a walkway adjacent to the building on the 4th street side giving you a kind of traipsing through the back alleys of London kind of feeling.

I started with the Scotch egg since it's listed as a signature starter. The sausage wrapped soft boiled egg was executed with experience and artistry. The sausage was well seasoned & accented with bacon. Also it was well shaped to the egg. As an added touch it was served with a Dijon whole grain mustard sauce.

I also ordered an appetizer of, "Brussel Sprout Bites" these small Brussels sprouts were fried & served with shallots & citrus sauce they referred to as a ponzu sauce, however as someone who's eaten in Japan I beg to differ that this should be called ponzu. A Japanese really wasn't cohesive with a British pub anyway. In my humble opinion caramelizing this dish in B&B and dropping the ponzu would bring it to life!

As a main I had the, "Flat Iron steak". The steak was seasoned perfectly & the natural flavor of the broccolini was preserved. The russet potatoes however were under-seasoned and the plating was a bit messy as you can see. All in all however a strong dish.

The Speckled Hen is a great establishment worthy of visiting. It is a casual environment but suitable for a dress up date night. You can find the Speckled Hen at 30 S. 4th St. Reading PA 19602 at the corner of 4th and Cherry streets.