I went to the Fayette Street Grille in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania for dinner this week. One simple word describes the food, ambiance, and service: Wonderful!

Fayette Street Grille is a small, foodie-style, BYOB that offers a 3 course dinner menu for a mere $38 including starter, entrée, and dessert.   Additionally, if you do not have a sweet tooth, you can get two appetizers and one entree.  Or perhaps you are a sugar addict – you can get one entree and two desserts.

Lets take a look at the meal.

Starters

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Moist and flavorful poached shrimp served over a roast carrot and onion puree with a baby spinach, pickled carrot and red pepper salad tossed in a poppy vinaigrette.
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Baked Crab Dip with lump crab meat, spinach, roasted red pepper, and Swiss cheese with bread rusks – amazing rich taste with generous amounts of crab.

The poached shrimp worked perfectly with the puree – the flavors complementing each other nicely in this lighter, refreshing dish.  I tasted the crab dip and all I could say was wow.  The appetizers came with a warm, crunchy french bread.

My friend has no sweet tooth so he got a salad as a second appetizer in lieu of dessert.

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Mixed Greens Salad in the house Balsamic Vinaigrette with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, blue cheese, and tomato.

Entrees

I rarely order steak when I am out, as I am partial to the Delmonico, Porterhouse, or Strip steaks that I get from my butcher and cook on my charcoal grill.  As I had not had beef in a while, I ordered it expecting it to be very good but never as good as my Delmonico. I stand corrected – this steak and the accompaniments were amazing.

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Grilled New York Strip Steak with roasted garlic potato mousse, asparagus, and herbed compound butter.

The potato puree was rich and flavorful and the steak cooked perfectly.

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Beautiful perfection

My friend had the salmon which he very much enjoyed.

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Salmon poached in Kim-chi style broth with sesame-soy risotto and caramelized baby bok choy.

Before we get to dessert, a quick peek at the two chefs making the magic in the open kitchen.  These gentleman are amazing.

Dessert

The selections are broad.  I chose the Mocha Creme Brulee which was light and smooth with enough egg taste balanced with mocha taste.   An espresso finished the meal perfectly.

The room is small with a mix a couple high tops and a number of tables, plus seasonal sidewalk tables.  The service is friendly and knowledgeable about the food.

I went with a gentleman named Ryan whom I used to work with – I was his mentor for a number of years.  I always knew he would excel quickly to success (which he did) and we could both learn great things from each other – great to keep in touch when we cross paths.

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Ryan – amazingly smart guy and he usually has a festive smile

BYOB

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BYOB stands for bring your own bottle, as in alcohol.  Restaurants who are not licensed to sell liquor often do this, and for customers it is a great way to save money.  A lower priced easy to drink Bordeaux was the choice for the night.

Final Thoughts

Any regular reader knows my bias against national chains.  At national chains the food is heavily processed, they often add extra laxatives, and they take from the local economy as opposed to giving back to it.

The small borough of Conshohocken is a walkable destination town with a broad selection of non-chain restaurants, pubs, and bars on a hillside above a river.  Fayette Street Grille is a must try. I have also reviewed the fabulous Blackfish Restaurant having the Blackfish Lobster tasting and the Blackfish Crab tasting.

If you go, let me know what you think.