One of my favorite places within (almost) walking distance from my house is the Oakmont National Pub. It’s a nice, relaxing, and unpretentious neighborhood spot, with a surprisingly good selection of beers and some good food. The spot used to be an actual bank, hence the “national” in the name. Some time during my childhood days, this used to be another restaurant. Then one day it burned down. And from the ashes rose up the Oakmont.

When you walk in, there’s a sizable bar, the kitchen in the middle, and some booths on the side. There is also an outside dining area, which they call their “outdoor beer garden.” I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it is outdoors, and during the cold months, it’s enclosed and heated. There is also a very small dining area upstairs, which overlooks the entire downstairs.

They have regular bar fare, burgers, salads, some pasta dishes, seafood, veal, and some of the most humongous cheesesteaks you’ve ever witnessed in your life. They also have a great selection of beers on draft (no bud or miller lite pints here) as well as a full booze bar.

J ordered the french onion soup as an appetizer. He almost damn near burned his mouth off. But he still liked it. He also got the meatloaf. It came with mashed potatoes, gravy, and some beautiful looking garlicky green beans.

I went with something I’d had before and liked, turkey pot pie. I still liked it, but it was a bit saltier than I would have preferred. I probably also wouldn’t have minded if the puffed pastry was cooked a bit more. But otherwise, still good.

We were sitting upstairs, but the service was just fine. They did not forget about us up there. We’re in the burbs, so you can still smoke here, which is a bummer, but I guess you just have to deal with it. On a surprising note, there was strangely good music playing here the whole night. I certainly did not expect to hear Teagan and Sara, Spoon, Modest Mouse, and the like from the stereo at the Oakmont. I thought for sure it would just be some sports game or country or black eyed peas all night. I really like this place. I will like it even more when it goes non-smoking. So hurry up Ed Rendell!

R had been talking about From the Boot for the past few weeks… insisting that we go there for lunch. We stopped by the other day and had a nice low-key meal. It’s a small BYOB italian place in a horribly unassuming strip mall in Lafayette Hill. It looks like just a crappy takeout place from the outside, but inside, it’s cozy and there are a small number of tables. It’s right next to a depressing looking sushi place.
The pasta lunch specials come with these garlic rolls. Oh my dear goodness. Piping hot… garlicky… parmesany… delicious! Man, these were worth the entire meal.

R got the cheese ravioli. I think there were 5 humongo ravioli. The pasta entrees also come with a house salad.

T got the penne rustica, with had chicken and portobellos in a cream sauce. Everybody liked their pasta.

I got a meatball parm sub, or half of one. This was good, but also friggin hot, and I burned the roof of my mouth. Oops. Service was good, our waitress was extremely nice and friendly, but she herself could have used a sandwich or 12. From the Boot was a nice surprise.

From the Boot
517 Germantown Pike

Lafayette Hill, PA 19444

(610) 834-8680

This past Sunday, Sangkee Asian Bistro had a traditional Chinese Lion Dance Party to celebrate the Year of the Rat. I remembered this on my way home back from yoga, so I stopped in. They basically had an open house, served us free(!) food, and gave us a really fun treat.
They had some light appetizers (coconut shrimp, shu mei, spring rolls) and some peking duck, baby bok choy, some noodles, and some general tso’s chicken.

See, even the lion wants him some of that delish peking duck… I love that they did this, there were a bunch of kids there, and they loved it. Even though this is the sister restaurant to the more famed chinatown spot, it’s a place with a total neighborhood atmosphere.