Weekend in Gettysburg. Restaurant Reviews

When we were in Gettysburg for our KCBS judging class, we decided to try a few local establishments for some good food and drink.  On some local knowledge provided by the staff at the Hampton Inn, we choose the following places to go...

Appalachian Brewing Company

Hauser Estate Winery

The Pub and Restaurant

To start, the Appalachian Brewing Company for lunch...

This brew pub is just outside town on Rt. 30 on the way to Chambersburg, just before you get to the entrance to Little Round Top.  

After scanning the menu, I started with a pint of the Hoppy Trails IPA and Hope had a Mountain Lager.  Both beers were good.  The lager was fresh and crisp with a nice finish.  The IPA was not as hoppy and I usually like, but was good none the less.  Full flavored, good color, and a nice finish as well...

For lunch, I started with the Cheddar Ale Soup...

This was a rich soup created with the house ale and cheddar cheese.  Bits of potato inside and topped with bacon, sour cream, and shredded cheese.  This was a good start to lunch.  Little did I know it would be the best part of lunch...

For my entree, I had the Rockfish Tacos...

The fish was great.  Lightly battered and fried to perfection.  Not overly greasy.  The taste was perfect.  Here is where the goodness stopped.  The lettuce was limp, the tortillas were cold and soggy, and the salsa, while good in flavor, was very mushy.  To top it off, the rice was dry.  

Hope had the Beef Nacho platter...

We were expecting seasoned ground beef.  What we got was cold, heat lamp burgers cut into squares and placed on top.  The salsa was the same as mine, nice flavor, but mushy.  The chips were good, but this dish was lacking in cheese.  

Bottom line:  

1 out of 4 stars for the food, 3 out of 4 stars for the beer.  I realize everyone has a bad day, but 0 for 2 is not a good indicator.  Stop and have a pint and maybe a cup of soup.  

After lunch, we followed Rt. 30 further out of Gettysburg toward Chambersburg and stopped at the Hauser Estate Winery for a tasting...

Local Pennsylvania wine has come a long way over the years.  It used to be all you could get was cloyingly sweet table wine in two colors, white and red.  But, over the years, the vineyards have started to take their craft seriously.  The whites are better than the reds.  I haven't figured out why yet.  But, there is some quality there.  We started with a sample of their house apple cider, Jack's Hard Cider.  Hope is always in pursuit of the perfect apple cider ever since she sampled a pint of nectar in Ireland.  Unfortunately, she has never found any cider that compares.  Until now.  The Jack's Hard Cider has a nice crisp apple taste.  Not too carbonated and with that oak barrel finish that you look for in a cider.  Better than Magners/Bulmers?  Nope.  But, a definite second.  We bought a case to take home.  

After tasting the whites and reds, we liked the Jenny Wade white.  This semi-dry white table wine is named for the only local civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.  Not too sweet, more than half dry, with a nice citrus finish.  I see this pairing well with grilled seafood on a hot summer day.  We liked this wine enough to buy three bottles to take home.  

None of the reds impressed us, but they were OK enough to drink if you are a red fan.  We suggest stopping by Hauser Estate for the cider, their white wines, and the view...

Bottom line, 3 out of 4 stars.

For dinner, we went to The Pub and Restaurant, located in the main square of Historic Gettysburg.  

The Pub still has the original tin ceilings that are in great condition...

Both of us were craving some beef, so we both ordered the strip steak.  I had a Caesar Salad to start as well.  

The salad was Caesar in name only.  Mediocre at best.  Dry lettuce and tasteless dressing.  Where were the anchovies?  Our steaks were lackluster as well...

Sorry for the picture quality.  We ordered our steaks medium rare.  They arrived medium well.  The flavor was OK, but they were dry like shoe leather.  Very unimpressed.  

Bottom line, 1.5 out of 4 stars.  

It has been many years since I had been to Gettysburg.  The town has come a long way.  Very touristy, but it has its highlights and is a nice place for a quick weekend getaway.  Especially if you are a history buff...

Plus, with all of the peach trees, I cannot imagine how good a fresh peach would taste, straight off the tree...

I think that Hope and I will go back for a weekend over the summer.  But, we will be finding some other places to dine.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Hot News! Competition Categories to be Modified!

I just heard that a sanctioning body for BBQ Competitions has decided to change the categories teams are to cook for competitions in 2013, starting immediately.

The new categories are:

1.  Non-specified Chicken Meat Product

May be breaded or battered.  Frying acceptable.  Only has to consist of 50% real chicken.  Extra points awarded for artistic nugget shapes.  Dipping sauce on the side is mandatory! (may not consist of a Ranch base).

2.  Formed Pork Product (Combination of old Rib and Pulled Categories)

May be in patty or "fake" rib form.  No bones allowed, Country Style ribs are acceptable.  Overly sweet and spicy sauces are mandatory and should be added to the extent that they are pooling in the bottom of the container.  Meat should be over cooked and mushy.  Buns may be used as garnish.

3.  Fake "Beef"

"Beef" burger, can be made of soy, beans, tofu, or any other plant based protein.  "Grill" marks may be painted on the patty.  "Meat" in loaf form acceptable for turn in as long as six pieces can be identified.  Excessive condiments or sauces encouraged to add flavor.  No seasoning with beef based rubs or injections allowed.  

4.  Mystery Meat

Must be highly processed and in tube form.  May be beef, chicken, or pork based and must only contain 50% real meat with the other 50% containing lips, hooves, and beaks.  Tube meat with natural casing or kosher products forbidden.  Must provide ten meat samples and eight buns for turn-in.   


In a related note, propane grills will be the only approved cooking source as well...

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and being a good sport.  Happy April Fools Day!

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Back to School

Well, last weekend, me and Hope attended a KCBS Judges and Table Captain Class so that we could become certified judges and Table Captains...

What does a class consist of you might ask?  Well, you have certified instructors from KCBS who review competition rules and instruct you on what you should be looking for as a judge and how to judge objectively.  You also review protocol and how to interact with your Table Judge and the other judges at the table.

After the power point presentation, a local BBQ team provided the four KCBS categories so that we could judge real food first hand.  Half of the BBQ was good and half bad on purpose.  They also slipped in some illegal boxes to see if we would catch them.  I must say, Hope is better at catching the illegal boxes than I am.  

Why take the class?  As an active competition team, we wanted to see things from the judges point of view to see if we can improve our scores this year.  One big help were our instructors, Carole and Randy Bigler, competitors themselves for many years.  They were quite helpful with tips on what judges are looking for on the circuit.  If you are a team and are looking to take a class, I would recommend doing so with Carole and Randy.   

Finally, we also learned that if you want to become a Master KCBS Judge, you have to judge 30 events and cook with a team.  So, if anyone out there is looking for a team to cook with this year for your Master Judge certification, please feel free to contact us.  We would be glad to help you put the signature in your book.  

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Weekend in Hong Kong, Part 2 of 2

For my Sunday in Hong Kong, I wanted to head over the Stanley.  Stanley is a small village on the southern end of Hong Kong Island that has a nice, European feel.  On a tip from my friend, he said to skip breakfast and to get an early ferry over to the island before noon as Stanley is a favorite place for the locals to hang out on their day off.  So, I grabbed an early ferry over to the island, then a taxi across the island to Stanley...

That is what the ferry looks like.  A great bargain to get around.  For the US equivalent of 50 cents, you can take one-way trips all over the area.

Just to explain, Hong Kong is not just the island.  There are many islands, plus a large chunk of the mainland (Kowloon, the New Territories, etc...) that make up the area.  The cab ride over the Stanley from the ferry terminal to the village runs about $110 HKD, about $15 USD.

I arrived to Chilebrown's (of Mad Meat Genius fame) Asian version of heaven: Farm Markets...

These produce stands are on every corner with a fresh assortment of fruits and vegetables that you might know and others that you might not.  There are also more conventional shops as well...

I was told that the waterfront was the place to be for a meal, so I scoped it all out to settle on a nice place for an early lunch...

You have expats of all types: Aussies, Kiwi's, Americans, and lot of locals.  All walking yippy dogs.  At the far end of the harbor, I found something that made me shudder: American Strip Mall...

No Golden Arches and high priced Lattes for me.  I was here to strap on my Asian flavored feed bag.  So, I walked back down the harbor front and picked a nice little pub with outside seating.  The one with the beige canopy and the black umbrellas...

Strangely enough, it was called the American Pub.  But, the chalkboard menu looked appealing and the old Cantonese lady was quite persistent in telling me I had to eat there.  Besides, it was populated with locals, so I couldn't go wrong, could I?  My first order of business was to order an adult drink.  So, I settled on a Tsingtao.

Tsingtao is a nice, refreshing Asian pilsner.  Asian pilsner is quite good.  They are very German in taste and character.  It makes sense since the Germans left the recipe during WWII.  My starter was a nice bowl of Tom Yum Goong soup...

Tom Yum Goong is a flavorful bowl of spicy goodness.  Chicken broth base, chunks of lemongrass, and filled with Thai chilies and shrimp.  It leaves a nice fire in your belly and a tingle on your lips when you are done.  Next up was a Dim Sum platter...

Dim Sum is a local specialty and cornerstone of Cantonese cooking.  It come with many choices.  This platter had, clockwise starting at left: steamed pork meatballs, pork dumplings, steamed buns with ground pork and shrimp filling, and 2 veggie springs rolls in the middle.  This basket of flavor was served with three dipping sauces...

On the left is soy sauce, in the middle is sweet chili sauce, and the right is a savory vinegar based chili dipping sauce.  All three complemented the steamed treats.  Once I finished, I went exploring the Stanley beach front for a few hours.

Before returning to Central Hong Kong, I saw a noodle shop.  I walked in, no encouragement needed.  I ordered another local beer and contemplated the menu...

Here was my first disappointment of the day.  The Hong Kong Beer is a micro-brewed dark ale.  Unfortunately, it is lacking in body and flavor.  Better than mass produced Crudweiser, but not much better.

For an early dinner, I settled on a bowl of Won-Ton soup, another local specialty...

Rich chicken broth, noodles, and Won-Tons filled with ground pork and shrimp.  The filling is perfectly seasoned with the right amount of sesame oil.  I have not had a Won-Ton soup this good.  Unfortunately, it will be hard to find something like this back home.

My belly full, I started to make my way back to Central.  When I arrived back at the ferry terminal, I went for a walk and ran into some local fisherman killing some time on a sunny day...

Unfortunately, the fishing report was not good.  It seems all they were doing was feeding the crabs...

Public Service Announcement...

I ended my day at a local ice cream shop.  Believe it or not, ice cream in Asia is very good, with flavors you would not normally get in the US.  I tried a taste of the Rose Petal ice cream and decided to have a scoop of that, along with a scoop of the Volcanic Pistachio...

The Rose Petal had a fragrant flavor that was not overpowering.  The taste was almost like a cross between cherry and lavender.  Would I order it again?  Probably not.  But, it was not something I would say no to if it was the only flavor available.  On the other hand, the Volcanic Pistachio was the best Pistachio ice cream I have ever had.  Rich, creamy, and every bite had lots of coarsely ground Pistachios.  I wanted to buy a pint and ship it home.

At this point, I rolled back to my hotel room and moaned until my belly settled.  Thanks for joining me on my Asian culinary adventure.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill