Pennsylvania Road Trip (day one)

Day one of our Pennsylvania road trip is coming to a close and it was a good day. Not so bright and early Tuesday we started at Knead Bagels in Philadelphia, because you have to have breakfast out when you start a trip, even if that means a crappy meal at McDonald’s in the airport, or if you’re lucky, a bagel with nova, and lots of trimmings at a great bagel shop. We ate, ducked into Nuts to You for some road snacks, and hightailed it out of town. It was a beautiful day for driving and as we got farther from the city I watched the temperature drop.

We tried to stop in at the Bird-in-Hand farmers’ market but they were closed, so we ogled the scenery as we drove to the outlet shops. We got my daughter everything she’ll need to look fabulous this fall and stocked up on school supplies at Five Below. By the time we arrived at the hotel we were both tired and decided to rest until dinner, which turned out to be a good idea, as dinner was hard work.

I was determined to have one meal at a Pennsylvania Dutch smorgasbord, and we did a fair amount of comparing, research and reading reviews. We narrowed our choices to three; Bird-in-Hand, Miller’s and Shady Maple. I’ve been to Shady Maple before, and it was a half hour drive from our hotel, so based on a half a star advantage, we chose Bird-in-Hand. We arrived to find we’d have a half-hour wait for a table, but that gave us time to browse the tchotchke-filled gift shop, where I bought two postcards with recipes I’ll probably never use.

When we were finally seated we were both hungry, though my daughter was saving room for the plentiful dessert buffet. We started with the salad bar and for a moment I considered the hot bacon dressing, but one look at the goop in the bain-marie made me change my mind and opt for the ranch, in the absence of any vinaigrette. On the salad bar were some bright red ovals and when Rachel asked me what they were it took me about 30 seconds to realize they were pickled eggs,” I have to try one of those” she declared. She didn’t finish it.

It was too hot for soup, but I wanted to try the chicken corn soup, so I got enough to taste. I don’t understand why anyone would put chopped hard-boiled egg into anything but a cold salad, yet there it was in the soup. I ate around the egg and the soup had a nice flavor, probably from the delicious corn. The corn on the cob, offered as a side, and despite floating in a pan of hot buttery water was perfect; not overcooked, still with a bit of crunch and so sweet and fresh. The sign above it indicated it was from their farm, and it tasted like it. It was the best thing I ate there. 

Once we got to the entrée portion of the entertainment I was more intrigued by the sides than the meats. My daughter got the macaroni and cheese and proclaimed it wonderful, and clearly homemade. I tried a zucchini casserole which was nice and light and cooked perfectly. Once I figured out what they were I decided to try a ham ball, I ate one bite and that was more than enough for me. It was way too salty with a sweet-ish glaze of some sort, and it tasted like Spam was one of the ingredients. This was the worst thing I ate, maybe ever.

Then it was time for dessert. I suggested to Rachel that she try something a Yelp-er had mentioned; take a waffle or two from the entrée section (chicken and waffles) and top it with ice cream and chocolate sauce and she did, adding a few other items to her plate. There wasn’t anything on the dessert buffet that tempted me, but I did try the éclair pudding (which sounds better than it tastes) and the shoofly pie, because I was thinking about making shoofly pie for the blog, though I am reconsidering that, after trying it. When I tried it as a kid I remember liking it, but I can only hope my tastes have developed and matured since then.

By the time we left Rachel was complaining about how full she was. I certainly had enough to eat but didn’t feel stuffed though I’m not sure if that is a reflection of restraint or capacity. We both agreed that for a buffet the food was generally very good. Everything tasted homemade and well cooked. The food wasn’t overly salty (except for those pesky ham balls) and the veggies tasted fresh.

It’s been at least seven years since I last ate at a smorgasbord, and another seven can go by before I want to again, but if you find yourself in Lancaster County and are craving chicken and waffles with a side of roast pork loin and carved turkey breast, with zucchini casserole, carrots, parslied potatoes, pork with sauerkraut, turkey pot pie, and a bunch of creamy desserts, Bird-in-Hand will more than satisfy. Have a great day, and we’ll check back tomorrow morning.