It was a Friday night, and we were looking for some place
nice to go for dinner. We wanted value for our dollar and a nice, relaxed
atmosphere. Good food, good drink, good service. We found all of the above in
Chester at the Publick House.
Now first let me start by saying we went here with a Groupon
deal. Groupon is wonderful. If you are a user, you already know this. If you’re
not, you seriously need to sign up. Aside from the usual Groupon deals, the website has a reservation feature which allows
you to not only secure your table for a night out, but factor in a discount in
the process. The folks at the Publick House were smart enough to recognize this
fact and honestly…that is what brought us in.
Not that I was new to the place. My family used to go to the restaurant when we were kids. We
celebrated Mother’s Day and other such holidays there with brunches. This is
going back 25-30 years and I had not been back there since, though I have very
fond memories of the historic building and the town of Chester itself. It has
since changed hands (I believe it was closed for a time) and when I saw the
Groupon, I had to give it a go. I was glad I did.
I am habitually early. Everywhere. I hate to be late. I had
a long day (week, month…) at work and was looking forward to meeting up with
Eric and having a nice dinner. This is how we treat ourselves, being the food snobs we are. Nothing releases the tensions like time spent letting someone else cook the food and do the dishes while you enjoy a drinks and some conversation. We were very much looking forward to this.
I came home, got prettied up as best I could and we left...knowing full well that if I plopped my tush on the couch that it would get comfy and not get up. We
arrived 40 minutes early for our reservation. I was pretty sure we would be
waiting – which would have been perfectly fine. The restaurant is warm and
inviting from the moment you walk in the doors with antique telephones and other items to look at. However the gal at the front
desk was more than happy to seat us right away. Not only did she seat us well
ahead of our reservation, she sat us right next to the big fireplace which was
lit, warm, and inviting us to get cozy.
I have to say that if you are someone who gets warm quickly,
the fireplace is not a place for you. But for me who is always cold…it was
lovely and toasty, not to mention a nice place for a weary couple to spend a couple hours. We started to look over the menu and already had ideas in
our heads of what we wanted to order having looked at it online before we came. Our sdelightful erver Ryan was promptly at our table
with specials which immediately threw a wrench into that! More good options?
This would take a while. They have a nice variety of entrees. The menu is not
so big that you get lost in it, but it is not so small that you feel you have
to order something you don’t want.
We decided to start with cocktails and an appetizer. Eric
had a beer. They had nice seasonal varieties on tap. I had a pineapple upside
down cake martini. We also ordered the corn meal calamari. The martini was
PERFECT. It smelled of pineapple and vanilla and was layered beautifully with a
cherry sitting at the bottom of the well sized glass, and all for $10. Then the calamari came out. Oh my…
Now here is my issue with calamari. LOTS of places serve it.
Very few serve it well. It often tastes and chews like little rubber tires with
oily breading falling off and bowl of cold marinara sauce on the side. The
Publick House, however, NAILED it. The corn meal breading was seasoned just
enough to create a tasty coating that clung to the rings. The calamari itself
was cooked perfectly. Firm, but not rubbery. It allowed for the taste of the
breading and the taste of the calamari to coexist properly. It’s amazing how
many establishments do this poorly. To top it off, they served it with a spicy remoulade.
A perfect compliment.
| (clearly, we hated it) |
Throughout our meal, our server was attentive and funny. Our
water glasses were never empty. We always felt well cared for and never rushed.
Its a real nice atmosphere they have at The Publick House. One thing I would like to mention is that despite it being a nice place to go and eat, children are welcome there with their own menu. It's nice to have a nice place to go with family! When it came time to decide if we would like dessert, we figured we might as
well! Two slices of very delicious cheesecake…always a win. It topped off our
meal and our lovely dinner nicely.
All in all, we loved the Publick House. It has a warm and
welcoming atmosphere and a very attentive and polite staff. The menu is well
thought out and varied. The food was delicious and cooked with care and
attention to taste. I especially loved that we were so well cared for despite
being there on a Groupon! We also noticed a band setting up in the bar area, so maybe we will check it out for cocktails some weekend soon...but we will definately be back.
