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.
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