Pages

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Shiloh Grill


The old Shiloh Inn on Mount Washington had been serving meals on Shiloh street for many years. I recall having several good meals there and a fun and lively piano bar on the weekends. In the last few years, it seemed to go downhill a bit.

Most of you that read this blog know that I don't often make negative comments about peoples restaurants...I don't consider myself a professional food critic, and don't want to affect the way these people make a living. Since the Shiloh INN is now gone, I can say that the last two meals that Stacy and I had there were awful!! On our last trip, everything from service to food, to cleanliness to service was a huge failure. That's why I was thrilled to see that the folks from the Harris Grill in Shadyside were taking over. They kept a similar name, the Shiloh Grill, but that's about it. The place is cleaned up, the bar area improved and the menu totally changed. Last week I had a business meeting on the outdoor deck with a few folks visiting our city from Atlanta. All four of them were nicely impressed, not only with the restaurant but also with our beautiful city.

The food here is not up-scale dining. I'd call it up-scale bar style. Very good and very reasonable. You can make a meal out of a variety of appetizers or choose from a selection of sandwiches or dinners. We went with a combo trying the fish tacos, calamari, chicken quesadilla, and a Buffalo chicken dip. All were big hits with my guests. The calamari was really good, described on the menu as "all dressed up in a seasoned breading and quickly flash-fried, then tossed in a sweet and spicy chile drizzle of Dutch and Indian influence". Yum!

Many selections are noted that they can be prepared vegetarian, not so much vegan though...Of course if you are vegan, you probably aren't reading this blog!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Allegheny Mariner


Years ago, I would stay over night in the Kittanning area on occasion, and my favorite place to have a meal or just grab a drink and relax was the Allegheny Mariner. I was in the area the other day, and decided to stop. The restaurant is built on a steep hillside and actually hangs out over the Allegheny river, which creates a tremendous atmosphere and the view is beautiful. They also have a comfortable outside bar and a few tables on a deck that affords the same beautiful views.

While I didn't eat on this visit, I remember the food as being very good and the prices are very reasonable. This is a bit of a drive from the city, but it's a really nice trip for an afternoon and really worth it for such a unique place.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Coney Island Niko Lou's


I've been reading a lot about the Greek hot dog shops that seem to be prevalent North of Pittsburgh in the New Castle/Sharon area. Chowhound has a tread called "Coney Island Hot Dogs in the New Castle area" that has over a hundred replies, from all over the country!

We stopped in Sharon Pa to do a little shopping and have lunch and when I parked the car, I recognized Niko Lou's right across the street. Even though we were on our way to lunch, I decided that I had to at least try one of their famous Coney's! Stacy rolled her eyes, and went to the department store, while I went to the counter and ordered a dog the traditional way, which is with hot dog sauce (a type of chili sauce), yellow mustard and onion. I'm not even a big hot dog fan, but I really like these. The good quality Coney combined with the unique sauce make these a winner.

If you care to try this type of sauce at home, a couple of years back, I posted a similar recipe that you can access by clicking on the post title above.