The Berkshire

Okay I could write a review about the friendly host, or the ample parking. I could even write about the comfortable neighborhood bar feel or the incredibly tender smoked chicken I had. I could even write a review about how the risotto moved me to declare this was a must return place. But it is just not in my. Because the review that needs to be written is about .. sticky toffee pudding.

I would tell you to close your eyes but if you did you couldn't read so I will close my eyes instead and describe it to you. Imagine a feather light spice cake drenched in a buttery toffee sauce and sprinkled with pecans and bacon. Now imagine that first bite giving tenderly between your teeth as you savory spicy and sweet then salty and rich. Did you just shiver? I did, now imagine the way you feel when you take a second bite with a spoon of their double rich vanilla ice cream that feels like a blessing of cool relief after the warm kiss of the pudding. Yes this is nothing like we have pudding here in the USA and its not like sticky toffee pudding in the UK. This is something better, something pure Berkshire and something worth every decadent calorie.

Disclaimer - I don't eat red meat (or much meat, period) so I have no idea how any of their pork is. I know, that makes the Berkshire a weird choice for me, but I've been pleasantly surprised both times my fiance and I have eaten there.

The first visit was for a late lunch, so it was pretty dead. Our waitress was great, my fried pickles were fantastic, and the apple brie panini was almost perfect. It could've used just a little more brie and a little less arugula, since the dressing on it overwhelmed the rest of the flavors just a bit, but it was still really freaking good.

The second visit, I went way, way out of my comfort zone and ordered fish tacos. Confession time, I've always been adamantly opposed to fish tacos because they always seemed really gross to me. These, though? Amazing. I finished them in literally about 3 minutes. My sweet potato fries were a little bit limp but since I had just had my braces tightened, that was actually a good thing. Aaand then I ate half of my fiance's grilled cheese because he'd eaten so much popcorn pork that he was full, and I have no self-control.

They have a decent selection of beer, nothing too exciting, but I haven't been disappointed in my choices. We haven't made it to dessert, but one of these days maybe I'll stop pigging out on my entrees and actually give one a go. Honestly, the only downside I can think of so far is that it's a bit expensive.

I wish I'd been able to go with the bacon flight, but Lent was in session. So instead I had a croissanwich of sorts with avocado, and it was just OK. I'm pretty sure my cubed potatoes were frozen before they were fried, so I didn't finish them. But where else can you really go when there's a blizzard and almost nothing is open?