The sign on the mantel above the fireplace reads “Danger: Men Cooking.” It’s part joke, part warning. At the Bernville Eagle Hotel on Main Street, just parallel to Route 183, you can easily visualize a stagecoach dropping off dusty riders who dined heartily and stayed the night in an earlier century. In the kitchen for this new millennium are Havana Joe (yes, that’s the head chef’s nickname) and sous chef Mike Rauenzahn, who also happens to be the restaurant’s owner, along with his wife, Shanna.
Traditional With a Twist
Though it’s like stepping back in time, the elegant cuisine is genuinely new. Fusion entrees and food combinations that boggle the mind and entrance the stomach fill up the menu. Many have a Cuban flair but happily coexist more traditional fare—the comfort foods we’ve come to know and love in Berks. You know, pork chops and mashed potatoes. Hamburgers and onion rings. But there’s a flavor message in every item that seems to scream: “This is going to make you sit up and take notice!”
Here are some perfect examples: The Reuben is on an excellent rye, its sauerkraut bite made sweet by the silky sauce atop a crusty, buttery, very tall, well-stuffed sandwich. You might as well be in Brooklyn.
Beer-battered jumbo onion rings are not just fried to a deep golden color, juicy but taut, but are a full two inches tall, and thick. There’s also a South Beach Cobb Salad; there are tapas of all sorts, and Oysters Rodriguez is named after the so-called “godfather” of Nuevo Latino cuisine, chef Doug Rodriguez. And this is but the tip of the flavor explosions here.
Simply Delicious
To get a full measure when ordering dinner, do not bypass what sounds like a simple broth. The Cuban black bean soup is a scrumptious, super-satisfying concoction, garnished with a dollop of sour cream dotted with diced red onions and punctuated by a bay leaf. It’s not spicy-hot, but instead characterized by a sure, thick consistency and a roundness that yields the full flavor and enticing aroma of these marvelous beans. In fact, mid-summer, a bowl of this soup and a bright salad plus a brew from the bar would suffice for a wholesome, healthy meal. Add a warm, soft, light roll from the bread basket, and you are all set.
With salads come the freshest of lettuces and nutrient-rich vegetables, many multicolored, pretty to see: romaine and mixed leafies such as arugula and spinach. Then two kinds of grated cheeses, plus home-seasoned croutons. Of course, there are many dressings to choose from, but when the waitstaff says those magic two words, “House dressings,” just hold up the hand and say, “Stop right there!” The savvy foodie will ask to try both of the Houses: a mango vinaigrette dressing and a cilantro vinaigrette. It’s truly hard to say which one is superior; both are delicately and perfectly blended, as though the chef had said to himself one day, “Now, let me make sure this dressing is going to make love to the salad, so they can never be parted.” Tossed salad never tasted so good. The cilantro vinaigrette, with its just-bitey-enough herbaliciousness could absolutely be bottled and sold.
Add Some Spice
Next, try the Cuban cigars. They are seven or eight inches long, made of rolled flour tortillas stuffed with jack cheese, peppers, spices, and black beans. Dip these in sour cream and the salsa that carries a swift kick. Think eggrolls—only light and Latin, not at all greasy—the sort of appetizer that matches up with wine or the drink of the day (such as the fruity Amaretto Sour).
The flatbread pizza is an engaging take on the food we all know and love, and the Bernville Eagle offers some varieties that stun the taste buds. There’s a beefy topping made with caramelized onions, so that flavors alternate between the tomato-ey and the sugary. Then there’s a roasted tomato topping option which is richly juicy, with mozzarella drizzled everywhere. Yum. (Wait till it cools a bit to pick it up.)
Throw caution to the wind and get tempted by the Jerk Chicken platter for the main dish. The presentation is unforgettable, with a fuchsia-colored island flower adorning the warm, yellow, aromatic rice. Fried plantain nuggets are tucked next to red beans, completing the plate. The meat, hearty but tender, is very generously portioned; its pungent spices reach evenly across the skin and deep into the white meat. This is the kind of meal where a diner can circle again and again around the plate as though it were a theme park. Havana Joe’s plantains are the best on the mainland—maybe even on the islands. He—the chef—seems driven to cook as though each day is the last, each meal one to remember always.
To finish, a Kahlua flan arrives, surrounded by a bevy of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and whipped cream. In its texture and caramel-soaked, toasted pudding goodness, this flan might well be what angels eat in heaven.
Winners on the Daily Board
Most Amusing: The Three Little Pigs, a sandwich with—what else?—bacon, ham, and pork, plus a fried egg on a brioche. With fries.
Cuba-talian Fusion-esque: The Miami Burger, a chimichurri burger with basil pesto sauce.
Farthest East: An Asian joy is the Bernville Eagle’s own Fried Shrimp over Fried Rice with sweet chili Thai sauce.
Summer Veggieful: Corn and Poblano Lasagna, an all-veggie healthy and zingy deep dish featuring zukes and yellow squash, cheese, and perfect pasta.
THE BERNVILLE EAGLE HOTEL Located at 301 North Main Street | Bernville | 610.488.6871 HOURS Mon-Th: 3pm-12am | Fri & Sat: 3pm-2am | Closed Sun
BY MARIAN FRANCES WOLBERS | PHOTOS BY HEIDI REUTER
