Dining Out

In the summertime, going out to lunch or dinner often seems more inviting than cooking, however well your kitchen may be air conditioned.

But we find that the summer heat definitely interferes with our interest in "fancy" food or service.  We want good food, but we want it to be unpretentiously prepared and served.  No fancy French sauces.  Nothing wintry (we have one local restaurant that never changes its menu -- it's great on a wintry day, but impossible from May through September. 

So we have a list of restaurants that are "cool."

• Physically cool -- who wants to eat in a room that's as hot as the outside.  That also means we don't eat outside very much, unless it's one of those mythical days when the temperature's in the 70's and there's no humiditiy at all.
• Cool service.  We want it to be competent -- always there but fairlly unobtrusive.
• Cool food -- lots of local produce, simple preparations and simple but beautiful presentations.  Nothing fussy.  Nothing cluttered -- I hate resturants which, on the theory they should give you a lot (presumably so they can charge a lot) crowd your plate with meaningless garnishes and inedible and unrlated side dishes.  I want everything to go together -- s grilled fish or stek whose salad is dressed with the steak's juices and its sauce, for example.

Some of our favorites for summer lunches and dinners:

• Sang Kee Asian Bistro - Asian fusiion food with great service.  It's in a strip shopping center and we can almost always park in front or nearby.
• YangMing - Very authenic Chinese food and Itlian American choices for the member of your party who just doesn't do ethnic.  Sometimes we just order all the appetizers and pretend we're having dim sum in Chinatown without the trip.
• Ruby's - (Not Ruby Tuesday's) - We go to both the Ardmore and King of Prussis ones.  Fast food glorified.  Great hamburgers and shakes.  But also grilled cheese sandwishes, fish tacos, and more.   Only iin off hours -- they usually have a line.
• Primavera Pizza Kitchen - We go to the Ardmore branch, housed in a former bank so there are soaring ceilings and a general open, airy feeling.  They have it just right -- lots of appetizers that can be lunch and half portions of pasta.  Good salads, too.

Of course we are not above eating in a Wendy's or a Taco Bell when the occasion demands something fast.  We also have a few casual Mexican restaurnts in the neighborhood which can be fun.

We seem to have developed our own pattern.  Many days we decide to delay lunch until after something -- work, appointments, errands.  By the time we have lunch it's late in the afternoon and it serves as lunch and part of dinner.  Then we just have a light snack later on (usually the house specialty -- homemade soup -- with a sandwich or desert.

We haven't abandoned going to much more elaborate restaurants for much fancier meals -- just put it away for cooler days.