Berks Barrister Winter 2018 - 46

w w w.BERKSBAR.org

Penn Avenue in a Day
By Susan N. Denaro, Esquire

The Farmhouse Kitchen
426 Penn Avenue
Open daily 8 am to 3 pm

A

fun Reading fact is that a Reading
School District student can spend
his or her entire school career, from
kindergarten through college, on 13th
Street, at schools within just a few blocks
of each other. A fun West Reading fact is
that with a little careful planning and an
extra roomy outfit, one can enjoy breakfast,
lunch and dinner, as well as a righteous
happy hour, at restaurants within a few
blocks of each other on Penn Avenue in
one day.
Such a day would have to start at the
Farmhouse Kitchen, my current favorite
breakfast spot. Everything on its menu
is locally and organically grown without
a GMO in sight. I highly recommend
the Hippy Dippy, vegetarian option
that features a sunny side up egg served
with flavored hummus, avocado and
cucumber slices, over greens tossed with
a light, lemon vinaigrette. Also worthy
of a mention is its baked oatmeal, which
features a different flavor combination
daily. My favorite is its blueberry and
pineapple version.
For lunch, just two blocks away, is an
old favorite, the West Reading Tavern,
where its Korean duck BBQ sandwich
sometimes calls my name. Served on a
soft brioche roll, it's a little big, but the
balance between the Asian slaw and the
sauce on the sandwich makes it hard to
leave any behind on the plate. Worthy of
note are the truffled fries which feature
a sea salt which lends the subtle truffle
taste. The main reason to order them is to
enjoy the malt vinegar aioli that comes as
an option I prefer over the garlic aioli. A
really great aioli helps one understand why
the Holland Dutch prefer mayonnaise
with their fries - something I never quite
understood as a ketchup-loving kid.
When it comes to happy hour, my
location of choice is Winedown Café
& Wine Bar, which always has some
interesting wines to offer, and the adjacent
46 | Berks Barrister

whiskey bar is a nice alternative on those
days when only brown liquor will suffice.
Although both offer some great food
to accompany their drinks, perhaps the
best reason to stop at Winedown is that
it sells wine to go so it's a perfect stop
before heading to one of my favorite
BYOB restaurants, Rice, located across
the Avenue.
I have yet to have a bad meal at Rice.
For starters, try the Thai spring rolls that
arrive at the table piping hot and the
serving
7 is big enough for two to share.
Although they always have the perfect
crunch when you bite into them, they can
be a little greasy. Fortunately, the dipping
sauce helps cut through it.
My preferred entrées are the Thai
holy basil duck and the seared salmon.
Unlike duck dishes I've had in other
Thai restaurants, this one thankfully
features a boneless duck breast as there
is nothing I dislike more than having to
pick around chopped bones when eating.
Accompanying the locally raised duck is
a vegetable stir fry of carrots, asparagus
and most interestingly, king oyster
mushrooms.
If you had duck for lunch, then try the
seared salmon which comes with a choice
of the Thai basil sauce or Thai red curry
sauce; the latter is my preferred selection.
Instead of being heavily slung over the
dish, the sauce is served in a tall shot glass
which allows you to control so it does
not completely overpower the flavor of
the salmon. It has just enough spice level
to hum on the palate but not so much
that you can't drink whatever amount is
left in the glass after you enjoy your last
bite of salmon. The vegetable side is a
combination of green beans, carrots and
broccoli. In a perfect world, the veg from
the duck dish would be served with the
salmon, but that's a first world problem to
be tackled another day.

West Reading Tavern
606 Penn Avenue
Lunch: Thursday and Friday
11:30 to 2:00 pm
Saturday 11:30 to 3:00 pm
Dinner: Sunday 12:30 to 8:00 pm
Monday-Thursday 5:00 to 9:00 pm
Friday and Saturday 4:30 to 9:30 pm
Winedown Café & Wine Bar
622 Penn Avenue
Tuesday-Thursday 4:00 to 11:00 pm
Friday and Saturday 4:00 to Midnight
Rice Modern Thai
615 Penn Avenue
484-755-5864
Tuesday 5:00 to 9:00 pm
Wednesday-Friday
11:30-2:00 and 5:00-9:00 pm
Saturday 5:00 to 9:00
Sweet Ride Ice Cream
542 Penn Avenue
Wednesday-Thursday Noon to 8:30 pm
Friday and Saturday Noon to 9:30 pm
Sunday Noon to 8:30 pm

Entrees at Rice come with a choice
of two scoops of rice: jasmine, riceberry,
jasmine brown, sticky white or black
sticky rice. For a small upcharge there is
a blue rice option that is my favorite. It
is billed as being colored with an extract
from a butterfly pea flower and is supposed
to have anticancer properties. It is also
supposed to reduce stress and anxiety while
increasing blood flow and improving eye
health. I don't know about any of those
claims, I just like the taste and think there
aren't enough blue foods in the world.
Still hungry? You could hit Sweet Ride
for a scoop of ice cream on the way back to
your car if you parked near the Farmhouse
Kitchen. Why would you want to have
three meals in one day on the same street?
Possibly because once you manage to get a
parking space in West Reading, you might
not want to give it up. Perhaps that blue
rice may be an antidote to parking in West
Reading some days.
Ms. Denaro is with the Wyomissing law
firm of Georgeadis||Setley.
Berks Barrister Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks Barrister Winter 2018
