Chicken and Vegetable Vermicelli Bowl - Lang Restaurant
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Review: Lang Restaurant

non-descript corner storefront with the words "Lang Restaurant" in a window

When I started the blog in 2014, my experience with Asian cuisine was limited to General Tso’s chicken and other Americanized Chinese foods.

That’s why my first trip to Hong Thanh in Wyomissing was so eye-opening. It was my first taste of Vietnamese cuisine and my first time enjoying an authentic, composed dish (read: something that wasn’t chicken in sauce over rice).

granite looking tabletops with wooden chairs in the dining room of Lang Restaurant in Reading, PA

Hong Thanh was originally located in downtown Reading. Some Sundays after church, Julie and I would drive past the old restaurant. The Hong Thanh name was still written on the window. It looked untouched from the time the restaurant moved to Wyomissing until the day it was announced it was moving back into the city with a new name, Lang Restaurant.

Julie and I visited on a Wednesday evening (the restaurant is open evenings only, Wednesday through Sunday) and were one of just two couples in the restaurant. Two more groups and a few take-out customers came through during our time, but it was definitely a quiet night.

photos hang in cut out, illuminated spaces on a wall inside Lang Restaurant

The dining room is beautiful – a little modern and a little classic, Asian-influenced without being kitschy. It felt like a downtown dining destination should feel like. Only a closer inspection, on the long walk to the men’s room, reveals the plywood wall behind the hostess counter that separates the finished dining area from the rest of the building.

We started our meal with the shredded pork roll – pork wrapped in rice paper with lettuce and peanuts served with Lang dipping sauce.

Shredded Pork Rolls - Lang Restaurant

These were a great start to the meal. The roll itself was very good, if a little chewy, but mixed with the Lang sauce, it took it to another level.

Lang sauce is the house fish sauce, a little spicy with sweet and salty notes. You can see the red pepper flakes, you can taste the ginger. It’s a simple sauce that made the rolls go down easy.

We hadn’t quite finished our appetizers when the entrees arrived. Giant entrees. Entrees big enough to be shared.

Chicken and Vegetable Vermicelli Bowl - Lang Restaurant

I had ordered the grilled chicken and rice vermicelli bowl. On top of the vermicelli noodles were piles of grilled chicken, carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts, broccoli, pickled carrot, and crushed peanuts.

The ingredients were fresh and well-prepared, but it was the Lang sauce that made it a meal. I dipped my fork in the sauce (sadly, I don’t think I will ever be able to properly use chopsticks) before picking up a forkful of the vegetables, chicken or rice noodles. I wanted to make sure that every bite had a little of that delicious sauce.

The meal was painstakingly slow to eat, not because of the dipping, but because all of the vegetables were cooked to al dante. That meant small bites and lots of chewing, but it was worth it to savor such a fine dish.

Crispy Noodle Stir Fry - Lang Restaurant

Julie had a very different noodle dish, the house special crispy lo mein.

Instead of the traditional boiled noodles, the dish featured deep-fried egg noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork and a vegetable medley (red onion, water chestnut, broccoli, green beans and more), stir fried in “brown sauce.”

Crispy Noodle Stir Fry - Lang Restaurant

Brown sauce is typically a combination of soy sauce, broth and other ingredients. It didn’t cover every noodle, but that was just fine as the noodles were very good on their own. Julie also appreciated the fact that the dish came with three different meats because it meant that she didn’t have to choose.

For both of us, more than half of our entrees went home with us for later. Julie was impressed that her noodles remained somewhat crispy even through the reheating process.

As tempting as Vietnamese banana cake and steamed coconut cups sounded, dessert was not in the cards.

Our total at the end of the meal was about $45, which also included a glass of fresh limeade for Julie.

We also spent $2 for parking at the Reed and Court Street Garage ($2 for one hour, and we made it from entry to exit in 58 minutes).

During our meal, we saw co-owner and restaurant namesake Lang Huynh come out and survey the room, the sign of someone dedicated to their craft.

He never approached our table, but if he had, I’d say the same thing I’m saying here. My compliments to the chef.

BCE Rating
Food: Excellent
Ambiance: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Value: Reasonable

Lang Restaurant
22 N. Sixth Street
Reading, PA 19601

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Ganly's Bangers and Mash
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Review: Ganly’s Pub & Deli

Ganly's Pub & Deli

Editor’s Note: Ganly’s is under new ownership/management since the writing of this blog post.

County Eats is not a one-man operation. If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know that my wife Julie – and lately, our son Jakob – has been along for nearly every blog (she even wrote a couple herself recently).

Most times, our experiences are the same. If one of us is happy, the other is happy. If one of us has a good time, the other has a good time.

Sometimes, though, things go a little differently. That’s what happened on a recent trip to Ganly’s Pub & Deli.

Ganly's Pub and Deli

Ganly’s sits at the end of State Hill Road, where it meets Brownsville Road and Reber’s Bridge Road in Lower Heidelberg Township. It’s a beautiful building in a location that’s out of the way for many.

The restaurant had fallen off of my radar for a while, but this year’s Wilson Iron Chef brought it back to the forefront. Not only did Ganly’s impress in the People’s Choice competition with its apple, brie and bacon crisps, Chef Ben Hinkel put in a great effort in the Iron Chef competition, itself.

A few weeks later, we paid the restaurant a visit. It wasn’t our first time dining there, but it was our first time in years and the first time for the blog.

Full dining room inside Ganly's Pub and Deli

Ganly’s doesn’t offer reserved seating on the weekends, but Julie was able to call ahead and add our name to the wait list – a 30-minute wait on this Friday evening.

We arrived early, hoping they were overestimating, and were told it would still be 20-30 minutes. It ended up being a full half hour until we were seated in the main dining room – additional seating can be found in the bar area on the opposite side of the building.

Jakob had napped through most of our wait so he was wide awake by the time we sat down for dinner. So even though we had his car seat in a high chair, Julie and I took turns holding him through the duration of our meal.

Ganly's Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup

Both Julie and I started with a cup of soup. For Julie, it was French onion. For me, it was fire roasted tomato – the daily special.

The tomato soup was different from any other that I have tried. It was a chunky soup – not with tomato chunks, but with carrots, onions and other vegetables. It was well-seasoned and enjoyable, a good start to the meal.

Ganly's French Onion Soup

Julie’s French onion soup was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. A solid start, but it was after this that her meal went sideways.

The appetizer special of the day was a smoked salmon BLT. When asked, our waitress told Julie that it would be enough for a meal.

Ganly's Smoked Salmon BLT

And it was. The BLT looked beautiful when it arrived, a focaccia roll loaded with smoked bacon, heirloom tomatoes, housemade mayo and smoked salmon.

After her first bite, Julie realized that while she loves grilled salmon, smoked salmon is not her thing. She tried some more but she just did not care for it. It wasn’t Ganly’s fault, but and we were more than happy to pay for the dish, but Julie knew she wasn’t going to eat it and placed an order for another dish.

Ganly's Bangers and Mash

So while she waited for her next meal, I worked on my bangers and mash. Americans would call it sausages and mashed potatoes.

The bangers had a crispy outside and a great flavor that was spiced more like a German wurst than an American-style country sausage. The mash was actually colcannon. Colcannon is mashed potatoes with the addition of cabbage. It was a subtle difference, but it was very good, especially with the gravy.

I really enjoyed everything, but could only finish half of it, partially because my meal also came with a salad that arrived just moments before the bangers and mash.

Ganly's Salad

The salad was your basic mixed greens and choice of dressing. It wasn’t anything special, but it was a hefty salad. Had I known that my entree came with a salad, I may have skipped the soup, but I had already ordered the tomato soup when the waitress asked me what dressing I would like.

Julie handed Jakob off to me once her replacement meal arrived. It was the chicken and smoked gouda sandwich.

Ganly's Chicken and Gouda Sandwich

The gouda was a nice change of pace, and the roll was very good. The house chips on the side was okay, but could have used a little more salt and other seasonings.

By this point, we had been at the restaurant for nearly an hour-and-a-half and all Julie cared about was the eating, not the reviewing, so she hurriedly ate her sandwich.

We received our bill and the BLT had been removed. It wasn’t necessary as they restaurant had done nothing wrong. In total, our bill was a little over $40.

It was a mixed bag for us. For me, it was a great meal. Though the wait was a little frustrating. For Julie, it was a bit disappointing as she really wanted the smoked salmon BLT, but it just wasn’t what she thought it was going to be. And her wait was even longer. If she hadn’t had that soup, I don’t know if she could have lasted until her sandwich arrived.

But I have to give credit to our waitress who handled it well, despite having to work too many tables (she was also serving in the other dining area) and not being at fault at all.

Hopefully next time is a better experience, one that we can both enjoy.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Value: Reasonable

Ganly’s Pub & Deli
500 Brownsville Rd
Sinking Spring, PA 19608

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Review: HillBilly BBQ

Black food trailer painted with a cartoon pig and the words "Hillbilly BBQ - Pig Out On Our BBQ"

Driving along Route 422 east toward Douglassville, the smoke rises from HillBilly BBQ. The trailer sits in a small parking lot in front of D&S Elite Construction.

There have been many roadside barbecue joints in and around Berks County over the years – Muddy’s Smokehouse BBQ, Stampede Smokin’ BBQ and Templin’s Soggie Bottom Grille come to mind. And while others have either moved into permanent locations, closed or both, HillBilly still remains as a true roadside eatery.

I visited HillBilly BBQ for the first time in 2015. I only had a pulled pork sandwich, but I was impressed. I couldn’t wait to take Julie for a meal and a Berks County Eats review.

Three years later, that visit finally happened.

Black food trailer along a rode with a smoker on the side and a tall open flag

We stopped in on a cool Saturday afternoon – too cold to sit outside but too warm to sit inside our car to eat. The only real option was to order our lunch and take it back home to Wyomissing.  Thankfully, there’s a driveway connecting the restaurant to Monacacy Creek Road and the traffic light that leads to westbound 422.

Less than 20 minutes after getting our meals, we were unboxing them at our kitchen table. I couldn’t wait to dig into my half rack of ribs.

The ribs looked beautiful, dark in color from hours in the smoker and a heavy dry rub that I immediately fell in love with. It was simple sweet, salty and mildly spicy rub that was laid on thick.

black styrofoam container with a half rack of ribs and a pile of coleslaw

At the counter, I was given the choice of adding “sweet sauce” to the ribs. There wasn’t much to the sauce – it was a little runny and pooled at the bottom of the box – but it really did add to the dish. If nothing else, it softened the texture and helped the meat soak in even more of the delicious rub.

The half rack was sliced in half with three-to-four bones in each. Each piece was unique. The top was fall-off-the-bone good. The second rack was the end piece and was more well done. It was no less flavorful, but the tips were crispy, bordering on burnt.

On the side, my coleslaw balanced out the meal. The creamy slaw was very good and did much to counterbalance the spice of the ribs.

When it comes to barbecue, Julie loves beef brisket. It’s her go-to whenever we go out. Her brisket sandwich from HillBilly BBQ featured a Kaiser roll overflowing with meat.

black styrofoam container with a beef brisket sandwich and shell-shaped mac and cheese

The brisket featured the same rub and was topped with the same sauce as the ribs. It was a melt-in-your-mouth kind of sandwich, smooth and flavorful. The Kaiser roll helped to soak up some of the juice and sauce – a traditional hamburger roll would have probably fallen apart by the time we got home. It also differentiated itself from similar offerings at other restaurants, and that’s never a bad thing.

For her side, Julie chose the mac and cheese. It was made with small shells in a gooey yellow cheese sauce. When we first got in the car, the shells were still smoking. They hadn’t cooled off much by the time we arrived at home. They were good, but not anything special.

One thing I love about barbecue is that it’s almost always priced right. At $25 for our two entrees and two sides (we didn’t order drinks because we were taking it home. That would have brought it closer to $30), HillBilly BBQ definitely priced its food right.

A note to those concerned about the divided highway: don’t be. Unlike some restaurants along that stretch of Route 422, HillBilly BBQ is actually easily accessible from both directions thanks to the Monacacy Road entrance.

That’s a big advantage, but the location isn’t without drawbacks. It’s still an unpaved parking lot with limited seating – and Route 422 isn’t exactly the most desirable backdrop for dining alfresco.

But the barbecue is hard to beat. And for a little roadside stand, that’s all that really matters.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Poor
Price: Reasonable

HillBilly BBQ
908 Benjamin Franklin Hwy
Douglassville, PA 19518

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Boursin fried chicken from Franklin House Tavern
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Road Trip: Franklin House Tavern

Franklin House Tavern in Schaefferstown, PA

Editor’s Note: The Franklin House Tavern closed, then reopened in 2025 with new owners.

Berks County Eats takes a road trip to Lebanon County this week for a meal at the historic Franklin House Tavern in Schaefferstown.

It’s been a long time since we took a road trip for Berks County Eats. Our last stop outside the county was in July of last year, eight months ago when we visited the Revere Tavern in Lancaster.

Ironically enough, our next road trip takes us to another historic inn named after a famous figure from the past: the Franklin House Tavern in Schaefferstown.

I have a vague childhood memory of a family meal at the Franklin House. It had to have been 20 years ago when my grandparents still lived on a farm outside of Schaefferstown.

historic wooden sign with an image of Ben Franklin and the words "The Franklin House Established 1746"

In the years since, Julie and I have driven by the restaurant countless times. But it was never our destination. But the more we drove through Schaefferstown, the more we wanted to stop.

Our first visit finally happened in late February. We dropped Jakob off at my parents and continued on to the Lebanon County landmark for a Saturday evening dinner.

The historic inn is essentially divided into two sides – the restaurant and the tavern. We were on the restaurant side, the more refined, finer dining experience.

Dark red Heart-shaped sign with yellow letters that reads "The Washington Room"

We were led back into the Washington Room, a small-ish dining space with our table for two, three tables for four, a table for six, and a table for 10. In buildings this old – it was erected in 1746 – rooms are small and seating can be tight. But we were comfortable at our little table in the corner of the room.

Inside the Washington Room at the Franklin House Tavern

During our meal, there were only two other tables occupied in our dining room, but we saw at least five different servers and runners coming through. Our waitress was the second person we saw, after another waiter in the room breezed by after taking another order. “Be there in a sec,” was the gist of what he said. Thankfully, he wasn’t our server.

House Salad at the Franklin House Tavern

The meal started with salads. I stuck with the house salad with ranch dressing while Julie upgraded to the Caesar.

The presentation on both was beautiful, and the house salad included one nice addition: fresh Parmesan cheese. It was a subtle enhancement.

Caesar salad from the Franklin House Tavern

Julie’s Caesar salad shined thanks to attention to detail. The lettuce was grilled, bringing out more flavor and making it feel special. A small crostini was served on the side and it was better than any crouton that would have been served on top. It was worth the $3.25 upgrade charge.

Dinner roll and oil from Franklin House Tavern

Between our salad and meal, we were served a pair of dinner rolls. Set on the table was an oil and balsamic blend for dipping. Oil is great. Balsamic is not. To me, it was an attempt to be too fancy. The rolls would have been better served with butter.

Next out were our entrees. For me, it was the “Jacked Mac.” The menu listed it as “cavatappi pasta, Parmesan cream, house smoked sweet Italian sausage, roasted cauliflower, rum raisins and sweet peas.”

The Jacked Mac from the Franklin House Tavern

I found it to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, I loved the additions to the dish – the sausage was very good, and the rum raisins provided sweet little flavor bursts.

On the other hand, I was really hoping for more of a cream sauce and less of a traditional mac-and-cheese. The Parmesan cream didn’t jump out. On the contrary, I didn’t taste much Parmesan. And I felt like my meal had been completed before Julie’s and was sitting for a few minutes. Not that it was cold, but I could tell that the cheese had cooled slightly.

Overall, it was still a good dish but it could have been great. Like the Boursin fried chicken. That was Julie’s meal, and it was a great dish.

Boursin fried chicken from Franklin House Tavern

The Boursin fried chicken was on the specials menu, and there wasn’t much description of it, other than that it would be served atop a waffle with prosciutto and a honey drizzle.

It was a beautiful presentation with a lightly breaded chicken breast topped with the cheese and a slice of prosciutto. The only thing better than how it looked was how it tasted.

Boursin cheese, as we would come to find out, most closely resembles cream cheese. It essentially took the place of a sauce, giving a sweet, creamy flavor that was in every bite. The prosciutto added another savory element while also giving salty notes to the dish. Even the waffle added additional depth to the dish.

I was in love Julie’s entree, and I definitely had food envy.

We weren’t celebrating a special occasion, but we decided to make it special by adding dessert. Of the four choices on the dessert tray, the one that appealed most was the lemon berry cake.

Lemon berry cake from Franklin House Tavern

The cake was layered with Mascarpone cheese and topped with raspberries and blueberries and a concentrated raspberry sauce. The cake reminded me of a lemon cream cookie, but the addition of the berries put it over the top. It was definitely worth saving room for this.

Even with dessert our night out didn’t break the bank. Our total bill was $55. While it’s a little more than we pay for everyday dining, I was expecting $60 or more for our meals. And we would probably spend that on our next visit because our entrees were at the low end of the price scale.

It wasn’t a perfect night, but the Franklin House Tavern really did impress in many ways. We enjoyed some exceptional dishes in an incredible historic setting.

And now I have another memory from the Franklin House that I’ll remember for a long time.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Reasonable (for finer dining)

Franklin House Tavern
101 N. Market St
Schaefferstown, PA 17088

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Mad Dogs Kutztown – CLOSED

open flag hands from a brick building with a sign that reads "Mad Dogs

Editor’s Note: Mad Dogs is closed. The former Mad Dogs location is currently home to the Saucony Cafe.

One cold Friday in February, I was looking to get out of the house with Jakob. My parents are retired so I suggested that we go to Kutztown for old time’s sake. (Zach and I are both graduates of Kutztown University). I always enjoy driving down Main Street to see what is new and what has stayed the same.

Just off of Main Street on Constitution Boulevard sits a brick building with two parking lots on each side. There is an outside seating area shared with a cigar store. While it was too cold to eat outside, we walked in the large warehouse door that I had walked through many times before – but for the first time at Mad Dogs.

chalkboard with daily specials from Mad Dogs Kutztown

The building previously housed CC’s Wooden Grill, once one of my favorite BBQ joints in Berks County, and Potts U, a spinoff of the popular Lehigh Valley hot dog chain.

As we walked through the door, the space looked very familar. The order counter and tables were basically the same as the last time we had visited Potts nearly two years ago.

long table for eight with several smaller tables in the dining room of Mad Dogs Kutztown

The only difference was a few drink coolers along one of the walls which held your typical soda products and my favorite: Pure Wild Tea. (Another Berks County business). There were hot dog signs leftover from Potts U and movie posters added to go along with Mad Dogs Hollywood-themed menu.

long navy blue couch and an orange bean bag chair at Mad Dogs in Kutztown

Through a doorway, in an area that was previously an office, is the Mad Dogs Throwback Lounge. It was pretty cool space that looked like a fun place to hang out. There were bean bag chairs, retro furniture and flat screen TVs.

We found a seat at one of the very familiar tables and browsed the extensive menu of 21 different specialty hot dogs. Mad Dogs’ menu also has a burger, pulled pork and various sides.

hot dog topped with onions on a black and white checkered paper

The menu also includes combo specials, which my dad took advatange of. He’s not always the adventurous type when it comes to food, so he had one plain Jane hot dog with relish, ketchup and onions (toppings are 50 cents each), mac and cheese, and a drink. There isn’t much to say about the plain Jane hot dog, but he really enjoyed the mac and cheese.

bowl of mac and cheese with hot dog pieces from Mad Dogs Kutztown

It was a unique version of the dish with tri-color noodles that looked like carrots and peppers. But they were definitely noodles. There were also pieces of hamburger, onion and bacon mixed with what tasted like a Cheez Whiz sauce.

I really wanted to experience one of the specialty hot dogs so I got the Napoleon Dynamite. I have to be honest, I’m not a huge hot dog fan, but one of my favorite childhood food memories is of hot dogs stuffed with cheese and bacon wrapped around them. The Napoleon Dynamite was the closest to that memory.

hot dog topped with cheese and a side of fries on a black and white checkered paper

It is a grilled dog with tater tots, bacon, cheese sauce and Mad Dog sauce. Overall it was a good hot dog. The bacon and hot dog rested in the roll with cheese sauce and three smashed tater tots drizzled with Mad Dog sauce. The Mad Dog sauce didn’t quite shine through with the other flavors on my dog so it is hard to say what that actually tasted like.

They have an interesting selection of sides including fried cauliflower and sweet potato fries. But I opted for basic fresh-cut Yukon Gold french fries. The menu says that they are tossed in a special seasoning, but I don’t remember tasting it. That aside, they were very good fries. I also ordered Maple Mayo dipping sauce (they have 9 different dipping sauces to choose from), but never received it and didn’t remember that I ordered it until I was in the car driving home.

hot dog topped with bacon on a black and white checkered paper with a side of tater tots

Lastly, my mom built her own plain Jane dog with bacon and baked beans on top with a side of tater tots. The bacon was chopped up and mixed with the baked beans. She liked all of her items as well.

My only complaint was the presentation, and it’s not something you will notice in my photos. The food was brought out in long wire baskets that looked really neat. The problem was they weren’t organized by meal. One basket had two dogs, another basket had a dog and side and the rest of the food came out without baskets. It would have been nice if my hot dog and fries would have been together, my dad’s hot dog and mac and cheese together, and my mom’s hot dog and tater tots together. It would have saved a lot of shuffling and confusion at the table.

Mad Dogs seems like it’s caught on in its first year – the restaurant celebrated its first anniversary in January – because as we were there I saw more people come through the front door than on any of our visits to CC’s or Potts.

They have a good product with interesting twists and customizable options fit for anyone looking for a good hot dog. And being that it is in a college town, I’d say it’s a good value for what you get (we spent about $25 for the three of us).

I hope the next time I make my way through the doors of this building that I am still eating at Mad Dogs.

Berks County Eats Rating:
Food: Very Good
Ambiance: Good
Service: Good
Value: Reasonable

Mad Dogs
100 N. Constitution Blvd
Kutztown, PA 19530

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plate of sesame chicken with greens a blue flower
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Review: Masa Sushi & Hibachi

strip mall storefront with stone facade and a large sign that reads "Masa Hibachi & Sushi"

One of the cool things about this blog is I have the opportunity to watch a space evolve as old restaurants move on and new restaurants arrive.

A perfect example of that sits in the center of a strip mall in the Broadcasting Square Shopping Center in Wyomissing.

The space was original home to Super King Buffet – a rather ordinary Chinese buffet. More recently, it was home to Hong Thanh, an inspired Vietnamese restaurant that left the city of Reading only to return to its original location last year (under the new name Lang Restaurant).

Large portrait drawing of a figure holding a samurai sword

Now, the space is home to Masa Hibachi and Sushi. It’s the third Asian restaurant at the location, but that’s where the similarities end.

Masa opened at the end of 2017 after a renovation that completely transformed the space. Gone is the booth seating that ran the length of the dining room. Instead, the dining area has been broken up. There are tables for two and four by the window. Beyond that are two hibachi grills, a sushi bar, another bar and more tables.

two bars - one illuminated in red the other in purple - at Masa in Wyomissing

The hibachi grills were fired up – two young children sat with parents and grandparents, mesmerized at the show of fire and cooking skills – but we skipped the performance to try some of Masa’s other menu items.

bowl of salad topped with two pieces of shrimp and an orange ginger dressing

Julie’s meal came with a house salad, served with ginger dressing. At first glance, it looked like honey mustard, but looks can be deceiving. The ginger was ever-present in this citrusy dressing. It had a nice tang to it and was very easy on the palate. The dressing really made the difference for what was otherwise a standard bowl of lettuce garnished with a cucumber slice and a pair of cherry tomatoes.

My meal did not come with salad so I ordered a cup of coconut chicken soup. Unfortunately my soup didn’t arrive as an appetizer and instead showed up with our entrees.

blue clay bowl filled with coconut chicken soup from Masa Hibachi in Wyomissing

I had coconut chicken soup once before, in February 2015 at China Penn in Exeter Township. The two dishes were similar but with some key differences. At China Penn, there was one large piece of chicken and the broth was filled with carrots and herbs.

Masa’s version featured bite size pieces of chicken – as a soup should. There were no carrots, but there were pieces of hard-boiled egg and cherry tomatoes, the latter adding a pleasant flavor burst in those bites. The broth itself was very good, if a little sweet. I only wish that I wasn’t eating it with my main course.

black bowl with udon noodles and beef from Masa in Wyomssing

That main course was a yaki udon stir fry. Yaki literally means grilled or fried in Japanese. Udon noodles are thicker, white colored noodles. The sauce for yaki udon is soy-based, but this was not soy sauce. It was light sauce that was much less salty than I was expecting from an Asian stir-fry.

Noodle dishes at Masa are served with the choice of vegetable, chicken, beef, shrimp, seafood, or “house.” I went with the beef, which was cooked in the sauce with the noodles, greens and carrots. It was a nice dish, but the size of the udon noodles made it almost impossible to get anything else on the fork.

takeout container with clear lid showing udon noodles and beef

Some of it – a little less than half – went home with me for lunch the next day.

Julie, on the other hand, left none of her sesame chicken and rice when she was finished.

white round plate with sesame chicken garnished with broccoli, a kale leaf and a purple flower

Sesame chicken is a staple of Americanized Chinese food menus. There is something about getting sesame chicken served on a plate instead of in a box that seems to add flavor. Or maybe this was just a better version of the dish. But it still felt familiar like the comfort food that it is.

The meal may have been slightly more expensive than a Chinese take-out restaurant, but the $30 price tag was certainly a modest cost for a sit-down meal for two that included a bowl of soup and two soft drinks.

I wouldn’t put it among the best meals that I have had on Berks County Eats, but overall, I was impressed – both by the changes made to the space and with the dining experience at Masa. It was a good meal in a cool atmosphere.

But in this case, good is good enough.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Reasonable

Masa Hibachi & Sushi
2733 Papermill Rd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Review: Savory Grille

Savory Grille Entrance

On November 17, Julie and I welcomed Jakob Laurence Brown to the world. The last two-and-a-half months have been the best of our lives, but one thing has been missing during that time. Julie and I haven’t had a night out to ourselves.

With Julie’s birthday falling at the end of January, we had the perfect excuse to change that. And we had the perfect place for our date night: Savory Grille in Seisholtzville.

Seisholtzville is about as far removed from Downtown Reading as it gets in Berks County. The tiny village sits in the shadow of Bear Creek Mountain Resort near the border of Berks and Lehigh Counties. (Despite being inside the Berks County line, it has a Macungie ZIP Code).

The drive wasn’t bad, though, as we drove about 40 minutes north from our Wyomissing home, driving Route 12 past Pricetown before taking a series of back roads that led to the small village.

Savory Grille Interior

Savory Grille, opened in 1997, sits at one of the two intersections in the village in the Seisholtzville Hotel, a stop for travelers since the 19th century. The restaurant has two dining areas – the main dining room with the bar where we checked in for our reservations and the Arbor Room, a modern attachment to the historic hotel where we were led to our seats. The two dining areas are connected by a window where the bartender hands out cocktails to the wait staff in the Arbor Room.

Savory Grille Drinks

Reading reviews on Yelp and other sites, the Arbor Room was listed as the place to be, and it was no wonder. While the main dining room was small and noisy – conversation seemed to echo off the walls and amplify – the Arbor Room was quiet, yet cozy. The original exterior wall makes it feel older, but the modern wood framing insulates the room enough to keep guests warm on a cold winter’s night.

Savory Grille Chicken Risotto

The first thing to arrive at our table was the amuse-bouche, an excellent grilled chicken risotto that set the tone for the meal to come. Though only large enough for one bite, it was perfectly prepared and bursting with flavor. The buttery rice and the spice-laden chicken worked so well together that if it were an entree option, I would have had our waitress change my order.

Savory Grille Breads

Next to arrive at the table was the bread. Normally, I don’t mention the complimentary bread, but the oatmeal stout bread was definitely worth mentioning. The slice was heavy and grainy, but with a deep flavor that was greatly enhanced by the alcohol infusion.

This being a special occasion, we decided to get the full experience and order one of the evening’s nine appetizer options – a grilled flatbread with sliced steak, fennel frond pesto, shaved manchego and fig compote.

Savory Grille Steak Grilled Flatbread

It was an outstanding starter that was at once sweet, salty, savory, creamy and earthy. The flatbread was light and airy. The steak – cooked rare, was the perfect pairing for the sweet figs. And every bite just melted away.

Next out was the salad, served with one of three house dressings. For mine, it was the blackberry yogurt.

Savory Grille Salad

This was the one and only part of the meal that let me down. The dressing was fine, a thick raspberry vinaigrette that was more sour than sweet. But there was just too much of it, my lips puckering more with every bite.

Julie’s orange-thyme dressing was lighter and more enjoyable with a sweeter taste that was easier to take.

After the salads, there was no more disappointment. For my entree, I ordered the five spiced duck breast. Our waitress wanted to be sure that I knew what I was getting. “That is served medium rare, is that ok?” she asked.

“I guess it has to be,” I replied.

Generally, I shy away from anything served less than medium-well, but the dish sounded too appetizing to pass up.

Savory Grille Five Spice Duck Breast

Let me tell you, this duck was cooked to perfection. The duck was served on a bed of mashed yams with blueberry compote and sauce gastrique.

With the spice rub, the duck breast could have held up on its own, but with the sauce – a sweet and sour blend – and the blueberries, it was hands-down one of the best dishes that I have tasted on my Berks County Eats journey. A blueberry would burst with nearly every bite, adding sweet and tart notes to the dish. I can’t speak highly enough about it.

The smashed yams and the vegetables on the plate were after thoughts. They were simply prepared with no frills or addition – though the green beans were tied with a sliver of onion in a beautiful presentation.

Savory Grille Pork Tenderloin

Julie’s dish was all about the sauce. Her pork tenderloin was served on a bed of toasted barley and butternut squash, but it was the caramelized onion sauce that really popped. Without it, the pork – though cooked tender and juicy – was rather plain. The onion sauce, though, added a little sweet and a strong flavor that carried through the dish.

The toasted barley added needed texture to the dish, counterbalancing the soft squash. The dish was also served with the same vegetable medley as mine, with green beans, carrots and broccolini.

When celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special occasion, one thing is for sure: we order dessert. The list that our waitress read off was long and filled with tempting items – crème brulee and coffee cake were among the selections – but we went for something a little more chocolatey.

Savory Grille Chocolate Tart

The chocolate tart was a pastry filled with chocolate ganache and topped with caramel, vanilla bean ice cream, fresh mint and a sugar cookie, garnished with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar.

It was quite the indulgence, each layer seemingly sweeter than the next. As the ingredients slowly melted together, it was even better. Though not found in every bite, the mint really stood out and added a light refreshment to the otherwise heavy and decadent dessert.

On our celebration dinners, I always expect to spend around $100, and our total at the Savory Grille was just shy of that. But for what was a two-hour dining experience with excellent food and atmosphere, it was money well spent.

Savory Grille provided one of the most memorable meals that we have had on a Berks County Eats visit, and with a menu that changes almost daily, new experiences are waiting for us on every future visit.

And I have no doubt that there will be future visits.

BCE Rating:
Food: Excellent
Service: Good
Ambiance: Excellent (in the Arbor Room)
Price: Expensive, but Fair

Savory Grille
2934 Seisholtzville Rd
Macungie, PA 18062

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tray lined with brown paper with a boat of pulled pork, a boat of hush puppies, a cup of coleslaw and a pile of onions and pickles
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Review: Brocmar Smokehouse – CLOSED

farmers market stand with a red sign that reads "Brocmar Smokehouse"

Editor’s Note: Brocmar Smokehouse closed its Shillington Farmers Market location in August 2020. The stand is now home to Southern Side Kitchen.

One of the bigger stories in Berks County’s food scene last year was the sale of the Shillington Farmers Market.

Julie and I had visited the market about three years ago and were so disappointed in the offerings that we never went back.

But there’s a renewed energy around the market. New stands are opening, and old favorites like Betty’s Salads are returning.

Among the new stands to arrive is Brocmar Smokehouse. The barbecue business opened in the market in December after spending the summer building its brand at events around Berks County.

Reading Royals fans may already be familiar with the Brocmar name. Before opening their Shillington location, Brocmar got a head start, operating a small stand at the Santander Arena during Royals home games.

wooden barrel next to a wooden wall with a sign that reads "Brocmar Smokehouse"

But the Farmers Market takes the business to another level, giving the business a physical location, regular hours and a greater potential reach.

The Farmers Market hours make it difficult for us to get there for dinner, but an underwhelming snowstorm was enough to close my office and allow us to make it to Brocmar long before the market’s 6 p.m. closing time.

While the Farmers Market is certainly a step forward for the business, it doesn’t allow for much of a dine-in experience. There are only two round tables – enough to seat eight at the most.

As Julie and I looked over the menu board, a woman sitting at one of the tables said “everything here is good.” She was waiting for a take-out order, her third in three weeks from the Smokehouse, she said.

A father and son stood in front of us in line, a written order in hand that seemed to include one of everything on the menu. That was fine with us as it gave us plenty of time to settle on our choices.

Julie and I pulled up chairs at one of the tables with Jakob in the stroller next to us. Fifteen minutes or so passed before our food was delivered and we got our first taste of Brocmar.

Passing on turkey, sausage, chicken and ribs, I instead went with my favorite barbecued meat – pulled pork – topping it with the Cripple Creek sauce, one of Brocmar’s six housemade options.

tray lined with brown paper with a boat of pulled pork, a boat of hush puppies, a cup of coleslaw and a pile of onions and pickles

The sauce is a bourbon and brown sugar that’s bold and sweet, but not spicy. It really brought out the best in the pulled pork, which was tender with crispy charred ends that gave it a slightly crunchy texture.

It was a beautiful blend, and together the meat and sauce were a great combo.

On the side, I enjoyed an order of hush puppies and a cup of slaw.

While we were waiting for our food, we saw an order of hush puppies being carried across the market and back. I asked about it later. “The number one question we got when we opened was, ‘What are hushpuppies?’ but we now we sell them every day.” It turns out, Brocmar doesn’t have a fryer. Instead, they fry up the hush puppies at the cafe across the market.

That’s only part of the work that goes into one order of hush puppies. The deep-fried corn fritters are hand-rolled with fresh green onion. It’s all worth it though for what is a perfect accompaniment to the main course.

black plastic bowl with brisket topped with coleslaw

The coleslaw was also very good, but it was even better as part of the Brocmar taco, Julie’s entree choice for the evening.

Barbecue is one of those foods that just seems to work well as part of a more comprised dish. The Brocmar Taco is one of those dishes. It starts with a cornbread cake, then it’s topped with your choice of meat (brisket, for Julie), slaw and sauce.

There were a lot of flavors coming together. The cornbread – the taco “shell” – had a rich corn flavor. The brisket was tender and juicy. And the creaminess of the coleslaw soaked into every layer.

To top it off, Julie added the honey bee barbecue sauce, which added a sweetness and mild spice throughout. It all came together to create an excellent dish.

It was also a hearty dish that we were both surprised that Julie was able to finish. But for a reasonable $23, we weren’t too upset that there were no leftovers for later.

As a whole, Brocmar Smokehouse delivered. It was some very good barbecue that left us wanting to try even more.

And because of Brocmar, we will be back to the Shillington Farmers Market soon.

BCE Rating
Food: Excellent
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Fair
Price: Very Reasonable

Brocmar Smokehouse
The Shillington Farmers Market
10 S. Summit Ave
Shillington, PA 19607

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Review: Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar – Kutztown

restaurant with wrap-around patio seating and a sign on the roof that reads "Ozgood's Grill and Bar"

Our drive to Kutztown wasn’t planned. Our original destination was Muddy’s Smokehouse BBQ in Oley. But this was the day when we first found out that Muddy’s was closed, at least temporarily according to the handwritten sign on the door.

So we took Route 662 north to Route 222, and grabbed the first exit for Kutztown where Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar stands.

It had been more than three years since our visit to Ozgood’s in Robesonia, the first of the two locations for the restaurant. The Kutztown location opened in 2015, occupying the space vacated by TC’s Food and Spirits.

dining area with wooden booths and tables

During my college years, I was a regular at TC’s and the Monday night poker games it hosted. It was a dive, but the food was good.

Ozgood’s made a few upgrades. The wrap-around front porch looks much nicer than it used to (it’s enclosed so it can be used year-round). And the overflow dining rooms look much nicer.

framed old fashioned magazine advertisement featuring a man and woman at a desk

The bar still looks great and the main dining room is mostly unchanged – wood booths atop hardwood floors.

We were seated in one of the overflow rooms, off the right side of the dining room, at a table for two with more comfortable, cushioned chairs.

pickles, carrots and celery with rach dressing

Some restaurants offer a bread basket as a prelude to the meal. Ozgood’s offers veggies and dip. It’s not a lot – a couple pickles, celery stalks and carrot slices – but it’s a nice touch and a welcome change of pace.

Both locations share a menu. It’s mostly bar food fare with burgers, sandwiches, steaks and other comfort food, with nightly specials throughout the week.

We happened to be there on a Sunday – rib night. I was already in the mood for barbecue so I couldn’t pass up a deal on babyback ribs.

rack of ribs in sauce on a plate with fries and a dinner roll with packet of butter

The ribs were slathered in Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, the star of the dish. It was sweet and smoky with a distinct aftertaste of the whiskey. It took what were average ribs – not much flavor in the way of a dry rub – and made them something more memorable.

Ribs are one of Ozgood’s “Neighborhood Specialties.” These entrees are all served with two sides. For mine, I chose shoestring fries and the Brutus salad.

The fries were good. I would say they were more of a fast food fry in thickness. I dipped them in the barbecue sauce as best as I could, and that made them even better.

Caesar salad with large croutons

The Brutus salad is Ozgood’s version of the classic Caesar.

I ate mine as an appetizer, and I found it enjoyable. Romaine lettuce, croutons, Parmesan cheese and dressing. I can’t tell you how the Brutus dressing differs from Caesar dressing, but it hit the spot and that’s all that really matters.

Our visit was late in Julie’s pregnancy, and she was having a mini-craving. She wanted the cobb salad, but she was hungry for steak. Thankfully, the Ozgood’s kitchen was more than happy to customize, swapping out the grilled chicken for grilled steak (for a slight upcharge).

salad greens with sliced steak and a sliced hard boiled egg and a dinner roll

Her cravings were well-satisfied. The steak was grilled to well-done (doctor’s orders during pregnancy) but still flavorful and juicy. The salad itself was fine enough. And she left full, with a little bit of salad to go.

Some of my fries went home with us as well. After adding on my iced tea, our final total was around $35. That felt about right for the amount of food.

And even though it wasn’t our first choice, Ozgood’s felt right, too.

Even if it wasn’t our first choice for dinner on this night.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Good
Price: Reasonable

Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar
4 Lincoln Rd
Kutztown, PA 19530

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banh mi on a plate with tomato soup
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Review: Morgantown Coffee House

sign with a drawing of a stylized cup of coffee in orange with the words "Morgantown Coffee House"

I willingly admit that I am not an expert when it comes to all of Berks County. The closer we are to our home in Wyomissing, the more familiar I am with the restaurants and food places.

But I am always trying to grow my knowledge and explore parts of the county that I otherwise wouldn’t give a second thought to.

This week, Julie and I found ourselves in Morgantown for a consignment sale, and needing a place to grab lunch, we took the opportunity to seek out the Morgantown Coffee House, a highly rated breakfast-and-lunch place along Route 23, just a few hundred yards inside the border with Chester County.

Round tables with barrels for bases in the dining room of Morgantown Coffee House

Blink and you miss it. The building that houses Morgantown Coffee House looks more like a family home, but it actually houses three businesses: the Coffee House, Painted Table Designs, and Juniper Tree Juice Bar.

The parking lot sits behind the building, just off Twin Valley Road. From there, the entrance is not well-marked. The other two businesses are so by process of elimination, we found it behind Door No. 2.

It’s definitely a cool little spot – hipster farmhouse was how Julie described it. The front room had four large round tables. A second dining room, away from the crowds at the order counter, had several tables for two and four, plus some cushier seats for one.

A wooden rectangular table with white trim and white chairs in the dining room of Morgantown Coffee House

Menus can be found on clipboards in baskets by the counter. After looking it over, we placed our orders, grabbed our seats and waited for our delivery.

It was a short wait, even shorter for our two incredible mocktails: a rosemary-honey cider and the fall lemonade.

The menu actually had a candied ginger cider, but I was told there was no more ginger syrup and was offered the rosemary-honey instead. And I was told that the rosemary-honey syrup was the best that the shop had created yet.

two tall glasses of apple cider on a black tabletop

I was not disappointed at all. The apple cider base was accentuated by the sweet honey. Hints of rosemary throughout added little flavor bursts.

Julie’s fall lemonade featured raw honey and cinnamon, and was even better than my cider. The cinnamon gave it a real bite while the honey sweetened it perfectly.

Our food arrived a short time later. The lunch menu includes hot and cold sandwiches, salads and the soup du jour. I went with the soup – on this day, a tomato and red pepper bisque – with the banh mi sandwich.

white oval plate with a white bowl filled with tomato soup next to a banh mi sandwich

It was a good tomato soup. The red pepper came through a little, but I enjoyed it. The sandwich, however, was the real star.

Banh mi is not on many Berks County menus so I was excited to find it on the menu in Morgantown. For those unfamiliar with it, banh mi is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich that includes a protein, pate and pickled vegetables.

In this case, the protein was pork belly (think bacon, but thicker and richer). It was also garnished with cilantro. The savory meat mixed with pickled vegetables made for a perfect mix.

And that dipping sauce – while potent in large doses – added heat while amplifying all of the flavors of the sandwich.

I loved everything about this sandwich…except the size. Even for a half-sandwich, it felt small. In hindsight, I should have ordered a full sandwich and soup to make it a more filling meal (and because I didn’t want to stop eating that banh mi).

Half a turkey club and spring mix on a white round plate

Julie’s sandwich was a little more robust than my own.

She had the turkey club, which was topped with bacon, cucumbers and hopped mayo on white bread. All of the ingredients were fresh and vibrant, which made for a very good sandwich.

On the side, she had mixed greens with the housemade buttermilk ranch dressing. The salad was simple, but Julie loved the dressing.

Like mine, her meal was on the light side. However, we were both surprised to find that the meals held us over – for the most part – through the afternoon.

mason jar stuffed with napkins and a knife, fork and spoon on a black tabletop

The meal was a little on the pricy side at about $30; $6 of that was splurging on the mocktails. The soup-and-sandwich combos were $11 each which is reasonable enough.

The coffee house is open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week (with hours until 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays), and we will definitely be back to try the omelets, quiche and other breakfast offerings.

Also, the menu rotates seasonally. That gives us a built-in excuse to visit again in a few months.

Overall, the Morgantown Coffee House was a great find. It’s a little out of the way for us, but you have to be willing to explore to find hidden gems like this.

BCE Rating
Food: Excellent
Service: Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Reasonable

Morgantown Coffee House
4997 N. Twin Valley Rd
Elverson, PA 19520

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