The Coliseum (Brunch) - Camp Hill

Overall Rating: Not So Fabulous
Highlight: Free Games
Lowlight: Dirty plates, sausage in the eggs
Veggie Note: This is not traditional brunch fare, even if the hostess tells you it is when you call to ask what food is served. There is a very limited selection for vegetarians here.

We went to Sunday Brunch here because we love brunch and because we saw online that it comes with $10 of free game play.

The Coliseum is a restaurant and entertainment complex with several bars, a bowling alley, arcade, etc… On Sunday morning the restaurant there serves brunch exclusively, no ordering from the menu is allowed. After your meal you are given a $10 game play card for the arcade and you can take your receipt to the Maggie Moos ice cream stand for a free treat as well. The restaurant is nice, decorated with race cars and other sports themed accessories. The brunch service area was pretty small on first glance and it proved to be a pretty limited selection once we walked up to serve ourselves. I picked up the top plate from the pile of plates at the end of the table. It was dirty so I set it down to take the next one, it was also dirty so I started to think maybe this was the plate return not the clean plates, but I was wrong. We notified the boy attending the buffet area and he handed us plates from behind the omelet bar. I noticed later that they came out and placed a new stack of plates on top of the ones that were already there. The two I set aside remained sitting next to that pile until we mentioned it to our server and then finally all of the plates disappeared.

We had the following:

• Omelet Bar – The scrambled eggs on the buffet were made with sausage and peppers mixed in, so we went to the omelet bar to get our eggs instead. We had our choice of onions, peppers, tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms in garlic (and various meats). The omelet maker, who was also the pasta bar attendant and the meat carver (actually he was the only person working out at the buffet area), was polite and did make an okay omelet. Our friend who joined us for breakfast ordered scrambled eggs from the omelet station and that request was accommodated.

• French Toast – pretty standard, nothing fancy here. There was a pitcher of syrup next to the buffet tray, but no butter was made available anywhere on the buffet. By the way, aside from Danish on another tray, this was the only bread available at this brunch. There were no choices of toast, English muffins, bagels, or other muffins here.

• Fresh Fruit – A tray of apples, pineapples, honeydew and cantaloupe was very fresh.

• Pasta Bar – A create-your-own pasta bar set-up included just one type of noodles, big fat macaroni noodles, two alfredo sauces and a red sauce, and a few toppings (some veggies and lots of meats). We asked if any other pasta was available and they were able to produce a single serving of some thick spaghetti noodles. It was okay.

Here’s What We Didn’t Have:

• There were no breakfast potatoes at all. There were some mashed potatoes next to the ribs and chicken in the lunch area of the buffet. They looked like they had some herbs, etc. mixed in, but we didn’t try them.
• There was no dessert on the buffet; I guess your free Maggie Moos treat was supposed to suffice. We did not have time to go there and get ours, so I don’t know exactly what you get for that, but it was certainly not going to be all you can eat like you usually find on a brunch buffet.
• Individual Yoplait yogurts were placed next to the fruit; however those do contain gelatin and are therefore not vegetarian.
• I mentioned before that there was no bread/toast on the buffet either.
• There was a big bowl of lettuce with sliced onions and tomatoes on top; we did not have any of this un-fancy salad.

Final Thoughts: If you are heading to The Coliseum to play arcade games and have an appetite, then perhaps you could consider this option. The meal was $13.95, so after our $10 in game play, we really only paid $3.95 each before tip. If you are looking for a nice place to have brunch and you don’t care about the arcade, I would highly recommend against this location. This is not a true Sunday Brunch and the vegetarian options are very minimal.

 

Bangkok Wok - Mechanicsburg

Overall Rating: Yippee!
Highlight: great selection, great taste
Lowlight: cramped for space
Veggie Note: The staff here clearly understand the vegetarian diet; the menu indicates all vegetarian and vegan dishes and also specifically requests that you tell your server if you are vegetarian or vegan so they may prepare your food accordingly :)

We made a special trip here, for dinner with a non-veggie friend, after hearing several good reviews of the food here (from a non-vegetarian perspective).

Thai food is what we crave when something hot and spicy is on our minds. We have not explored the world of Thai food in the Harrisburg area yet and a few folks from work had said Bangkok Wok really is the best Thai in the area, so we thought we'd put that to the test. The restaurant is very casual, located in a strip mall in a fairly overdeveloped commercial area just outside the Mechanicsburg Naval Base. It's amusingly decorated outside, imagine waking through a tropical jungle to get to the front door and you can pretty much get the picture. That theme follows you through the door and slaps you in the face with visual overstimulation. There are decorative bits of Thailand everywhere. We were seated at a booth like table, it was a little tight for two to sit on the bench (and we are average sized people). However, we were seated right away and our server was very quick to take a drink order. It took us quite a while to pour through the menu, it was like a short novel. We were so excited about all of the choices and very pleased to find clear markings of what is vegan and vegetarian on the menu. Every page had a note at the bottom requesting that you tell your server if you are vegetarian/vegan as well. When we ordered, we made sure to do this. Our server looked puzzled at or statement at first, but then when we pointed at the note in the menu, it seemed to click for her.

We had the following:

Complimentary:
Nothing complimentary served here

Appetizer:
Veggie Roll - this item is not listed on the online menu, but was in the printed menu and listed as Vegan. It is essentially a spring roll with bean thread noodles, carrots, cabbage, etc... It was very fresh and the roll was light and crispy. It came with a side of Pineapple dipping sauce which was very nice as well.

Soup:

Tom Ka Kai - again, in the print menu the option to have this soup with tofu is given (online only chicken is listed). We asked the waitress if the soup is prepared vegetarian if tofu was used and she said yes. The broth was a rich coconut and lime base, pleasantly saltier than the sweet broth my partner thought it might end up being. The tofu pieces were big and tasty, not like the tiny bits usually found in soups like Miso. There were mushrooms, tasty bits of fresh ginger root, and fresh Thai basil finishing off this very delicious soup.

Entrees:

Green Curry with fried tofu - all of the curries on the menu are available with mixed vegetables or with fried tofu. This one said it was the hottest curry of them all, but it really wasn't that hot (too bad really - it would have been enjoyed a little hotter). The ingredients were very fresh tasting, including green beans and snow peas that didn't come across as frozen reheats. The pieces of bamboo shoot were also nicely sliced into julienne strips instead of the slabs you sometimes get in cheap Asian dishes. Overall this dish was a hit.

Masaman Curry with fried tofu - this dish was listed as one star hot, but it really was not spicy at all. In fact, it was quite creamy and sweet. The peanut sauce was absolutely heavenly, the kind of thing that makes you almost put your plate to your face and start licking the last little bits off. It came served with onions and potatoes, in addition to the fried tofu. There was enough here for two people really - that goes for all the dishes we got. They all went home with us and were reheated for lunch (and once again, one very unusual breakfast) the next day.

Chicken with Thai Basil and Hot Peppers - this obviously is not vegetarian, but since our friend ordered it, and you may want to take along a meatatarian yourself, I thought it couldn't hurt to post some comments here. The waitress recommended this dish to our friend. She said it was pretty spicy and our friend asked to have it made super spicy. It was still not as hot as we expected it to be when it came out. The basil was overwhelming in this dish, so I would recommend steering clear of this one if you're not a basil fan (of course that would be obvious to most by the name of the dish). The sauce was dark and also had pieces of hot pepper floating in it. The chicken was really well made, not cheap little bits, but quality pieces of fresh chicken. They got a big thumbs up from our friend. With a little bit of the peanut sauce stolen from my dish, this ended up being a very good dinner also.

Jasmine Rice - came with all of our dishes. We asked for extra as we plowed through ours and it was quickly brought to us. It was plain jasmine rice, nothing fancy added, but that was great since our dishes all had a lot of flavor on their own.

Just a few other notes:

Bangkok Wok is a BYOB restaurant. We took a couple bottles of beer in with us. We asked for a bottle opener and they found us one, but they didn't seem prepared for us to need one, so maybe a lot of folks don't show up with their own beer?

In addition to decorations all over the walls, etc... Our table was also loaded with flowers, fancy light fixtures, etc... which made it a real challenge to fit our dishes on. Each of us received a bowl of rice, a bowl with our entree and we already had a plate in front of us when we sat down. That coupled with water glasses, etc... It was kind of a challenge. I can't imagine how we would have dealt with all four seats filled at our table. The traditional, non-booth tables looked a little bigger, so if you need space, you might want to ask for one of those.

They may be a little afraid of serving dishes too spicy here. Our friend who asked for "extra spicy" pointed out to us that our server looked as though she thought we might not know what we were getting into by asking for things very spicy. You might want to make a point of letting them know you are serious about having very spicy food if that's what you really want. If you are afraid of spicy, than you should still be okay here.

Final thoughts: This really is a great place for vegetarians to get good Thai food. No need to dress up, but you might want to plan on a wait as it got super crowded here as the night went on. I am certain we will return here soon, if for nothing else, to get some of that peanut sauce to go!

Miyako Sushi on Second - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Boo!
Highlight: hmmm?
Lowlight: no creativity, limited selection, hidden meat
Veggie Note: This is not a sushi bar for vegetarians, plain & simple


We stopped here for dinner while walking back to our car, on the way home from a Senators game.


I know what you're thinking, sushi and vegetarian don't exactly seem like a natural combination. On the contrary my vegetarian friends. I am a sushi addict! Many sushi restaurants (even Wegmans) offer a variety of vegetable only sushi and handrolls to enjoy. Unfortunately, Miyako Sushi on Second was NOT one of those places. (they do not have their own website that I could find, so the link here will actually take you to another local restaurant review site for your enjoyment). Let's start at the beginning though, shall we...


This downtown sushi bar is set in a long narrow location, so when you walk in all you see is the sushi bar, but hidden behind the kitchen, down a long hallway, there is also a dining room with tables. We sat in the dining room so that we could take time to look at the entire menu. I was so disappointed in the selection of vegetarian sushi. There is so much to be creative with here, and they really do not take advantage. I am very used to seeing hand rolls and individual pieces of sushi that include mango, sweet potato, asparagus, pickled vegetables, tempura vegetables, mushrooms, leafy greens and so much more. Not here.


We had the following:


Complimentary:

• Nothing complimentary served here

Appetizer:

• Vegetable Gyoza - slightly thicker than a wonton wrapper, gyoza (dumplings ) can be filled with just about anything. Lots of times it's shrimp or pork. This time we were excited to see a vegetable variety. They were very green when they were served, which caught both of us off guard. It is fortunate that we explore all new foods before just popping them in our mouths. We made a terrible mistake of assuming that labeling something as vegetable on the menu implied it was not meat, we were very wrong. There were little pieces of meat (pork maybe?) strewn throughout the dumplings. Too much really to pick out (if you tolerate that kind of thing). Needless to say, we didn't eat them. It was late at night and we were tired, so we did not comment on them to our waiter, just let them sit. Probably a mistake, but they were only $3.25.

Entrees:

• Vegetable Maki Combo - This was the only choice in the sushi entrees section that was vegetarian. There was no sushi platter, just this combination of three vegetable rolls (unspecified). When it arrived, I was not overwhelmed with joy. The three rolls looked almost identical and the plating was incredibly poor. Let's start with appearance. There are lots of neat sauces used in making sushi rolls; salty glazes, garlic sauces and my favorite spicy mayonnaise. None of that was included on my plate, not in side dishes or as a decorative swirl under my vegetable rolls. The rolls themselves were small and unimpressive. They included a very traditional looking vegetable roll with nothing but avocado and cucumber, more avocado and cucumber with mango added, and the last one - avocado and cucumber with sundried tomatoes (I think). No carrots, no traditional pickled vegetables (oshinko, daikon, etc...), no greens - just plain boring. I immediately asked for a side of spicy mayonnaise. For the first time in my life, I did not finish my maki. I was so bored of the repeating flavors that I gave up with three pieces left. There was nothing special about any of this dish.


• Al a Carte Inari and Tamago - my partner has some kind of aversion to seaweed, it causes an upset stomach, so we have spent some time seeking out ways for both of us to enjoy sushi bars so that I can feed my addiction. Two of our favorite seaweed free/minimal choices are inari and tamago. Inari is made with a fried tofu pancake (which opens like a pouch when cut in half - reminiscent of a pita). It is thin and delicate, and typically covered in a combination of soy sauce and sugar that makes the whole thing sweet and tasty. The pouch is opened, stuffed with rice and then rolled shut. If you are a very strict vegetarian/vegan, you may want to ask if they use Dashi (fish stock) in the pouch marinade as this is not unheard of. Tamago is an egg custard, chilled and sliced into a long strip and then laid on top of a ball of rice (traditional sushi style). It's tied on with a piece of nori (seaweed), but my partner works around that and leaves self- described "little seaweed carcasses" behind. Tonight, both types of sushi were made well, however the inari pancakes were a little dry, probably reaching the end of their life-span behind the sushi bar. Again, nothing fancy about the plating of this sushi.


• Miso Soup and Salad - my maki platter came with soup and salad. There are no choices here (not that uncommon) you get Miso soup and a basic house salad with ginger dressing. If you love salty foods, you would love miso soup. The broth is made from miso (soy bean) and it contains scallions, tofu pieces, and seaweed. Again, this is a place to clarify ingredients as occasionally bonito flakes (fish) are added to miso soup. I love miso soup too much and was too hungry to ask and risk not eating it. I am an ignorant vegetarian, I know it. The salad was typical for a cheap house salad (one tomato, a cucumber, and lettuce). The ginger dressing here, compared to many other Japanese restaurants, is very blah. It is watery but full of grated ginger. So the ginger sat on top of my salad in a very unappealing orange mass and when I reached the bottom, the lettuce was floating around in the watery component, not pretty.

Just a few other notes:

Miyako Sushi does have a liquor license so you can order a Japanese beer (or one of a poor selection of American varieties), a glass of wine or some Sake or Japanese vodka.

For those of you who are fish eaters - the group of five at the table behind us was raving about their choices, so you might do well here. I doubt the plating efforts are any better with or without fish, but I may be wrong. I should point out that one of this party's chairs broke and he fell right on the floor and this did not ruin their evening, so it must have been good for them.

Final thoughts: Short and sweet, this is not the place for vegetarian sushi. We will move on and probably never return here.

Sierra Madre Saloon - Camp Hill

Overall Rating: Ho-hum
Highlight: Potato & Cheese Enchiladas
Lowlight: Friendly but Inattentive Service
Veggie Note: Limited Selection, but at least a few choices. Recommend asking to confirm ingredients

Stopped here for dinner on our way to Wegman's.

Sierra Madre Saloon is a cantina style Mexican restaurant with more bar than dining room. It was a little dark and smoky but had interesting atmosphere and what appeared to be a pretty nice outdoor dining patio, but it was not set-up or in use tonight, odd for a warm summer night.

There was no indication if we should seat ourselves or wait, so after minute or two of standing in the doorway, we found our own way to table and sat down. The menu had a variety of slightly more interesting than standard Mexican fare. There was no specific indication anywhere on the menu of which dishes may or may not be vegetarian, but they were pretty good about listing ingredients for most dishes. I would still be careful to ask if you're not certain, especially if it's going to ruin your night to have meat appear on a plate in front of you.

We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Homemade Chips and Salsa - the homemade chips were a nice treat, but definitely left us with divided opinions. They were thick and flaky, very unique, which my partner enjoyed about them. I was not impressed and thought they were heavy and became pasty in your mouth. I would have preferred them a bit thinner and crunchier. The salsa had signs of being homemade as well. We both agreed the tomatoes were likely canned and coincidentally were also a bit pasty.

Appetizer:

• Cheese Dip "Con Queso" - described as a blend of cheeses with a touch of salsa. When it arrived it we both gave it an inquisitive look followed by a pretty thorough examination. It was very dark in color and had a strange consistency. We were actually a bit nervous that there might be meat hiding in there. Luckily it was thin enough that after a deep probing we were convinced that it was safe after all. The dark color definitely came from a heavy dose of salsa, not a touch. We would have preferred it to be cheesier than it was, but we did finish it. The bonus was that it came with more traditional style tortilla chips, which I was craving after our less-than-normal starter chips.

Entrees:

• Chili Rellenos - The relleno was very tender and mild flavored, as it is described in the menu. The ranchero sauce topping, also very mild, was mostly unremarkable.
• Potato & Cheese Enchilada with Red Sauce - this was a nice treat as my partner loves potatoes. The red sauce was not as spicy as the menu let on. Luckily there were tasty pockets of spice hiding in the potatoes.
• Refried Beans and Spanish Rice - these side dishes were served with both of our entrees. They were both fine, nothing special, nothing bad about them. They made our single portion sized entrees plenty filling though. There was no specific indication that the refried beans were vegetarian (no lard), we would have liked to ask, but our waitress was mostly unavailable ot us, sitting at the bar and chatting instead of attending to us. They were pretty thin in consistency, so we took our chances and ate them, but I plan to give them a call at some point and I will report back here when I get an answer to that question.

Just a few other notes:

The beer selection was typical for the most part (Bud, etc...). You will find as our blog posts continue that we are avid micro-brew drinkers, as well as local wine aficionados. In general, we always give a ++ to any locally produced food or drink. None of that was apparent here.

Our server was mostly friendly, but as I mentioned before, she was pretty preoccupied with an ongoing conversation she was having with a co-worker at the bar. The bar-tender also had a pretty saucy mouth that we could hear pretty clearly from where we were sitting, not that we're perfect angels, but she was working, we weren't.

Final Thoughts: With so many Mexican restaurant choices in the area, especially right on the same road, I doubt we will make our way back to here again anytime soon.

Cafe Fresco - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Good
Highlight: Clever Appetizers
Lowlight: Servers have a hard time hearing over the loud music
Veggie Note: No indication on the menu of whether or not the dishes are vegetarian, but the ingredients are listed well and there are lots of choices.

We joined some co-workers here for happy hour on Martini Monday.

Café Fresco is an upscale “urban” restaurant that specializes in clever dishes with trendy ingredients. It’s a bit schizophrenic in that the casual lunch atmosphere changes dramatically to a more fancy setting once dinner starts. Our co-workers were already seated when we arrived, tables were filling up fast. Our waitress seemed to be in a hurry to handle all of her tables, and when we hesitated to choose or drinks as soon as she came to the table-side, she immediately walked away without really conferring with us about needing more time to decide. We were all served water right away, however. Our server was very nice, but was clearly having a hard time hearing us over the volume of the music playing in the restaurant.

We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Nothing complimentary served here

Appetizer:

• Almond Roasted Goat Cheese – a round of goat cheese was roasted with almonds to a lovely soft and warm finish and served in a warmed dish with very-caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes. We really enjoyed this dish with the accompanying fresh crostinis, which were quickly refilled for us when we ran out.

Entrees:

• Spinach Pizza – this individual sized crispy thin crust pizza came with a dollop of red sauce on it, as indicated on the menu, but worth mentioning since it is less-traditional for a spinach pizza. It was not overwhelmed with spinach and was overall very good.
  
• Pad Thai with Tofu – a very large portion of pad thai served in a big bowl with chopsticks. They did not skimp on the added tofu (a choice on the menu), which was nicely fried. The tofu could have used a little more flavor, especially since the peanut sauce in the pad thai itself was also very minimal. Overall, I really enjoyed this dish and had enough to bring a lunch-sized portion home with me. This dish was not spicy.

Just a few other notes:

Dinners are not served with a salad; you must order this for an additional cost. One of our dinner companions did order a salad, which the waitress did not deliver until she was reminded of it (by us) as she was serving our entrees.

We were there on Martini Monday, so of course we all ordered Martinis. They were all very good, however very pricey. The deal of the day was that they were all $5. A bargain considering they are typically $8-$10 each.

The Pad Thai with Tofu is the only vegetarian entrée on the menu, however there were several other pizza varieties and a portabella sandwich in addition to a few very clever appetizers we’d like to go back and try some time (edamame ravioli, an artisan cheese plate, etc…).

Final Thoughts: Similar to other trendy restaurants, there are a lot of up and coming meats that chefs love to incorporate into dishes, so vegetarian entrees are not featured here. The food all had a very fresh taste and appealing presentation. It’s definitely worth a visit some day, but probably not a regular vegetarian dinner spot (unless you really love pizza and pad thai).

Nonna's Italian Restaurant - New Cumberland

Overall Rating: Ta-da!
Highlight: Veggie Meatballs and Sausage
Lowlight: BYOB
Veggie Note: This is a great vegetarian find! Menu is very specific and choices are astounding.

Stumbled upon this restaurant when cruising for some good Italian fare with an out-of-town, non-vegetarian friend.


Nonna's Italian Restaurant is a casual but still nice Italian restaurant located above a store front in downtown New Cumberland. It is a climb up a full flight of stairs to get to the dining room, but worth it if you can do it. We called ahead to make reservations since it was a Saturday night, but we did not need them. It got more crowded as we ate though, so it might not hurt. The menu had a wide variety of traditional Italian dishes with several special touches mixed in. There were specific sections listing vegetarian and vegan entrees on the menu and their soups were specifically marked vegetarian as well -two thumbs up to that, we love soup!



We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Fresh Baked Bread and Oil - the bread was tasty - crusty and warm and the dipping oil/vinaigrette was a nice touch as well. Refills came quickly.

Soup:

• Escarole Efagioli - since we love soup, we are very critical of soup. This was a well made soup; however it was a little sweet for our tastes and could have used just a bit more seasoning.

Entrees:

• Vegan Sausage with Peppers - This came served on Penne, and is usually topped with the house marinara sauce, but we spied fresh vodka sauce on another part of the menu and asked for a switch - no problem. Too bad the vodka sauce wasn't tops. It was a little thin and under seasoned (becoming a slight trend here) but the whole dish was still very good and the sausage was awesome! It's so nice to be able to add veggie sausage to a dish in a restaurant for a change. These treats are often reserved for vegetarian home-cooking.

• Penne with Vegan Meatballs - same deal here with the vodka sauce, it was requested switch from what would have been the marinara again (which is what allows them to list it as vegan). The meatballs were also very good. They were very familiar and we think they may have been Quorn brand, or at least very similar. (Quorn is our favorite brand of veggie meatballs, we highly recommend them). In both cases the penne was cooked well. Fresh grated cheese was on our table when we were seated, it was also a nice addition.

• Agli Olio - Our non-vegetarian friend who joined us made the most special requests of the three of us (funny since we're usually the ones swapping out ingredients and removing meat from things). The agli olio is usually served with linguini, but the waitress had no problem swapping it for angel hair (although the kitchen did because they put it on linguini anyway - it was quickly fixed however) and then adding some fresh veggies (from the primavera blend) and fresh mozzarella. This was a very tasty dish and a very full plate (it made for a late night snack for two later that night and also breakfast for one the next day - that's right, I said breakfast).

• Salad - came with every entree. It was very fresh. The bleu cheese dressing was amazing, for those who are dairy eaters. My partner said the house vinaigrette was just as good on the salad as it was on the bread earlier.

Just a few other notes:
Nonna's is BYOB. That can be a real bummer if you're not prepared; luckily we spied that detail on their website before we left the house so we took along a couple bottles of what we had in the fridge. Our server quickly brought us some glasses for those, and I noticed plenty other folks had brought along various beverages that were all accommodated just as well.


Our server was very friendly and dealt very well with all of our special requests.


Parking is on street and we drove past a few times trying to find Nonna's, their sign is not very obvious. Give yourself a few extra minutes the first time you go.


Final Thoughts: I'm guessing a lot of local vegetarians are aware of Nonna's. They clearly cater to that crowd, which is great. I'm being completely honest though when I say that we totally just stumbled on this one. Hopefully we are helping to get the word out here. We will definitely go back some day.

Bricco - Downtown Harrisburg

Overall Rating: Very Good
Highlight: Can you say Cheese?!
Lowlight: Pricey
Veggie Note: Some vegetarian options are available and they are clearly marked on the menu.


While browsing online for a nice place to eat dinner, we stumbled upon this gourmet find.


Bricco is a Mediterranean style restaurant associated with the Olewine School of Culinary Arts at Harrisburg Area Community College. The decor is very trendy, clean and comfortable. The staff members are all friendly, professional and dressed tidy. You definitely want to dress nicely yourself for this experience. We made reservations online but didn't really need them, we were greeted and seated right away.


We had the following:

Complimentary:

• Fresh Baked Dill Bread with dipping oil - very tasty and warm

Anitpasti:

• Red Oak and Mache - this was a great combination of pistachio encrusted goat cheese, fried and placed on top of red leaf greens, a few delicate slices of melon and pickled lemon rind. We ordered just one that we were going to share from a single plate. The waiter suggested they split it onto two plates for us - there was no extra charge for this. The whole thing was great!


• Formaggi - Selection of 3 (We chose Pipe Dreams Formage Ashed, PA, Goat;
  Fougerus, French, Cow; Tumbleweed, 5 Spoke Creamery, PA, Raw Cow) - I'll spare you the details of each individual cheese and just tell you that this was a real treat for us. Cheese is definitely one of our weaknesses, and here is a great example of enjoying locally produced food, another ++ for us. The three cheeses were served on a board with a slice of fresh honeycomb, several fresh crostinins and a fig compote (or something like that). Fabulous! What a great combination of flavors and textures. My partner didn't really dig the fig.

Entrees:

• Cappellini d’Angelo - this pasta dish had lots of garlic, which my partner really enjoyed, especially when the tiny balls of fresh mozzarella rolled around and got covered in tiny minced bits of it. The basil leaves were extremely fresh and flavorful, from one of the tinier-leaved varities. All-in-all this dish was a winner.


• Risotto del Giorno - okay, I confess, the risotto of the day was lobster, but occasionally (very, very occasionally) I give in to a shellfish dish. The number of vegetarian entrees was limited, and I was not in the mood to make too many special requests, so I picked this dish out of my laziness and want to order straight off the menu. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you probably can relate to tiring of always trying to adapt dishes when the choices are limited. Of course you probably don't resort to eating shellfish the way I do. Anyway, ignoring the lobster, the risotto was made very well and the dish was very fresh. I did add a little salt to suit my tastes.

Dessert:

• Frozen Strawberry Shortcake - strawberry basil sorbet served on a biscuit with a hard meringue topping. The sorbet was very yummy, but the biscuit was hard and difficult to break through with the spoon provided. The meringue was also hard to eat this way.


• Fried Coconut Sticky Rice - the rice was wrapped in a spring roll type wrapper and fried. It wasn't too sweet, which my partner was glad about, but it also wasn't very coconutty either. It was served with a tres leches cake which was very moist and rich. I liked it better than my partner, but she's not much of a milk person to begin with.

Just a few other notes:


Bricco has a great wine list, which included a few local wines, very nice. We ordered a bottle of wine and we were well attended to when our glasses needed refilling.


We asked our server if he was a culinary student and surprisingly he was not, and even more surprisingly he said most of the servers were not. They were all super great at their jobs!


Bricco, in combination with the Hilton, hosts culinary lessons for the public. The cost isn't cheap, but the topics are pretty compelling. We are considering attending a 2 hour class on local beer, local cheese and complimentary spicy dishes.


Final Thoughts: While there were not an exceptional number of vegetarian dishes on the menu, there are definitely enough for you to pay Bricco a visit. There were lots of cold dishes, side dishes, brick oven pizzas and more cheese that we want to go back to try. There is a bar here, so maybe someday we will go back for drinks and something small. Heaven knows we can not afford to regularly eat there they way we did tonight.